Make exercise easier: A brief intervention to influence implicit attitudes towards exercise and physical activity behavior

•A evaluative conditioning task targeting automatic processes was developed to altered the implicit attitudes of exercise and physical activity behavior.•Evaluative conditioning had a marginal positive effect on implicit attitudes across two different studies.•Evaluative conditioning had a marginal positive effect on physical activity the day after the experimental manipulation.•No differences where observed between the control and experimental groups in the following days after the evaluative conditioning session.