Universität zu Köln

Erle, Thorsten M. and Zuern, Michael K. (2020). Illusory trust: Kanizsa shapes incidentally increase trust and willingness to invest. J. Behav. Decis. Mak., 33 (5). S. 671 - 683. HOBOKEN: WILEY. ISSN 1099-0771

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Previous research has shown that the completion of basic perceptual processes is intrinsically pleasant. In the absence of diagnostic and objective cues to trustworthiness, nondiagnostic factors such as positive affect can incidentally lead to reported and behavioral trust. On the basis of these two premises, it was tested whether positive affect from the completion of perceptual processes has implications for the formation of trust in first-time business-consumer interactions. We tested this hypothesis in four experiments, using the famous Kanizsa illusion as an exemplary perceptual process that has been shown to trigger positive affect. We found that participants trusted companies who featured a Kanizsa shape as their logo more than companies with closely matched logos that did not allow for the completion of a basic perceptual process. This was evident on self-reported (Experiment 1) as well as behavioral (Experiments 2-4) measures of trust. This effect even persisted under incentivized conditions (Experiment 4) and was partially mediated by the intrinsic pleasantness of perception (Experiment 3). These findings for the first time demonstrate that positive affect is not the only consequence of perception, but rather has further trickle-down consequences for social judgments and economic decision making. Perceptual illusions seem to elicit illusory trust. Therefore, these novel findings bear important implications not only for both logo design and marketing but also for consumer decision making.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Erle, Thorsten M. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Zuern, Michael K. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-334021
DOI:	10.1002/bdm.2184
Journal or Publication Title:	J. Behav. Decis. Mak.
Volume:	33
Number:	5
Page Range:	S. 671 - 683
Date:	2020
Publisher:	WILEY
Place of Publication:	HOBOKEN
ISSN:	1099-0771
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language PERCEPTUAL FLUENCY; BRAND; TRUSTWORTHINESS; REPUTATION; JUDGMENTS; ATTENTION; DYNAMICS; CAPTURE Multiple languages Psychology, Applied Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/33402