Mere Exposure Effect in Pharma Marketing: Why Familiarity Wins

Ever noticed how a song grows on you after a few listens, or why you trust a brand you keep seeing around you? In pharma marketing, this is not luck. It is a psychological principle known as the Mere Exposure Effect.

First studied in 1968 by Robert Zajonc, a Polish-American psychologist, the finding was simple but profound. The more people were exposed to something, whether a face, a word, or a logo, the more they liked it. Familiarity creates comfort, and comfort builds preference. For pharma brands, this effect can mean the difference between being overlooked and being remembered.

How the Mere Exposure Effect Shapes Our Choices

Modern research shows the Mere Exposure Effect (MEE) is everywhere.

Bias and familiarity: We often prefer what we already know, even when it makes little logical sense. A stranger on your daily commute feels safer than someone you have never seen before.

Memory and aging: Studies show repeated exposure builds positive impressions across all ages, but older adults remember better when exposures are spaced out. This suggests that timing matters, not just frequency.

Why Brands Depend on Familiarity

Consumer giants like Coca-Cola thrive on repetition. Their logo, present across media, packaging, and events, builds trust through sheer familiarity. In pharma marketing, the same applies. Frequent visibility of visual aids, brochures, and digital reminders creates recognition. Over time, doctors gravitate toward what feels familiar and safe.

The Psychology Behind Familiarity

Two key mechanisms drive this effect:

Familiarity bias: Our brains are cautious of the unknown. When we see something often, it loses its risk factor and feels trustworthy. For doctors, this translates into greater confidence in familiar brands.

Cognitive ease: The more often we process a signal, the easier it feels to our brain. That mental ease is mistaken for liking. Doctors, faced with endless choices, often default to the familiar because it feels effortless.

Awareness Does Not Cancel the Effect

Even when people know they have been exposed repeatedly, they still prefer the familiar. A University of Sheffield study showed that participants liked logos more when they had seen them before, even if they consciously recognized the exposure.

For pharma marketers, this means repeated, light-touch interactions work. A WhatsApp update, a brief email, or a banner in a webinar may be enough to seed preference without demanding full attention.

Use Case in Pharma Marketing

Pharma brands can apply the Mere Exposure Effect through smart, consistent exposure across multiple touchpoints:

• WhatsApp campaigns: trial highlights, infographics, or KOL insights.

• Short videos: quick educational clips reinforcing expertise.

• Rep detail aids: consistently branded, simple, and memorable.

• Event reminders: spaced, non-intrusive touchpoints before webinars.

Each exposure builds comfort. Comfort builds recall. Recall leads to trust. Over time, doctors are more likely to choose the brand that feels most familiar.

Omnichannel Marketing and the Mere Exposure Effect

The Mere Exposure Effect works best when doctors encounter a brand across multiple touchpoints. This is where omnichannel pharma marketing becomes powerful. By combining WhatsApp updates, email reminders, in-clinic visual aids, webinars, and digital platforms, brands create a seamless presence in a doctor’s daily environment. Each channel reinforces the other, turning repetition into familiarity and familiarity into trust. When done right, omnichannel engagement ensures that every exposure feels connected, consistent, and valuable rather than random or intrusive.

Conclusion

The Mere Exposure Effect proves that in pharma marketing, visibility is not noise, it is strategy. Consistent, valuable presence across digital and in-clinic channels makes a brand memorable, trusted, and preferred.

👉 Want to explore how familiarity can strengthen your brand? Contact us to start building campaigns that doctors notice, recall, and act on.