Reducing Satiation: The Role of Categorization Level

Abstract

People usually like experiences less as they repeat them: they satiate. This research finds that people satiate less if they categorize the consumption episodes at lower levels. For instance, as people ate more jelly beans, their enjoyment declined less quickly when the candy was categorized specifically (e.g., cherry, orange) rather than generally (e.g., jelly bean). Three studies demonstrate this “specificity effect” for people’s ratings of enjoyment both during and immediately after consumption. Process evidence shows that subcategorization focuses people’s attention on differentiating aspects, making the episodes seem less repetitive and consequently less satiating.