Typically, those companies that place a value on design are market leaders. A recent study by the Design Council UK showed how design impacts business. It looked at 63 companies recognised as effective users of design and discovered that over a 10 year period shares in these companies had out-performed the FTSE 100 Index (an index of the 100 largest companies on the London Stock Exchange) by 200%. Used well, design meets the expectations of consumers and fulfills the needs of business. It aids companies by favourably shaping consumer perception and helps them communicate their most important messages to their customers, shareholders, employees and the public. Another study by the Journal of Advertising Research concluded that design was twice as important as facts when consumers were making buying decisions. 23,000 US consumers were subjected to 240 advertising messages covering 13 categories of goods. In each of the 13 categories, emotion was found to be much more important than facts in the decision making process.