Exposure effect - the scientific basis for long-lasting love

Many celebrities often use social media to show their image. In addition to shaping their image, they also want to maintain exposure and attract audiences through repeated appearances.

This is the exposure effect, which is a psychological phenomenon that means we prefer things we are familiar with. The more we see someone, the more likeable and pleasant we find them to be. There is no other reason, just because you have more contact with him, you will develop a good impression of him.

If you want someone to have a good impression of you, appear in front of this person more often and let the other person get used to your presence.

Psychologist Robert Zaionz conducted an interesting experiment. He asked a group of people to look at the graduation album of a certain school, and made sure that the subjects did not recognize anyone who appeared in the graduation album; After reading the graduation album, ask them to look at some photos of some people. Some photos appear more than twenty times, some appear more than ten times, and some only appear once or twice. Afterward, ask people who viewed the photo to rate how much they liked it. The results showed that the more frequently people appear in the graduation album, the more they are liked; they prefer familiar photos that they have seen more than 20 times, rather than fresh photos that they have only seen a few times. In other words, the number of views increases the degree of liking.

We all think that our spouse is the right one or the right one, but the facts tell us that more than half of people get married just because this person happens to be by your side. More than 1/3 of the people are work colleagues and classmates, then neighbors, and then introduced by others. They are all people who often appear around you. When your colleague first came here, you thought he was not good-looking, but two years later you two got married. This is the exposure effect.

Why people have exposure effects may be genetically determined. In ancient times, a common environment meant that it was known and safe, which naturally made people relax their vigilance.

"How to Make Someone Fall in Love with You" tells us that your spouse must be within three blocks of you, so you think your spouse is different, but if multiple times and places appear By your side, it is very likely that he will become your spouse. The frequency of the people around you will determine whether you like him or not, so there is still a market for stalking.

No wonder before his death, Freud declared to the world while lying in bed: "We know too little about love.

The most direct application of the exposure effect is advertising.

This is the reason why you will want to buy after seeing an advertisement. When it comes to anti-dandruff, we can think of Head & Shoulders; when it comes to hair loss, we can think of Bawang. The repetition of advertisements can effectively enhance people's memory and make the exposure effect work. Pinduoduo uses repeated playback to occupy the audience’s brains. It also collects melatonin when receiving gifts. Nowadays, people will sing along to Pinduoduo’s brainwashing advertising songs. Repetition is an extremely effective means of memory, whether it is for learning or advertising.

In one experiment, students were asked to read an article on the computer. The first group of students had advertisements repeated above the article, the second group had fewer repetitions, and the third group had no repetitions. In the survey on the acceptance of this advertisement, the acceptance of the first group was significantly higher than that of the second and third groups. In addition to repeating the product information, they also specifically linked the product with positive things to increase the audience's interest in the product. To achieve the purpose of subtly influencing consumer behavior, companies open accounts on Weibo, WeChat and other platforms to publish content. It is to get multiple exposures by publishing content. It is inevitable that I will feel like an old friend at first sight. If I see you on the first page, I will see you on the third page. How come you are still there on the seventh page? The buyer’s impression will be due to "exposure". "Effect" to deepen, generate good feelings, and obtain clicks or purchases.

The exposure effect can also be used everywhere in life. For example, if we want to do something, let it appear in front of us frequently. Put the book or reading APP in the most conspicuous place so that you can take a look at it every time. By doing so, you can increase the frequency of your reading. In fact, this is also one of the conditions for change to happen, changing the environment. Our self-control is not as strong as we imagine, and we often still need to control our behavior through the external environment.

Jonah Berger has a book called "Contagion", which talks about social influence. When we look at social influence, we will find that: There are many reasons behind the various behaviors we do and perform, including political reasons, social influences, economic considerations, psychological emotions, etc. For example, it may be affected by cultural differences. The cultural differences between East and West will give people different attention when choosing products. Many Americans believe that being different symbolizes freedom and independence, while in East Asian cultures people value harmony and connection with each other. If you go too far, you will be considered a deviant and unable to integrate into the group. Studies show that Chinese and Koreans choose more similar items than Americans. If East Asians are presented with relatively common things and distinctive things at the same time, they will choose the more common ones. Human beings are essentially irrational animals. For example, when we eat with others, we eat more; when someone taps us on the shoulder, we make bolder decisions.

Therefore, understanding the scientific logic behind our decision-making is an important step in helping us make more rational decisions.