Seeing Something New: Effects of Elaboration and Repetition on the Pattern of Explicit and Implicit Attitude Formation

With the rise of online commerce, consumers come into contact with novel products in unfamiliar categories. Our aim was to contribute to the understanding of explicit and implicit attitude formation by studying the effects of elaboration and repetition as strategies for the formation of positive explicit and implicit attitudes toward novel brands in unfamiliar categories. Across three studies, results indicated that explicit attitudes may form with both elaboration and repetition, but the presence of competing products interfered with positive explicit attitude formation. Elaboration was not an effective strategy for implicit attitude formation, but repetitive exposure of an object coupled with a positive valence was successful in the formation of positive implicit attitudes. There may be dual routes to explicit and implicit attitude formation with different consequences for managerial action. Limitations and managerial implications are discussed.