To be fair, there are these types of evaluations for all types of animals - dog shows, rat shows, mouse shows, chinchilla shows, cat shows etc. All breeds and 'morphs' of these animals do have specific written standards they are evaluated against and the 'best' one gets the prize.
Now is this a good thing? It's been both good and bad for many of these species. Some of the breeding for these standards have improved the quality and then some have introduced and increased some very serious genetic health problems. Overall I personally wouldn't be thrilled to have the same thing for snakes. But it's certainly possible to do. Each morph very much could have a written description of the generally desired traits. It won't be to everyone's preference, but the same is true for all the other animals that have these standards.
E.g. Pastels: must be bright with no browning out and distinct 'flames' Pieds: must have 60-75% white and good contrast BELs: must be as clean white as possible with no yellowing or browning
Overall I don't have the same kind of strong feeling about morphs in general as many people and was actually originally looking for a normal for my first. I like some of the morphs and would consider getting something like a BEL some day, but it's not that important to me. But if you look at the example of many other animals for how do you get a higher price for the "same" snake, the easiest answer looks like establishing a show circuit. The other, less simple answer, is more educated buyers. Ribbons are more concrete and easier for people to understand than pastel vs lemon pastel vs citrus pastel or what have you. Basically all of the dogs that are going from sold out waiting lists are from breeders that show their dogs, or have show dog lines. I believe it's difficult to establish credibility as a breeder from outside the show circuit entirely and understandably so.
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