The influential effect of product design depends on your sex, according to a new report.
Product Psychology head and report author Gloria Moss claims men are less influenced by design than women in their purchasing decisions and product design preferences.
However, designs created for women are actually more likely to appeal to both sexes, she implies in December’s issue of The Journal of Brand Management
In the report, male consumers fare poorly in terms of appreciating a product’s design characteristics. Women are more likely to demonstrate a preference for a design if it is colourful, rounded, light-hearted and has a non-technical appearance, says Moss.
However, men are not quick to select opposite characteristics. Colourlessness, straight-forwardness, seriousness, and technicality do not demonstrably appeal to men, she claims.
“When designing for a woman you should design as she would herself, but when designing for a man, design like a man or a woman would,” she concludes. But, Moss says, most relevant work on this subject has been written by and for men.
The research also shows that men tend to dominate the purchasing decisions of petrol, computers and cameras, while women dominate in buying houses, groceries, small electrical goods and beauty and healthcare products.
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