Pros/cons of splash-screen with articifial loading delay
My firm has developed a small, domain-specific desktop GUI application. Being small, it loads fast (practically instantly) and initially presents a "home" screen, which in this app, is a kind of graphical menu. It has been suggested we introduce a 2-3 second delay in which we show some logo/splash-screen. The rationale is that this looks more professional.
What is the common wisdom on this?
Note: personally I hate this kind of screen; but I am just an engineer - the suggestion is that real users like them. So I am really looking for evidence about what users do and do not like, not just what the people on this site like.
Update: Like me, most of you dislike the artificial delay. But responses are more mixed about what users will want or accept. The story seems that, (a) people will accept a 1-2 second delay, and (b) users trust some applications better if they take their time.
But what evidence is there about this particular case of a software load-up screen? We cannot be the first company that tried this, it must have been commonplace in the 90s. Was there a backlash? Were there studies to support either view?