A new study indicates people prefer cars that appear dominant, masculine and angry--particularly in the "face" and other traits that folks perceive in a car's styling, according to LiveScience. The idea finds its roots in pareidolia, which is the human tendency to see human-like traits in inanimate objects.

This is quite a problem for auto manufacturers to conquer. "When investing in a new passenger car, you're talking about billions," said Truls Thorstensen, head of EFS Consulting Vienna, in the article. "If you get the wrong styling, you get problems."

The study used detailed questionnaires that helped participants evaluate the face-like characteristics of the front of a given car, and then to rate that car in terms of its appeal. People rated cars the highest if they looked to be the most powerful, such as if they sat lower, were wider, or had aggressive details like wider air intakes and slit headlights. The eventual goal of the study is to come up with a tool that can help designers figure out in advance what people might think of a given look.