They say that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Which is probably correct. They also say that, in general, appearance doesn’t matter. Which is also probably correct.
Should appearance matter? For rational people appearances don’t matter. All they care about is getting what they want. Continuing on from the example of the book, one should buy the book that is more likely to fulfill their needs the best, being either in terms of entertainment, or knowledge.
But then again, how many of us act solely based on what’s the rational thing to do?
The new Toyota Supra is 90% the same as the BMW Z4. They are built in the same factory, use the same floor, gearbox, engine, interior, you name it. The Supra is effectively a re-skinned version of the Z4. If people behaved rationally and appearances didn’t matter, then the Supra shouldn’t exist. But it does, because some of us still want to say that we own a Supra, a mass-production car that became famous as a super-car killer. Although this is not the case anymore, we still get excited by the story. On the other hand, some people like to say that they own a BMW, a brand associated with luxury and an above-average financial standing, even one that shares the same parts as a “humble” Toyota. (As humble as a EUR50k+ car be.) Appearances matter.
Blue Nile is the world’s largest diamond retailer. It’s been in business for years, but saw its reputation really take off, when they redesigned the packaging of their products. Up until that point, although they both offered similar quality diamonds and Blue Nile was in fact cheaper, may customers preferred to order from James Allen instead, simply on the grounds of the latter’s far superior packaging. Product packaging matters.
Years ago, when I was still young in the advisory profession, I received a call from an angry prospective client (the secretary forwarded the call to me because all senior members of the team were occupied at that time). The client’s request was simple, but the call lasted about five times more than it should have, as I allowed him to vent his anger and frustration against the partners of the firm for not being punctual in their communication with him. Service delivery matters.
At heart, none of us is rational. We all judge books by their cover. Especially today, when there are so many books around to choose from, it is impossible to make a background check of them all and be certain that we made the best choice. So we may as well go for the prettier. And if you are the author/publisher? You’d best ensure that you make a good first impression, starting with the cover, because, yes, you got that right, appearances do matter.