Does Touch Affect Taste? The Perceptual Transfer of Product Container Haptic Cues
Journal of Consumer Research, Inc., Vol. 34, April 2008
12 Pages Posted: 21 Jan 2015
Date Written: January 19, 2015
Abstract
We develop a conceptual framework regarding the perceptual transfer of haptic or touch-related characteristics from product containers to judgments of the products themselves. Thus, the firmness of a cup in which water is served may affect consumers’ judgments of the water itself. This framework predicts that not all consumers are equally affected by such nondiagnostic haptic cues. Results from four studies show that consumers high in the autotelic need for touch (general liking for haptic input) are less affected by such nondiagnostic haptic cues compared to consumers low in the autotelic need for touch. The research has many implications for product and package design.
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