ABSTRACT—Low processing fluency fosters the impression
that a stimulus is unfamiliar, which in turn results in perceptions of higher risk, independent of whether the risk is
desirable or undesirable. In Studies 1 and 2, ostensible food
additives were rated as more harmful when their names
were difficult to pronounce than when their names were
easy to pronounce; mediation analyses indicated that this
effect was mediated by the perceived novelty of the substance. In Study 3, amusement-park rides were rated as
more likely to make one sick (an undesirable risk) and also
as more exciting and adventurous (a desirable risk) when
their names were difficult to pronounce than when their
names were easy to pronounce.