Feminine to Smell but Masculine to Touch? Multisensory Congruence and Its Effect on the Aesthetic Experience

Keywords

sensory aesthetics, sensory perception, semantic congruence, smell, touch

Abstract

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.

Original Publication Citation

Krishna, Aradhna, Ryan S. Elder, & Cindy Caldara (2010), "Feminine to Smell but Masculine to Touch?: Multisensory Congruence and its Effect on the Aesthetic Experience,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 20(4), 410-18.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2010

Publisher

Journal of Consumer Psychology

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Marketing

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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