The Mere Exposure Effect: Why You Spend So Much Money

The Mere Exposure Effect is one of my the most fascinating psychological phenomena because it explains why you spend so much money.

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What is the Mere Exposure Effect?

The Mere Exposure Effect is a psychological phenomenon that literally says, the more you are merely exposed to something, the more you convince yourself that you like it, want it, and need it. 

I’ll give an example of this and then we’ll dive in further about how this impacts you and your money.

Now listen, I HATE bucket hats. They are truly the ugliest fashion trend, rivaling only that of bandage dresses, big belts, and bump-its of the two thousand teens. And yet, I see bucket hats all over the place. So I asked myself, “How did this happen?”

The answer: The Mere Exposure Effect.

The Mere Exposure Effect: Example

Consider this: You’re walking down the street, and you see a person wearing a bucket hat. You immediately think to yourself, “Ew. Why is that thing on her head?” And you continue on your merry way.

A short while later you go to a coffee shop, and you see another woman wearing a bucket hat. You think to yourself, “Okay, that one is a little better, but still… Yikes.”

A couple days go by and you’re walking into the gym. You hold the door for the woman leaving and on her head is, you guessed it, a bucket hat. You think, “Hmm that one is actually kind of cute.”

And later that night, you hop on social media, start your nightly doom scroll, and now you’ve just seen your fourth bucket hat. You think, “Wait, I love that.” And with four taps of your thumb, you have effectively ordered your bucket hat, which will magically arrive at your doorstep within 48-hours.

And now, you my friend, are a part of the problem, exposing more people to the unfortunate fad that is bucket hats. 

Do you see what happened here? The more bucket hats you saw, the more you convinced yourself that they are cute and necessary. 

And while it definitely has an effect on your wallet, the mere exposure effect is actually fulfilling an innate desire to belong.

Everybody wants to be a part of something; the desire to belong is a fundamental part of human nature. It’s normal human behavior.

And while we’re here, let me just point out that anyone who says, “I don’t care what other people think about me.” is full of sh*t. Because of course you care what other people think about you. You want other people to like and accept you.

It goes way back to the idea that people need community – they need a tribe – because that community offers protection and safety. An outsider is seen as a threat.

But here’s the trickiest thing about the Mere Exposure Effect: it’s happening on a subconscious or subliminal level. 

When you see those bucket hats prancing around town, you’re not consciously thinking to yourself: 

“A week ago, I thought that bucket hat was grotesque, but I want to feel included in society at large due to my innate desire to belong. And therefore, I’m going to buy this bucket hat as a way to make me feel accepted into the hot girls club of America that I so desperately want to be a part of.”

No! You’re just seeing bucket hats all over the place, and for all you know – or at least on the conscious level of awareness – you just conveniently started liking bucket hats when everyone else did.

I hate to break it to you, but the Mere Exposure Effect is really the thing at play here.

The Mere Exposure Effect and Familiarity Bias

The Mere Exposure Effect has a cousin and she’s called Familiarity Bias.

This principle simply says we prefer people, places, and things that we are familiar with. The more unfamiliar we are with something, the more uncomfy we are with it. Or rather, being merely exposed to something over and over again, leads to being familiar with it and therefore, having a preference for it.

(I told you, we’re going in DEEP on psychology today.)

Familiarity bias shows up in a variety of ways as well, but one example might be brand recognition or familiarity.

Think the Target v. Walmart debate. The question isn’t: “Which is better?” The question is: “Which are you more familiar with and, consequently, are partial to?”

We are creatures of comfort and it’s easier to go with what you know than what’s unfamiliar. But the rate to which we are being exposed to bucket hats and other fast fashion trends has grown exponentially with the development of social media.

The Mere Exposure Effect and Social Media

You see, once upon a time, for better or worse, individuals were only exposed to a handful of people.

You might have seen your neighbors. If you worked out of the home, you were exposed to your co-workers. And before church attendance started to decline, maybe you encountered friends and family at your Sunday sermon. 

But as technology has advanced, so has our exposure to people. 

Now we aren’t just seeing bucket hats on our neighbors, coworkers, and congregation. We’re seeing bucket hats on celebrities, acquaintances, and your best friend’s cousin’s ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend, Jessica. 

And logically, we can tell ourselves all we want that Jessica has no influence on us, but the reality is, she, like all the other people we’re being exposed to, does.

The latest research says we’re spending an average of 2 hours and 21 minutes on social media every day. Which means we are seeing thousands of posts every single day. 

And companies, of course, know this. And they are capitalizing on the increased rate of exposure. That’s why they’re willing to pay big bucks for social media influencing. 

The Mere Exposure Effect and Corporate Marketing 

According to The Decision Lab, “Companies consistently take advantage of the mere exposure effect to entice customers to use their digital products”

They go on to say:

“[. . .] companies may keep their logo virtually unchanged for decades, even if the font or colors feel outdated. They know this consistency will guarantee them brand recognition, and in turn, brand loyalty. After all, most customers will default to choosing the product with the logo they’ve seen a hundred times before, rather than venturing into the uncharted territory of a new one.”

