Resumen de Consumer responses to combined arousal-inducing stimuli

Gopal Das Varma, Henrik Hagtvedt

• Abstract With a field study and a lab experiment, this research replicates and extends Mattila and Wirtz's (2001) finding that ambient stimuli are perceived more positively when their arousing qualities match versus mismatch. Relying on different in-store stimuli combinations (music, voice, visual images), results reveal a U-shaped pattern in which two high-arousal or two low-arousal stimuli jointly produce a more favorable influence on consumer evaluations of the store environment than do mixes of high-arousal and low-arousal stimuli. The effect is mediated by perceived fit.