The Influence of Simultaneous Multiple Exposure on the Mere Exposure Effect

Abstract

The mere exposure effect (MEE) is the phenomenon that repeated exposure to a stimulus promotes preference for that stimulus. Conventionally, the MEE has been observed as a result of successive presentation of a single object. This study instead examined whether the simultaneous exposure to multiple stimuli could modulate the MEE. The participants observed the stimulus display consisting of 1-25 stimulus elements and evaluated their preference for them. The results showed that the multiple element display produced a significant MEE when the stimulus elements were presented within the central visual field. More importantly, the exposure to the multiple element stimulus produced a stronger MEE when the number of elements was moderate. The present results suggest that the simultaneous exposure to multiple stimulus elements could facilitate the MEE but only when the number of stimulus elements does not exceed the capacity of processing resources.