The influence of induced positive affect and design experience on aesthetic responses to new product designs

This experiment found that positive affect, induced by a gift of a small bag of candy (not consumed), enhanced ratings of the visual appeal of a set of six digital cameras by male participants untrained and trained in principles of design theory, as compared to control groups who did not receive candy (N=10 per group). The number of participants' reactions to the cameras' features, the affective quality of their reactions (positive, negative, or neutral), and the time taken to evaluate each camera were obtained from participants' think aloud procedure verbalizations recorded as they examined each camera. Analyses of these cognitive process measures revealed that, consistent with the Affect Infusion Model proposed by Forgas (1995), training in design differentially influenced the cognitive processing styles responsible for positive affect's influence on the judgments; design students engaged in substantive processing whereas untrained students employed heuristic processing to arrive at their ratings. Results demonstrate that induced positive affect can influence aesthetic evaluative judgments, a heretofore neglected aspect of cognition in the literature describing the effects of induced mood on behavior.