Stifle the Smile When Selling Status

Luxury appeal operates more through the exclusivity of item competence than through the approachability of interpersonal warmth. This leads to a hypothesis that the broad smile on faces of ad models which can help sell mass-market items would hurt sales of high-fashion apparel and accessories. In status-oriented or competitive situations centered around dominance, you do best to chill out your emotions.
     Researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Sussex, and Central European University Vienna tested this hypothesis with ads for Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, and two fictitious brand names developed for the studies and referred to in the ads as exclusive collections. Study participants included consumers in the U.S. and China.
     Overall, a neutral facial expression on the ad model produced higher levels of ad engagement, positive attitudes, and shopper purchase intentions. The researchers’ explanation is that in luxury contexts, a neutral expression, as contrasted to a smile, portrays pride in one’s self and in the luxury quality of the item being advertised.
     The researchers found that the effect did not hold with a mass-market cosmetic brand—Covergirl, but did with a luxury brand—Prada, for the same product category—a two-foundation makeup. With consumers who looked at the Covergirl ads, there were no significant differences between measures for those who saw the model with a smile and those who saw the model with a neutral expression. This supports the explanation that the smile-versus-neutral effect has to do with the nature of luxury contexts.
     The effect was stronger when in the ad, the model is looking directly at the viewer rather than averting a direct gaze. This suggests that a neutral look is particularly useful in luxury ads when the model’s gaze is directly toward the viewer.
     A direct gaze by a model enhances the credibility which luxury represents. Researchers at University of Houston found that an ad for a product or service appealing to positive emotions works best when the model’s eyes are averted rather than looking straight at the shopper. In one of the experiments—using a Facebook ad for a woman’s sun hat—people were 30% more likely to buy when the model had an averted compared to a direct gaze.
     But there was a downside to the averted gaze. It lessened model credibility. When credibility is essential, as with ads dependent on a luxury appeal, use a direct gaze by the model, advise the Houston researchers.

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Saturate Your Store with Sweet Smiles 

Chill Out Emotions to Look Cool 

Look Out for Where They’re Gazing

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Go for Oh’s to Reduce Restaurant No-Shows

OpenTable data show that in the U.S., about one out of every four restaurant reservations is not kept by the prospective diner. After citing that statistic, a team of Montclair State University, Mount Royal University, and Sejong University researchers detail the costs of no-shows, describe reasons for this behavior, and, through studies, develop suggestions for reducing the rate.
     The costs to restaurants include not only the lost revenue from those diners who didn’t appear, but also suboptimal inventory management of supplies and missed opportunities to seat walk-in guests at tables being held for those with reservations. The reasons for no-show behavior, as seen in prior studies, include some we might not expect, such as a customer booking at a number of restaurants and then forgetting to cancel the unwanted bookings.
     The chief strategy developed by the researchers for reducing no-show rates is to activate social pressure for reliability and punctuality by reminding consumers of the detrimental social effects of no-show behavior. Let’s get frequent diners in the habit of saying to themselves, “Oh, that’s why I should make only restaurant reservations I’m comfortable I can keep and conscientiously cancel any reservations I realize I won’t keep.”
     Based on results from their studies, the researchers conclude that this strategy works best when the cancellation policy is lenient. This is consistent with the idea that an optimal technique for reducing no-show rates won’t irritate prospective customers. Any penalties for cancellation should be perceived as fair and the cancellation procedure should not be perceived as burdensome.
     The researchers point out these techniques for curbing restaurant reservation no-shows might not work in other booking situations, such as with hotels. The average transaction amounts, length of advance planning, and visit frequencies are different. Still, I believe the strategy of increasing awareness among consumers about the costs of no-shows holds promise.
     Moreover, arousing a sense of obligation can nudge behavior toward the socially responsible in areas well beyond the no-show. The effects depend on you making the consumer’s behavior visible, or at least giving the impression of visibility. Although you can influence shopper behavior in the short-term by arousing shame, you’ll have better long-term results by aiming for a sense of obligation.
     With restaurants, feeling obligation should lead to higher diner tip amounts than would a feeling of shame, and in the areas well beyond, feeling obligation leads to more repeat business than does shame.

