Sophisticated by Design: the Nonconscious Influence of Primed Concepts and Atmospheric Variables on Consumer Preferences

Four studies sought to bridge the gap between the consumer literature on atmospheric effects on shopping and research on prime-to-behavior effects. Studies 1–3 found that nonconsciously priming sophistication influenced consumer preferences, lending credence to the hypothesis that the accessibility of concepts related to sophistication is sufficient to produce the effects of some atmospheric variables. Unobtrusively priming sophistication led participants to prefer an upscale candy bar rather than a plain candy bar (study 1), to select a high-brow movie rather than a low-brow movie as a raffle prize (study 2), and to order more expensive items at a real-life restaurant (study 3). The effects of sophistication primes were strongest among individuals who had positive automatic associations with sophistication (study 2). Study 4 directly linked primed concepts to an atmospheric variable, demonstrating that music played over headphones influenced both the automatic accessibility of words related to sophistication and corresponding consumer preferences.