From shiny waxed cars through to the latest iPhone, it appears humans are simply more attracted to glossy objects.
Proving this link has never been difficult for scientists, but explaining the reasons behind it has involved more head scratching.
Now researchers think they’ve worked out why shoppers would prefer to buy a shiny red apple than a dull piece of fruit.
The answer is surprisingly evolutionary and links consumer desires to a very basic need: water.
Scientists from Ghent University in Belgium began their study with existing research on childrens’ preferences for glossy over matte.
The research featured an interesting aside: the studied children would sometimes try to lick the glossy objects they were shown.
This insight drove the Belgium team to delve a little further via six experiments.
The research
To begin, the team established that human preferences for gloss go further than a learned association with expensive objects, like gold or silver.
They found children (a group less affected by marketing) are as likely to prefer gloss to adults, and that this association continues even if participants are blindfolded.
“The tests suggest there’s more to glossy than cultural connection or visual appeal,” says FastCoDesign, which profiled the Belgium research this month.
Another interesting lessons to come from the blindfold tests included descriptions of what could be on unknown pieces of paper.
The blindfolded participants were more likely to guess that images of waterfalls, rivers, or beaches were depicted on glossy paper than matte.
“In another test, this one without blindfolds, participants rated aquatic images as glossier than desert ones, although in truth there was no difference,” writes FastCoDesign.
The final link
The researchers’ final test involved a very simple idea tested on three different study groups: water deprivation.
One group ate biscuits without water, one was given both biscuits and water, and a third received neither.
Afterwards, each group looked a bunch of photographs that were half printed on glossy paper and half printed on matte.
All the groups predictably preferred the glossy photographs, but those who’d be deprived of water rated them the highest.
“First and foremost, this paper shows that our preference for glossy might be deep rooted and very human,” says Vanessa Patrick, one of the research scholars.
So, what’s the lesson for retailers and brands?
The research doesn’t necessarily indicate that a retailer should coat its entire store in chrome, but that perhaps there’s a reason why shininess is so important.
Smooth, clean surfaces are an easy way to make a store look glossier, as is that time old trick of spraying fruit and vegetables with a quick spray of water.
And, of course, a little wax and shine never hurt anybody’s sales.