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Peer into Pressure from Obligation 

Prefer Obligation to Shame 

Tip Yourself Off with Tipping Tracking

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Use Color Codes Which Catch Shoppers’ Eyes

My thanks to Ernesto Cardamone, Gaetano “Nino” Miceli, and Maria Antonietta Raimondo from University of Calabria for this guest post.

Why do some products jump off the shelf while others blend into the background? The answer might be as simple—and complex—as color.
     We researchers identified what we call category color codes: the color patterns consumers associate with specific product categories. These codes shape what we expect to see in each aisle of the supermarket, and they influence how quickly we recognize and trust a product. For instance, in Italy, olive oil is often associated with yellow and green.
     But what happens when a brand wants to both fit in and stand out? This tension—between conformity and distinctiveness—is central to how products succeed or fail on the shelf. If a package looks too different, shoppers may not recognize it as belonging to the intended category. But if it looks too similar, it may never get noticed.
     In our study, we focused on the two most dominant colors on product packaging. Prior studies and an image mining analysis that we conducted on 10 product categories had shown that packages typically use two main colors—one covering around 49% of the surface, the other around 19%—with additional colors covering limited areas. So, we concentrated on how this main + secondary color combo affects shopper attention.
     We conducted a lab study, using mock two-colored packages in a controlled setting, and a field study in a supermarket. Using eye-tracking technology, we monitored how long shoppers looked at different product packages, as longer eye contact is a reliable indicator of attention.
     The most effective strategy we found? Choose one dominant color that aligns with category norms, and pair it with a second color that breaks those norms. Blend in just enough to be trusted, but stand out enough to be noticed.
     For manufacturers, these findings are important for setting the most effective color combination in packages. Moreover, for brands looking to piggyback on a category leader, the advice is clear: mimic the leader’s primary color, but use a contrasting secondary color to set yourself apart. For retailers, this insight can inform how products should be arranged on shelves to maximize attention.
     So next time you're walking the aisles, take a closer look—you might notice that what grabs your attention isn’t just a bright color, but a smart one.

© 2025 Ernesto Cardamone, Gaetano “Nino” Miceli, and Maria Antonietta Raimondo

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Saturate Hungry Shoppers with Vibrant Colors 

Go Bold or Au Naturel for Packaging Healthy 

Copycat Based on Leader Brand Proximity

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Verbalize Victimization to Reduce Censorship

How can Americans—citizens of a nation which enshrines the right to free speech in its very constitution—criticize somebody who lies by yelling, “Fire!,” in a crowded movie theatre?
     The answer to my question is at the basis of a study at University of Kaiserslautern-Landau and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: People support censorship of free speech when what’s being censored threatens imminent and significant harm to others. The researchers cite prior studies which document support for censorship of pornography on the basis that pornography harms women and support for censorship in children’s movies of scenes considered as harming the children’s proper sense of right and wrong.
     Information which is misleading threatens harm, and opinions which threaten harm can be considered misleading. But different people often have dueling conceptions of what would trigger imminent and significant harm. In addition, as shown in one of the researchers’ studies, people often view censorship as undesirable in general. What might persuade someone to change their urge to censor a particular item of information or expression of an opinion?
     The answer from the researchers to that question is: A rendition of a true experience of personal victimization which supports the value of the information or opinion now being shared. The researchers’ explanation for this effect is that when we perceive someone as a victim, we go on to consider them—and then, by association, what they’re saying—to be less harmful.
     This technique was shown to be effective in a study involving opinions about gun ownership. The progun experience used was, “Tyler supports gun regulations (i.e., restricting access to guns) because he had firsthand experience with guns when his daughter was hit by a stray bullet.” The antigun experience used was, “Tyler supports gun rights (i.e., access to guns) because he had firsthand experience with guns when he shot an intruder to protect his young daughter.” Parallel results were obtained in a follow-on study concerning views of abortion.
     The power of storytelling was also found in an earlier project by the same team of researchers about changing political opinions themselves, not just views about political opinions being censored.
     Political opinions resist change. New information which confirms previously held beliefs is remembered. New information which contradicts beliefs is ignored or forgotten. The result is political polarization or even dehumanization of those whose views oppose our own. Telling stories dissolved the dehumanization.

