Pretty Cafe Latte Art Makes Us Want To Pay More For A Cup Of Coffee

When you order a latte or some other foamy drink, you might get a nice surprise in the form of art drawn in the foam -- and you might be willing to pay more because of that little aesthetic addition by your barista. A new study that looked at cafe latte art found it can affect a drink's perceived value quite a bit.

Foam art has advanced way beyond leaves and hearts, to the point where there are competitions dedicated to the craft. But even simpler art can enhance the value and enjoyment of a cuppa java. Researchers from Federation University Australia, Monash University and the University of Oxford studied the effects of foam art on participants in four experiments, and -- not surprisingly -- concluded it influenced how people viewed the value of the drink and how much they were willing to pay. The study was published in the Journal of Sensory Studies.

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Of course an artful presentation makes a difference with other foods, too. Salad arranged like a Kandinsky painting was described to be more delicious than the same salad that was tossed and served to the same participants. The individuals were also willing to pay more for the artsy salad.

"We also found that the type of art appearing on the coffee was important. People rated cappuccinos with star-like shapes on their foam as being of better quality than those with rounded, amoeba-like shapes," George Van Doorn, from Federation University, said in a statement.

For coffee shops, that might mean hiring more people with artistic talents -- and for customers, it might mean shelling out more for that artsy morning joe.