Typography & processing fluency

“We propose that aesthetic pleasure is a funnction of the perceiver’s processing dynamics: the more fluently perceivers can process an object, the more positive their aesthetic response. we review variables known to influence aesthetic judgments, such as figural goodness, figure-ground contrast, stimulus repetition, symmetry, and prototypicality, and trace their effects to changes in processing fluency. other variables that influence processing fluency, like visual or semantic priming, similarly increase judgments of aesthetic pleasure. our proposal provides an integrative framework for the study of aesthetic pleasure and sheds light on the interplay between early preferences versus cultural influences on taste, preferences for both prototypical and abstracted forms, and the relation between beauty and truth. in contrast to theories that trace aesthetic pleasure to objective stimulus features per se, we propose that beauty is grounded in the processing experiences of the perceiver, which are in part a function of stimulus properties.”

“According to the processing fluency model, advertising exposures enhance the ease with which a brand can be recognized and processed. this increased perceptual fluency in turn leads to more favorable attitudes toward the brand. the present research extends the processing fluency model to examine the effect of conceptual fluency on attitudes. in three experiments, the authors show that when a target comes to mind more readily and becomes conceptually fluent, as when it is presented in a predictive context (e.g., a bottle of beer featured in an ad showing a man entering a bar), or when it is primed by a related construct (e.g., ketchup following an advertisement of mayonnaise), participants develop more favorable attitudes toward the target. positive valence of fluent processing is thought to underlie these processing fluency effects. when conceptual fluency is associated with negative valence (e.g., hair conditioner primed by a kill-lice shampoo), less favorable attitudes are observed (exp. 4).”

“As processing difficulty associated with a product increases, information about a subsequently encountered product becomes easier to process, leading to more favorable evaluations of it (a contrast effect). if, however, the two products are categorized as part of the same overall experience, then the negative feelings elicited by increased processing difficulty of the first product transfer to the second product, leading to more unfavorable evaluations of it (an assimilation effect). five studies identify the conditions in which the two processes occur and outline the various mechanisms that might underlie these effects. © 2009 by journal of consumer research, inc.”