The Motive for Sensory Pleasure: Enjoyment of Nature and Its Representation in Painting, Music, and Literature

Abstract

Eight studies assessed the motive for sensory pleasure (MSP) involving a general disposition to enjoy and pursue pleasant nature-related experiences and avoid unpleasant nature-related experiences. The stated enjoyment of pleasant sights, smells, sounds, and tactile sensations formed a unitary construct that was distinct from sensation seeking, novelty preference, and need for cognition. MSP was found to be related to (a) enjoyment of pleasant nature scenes and music of high but not low clarity; (b) enjoyment of writings that portrayed highly detailed nature scenes; (c) enjoyment of pleasantly themed paintings and dislike of unpleasant paintings, as distinct from findings with Openness to Experience; (d) choice of pleasant nature scenes over exciting or intellectually stimulating scenes; (e) view duration and memory of artistically rendered quilts; (f) interest in detailed information about nature scenes; and (g) frequency of sensory-type suggestions for improvement of a museum exhibit.

I Will Do It If I Enjoy It! The Moderating Effect of Seeking Sensory Pleasure When Exposed to Participatory CSR Campaigns

“…Prior research has documented that consumers seek out pleasurable products and experiences (Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982 ) and show motivational differences in pursuing favorable experiences and avoiding unpleasant ones (Chapman and Chapman, 1985 ). The motive for sensory pleasure (MSP) describes the individual drive to seek out pleasant auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory, and taste experiences and to similarly avoid unpleasant sensory experiences (Eisenberger et al, 2010 ). Recently, Eisenberger et al ( 2010 ) noted that high MSP individuals engage in greater pursuit of favorable experiences.…”

“…The motive for sensory pleasure (MSP) describes the individual drive to seek out pleasant auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory, and taste experiences and to similarly avoid unpleasant sensory experiences (Eisenberger et al, 2010 ). Recently, Eisenberger et al ( 2010 ) noted that high MSP individuals engage in greater pursuit of favorable experiences.…”

“…If consumers motivated for sensory pleasure do not experience what they are looking for (sensory pleasure), their interest in the stimulus may be low, which will imply a lower processing too (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986 ). In addition, while motivation for sensory pleasure is clearly related to emotional involvement (Nurse et al, 2010 ), Eisenberger et al ( 2010 ) point out to the uniqueness of this personality trait as separated from need for cognition (Cacioppo et al, 1996 ) and, as such, subjects highly motivated to seek for sensory pleasure will base their behavior on emotions associated to the activity rather than cognitions (that require processing) related to how good the company is doing with they CSR activity it is developing. The application of this reasoning to CSR activities, therefore, leads us to propose that those who are highly motivated to seek sensory pleasure will process much less the campaign and will show less CSR associations than those who are less motivated to search for sensory pleasure.…”

“…Consumer participation is a behavior that reflects a state of involvement (Cermak et al, 1994 ) that can be increased by other sources of motivation. As Eisenberger et al ( 2010 ) argue, “high MSP individuals' enhanced motivation [will] produce greater pursuit of favorable nature experience.” Accordingly, the nature of the campaign (participatory or non-participatory) should generate different responses, depending on the participants' additional involvement (i.e., the level of consumers' motivation to seek sensory pleasure). From these arguments, we propose that in a participatory campaign, consumers who are sensory pleasure seekers will be more involved with the campaign and, consequently, will have more CSR associations (perceive greater CSR).…”

Toward a Tripartite Model of Intrinsic Motivation

“…This type of IM has been neglected in research until recently but would appear to be related to constructs such as aesthetic experiences (Berlyne, 1971), sensation seeking (Zuckerman, 1979), the motive for sensory pleasure (Eisenberger et al, 2010), peak experiences (McInman & Grove, 1991;Privette & Bundrick, 1991), and sentience (Jackson, 1989). IM to experience stimulation is also in line with theories of arousal (e.g., Berlyne, 1960;Lee, 1996) that state that people are motivated to reach an optimal level of arousal (which varies between individuals) from their environment.…”