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Can you judge a book by its cover?
I saw this and thought I should buy the book -- Kate Christensen's novel The Great Man -- just because I liked the cover. As an experiment, I deliberately did not scan the contents or read the blurbs on the back. The title isn't very descriptive either. I then bought the book.
My thought was this: presumably the publisher designs the cover to appeal to people who will spread favorable word of mouth about the book. As a sometimes good (but non-reductionist) Bayesian, if I like the cover I should infer I will praise the book. Furthermore I should be especially keen to buy on this basis for a "word of mouth book," and indeed this author does not have a celebrity name.
If I like the cover *a lot*, can I receive a worse evaluation by
checking out the blurbs and thus skewing or minimizing my gut reaction
to the image? Surely if someone is able to manipulate me, my optimal
strategy is let just some of the manipulative information through. The
case for viewing the cover -- and only the cover -- is simply that many
more people see the cover than evaluate any other part or aspect of the
book. Might we then not expect the cover to be the strongest and best
thought out signal?
I can now report that the topic of the book interests me greatly, and I am enjoying the first half of the book. I fully expect to finish it.
I will continue this experiment by buying another book just for its cover.
I do understand that this is usually considered the strategy of a relatively stupid person.
Under what conditions should a smart person prefer books with stupid or ugly covers?
Under what conditions should you -- for non-superficial reasons -- prefer other items, just because of their looks?
Posted by Tyler Cowen on August 27, 2007 at 06:08 AM in Books | Permalink
Comments
Having spent quite a bit of time working in bookstores, and even more time reading them, I would agree with you completely. Book publishers spend a tremendous amount of effort making sure that the cover conveys the sense of the book, and they are remarkably successful. I have had a great deal of success in finding new authors by simply wandering until I found a book whose cover I loved. As for a time to prefer stupid or ugly covers, I have not had much luck judging philosophy, science, or other such 'technical' books by their covers, the good-cover test only works (for me) with fiction and historical titles.
I would think that you could apply this split to other areas to answer your final question. If I am looking for facts I am not looking for an appealing cover, if I want entertainment then I will probably be looking for a more visual cue. The New York Times doesn't need to pretty itself up for most people to want to read it, but People better have some pretty good graphic designers on hand or its circulation will probably drop.
Posted by: Tucker at Aug 27, 2007 7:41:41 AM
Tucker;
Most graphic designers would say that the NYT is far "prettier" than People.
Tyler;
I think science fiction covers are pretty interesting in this regard (probably other genre fiction as well). They ususally do an excellent job of signalling the type of story inside. Usually you can tell even from the spine!
Posted by: RobbL at Aug 27, 2007 8:43:11 AM
Why not just use word of mouth and some research? Or the trust networks we have built around ourselves to deal with these sorts of problem? My impression of your book, for instance, improved a lot upon reading a positive review of it in the Guardian. I was worried it might be obnoxious elitist crap, because I initially found marginal revolution through the blog of a certain colleague of yours, who is currently marketing a book as well.
FTR, the last book I read was "Collective decisions and voting: The potential for public choice" by Nicolaus Tideman. It wasn't easy to get hold of, but I eventually borrowed it in a library at the University of Oslo. I was most interested in the voting bits, but I found the collective decisions bit most interesting.
Posted by: Harald Korneliussen at Aug 27, 2007 8:50:58 AM
I've never liked the idea that "you can't judge a book by its cover". As Tucker points out, a book's cover is deliberately chosen by a book's author, editor, and/or publisher to convey information about it. Perhaps not judging a book by its cover made sense a hundred years ago, when books were all published with solid-color covers, but today, with modern printing techniques, it's silly to ignore such useful information.
Posted by: Aric at Aug 27, 2007 8:51:58 AM
The other day my wife was reading a book I'd never heard of and I asked her how she chose books. She said she just looks for book titles that use the girliest type. I guess it works.
Posted by: Ted Craig at Aug 27, 2007 8:56:02 AM
You can do this in libraries by wandering the aisles until you see a spine that catches your eye, although it works best for genre fiction, as RobbL observed. I've had the best results using this method for historical fiction, which usually manages to convey genre, period, and tone quite effectively through choice of cover art and fonts.
