Hi Roger,
Visual impact is the most dramatic sense we have, and it's instant. What we see affects almost everything we do.
People respond to gender, colors, attractiveness, smiles, radiance, such as portrayed in some of the artworks in art forums, the paintings that have sun or radiance or bright colors are perceived as more beautiful.
People respond to light, color, radiance. Tiffany lamps were created shortly after the invention of the lightbulb, and are still a top-selling item worldwide. Colored crystal jewelry is also a top seller. Anything that catches the light and radiates vibrance is always popular.
Gender is also a factor in sales, obviously, youth and gender and attractiveness have been the key focus in high-end sales such as on TV commercials and magazine ads for cars.
For example, someone wanted me to join a business, and the site had a beautiful woman on it, but the text was very dull and there wasn't much pull-factor, so I asked him, what if the image of the woman wasn't there? Would anyone stay on that page for more than 5 seconds?
Another business I'm in has 2 main sites, one with a newer video of a man, and another with an outdated video and a graphic of a beautiful woman, and that's the site most men join thru, at higher amounts of investment.
Visuals are our first and foremost sense, usually outweighing all other senses, even against
"common sense" sometimes.