There’s a specific reason why we choose these wide faces in some situations: because humans have evolved to be scared of them. Previous research has found–and Maeng has confirmed–that we’re put off by wide faces specifically because they look dominant. “People don’t like the dominant human face, but people really like dominant-looking products, somehow,” says Maeng. “So we were intrigued to figure out why. And we figured out that. People probably see the dominant product as part of myself, that can boost my dominance, whereas human faces that are more dominant, we don’t like, because this other person will dominate me, and I’ll have to play the subordinate role.”
Maeng reached this conclusion through a series of studies, discovering that while people don’t always prefer wide products, they often do when put into a high-pressure situation. In one study, participants were told they had to rent a car to drive to a job negotiation. They were told that the negotiation wasn’t going well, and the other side currently had the upper hand. People were offered the same model of BMW, but at various widths. And they agreed to spend more money on the wider car.