Self-Affirmation through the Choice of Highly Aesthetic Products

  APRIL 11, 2013 Thursday 

Research Finding 

Choosing a Beautiful Product Makes You a More Open Person ! 

Experiment , conducted by Claudia Townsend of the University of Miami and Sanjay Sood of UCLA :  

Research participants who made hypothetical purchases of highly esthetic coffeemakers and other items subsequently became more open to other peoples' points of view, rating the validity of an article on animal testing at 5.6 on a 7-point scale, compared with a 4.7 given by people who had chosen less-esthetic products ! 

Reason ? Consumer behavioral insight : 

The results show that choosing a highly esthetic product has the same psychological impact on people as a self-affirmation exercise such as listing one's personal values. Product design touches consumers in deeply personal ways, the researchers say.

Source: Self-Affirmation through the Choice of Highly Aesthetic Products

Courtesy : Harvard Business Review