Have you ever wondered why every wristwatch ad you see has the timepiece set to 10:10? Well, here at B&T we’d never considered it for a single second either until we undertook some investigative research (a quick Google search) and revealed it is, indeed, true!
And have you ever wondered why 10:10 has become the norm for brands, their agencies and studio photographers alike?
Well, the obvious reason is by setting the hands at that exact point better shows the watch’s branding on the timepiece’s face.
However, according to new research in the journal Frontiers In Psychology, there’s a psychological reason for it too and it’s apparently guaranteed to sell more watches.
According to the research, a watch set at 10:10 resembles a human smile and that makes people more inclined to want to buy the watch featured.
Researchers believed that a watch that showed 10:10 would be more appealing visually than one set to a “neutral” time like 11:30. They also wanted to see if a time that resembled a “sad face” at 8:20 would have the opposite effect.
Researchers also noted that the tendency to use 10:10 was not the norm until the 1950s. Prior to that, watches were almost always set to a time of 8:20, which had the aesthetic advantage of being symmetrical while at the same time not hiding a logo.
“Watches set at 10:10 showed a significant positive effect on the emotion of the observer and the intention to buy. However, watches set at 8:20 did not show any effect on the emotion or the intention to buy,” the researchers noted.
“Moreover, watches set at 10:10 induced in women significantly stronger ratings of pleasure than in men. The data of the second experiment show that participants consistently perceive high resemblance between watches set at 10:10 and a smiling face as well as high resemblance between watches set at 8:20 and a sad face.”
The researchers added that the “study proves for the first time that there is empirical evidence for the notion that using watches with a time setting that resembles a smiling face, like the ubiquitous 10:10, can positively affect the emotional response of the user even if the viewer is not aware of the fact that showing that time induces a positive effect.”
Here’s some famous watch ads to prove the point:
