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The shape of the pill: Perceived effects, evoked bodily sensations and emotions

Current research examined the differential effects of pills’ shape (angular vs. curvy) on the perceived efficacy of the medicine, evoked bodily sensations and emotions. We investigated these effects by using different types of angular vs. curved stimuli: abstract drawn shapes (Study 1), 3D-printed m...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Blazhenkova, Olesya, Dogerlioglu-Demir, Kivilcim
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7478620/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32898184
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238378
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author Blazhenkova, Olesya
Dogerlioglu-Demir, Kivilcim
author_facet Blazhenkova, Olesya
Dogerlioglu-Demir, Kivilcim
author_sort Blazhenkova, Olesya
collection PubMed
description Current research examined the differential effects of pills’ shape (angular vs. curvy) on the perceived efficacy of the medicine, evoked bodily sensations and emotions. We investigated these effects by using different types of angular vs. curved stimuli: abstract drawn shapes (Study 1), 3D-printed mockup pills (Study 2) and photographs of the existing pills (Study 3). Participants were asked to imagine ‘taking’ angular and curved pills. They had to focus on the bodily sensations and report the evoked activations/deactivations in different body parts. Across three studies, we found that the angular pills evoke overall more activations in the body compared to curvy pills. We further reported differences in the topography of angular vs. curved pills’-triggered sensations in different body parts. Our results also revealed that angularity is linked with an energizing effect while roundness is associated with a calming effect. The shape effects were demonstrated not only in self-reported energized vs. calm subjective feelings but also in performance on a timed cognitive test. Compared to incongruent designs, pill designs (angular vs. curved) congruent with proposed drug benefits (energizing vs. calming) were perceived as more effective. Moreover, we found differences in emotions triggered by pills of different shapes. The present research provided new findings on angularity vs. curvature perception that may be valuable for cognitive psychology, marketing, pharmaceutical and supplements industry, and other applied fields.
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spelling pubmed-74786202020-09-18 The shape of the pill: Perceived effects, evoked bodily sensations and emotions Blazhenkova, Olesya Dogerlioglu-Demir, Kivilcim PLoS One Research Article Current research examined the differential effects of pills’ shape (angular vs. curvy) on the perceived efficacy of the medicine, evoked bodily sensations and emotions. We investigated these effects by using different types of angular vs. curved stimuli: abstract drawn shapes (Study 1), 3D-printed mockup pills (Study 2) and photographs of the existing pills (Study 3). Participants were asked to imagine ‘taking’ angular and curved pills. They had to focus on the bodily sensations and report the evoked activations/deactivations in different body parts. Across three studies, we found that the angular pills evoke overall more activations in the body compared to curvy pills. We further reported differences in the topography of angular vs. curved pills’-triggered sensations in different body parts. Our results also revealed that angularity is linked with an energizing effect while roundness is associated with a calming effect. The shape effects were demonstrated not only in self-reported energized vs. calm subjective feelings but also in performance on a timed cognitive test. Compared to incongruent designs, pill designs (angular vs. curved) congruent with proposed drug benefits (energizing vs. calming) were perceived as more effective. Moreover, we found differences in emotions triggered by pills of different shapes. The present research provided new findings on angularity vs. curvature perception that may be valuable for cognitive psychology, marketing, pharmaceutical and supplements industry, and other applied fields. Public Library of Science 2020-09-08 /pmc/articles/PMC7478620/ /pubmed/32898184 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238378 Text en © 2020 Blazhenkova, Dogerlioglu-Demir http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Blazhenkova, Olesya
Dogerlioglu-Demir, Kivilcim
The shape of the pill: Perceived effects, evoked bodily sensations and emotions
title The shape of the pill: Perceived effects, evoked bodily sensations and emotions
title_full The shape of the pill: Perceived effects, evoked bodily sensations and emotions
title_fullStr The shape of the pill: Perceived effects, evoked bodily sensations and emotions
title_full_unstemmed The shape of the pill: Perceived effects, evoked bodily sensations and emotions
title_short The shape of the pill: Perceived effects, evoked bodily sensations and emotions
title_sort shape of the pill: perceived effects, evoked bodily sensations and emotions
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7478620/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32898184
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238378
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