Posted by: Amber at Aug 27, 2007 9:06:24 AM
When I'm looking for new fiction, I go to Borders and look for interesting covers. I write down the ones that I actually remember enough to look for again after the second lap and go get them from the library. (recent win for this method: Theft by Peter Carey)
I'm very strict about never reading the blurbs on fiction - they seem to either give entirely the wrong impression or give away too much plot.
Posted by: A.M. at Aug 27, 2007 9:25:32 AM
Why stop at books?
I do a healthy dose of shopping this way. Shampoo, beverages, and even my current vehicle was chosen based on looks. (While looks wasn't the most important factor in choosing my car, it was the tie breaking factor).
The logic is that a well designed product reflects well designed contents. If they show attention to detail for the cover, they must have equal if not more attention to detail for the books contents. However this strategy will probably yield worse results for products where presentation is the point, such as luxury products.
If time is a premium, and a product has to be chosen, I strongly think that choosing purely on looks is a sound strategy.
In my work as a corporate analyst, I've also noticed a strong correlation between the quality of a presentation that a company give and the overall financial performance of that company.
Posted by: JostT at Aug 27, 2007 9:32:52 AM
You people are all insane.
Substitute "person" for "book". Based on available photos, you're not particularly pretty, Tyler, nor fashionably dressed. Are we to judge your worth as a conversational partner on this basis?
Is this the backlash to "overcoming bias"... embracing it instead?
Posted by: anonymous at Aug 27, 2007 9:35:21 AM
My girlfriend and I buy wine by looking at the lable.
Our favorite is "Toasted Head" it has a picture of a bear breathing fire.
Posted by: Chris at Aug 27, 2007 9:42:32 AM
Interesting question and thoughts as usual Tyler. Reviewing the Amazon summaries it does seem like a book I'd enjoy. Would you mind fleshing out *why* you liked this particular cover? Maybe I'm not hip/smart enough to make the necessary connections, but I'm not seeing why a picture of a paintbrush is so appealing and somehow attracts people who would enjoy this particular novel.
Posted by: Andy at Aug 27, 2007 10:13:25 AM
I avoid book editions with the Oprah Book-Club tag on the front.
Posted by: eriks at Aug 27, 2007 10:14:23 AM
Oprah once choose One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Posted by: Billy at Aug 27, 2007 10:21:33 AM
Oprah once choose One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Posted by: Billy at Aug 27, 2007 10:22:15 AM
Oprah once choose One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Posted by: Billy at Aug 27, 2007 10:22:21 AM
I'm actually quite in favor of judging a book by its cover. As above noted, genre fiction is generally the best at utilizing this type of signaling (want a story about spaceships? This book has one on the cover!), but I would apply it to less genre-bound fiction and various non-fiction as well. For one thing, I like to own books that are attractive to the eye. My graphic designer girlfriend has been known to buy or not buy books based on the type used. For another, I think it actually does sway my decision to think that someone actually put the time and effort into a nice presentation of the material. Of course this doesn't always hold true (the only editions widely available in the U.S. of French-language fiction are terrible, even for great books), but for books I know nothing else about, it's a good start.
I think that the rule holds far better for Rock Music albums, with a few notable exceptions the best albums have great album art. I don't think that this holds for Jazz or Classical, which is part of the reason I don't own very much of either genre: I have no idea where to start buying.
Posted by: d.cous. at Aug 27, 2007 10:33:10 AM
I love where Chris' head is at! My girlfriend and I love to buy cheap bottles of wine based on the look. We both enjoy good, as well as expensive wine (note they are not one in the same in all instances). Anyway, it's a great way to spend $5-$10 while having a great time arguing whether a particular bottle looks like it will taste beter than Two Buck Chuck!
Posted by: Chicagoan at Aug 27, 2007 10:38:58 AM
As others have said, there's a correlation between the cover and the insides.
Under what conditions should you -- for non-superficial reasons -- prefer other items, just because of their looks?
Uhhh -- women?
Posted by: David Zetland at Aug 27, 2007 10:42:13 AM
Tyler,
Awesome experiment, I am quite fascinated by your commentary on your feelings regarding ‘judging a book by its cover’ especially with regards to “might we then not expect the cover to be the strongest and best thought out signal?” as it can be expanded directly to everyday life both in how judge and how we are judged.
