THE IMPACT OF PRODUCT AESTHETICS ON THE EVALUATION OF INDUSTRIAL-PRODUCTS

In spite of the fact that product appearance would not seem to bear upon performance, this article provides evidence that the appearance of an industrial product may have an impact on its evaluation. Utilizing a conjoint scaling approach, Mel Yamamoto and David R. Lambert find that industrial product appearance exerts an influence, which in some circumstances exceeds the influence of certain product performance or price attributes. They suggest that attention paid to product aesthetics may have a payoff in terms of sales performance. And further, the impact of product appearance affects people in different organizational functions, across a range of technical orientations.