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REPORT: People attracted to cars with angry faces
Consumers prefer cars to be angry-looking and dominant. That's the official word from a team at the University of Vienna after studying a group of male and female volunteers. Each were asked to rate the design features on 38 passenger cars introduced between 2004 and 2006. After rating the vehicle's physical traits, the researchers asked if the subjects saw "faces" (it's a phenomenon called "pareidolia") in the vehicles' appearances. Lastly, they asked participants which cars in the group they preferred. Interestingly enough, the more a vehicle bore characteristics appearing mature, dominant, masculine, arrogant, and angry-looking, the better the research subjects liked the cars. While the study didn't correlate actual sales figures with implied vehicle attitudes, it does add credence to the fact that emotion sways consumers towards certain models and adds yet another meaning to the familiar mid-cycle "facelift."
Gallery: Pixar CARS Photochops
[Source: MSNBC via Kicking Tires]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
B-NOIT 3:12PM (10/08/2008)
Wow, really? Kind of a lame study, isn't it? (Still the kind of thing I'd love to conduct, though.)
I do wonder how this "emotional" sway due to aggressive styling affects sales, or how any of this is even relevant. Who were the subjects, anyway? Many people don't even care about their car's appearance.
I, however, do care, and still I just bought a Jetta 2.0T because of its powertrain, fuel economy, ride and price rather than because I think it looks manly and aggressive. And yes, I'm a man.
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Red 3:12PM (10/08/2008)
Everytime you all post one of these galleries, I have to watch Cars. Ugh. Damn you all to hell.
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Stumpy 3:21PM (10/08/2008)
Soooo... Basicaly... No one is going to buy the new Miata then.
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riskylogic 4:32PM (10/08/2008)
I think Mazda has it covered -- the RX8 is available for those who prefer mean.
Everett 5:49PM (10/08/2008)
You're exactly right (what 'Riskylogic' sees as angry in the RX-8, I'll never comprehend), and I would be in that group. The Mazda RX-8 and MX-5 are grinning like fools. I've always thought that people that smile all the time are either, a) plotting, or b) special.
s13hybrid 3:22PM (10/08/2008)
Wasn't this study done with 20 males and 20 females, how is that enough people to even be considered general "people?" It's like if I got a group of friends together and asked them something, wrote it down, and reported it as an official survey.
This goes in the duhh/stupid official report category.
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jg 4:29PM (10/08/2008)
Let me guess, you said 'why do I need to know this' a lot during your math classes didn't you?
s13hybrid 4:47PM (10/08/2008)
Is my non existant math incorrect?
Or is it that 40 people counts as a large enough group to make an official survey legitamate?
JD 5:27PM (10/08/2008)
Yes, 40 people is large enough to get a pretty damn good result. You only need something like 36 samples (wiki says >30) to get a result with a 95% confidence interval. So yes, this is enough people to get a good result.
carbonalloy 3:41PM (10/08/2008)
Duh!
This is the problem with most japanese designs, as they are always too happy looking.
Also, why were the headlights not made to be the eyes in the photochops? Is it just me, or should the headlights be the eyes of the car? This is like assuming the semicolin in the semicolin emoticon are the nostrils. It has always bothered me how some companies streach those headlights way out. They think it makes the car look fast, but really, it makes the car look like a wet cat with its eyelids peeled back a la Clockwork Orange.
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Erik 3:49PM (10/08/2008)
Have you seen the latest Mitsubishi Lancer? If that's not angry and agressive, I don't know what is. I am with you on making the headlights the eyes though, it I have always though of it that way.
carbonalloy 3:58PM (10/08/2008)
yup, the lancer, and mitsubishi in general, have been good about NOT falling into the trap of the other japanese designs. I agree the lancer is good looking car, especially for a four-door. AND... especially in comparison to the lancer's arch rival, the WRX. Just when you think the WRX is the ugliest thing on the road, they go and make it ten times worse.
P.V. 5:19PM (10/08/2008)
I agree about the lights being the eyes, but apparently the Cars makers thought that windshield eyes look more human, while headlight eyes look more snake-like. I agree with this too, but I still associate headlights as eyes (especially with the Acura RL, whose headlights actually swivel like real eyes).
ugg.tryptophan 3:49PM (10/08/2008)
duh
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Sevket 3:56PM (10/08/2008)
My wife used to like my car (before we sold due to moving to NYC) because it had the kind of angry looking face. It used to shout 'get out of my way'.
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the friendly grizzly 4:00PM (10/08/2008)
Two cars from my childhood have grilles I remember. The Austin Healey Sprite had to be the happiest-looking car I ever saw!
The other was a model of Hillman, I forget the model. (They still brought in Jeremy Clarkson's heart-throb cars in those days; this Hillman was one of them). The "expression" of the grille was the exact same look as that on the face of a kid I knew when he was crying. Exact same expression! The resemblance was frightening.
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Torrent 4:05PM (10/08/2008)
I know I am. I mean the new Pony cars are all straight pissed.
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John 4:25PM (10/08/2008)
So we should make more cars that look like Nancy Pelosi? Oh, wait. That's ugly face, not angry face.
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Red 4:29PM (10/08/2008)
No, we should make them like Janet Reno. Ugly AND angry.
John 4:35PM (10/08/2008)
Reno??? Truly ugly and angry!