While everyone I have ever asked claims to be ‘open-minded and attempts to be non-judgmental’ isn’t it a fact that in everyday life we quickly size up objects of all sorts based on very quick perceptions of them (IE Blink, Malcolm Gladwell)? And this severs to benefit us through saving time, keeping us from perilous situations, etc, etc.
Just as you made a split decision on a book , as much as we may try to fight it on a conscious level, we size people up in a very similar fashion. Taking learned perceptions of what we believe certain traits externally appear like and project those characteristics onto the individual portraying them. Is this ‘right’? Certainly it has lead to ‘incorrect’ assumptions, but if you are currently reading this then it has also served to keep you alive, which cannot be all that bad of a thing… Dramatic? Maybe a bit, but also accurate.
Of course it is also necessary to inquire whether you are enjoying the book itself because you entered the process of liking the cover (having a positive feeling on the experience before truly entering it) and if purchasing the same book simply on the premise that you loathed the cover would have given different results.
On an everyday basis don’t we also present ourselves with a ‘cover’ of sorts? What do that cover tell of us? It is easy to say ‘I don’t care what others think of me’ but does this really serve in our best interest?
-CS
Posted by: CS at Aug 27, 2007 10:42:26 AM
I used to use this same approach browsing for CD's in the early 90's. Cruise into a record store and flip thru the bins just looking for something that looked interesting. Here's four albums I bought from that era using this approach.
Daniel Lanois- "For the Beauty of Wynona"
Saint Entienne- "So Tough"
Jah Wobble- "Rising Above Bedlam"
Milla- "The Divine Comedy"
The first two turned out to be great, two of my favorite disks from the era. And while the latter two did not live up to the promise of their cover, they had some interesting moments as well.
Now all the big box record stores are closing shop and the CD is going the way of the LP and the 78. Its alot harder to shop for music using visual cues.
Posted by: mhowell at Aug 27, 2007 10:44:32 AM
mhowell-
Good point. Even on iTunes though, they show a small (too small, really) picture of the album art. Of course, now you can listen to 30-second samples of each song, either on iTunes or in the bigger book/music stores (Barnes & Noble, Borders). This probably isn't a bad thing, but you are right, it does diminish the usefulness of visual cues.
Posted by: d.cous. at Aug 27, 2007 11:02:01 AM
The notion can clearly work - but here's a case where it doesn't - and I hope a reasonably 'economist' reason why: movies.
When a film company sinks millions into a stinker of a movie (eg Dick Tracy, Independence Day etc.) that is a sunk cost. Their only hope to recapture some of that loss is by pouring more into a brilliant trailer (the movie proxy for the book cover). Combine with a widescale promotion effort & limited or zero pre-release review screenings & we should all be wary.
To answer the question when SHOULD we (for non-superficial reasons) prefer items for their looks - if I can take liberty with the notion of 'looks', I would definitely add buying food in an unfamiliar place. Look to the street hawker, deli etc. with the massive queue (ie attractiveness to others, a proxy for appearences) relative to others nearby - I've never regretted following that maxim.
Posted by: nick at Aug 27, 2007 11:32:46 AM
I agree with CS - we do this a lot more often than we'd like to admit, and very often it works. But sometimes it is tricky to know whether we are fooling ourselves that it is working, or we filter based on our preconceptions-- confirmation bias.
I choose my fun-books based on title only (I can't do it by cover because I shop online and my fun-books are all second hand and old and they don't show the covers of those). Title, I think, works better than cover for the kind of books I like. I have about a very high success rate using title only. Probably equal to any other way that I find out about this kind of book, I am not always happy when using footnotes/references either. I can't compare much to browsing and skimming or to recommendations as I don't have enough data for comparison.
Posted by: liberty at Aug 27, 2007 11:51:06 AM
Might Tyler's appreciation for this book's cover have anything to do with its similarity to his own? Each features a single vertical icon in green and orange.
Posted by: Justin at Aug 27, 2007 12:03:20 PM
As for jazz cd covers matching their content (see comment by d.cous., above), this label (a fave of mine) has done a pretty good job of it: www.screwgunrecords.com.
Posted by: Justin at Aug 27, 2007 12:06:07 PM