Major corporations like Target, Amazon, Walmart, and Apple, will spend billions of dollars on advertising to make sure you are exposed to their logo and therefore more familiar with their brand to ensure you buy from them.

Take, for example, Nike. Nike paid a reported $4.23-billion – yes, billion with a B – on advertising in 2024. In that same year, the company generated over $51-billion U.S. dollars in global revenue. 

By comparison, Amazon paid roughly $43.9-billion on marketing and earned $638-billion in 2024.

Think about Amazon for a minute. One of the smartest things that company did was put their smile on all of the vans they drive and boxes they deliver. That wasn’t an accident. That was the Mere Exposure Effect. 

Unbeknownst to you, you’re seeing that all too familiar smile driving down your street or on stoops in your neighborhood hundreds of times per week. 

Now, of course, putting that smile on vans and boxes was a great idea. But that exposure has nothing on where we’re really spending a significant amount of time: social media.  

There are so many types of social media marketing, but I want to highlight two of them as they relate to the Mere Exposure Effect: Affiliate marketing and sponsorships. 

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is, oftentimes, what you’ll see non-celebreties using as a way to earn commissions from a company’s product sales. 

Have you ever seen someone on social media gushing about a product? Then they say: “Use code XYZ to get $10 off your order!” Yeah, that’s affiliate marketing.

That person is getting a small profit from influencing you to buy that product.

I’m not hating on affiliate marketing – it’s a great way to earn an income. In fact, I’m affiliated with certain products that I love. Including a glucose test for pregnant mamas that doesn’t have a ton of crap ingredients like literal flame retardant that is given to you in the Glucola at your doctors office. 

For every Fresh Test that a person buys using my code: Lindsey20, they get 20% off their order. And I get like $2.37. It’s a product that I wholeheartedly believe in. I used myself when I was pregnant with Koko, after having the worst experience with Glucola during my pregnancy with Kinsley. 

Big companies LOVE affiliate marketing. 

Affiliate Marketing: Low Risk

First, it’s low risk and often has a high reward for them. They’re not “out” anything if no one uses the affiliate code, yet can turn into huge streams of revenue, if people do use the discount codes. It’s one of the most cost effective forms of marketing out there.

Affiliate Marketing: Know, Like, & Trust

Secondly, it’s word-of-mouth on steroids. I’m far more likely to buy something from someone I know, like, and trust or perceive to know, like, and trust than I am to buy something from a rando on the street. Companies know that and want to use social media influencers that you feel like you know and trust to convince you to buy their products.

Affiliate Marketing: Easy-to-Track Metrics

Thirdly, the metrics are super easy to track. Once you’ve used a code to buy something, the company knows exactly where that sale came from. Streamlining marketing efforts is a big win for companies.

There are probably a dozen more reasons why companies love it, but suffice it to say, they know with affiliate marketing, the Mere Exposure Effect is hard at work and they’re profiting from it. 

Sponsorships

Sponsorships, on the other hand, are still beloved by big companies, but used a bit differently than affiliate marketing.

For a social media sponsorship, a company pays an influencer to create content about a service or product. This can range from micro-influencers to huge names.

From athletes like Cristiano Ronaldo, to musicians and actresses like Selena Gomez, celebrities are getting paid bucks to influence how you spend your money.

Anytime we’re talking about influencing, we have to talk about the OGs: The Kardashians and Jenners. Love them or hate them, they have a real influence on fashion trends and, ultimately, your wallet. 

Both literally as Kim Kardashian has previously partnered with Prada being gifted a $3,000 Prada purse in 2023. And you can bet your butt that many women were interested in that very purse all because Kimmy K herself had it.

Figuratively because, even if you don’t personally follow the Kardashians, someone you know does. And I can all but guarantee that the new brand partnership between Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand, Skims, and Nike is going to affect the athleisure industry at large. 

Whether or not you’re loyal to Nike, Adidas, Alo, Vuori, LuluLemon, or Athleta, you own some type of athletic casual wear that is going to be impacted by that partnership.

And just as affiliate marketing is effective in using the Mere Exposure Effect to get you to have more visibility to a product, social media sponsorships are also incredibly powerful. 

As of this recording, Cristiano Ronaldo has 650 million people following him on Instagram. Selena Gomez has 421 IG followers. Kim Kardashian has 357 million people following her on Instagram.

With numbers like that, it’s easy for companies to justify paying these top celebrities millions of dollars for one post on Instagram because tens of millions of people are going to be exposed to their products. 

This doesn’t even mention the idealization of celebrities, which is a whole other avenue to explore on the Mere Exposure Effect road. Buuut we’ll come back to that on a different episode. 

