Appreciating style -- Is it the Appearance, or Perceived Effort?

Recipe For Ad Success: Just Add Art

ScienceDaily (2008-02-15) -- Advertisers looking to add appeal to their products need to look no farther than their nearest art museum, according to a new study that finds that even a fleeting exposure to art makes consumers evaluate products more positively. The study represents a pioneering attempt to systematically demonstrate how visual art influences consumer perceptions....
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This article summarizes a paper to be published in the Journal of Marketing Research, which shows that the addition of perceived artwork to a product -- a box, a soap dispenser, plumbing fixtures, etc. -- improves the likelihood the product is perceived more favorably or luxuriously. The nature of the artwork -- recognizable, aesthetically pleasing etc. -- appears secondary to the very presence of the artwork -- the impression someone made an effort to change the appearance of the package.

Returning to the question of style preferences -- how much is a preference based on aesthetics alone, and how much is it based on the perceived effort and value added to the item in question?