Cognition and sensory perception: The effects of advertising and mental simulation on the perceptual consumption experience

Within my dissertation, I focus on the interplay of cognition and sensation, addressing the impact of advertising on the sensory experience (Essay 1: "The Effects of Advertising Copy on Sensory Thoughts and Perceived Taste"), as well as how incorporating sensations within the advertisement can influence consumer behavior (Essay 2: "Mental Simulation and the 'Visual Depiction Effect': When Visual Stimuli Facilitate Sensory Experience").;In my first essay, "The Effects of Advertising Copy on Sensory Thoughts and Perceived Taste," I propose that advertisement (ad) content for food products can affect taste perception by affecting sensory cognitions. Specifically, I show that multisensory ads result in higher taste perceptions than ads focusing on taste alone, with this result being mediated by the excess of positive over negative sensory thoughts. Since the ad effect is thoughts-driven or cognitive, restricting cognitive resources (imposing cognitive load) attenuates the enhancing effect of the multiple-sense ad. My results are exhibited across three experiments and have many implications for cognition and sensory perception research within consumer behavior, as well as several practical implications.;In my second essay, "Mental Simulation and the 'Visual Depiction Effect': When Visual Stimuli Facilitate Sensory Experience," I show that visual product depictions within advertising encourage mental simulation. I propose that viewing an object can lead to similar behavioral consequences as interacting with the object since our minds mentally simulate the experience. Across four studies I show that visually depicting a product that facilitates more (vs. less) mental simulation results in heightened purchase intentions. The studies support our proposed mental simulation account. For instance, occupying the perceptual resources required for mental simulation attenuates the impact of visual product depiction on purchase intentions. These mental simulations are also hypothesized to occur at a more automatic level, with different consequences from deliberate forms of imagery.