Why You Need to Understand the Mere Exposure Effect

This is all to say, you need to understand the Mere Exposure Effect because once you can understand it, you can avoid it.

Individual Impact

The two psychological principles I’ve talked about today – the Mere Exposure Effect and Familiarity Bias – are inevitably going to impact how you, as an individual, make purchasing decisions. 

We’ve mostly discussed how the Mere Exposure Effect plays a role in your life when it comes to products, but don’t forget that we are very comfortable in the familiarity with places and people, too.

Systemic Impact

But the impact goes well beyond micro-level influence. It extends to things on a much grander scale like overall economic performance and even the perpetuation of racism.

Contrary to how this episode has shaped up, the Mere Exposure Effect isn’t a principle intended to ruin your financial future. Instead, it’s intended to provide a sense of belonging and acceptance.

But when you are only being exposed to whiteness, well guess what? People of color aren’t familiar to you. 

Again, the Mere Exposure Effect is happening at the subliminal level, and therefore you aren’t deliberately choosing to exclude a gender, age, or race, but it’s happening nonetheless. And we need to be aware of how that is shaping our decisions, companies, and industries as a whole. 

This is a much, much bigger conversation. And I am very excited to put together an episode dedicated to racial differences in America. But at the very least, I want this to get you thinking about how you’re moving through the world. 

Because while the Mere Exposure Effect – fundamentally, having an innate desire to belong – isn’t a bad thing, it is making you play small. It’s making our wallet small. Your experiences small. Your worldview small.

When you expose yourself to differences, you start making the uncomfortable a little more comfortable – a little more familiar. And in turn, you’re able to expand and learn and grow.

How to Avoid the Mere Exposure Effect

The good news is there are ways to avoid the Mere Exposure Effect, and the very first way to avoid it is through self-awareness. As the great psychotherapist, Nathaniel Branden says, “The first step towards change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.”

You have to be aware that this psychological phenomenon exists and is alive and well in your body. So that the next time you go to buy a bucket hat or engage in any other fast fashion trend, you can truly decide for yourself: “Is this something I want or did the Mere Exposure Effect get me again?”

And please hear me loud and clear. There is nothing wrong with buying clothes or purses or claw clips. But I want you to be intentional about how and when buying those things fits into your big dreams and big life. 

But, you’re here listening to this episode. So you are already lightyears ahead by having the awareness of the Mere Exposure Effect.

And there is one more principle that I want to introduce to you. And that is, boredom. One of the greatest combats to the Mere Exposure Effect is overexposure, which can lead to us feeling bored with a product. 

Think about it in terms of listening to a song. You may have loved “Photograph” by Nickleback and listened to it over and over and over again. Until one day you just decided you were sick of it. You were bored of the song and stopped playing it on repeat. 

This is also true in fast fashion – hipsters get there a little faster than the rest of us, but the concept remains true. 

Avoid the Mere Exposure Effect Cycle

When you first see bucket hats out on the street, you think they’re heinous. Then you’re exposed to enough of them, and you start to think they’re cute. You love them, buy them, and wear them. But the final phase of this cycle is seeing too many of them and becoming bored with the stimulus (AKA you want the next new thing). 

All of a sudden, claw clips come on the scene and the cycle starts again. 

You see a clawclip and think, “Wow, how 90’s of her.” And fast forward to the fifth clawclip you’ve seen. You decide bucket hats are out and clawslips are in and you need one.

Soon enough you’ll be over exposed to clawslips. They’ll be out and the next fad will be in. 

And the fast fashion industry will win again.

Intentional Spending

The antidote to the cycle of the Mere Exposure Effect leading to Familiarity Bias resulting in Boredom happening over and over again is acceptance and the insertion of intentionality in your spending. 

Do you want to fall prey to cycle? And if you do, maybe you do so on a lesser degree?

Maybe with the self-awareness and knowledge that this cycle is happening you can decide to buy only one bucket hat instead of five. 

You get your fill of belonging and acceptance and feel good about that. But maybe you don’t waste a ton of money on hitting the fad so hard, just to move on to the next thing in a few months.

You guys know, I’m not here to shame you. If bucket hats are your thing, let it be. But my job, as a financial therapist, is to open your eyes to how you’re spending money and realign that spending with things that really, truly matter to you.

The Wrap Up: The Mere Exposure Effect & Your Spending Habits

To sum this all up, the Mere Exposure Effect subliminally encourages you to spend money, companies use it against you, but you can avoid it!

By understanding how the Mere Exposure Effect is intended to provide a deep, innate sense of belonging, you can be aware of how it is impacting you.

The Mere Exposure Effect and Familiarity Bias work together to keep you playing small. Don’t let it!

Instead, use goal setting and intentional spending to avoid falling prey to the Mere Exposure Effect cycle.

You can live a big live, full of big dreams and you can let financial self-care lead the way!

Next read: Can Money Buy Happiness?