A Recent Study from the University of Miami School of Business has Found Visually Appealing Annual Reports Result in Investors Perceiving Greater Value in a Company

As companies begin planning for their 2011 annual reports, which many are doing this time of year, they may want to pay closer attention to the way those reports look.  A recent study out of the University of Miami’s School of Business Administration found that investors, regardless of their experience, place a higher value on firms with attractive annual reports than they do on those that produce less attractive reports. The study found that annual reports that utilize more color and better design are perceived to have at least one percent higher annual revenues than those with lackluster designs.

“The role of aesthetics in consumer goods like those you’d find on store shelves has been widely studied, but our research is novel in that we look at this effect in the extreme context of financial decision-making and what we find is just how boundless the role of aesthetics can be,” said Claudia Townsend, assistant professor of marketing at the School of Business, who conducted the research with Suzanne Shu at UCLA.  “Better-looking documents produce increased pride of ownership for a company, and this pride increases valuation.  People are not aware of the effect of aesthetics on their financial decisions and we found that when their attention was drawn to this issue they were able to overcome the bias and make wiser investments.”

“The implications of these findings should point firms in the direction of good graphic designers,” added Townsend.  “After all, it is a lot easier to add color to a printed piece of paper than to add revenue to a company’s bottom line.” The research paper can be found online at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057740810000677.:

Magneto Brand Advertising can assist your company in creating an impactful annual report. Now is the time to begin planning for your 2011 Annual Report. Contact Paul Landaker at Magneto Brand Advertising to learn more about the services available to develop a powerful and compelling report of your company’s activities last year. Telephone: 503.222.7477 or Email: plandaker@magnetoworks.com.

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