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 stimuli and drive away from the undesirable source of the problem (i.e., problem-avoiding). For examples, antibacterial soap can be either germ-fighting or germ-shielding, and meal replacement shakes can either break down calories or keep calories away.”

Yunhui Huang, Wenjing Song, and Lu Yang.  2023. “Avoiding Through Glossiness and Approaching Through Matte: The Effect of Visual Finish on Perceived Product Effectiveness.”  Psychology and Marketing, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 262-273, https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21764