In factories
in which these questions have been carefully considered, the
psychological elements have always been found to be the most
influential, but often the most puzzling. I received material from a
number of industrial plants which sold the same article in a variety
of packings. The material which was sent to me included all kinds of
soaps and candies, writing-papers and breakfast foods, and other
articles which are handled by the retailer, the sale of which depends
upon the inclination and caprice of the customer in the store. For
every one of these objects a number of external covers and labels were
sent and with them a confidential report with details about their
relative success. For instance, a certain kind of chocolate was sold
under 12 different labels. One of them was highly successful in the
whole country, and one other had made the same article entirely
unsaleable. The other 10 could be graded between these extremes. In
all 12 cases the covers were decorated with pictures of women with a
scenic background. As long as only aesthetic values were considered,
all were on nearly the same level, and aesthetically skilled observers
repeatedly expressed their preference for some of the unsuccessful
pictures over some of the successful ones. But as soon as an internal
relation was formed between the pictures and the chocolate, in the one
case a mental harmony resulted which had strong suggestive power, in
the other case a certain unrest and inner disturbance which
necessarily had an inhibiting influence.
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