Beauty is in the hand of the beholder

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In our daily lives, we engage in various activities involving different body movements. We inspect products and advertisements with our eyes, but test products or browse through websites with our hands.

Consider two types of adverts, both featuring a model; one is a print ad that mostly aims to capture the visual attention of the consumer without further involvement, whereas the other is a banner ad that encourages the consumer to move their hand to click on it. Alternatively, imagine a shelf where the consumer looks at a product versus when they need to reach for the product.

Does this difference – looking versus reaching – mean the decision processes are different? According to our research, recently published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, the answer is yes.

Our research involved examining how we move our eyes and hands, specifically in response to beauty. In the lab, participants engaged in a very simple numerical task – similar to how consumers would compare prices – ...