Sensory incongruity: comparing vision to touch, audition and olfaction

In some cases, the information people obtain from a product through the different senses conflicts, which may lead to a surprise reaction. Experiencing incongruent sensory information in a product (and the resulting surprise reaction) is expected to have an effect on product evaluation. In a series of experiments, we investigated the effects of visual – tactual, visual – auditory and visual – olfactory incongruity on surprise, product expression and product liking. Surprise was evoked by visual – tactual incongruity, but not by visual – auditory or visual – olfactory incongruity. Furthermore, our studies show that the influence of visual – auditory and visual – olfactory incongruity on the evaluation of the expression of the product and on product liking should not be overestimated. Creating sensory incongruity can be an effective strategy to design more interesting or amusing products and creating surprise through visual – tactual incongruity seems the most effective strategy