Shiny or Matte?

Huang, Song, and Yang report that “glossy (vs. matte) finishes increase consumers’ perceived effectiveness of a problem-avoiding product while the reverse is true for a problem-approaching product. . . . we demonstrate that glossy [matte] finishes lead consumers to find the description of a product’s problem-avoiding[problem-approaching] function more trustworthy and, thus, the product to be more effective. . . . we suggest marketers use glossy finishes for problem-avoiding products and matte finishes for problem-approaching products.”  Key clarifications: “problem-solving products could either approach problem-causing stimuli and directly assuage the undesirable source of the problem (i.e., problem-approaching) or avoid problem-causing…

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