Our emotional reactions to marketing cues are so powerful that some high-tech companies study mood in small doses (in 1/30 of a second increments) as they analyze people's facial reac- tions when they see ads or new products. They
measure happiness as they look for differences
between, for example, a true smile (which includes
a relaxation of the upper eyelid) and a social smile
(which occurs only around the mouth). Whirlpool
used this technique to test consumers' emotional
reactions to a yet-to-be-launched generation of its
Duet washers and dryers. The company's goal: To
design an appliance that will actually make people
happy. Researchers discovered that even though
test subjects said they weren't thrilled with some
out-of-the-box design options, such as unusual
color combinations, their facial expressions said
otherwise.91 Does the ability to study our emotional
reactions at such a specific level give marketers an
unfair advantage?