Biases and effectsRobert Zajonc, 1968
Seeing something repeatedly is enough to make you like it. Why the song that sounded odd at first is good by the third listen.
Participants were shown meaningless letter strings or (to non-readers) Chinese characters — some once, some 25 times. Asked later which they liked, the more often seen, the more liked. With no meaning and no merit whatsoever.
In a follow-up, the images were flashed too briefly to consciously notice. Same result. You do not need to remember seeing it for the count to work on you.
The famous version: silent confederates attended a lecture course. The one who came fifteen times was liked more than the one who came five.
The familiar is easy to process, and easy reads to the brain as roughly "safe". Being wary of the unknown is sensible for an animal; the flip side is liking what you recognise.
There is a ceiling. Too much exposure tips into boredom and liking drops. The effect works up to "somewhat familiar", which is why an ad shown to the same person forty times backfires.
Things you already dislike get worse with exposure. It works on things that started neutral.
Starting something new: rack up the count before you decide whether you like it. Simply reserving judgment until the third time cuts down on "not for me" exits.
With people, several short meetings beat one long one. Frequency does the work, not duration.
And when you are unsure what you actually like, ask once: "do I like this, or do I just see it a lot?" Familiar things look like favourites.
The song that clicks on the third play
Odd on first listen, "great song" by the third. The song did not change. Streaming services replay the same track for precisely this reason.
The person you pass every day
You have never spoken, yet the person on your morning train seems vaguely likeable. The silent-student experiment, in the wild.
Your face in the mirror
Photos of yourself look slightly off because the face you know is the mirror image. In experiments people preferred the flipped photo of themselves; their friends preferred the unflipped one. Both picked the familiar version.
If you take one thing
Some fraction of every "I like this" is just "I have seen this before". Knowing that lets you give new things a third try.
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