When motion changes liking: Evaluative conditioning with motion as unconditioned stimulus

The evaluative conditioning (EC) effect refers to change in the liking of a stimulus (conditioned stimulus, CS) due to the fact that the stimulus has been paired with an affective stimulus (unconditioned stimulus, US). Most studies use a picture-picture paradigm in which static visual stimuli are used as CSs and USs. Because stimuli in the environment are most often encountered in motion, we investigated the impact of motion on the likeability of a stimulus. In this experiment, pictures of consumption products (CSs) were presented in motion patterns known to elicit positive, neutral or negative affective responses. Subsequent to this pairing, a significant preference for CSs paired with the positive motion was observed. This experiment introduces a new method to induce changes in liking, called the picture-motion paradigm, and shows that motion can be used as an affective stimulus in EC. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.