Taking a Shine to It: How the Preference for Glossy Stems From an Innate Need for Water

Meert Katrien, Mario Pandelaere and Vanessa M. Patrick (2014), “Taking a Shine to It: How the Preference for Glossy stems from an innate need for water,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 24(2), 195-206.

Posted: 10 Jun 2020

See all articles by Vanessa Patrick

Vanessa Patrick

University of Houston - C.T. Bauer College of Business

Katrien Meert

Ghent University

Mario Pandelaere

Ghent University

Date Written: April 1, 2014

Abstract

Human beings are attracted to glossy objects. However, the investigation of whether this preference for glossy is a systematic bias, and the rationale for why, has received little or no attention. Drawing on an evolutionary psychology framework, we propose and test the hypothesis that the preference for glossy stems from an innate preference for fresh water as a valuable resource. In a set of six studies we demonstrate the preference for glossy among both adults and young children (studies 1A, 1B and 2) ruling out a socialization explanation, investigate the hypothesis that the preference for glossy stems from an innate need for water as a resource (studies 3 and 5) and, in addition, rule out the more superficial account of glossy = pretty (study 4). The interplay between the different perspectives, implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.

Keywords: Esthetics, Preference, Glossy, Evolutionary psychology, Innate

Suggested Citation

Patrick, Vanessa and Meert, Katrien and Pandelaere, Mario, Taking a Shine to It: How the Preference for Glossy Stems From an Innate Need for Water (April 1, 2014). Meert Katrien, Mario Pandelaere and Vanessa M. Patrick (2014), “Taking a Shine to It: How the Preference for Glossy stems from an innate need for water,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 24(2), 195-206. , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3602274

Vanessa Patrick (Contact Author)

University of Houston - C.T. Bauer College of Business ( email )

Houston, TX 77204-6021
United States

Katrien Meert

Ghent University ( email )

Coupure Links 653
Ghent, 9000
Belgium

Mario Pandelaere

Ghent University ( email )

Ghent

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
205
PlumX Metrics