When you see a picture, in a lot of cases the model has a big smile on his or her face. You could say that we see a lot of smiling face and it is not really original. So probably, people will look past it, no? But is that really the case? Can we ever get enough of a smile?
First, you have to understand that there are 2 kinds of smiles, fake ones and real ones. No surprises there. A genuine smile is also called a Duchenne smile. This type of smile triggers muscles around the mouth and cheeks, both voluntary and involuntary. You will see crow’s feet around the eyes because of that.
With a fake smile, some muscles can not be triggered voluntary and as a result our expression will not be the same.
As in many cases our brain keeps astonishing us by the more we learn about it, and in this case, that is not different. We can recognize a smile in about 50 milliseconds and that is faster than any other emotion. Further more, we are able to recognize a happy expression over 50 meters away.
We are, in a way, programmed to be sensitive to other peoples emotions. In our brain, mirror neurons start to work when they recognize a facial expression. If that face is happy, we will mirror that emotion and start to feel similar emotions.
When people feel happy, it will also affect their behaviour. More specifically, in information processing and decision making. This will result in making a positive connection between the consumer and your product or brand. And so, making the chance bigger the consumer will buy your product.
This question is probably already going through your mind as soon as you started to read this article. And yes, you have a point. As a happy expression is the easiest to relate to, expression is more than your face. By letting a model move in a certain way or just showing other emotions that relate more to your audience also work fine. This will also create a more positive attitude towards a product, brand or company.
The goal is always to create that positive vibe. And don’t forget that negative emotions are contagious too, so be careful with those!
