Size Does Matter: Automobile “Facial” Features Predict Consumer Attitudes

Abstract

This study further examines the issue of whether perception of automobile “faces” can be predicted based on the way in which people process human faces. Specifically, this work examined whether consumer ratings are correlated with the relative size of features on the front end of an automobile. Participants rated twenty-three cars on a variety of consumer attributes. Greater distance between headlights, like distance between human eyes, predicted positive ratings on several consumer attitudes. Results are consistent with the idea that processes used for perception of faces are involved in the attributions made for artifacts displaying minimal features.