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Embed Politically Hot Facts in Personal Stories 

Disclose Yourself to Radiate Authenticity

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Invest Passion Properly in Investor Appeals

An excellent business concept withers away quickly without adequate funding to see it through to success. How should entrepreneurs verbalize their arguments for adequate funding in proposals to early-stage investors? asked a research team from University of Melbourne, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Monash University, and University of British Columbia.
     Key to developing an answer was recognition of the distinctively high risk the early-stage investors would be accepting. The researchers report past studies which indicate such investors want to fund only business concepts with promise of very high payoffs—home runs—and they freely use educated hunches—gut feeling—in their decision making.
     The researchers augment this formulation by positing that early-stage investors are influenced by the ways in which the entrepreneur uses language in the proposal. Of particular importance were the passion in the phrasing and the preponderance of concrete words versus abstract words in the exposition.
     The substance of a proposal consists of statements of the financial, social, human resources, and intellectual capital investments in the business concept which the entrepreneurs have made themselves. The researchers refer to this substance as costly signals, since they involve expenditures by the entrepreneur.
     Importantly, costly and costless signals interact in their effect on investor acceptance. On the basis of interviewing a set of venture capitalists and analyzing investor acceptance or rejection of more than 5,300 written proposals from startups, the researchers developed these recommendations: 

• When there are many costly signals in the presentation, high use of passion helps achieve investor financing. If costly signals are low, stay aware of the danger of expressions of passion so strong that they’re viewed as indicating lying or naiveté. 
• When there are few costly signals, high use of concreteness helps. If costly signals are high however, the danger of concreteness is that it’s viewed as indicating a lack of cognitive flexibility and long-term perspective.

     The researchers caution that the study attended to written text proposals and how there are other considerations for investor acceptance when the entrepreneur’s pitch is face-to-face with nonverbal signaling or in a proposal with the visual design of images.
     Also note these suggestions are specifically intended for an entrepreneur soliciting startup funding. The suggestions might not fully apply with other types of investment or loan requests. There, other red flags apply. In one study, loan defaults were more likely when God or family was mentioned in the loan application.

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Impassion Yourself to Arouse Shoppers 

Set Appeals of Product Touch in Concrete 

Borrow Content Analysis to Curb Loan Defaults 

Crow Pleasure When Crowdfunding

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Lubricate Chatbot Transactions

When a chatbot employs its artificial intelligence capabilities to interact with a consumer in ways mimicking normal human conversation, the chatbot can be presented to the consumer as being robotic or this can be left unspecified. The choice was of interest to a team of researchers at The Ohio State University as they explored shopper hesitations when purchasing a potentially embarrassing product.
     The personality characteristic the researchers selected as most likely to lead to embarrassment in purchase was self-presentation, which refers to a shopper’s degree of worry about how other people will judge the shopper. The products the researchers used as likely to activate self-presentation worry were genital lubricants and antidiarrheal medications. The overall study finding was that purchase embarrassment is less when the chatbot is clearly identified as a chatbot. This effect was strongest among study participants with the highest self-presentation concerns, as reflected on a brief survey.
     The two-part explanation for the effect, which was supported by the studies: Consumers are likely to conclude the chatbot is actually a human unless it’s been specified otherwise. Consumers feel that a chatbot lacks the mind capabilities to judge others.
     The overall conclusion did have an exception: If the clearly identified chatbot is anthropomorphized—given characteristics of a person—the shopper’s discomfort in interacting with this sales agent about the potentially embarrassing product increases significantly. In the studies, anthropomorphism consisted of including a drawing which incorporated characteristics of a woman, although it was clearly a cartoon and not a photo of a human, and by having the chatbot use emotional language like, “I am so excited to see you!”
     Prior work had concluded that most shoppers far prefer interacting with a human than with a chatbot unless the chatbot shows signs of emotional warmth. In their own studies, the researchers found that people preferred an online store with a human service agent than a store with a chatbot agent when shopping for a non-embarrassing product, namely hay fever medication.
     If your online store sells both potentially embarrassing products and ones which are not, you’ll need to decide when and whether to clearly disclose you’re using a chatbot.
     Or the solution might be in the fact that you carry a variety of products. A common way for customers to reduce self-presentation concerns when selecting a potentially embarrassing product is to purchase a bunch of less sensitive products at the same time.

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Ally with Alexa Over Alex for Chatbot 

Remind Consumers of Robots’ Competence 

Anthropomorphize Partners & Servants 

Bare Asinine Oversights That Embarrass

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