Everything Is Bullshit: The Greatest Scams on Earth Revealed by Zachary Crockett
Authors: Zachary Crockett
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consistent.
When officers rated a soldier especially high for one quality, they tended to
rate him high in other areas where he did not excel. Soldiers rated especially
poor in one area also received poor marks across the board. The officers’
opinion of their soldiers for one characteristic dominated their overall
impression.
Thorndike called this the “halo effect.” Researchers have
documented its influence in many situations, including the halo effect of
physical attractiveness. As psychologist Robert Cialdini writes in his bestselling book Influence, “We automatically assign to
good-looking individuals such favorable traits as talent, kindness, honesty,
and intelligence.” Within the business world, he says, attractive people benefit
from the halo effect in two major ways.
The first is that we tend to “comply with those we like.” This
is why magazine offers from neighborhood children are so irresistible and
“Tupperware parties” (where mothers host parties to sell Tupperware to their
friends) are so successful. It’s also why Joe Girard, one of the most
successful car salesmen of all time, sent all of his customers holiday cards with the phrase “I like you” every year. Likeable people have an
easier time selling products, and attractive people are eminently likeable due
to the halo effect.
The second is that we tend to associate people with the products
they sell and companies they represent. Cialdini points out that weathermen are blamed (by otherwise rational people) for storms
and that the Persian Empire either killed messengers or treated them as heroes
depending on the nature of the news they brought. (An example of the literal
origins of the phrase “Don’t kill the messenger.”) The use of association in
advertising and sales is so powerful that it works even when people are
perfectly aware of companies’ intent. Cialdini writes:
“In one study, men who saw a new-car ad that included a
seductive young woman model rated the car as faster, more appealing, more
expensive-looking, and better designed than did men who viewed the same ad
without the model. Yet when asked later, the men refused to believe that the
presence of the young woman had influenced their judgments.”
In combination, these two principles and the halo effect give
attractive people a huge advantage in any job that involves interaction with
customers, business partners, or the general public. A good-looking
spokesperson is more likely to be trusted and imbue his company with a positive
image. Beautiful saleswomen can more easily close deals. Sources are more
likely to trust beautiful journalists and confide sensitive stories to handsome
reporters.
People recognize, tolerate, and even encourage the practice of
hiring attractive people as actors and models. But the same principle that
allows Jennifer Garner to do a better job selling makeup than the average girl
next door is also at work in a huge number of professions.
The Best
Looking Sales Staff in the Land
Although
it is a clothing store, Abercrombie & Fitch is not necessarily famous for
its clothes. The company brand ties attractive people and pop culture. In its
stores, pop music blares, perfume hangs in the air, and attractive sales staff
use catch phrases like “Hey! What’s up?” Pictures on the wall feature models’ six
pack abs more than actual clothing.
Abercrombie & Fitch unapologetically hires only the most
attractive applicants. Recruiters seek out beautiful people in stores, on the
street, and at fraternities and sororities. Its codified “Look Policy” so
prioritizes appearance that managers reportedly throw applications from
unattractive job seekers into the trash. The company’s rebranding from an
ailing athletics apparel store — purchased for $47 million in 1988
— to a retailer of preppy clothing staffed by “models” helped it earn
$4.5 billion in revenue in 2013.
In 2004, fourteen individuals launched a class action
When officers rated a soldier especially high for one quality, they tended to
rate him high in other areas where he did not excel. Soldiers rated especially
poor in one area also received poor marks across the board. The officers’
opinion of their soldiers for one characteristic dominated their overall
impression.
Thorndike called this the “halo effect.” Researchers have
documented its influence in many situations, including the halo effect of
physical attractiveness. As psychologist Robert Cialdini writes in his bestselling book Influence, “We automatically assign to
good-looking individuals such favorable traits as talent, kindness, honesty,
and intelligence.” Within the business world, he says, attractive people benefit
from the halo effect in two major ways.
The first is that we tend to “comply with those we like.” This
is why magazine offers from neighborhood children are so irresistible and
“Tupperware parties” (where mothers host parties to sell Tupperware to their
friends) are so successful. It’s also why Joe Girard, one of the most
successful car salesmen of all time, sent all of his customers holiday cards with the phrase “I like you” every year. Likeable people have an
easier time selling products, and attractive people are eminently likeable due
to the halo effect.
The second is that we tend to associate people with the products
they sell and companies they represent. Cialdini points out that weathermen are blamed (by otherwise rational people) for storms
and that the Persian Empire either killed messengers or treated them as heroes
depending on the nature of the news they brought. (An example of the literal
origins of the phrase “Don’t kill the messenger.”) The use of association in
advertising and sales is so powerful that it works even when people are
perfectly aware of companies’ intent. Cialdini writes:
“In one study, men who saw a new-car ad that included a
seductive young woman model rated the car as faster, more appealing, more
expensive-looking, and better designed than did men who viewed the same ad
without the model. Yet when asked later, the men refused to believe that the
presence of the young woman had influenced their judgments.”
In combination, these two principles and the halo effect give
attractive people a huge advantage in any job that involves interaction with
customers, business partners, or the general public. A good-looking
spokesperson is more likely to be trusted and imbue his company with a positive
image. Beautiful saleswomen can more easily close deals. Sources are more
likely to trust beautiful journalists and confide sensitive stories to handsome
reporters.
People recognize, tolerate, and even encourage the practice of
hiring attractive people as actors and models. But the same principle that
allows Jennifer Garner to do a better job selling makeup than the average girl
next door is also at work in a huge number of professions.
The Best
Looking Sales Staff in the Land
Although
it is a clothing store, Abercrombie & Fitch is not necessarily famous for
its clothes. The company brand ties attractive people and pop culture. In its
stores, pop music blares, perfume hangs in the air, and attractive sales staff
use catch phrases like “Hey! What’s up?” Pictures on the wall feature models’ six
pack abs more than actual clothing.
Abercrombie & Fitch unapologetically hires only the most
attractive applicants. Recruiters seek out beautiful people in stores, on the
street, and at fraternities and sororities. Its codified “Look Policy” so
prioritizes appearance that managers reportedly throw applications from
unattractive job seekers into the trash. The company’s rebranding from an
ailing athletics apparel store — purchased for $47 million in 1988
— to a retailer of preppy clothing staffed by “models” helped it earn
$4.5 billion in revenue in 2013.
In 2004, fourteen individuals launched a class action
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