Visual attention and emotional devaluation of products: an implication for advertisers

There have been many studies that focus on visual attention. However, little is known about how attentional inhibition processes impact emotional evaluation of products. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the attentional state associated with products can affect subsequent emotional judgments about the same products. In the first part of the experiment, thirty seven subjects are instructed either to press a key as fast as possible after seeing a product of one type or to withhold a key after seeing a product of a different type. The withholding action is required in order to associate the product with an inhibitory state. Afterwards, participants are requested to make an emotional judgement about the products they had just seen and novel products. It is found that participants rated products associated with a key press more positively than products associated with a withhold response. The results suggest that attentional inhibition on a product causes an emotional devaluation response. This raises an important implication for advertisers: product-related images shown to consumers while they are paying attention to other demanding activities could generate negative rather than positive effects.