Relationships: Familiarity breeds contempt -- or does it?

According to a principle in social psychology termed the "mere exposure effect," just the opposite is true: Familiarity breeds likability. Mere exposure to things or people makes us like them more.

Studies suggest that we like words we've come across in the past more than those with which we're completely unfamiliar. Just the fact that a person has the same name as you do -- or even that her name starts with the same letter as yours -- is likely to make you like her more.

This explains why advertising is so effective. Repeated exposure to advertisements (provided this doesn't become incessant) increases the likelihood that we'll like and, in turn, purchase the products being promoted. In other words, if they hope to raise brand awareness of their products and get consumers to like them, marketers would be wise to invest in advertising.

My hope is that now that you've been "exposed" tp this blog, you'll continue to like it more and more with each subsequent post!

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