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We draw upon literature examining cross-modal sensory interactions and congruence to explore the impact of smell on touch. In line with our predictions, two experiments show that smell can impact touch in meaningful ways. Specifically, we show that multisensory semantic congruence between smell and touch properties of a stimulus enhances haptic perception and product evaluation. We explore this relationship in the context of two properties of touch, namely texture and temperature, and demonstrate that both smell and touch can have semantic associations, which can affect haptic perception and product evaluation depending on whether they match or not. In study 1, we focus on the semantic association of smell and touch (texture) with gender and in study 2 with temperature. Our results extend prior work on smell and touch within consumer behavior, and further contribute to emerging literature on multisensory interactions. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Society for Consumer Psychology.

We propose that advertisement (ad) content for food products can affect taste perception by affecting sensory cognitions. Specifically, we show that multisensory ads result in higher taste perceptions than ads focusing on taste alone, with this result being mediated by the excess of positive over negative sensory thoughts. Since the ad effect is thoughts-driven or cognitive, restricting cognitive resources (imposing cognitive load) attenuates the enhancing effect of the multiple-sense ad. Our results are exhibited across three experiments and have many implications for cognition and sensory perception research within consumer behavior, as well as several practical implications. A quick glance at current ads shows the obvious: mention the taste of the food. This is expected since the ad is for food after all. The less obvious and consequently seldom used solution is to bring attention to the unique multisensory aspects of taste perception. In this research, we suggest how and why multisensory advertising for food ads can enhance taste perceptions.In this article we explore whether other senses are so physiologically closely tied to taste that mentioning them will make no difference and whether an ad in general can have an impact on taste perceptions. By exploring if the ad can affect taste itself, we test an additional possible effect of the ad. While food advertising is typically used to spark interest in the food or an intention to buy it, it is not usually used for affecting taste perception. Further, if the ad does affect taste, then we are also suggesting that taste is affected by cognition and is not automatically incorporated into perceptions. Besides looking at the effect of ads on taste perception, *Ryan S. Elder (rselder@umich.edu) is a doctoral candidate in marketing and Aradhna Krishna (aradhna@umich.edu) is the Isadore and Leon Winkelman Professor of Marketing at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, 701 Tappan Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1234. Author names are in alphabetical order. The authors thank Daphna Oyserman, participants at the Michigan Marketing lunch seminars, the editor, the associate editor, and the three reviewers for comments on this article at various stages. John Deighton served as editor and Stephen Hoch served as associate editor for this article.Electronically published June 25, 2009 we additionally explore what happens to consumers' thoughts about the food (how they change) when the ad is changed. We also examine if these thoughts drive the change in taste perception.This research has both theoretical and substantive implications. First, we show that ads can affect sensory perceptions and that sensory thoughts mediate the affect of ads on perception. More specifically, we show that ads mentioning senses other than taste can increase positive sensory thoughts about the food and consequently taste. Second, we show that the processing of ads is deliberate and cognitive, so that the enhancing effect of multiple-sense ads is reduced when cognitive resources are cons...

The authors propose that static visuals can evoke a perception of movement (i.e., dynamic imagery) and thereby affect consumer engagement and attitudes. Focusing on brand logos as the static visual element, the authors measure the perceived movement evoked by the logo and demonstrate that the evoked dynamic imagery affects the level of consumer engagement with the brand logo. They measure consumer engagement through both self-report measures and eye-tracking technology and find that engagement affects consumer attitudes toward the brand. The authors also show that the perceived movementengagement-attitude effect is moderated by the congruence between perceived movement and brand characteristics. These findings suggest that dynamic imagery is an important aspect of logo design, and if used carefully, it can enhance brand attitudes.

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