When Beauty Backfires: The Effects of Server Attractiveness on Consumer Taste Perceptions

Lily Lin, JoAndrea Hoegg and Karl Aquino

Journal of Retailing, 2018, vol. 94, issue 3, 296-311

Abstract: The current research tests whether and how being in the presence of attractive individuals alters consumers’ evaluations of their expected dining experience and the taste of the products consumed. Our results uncover a novel phenomenon in the domains of physical attractiveness and taste perception: attractiveness does indeed impact taste perception, but its influence varies as a function of the valence of the food consumed. When the server is attractive, good food tastes better but bad food tastes worse. Six studies demonstrate this effect and, importantly, show that it occurs for male, but not female consumers and only if the male consumers are low in need for cognition. The implications of this work and potential avenues for additional research are discussed.

Keywords: Physical attractiveness; Taste perception; Expectation disconfirmation; Environmental cues (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jouret:v:94:y:2018:i:3:p:296-311

DOI: 10.1016/j.jretai.2018.04.003

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