CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Large smiles seen as indicative of a lack in competency levels
A new reports suggests that while smiling makes you appear friendlier, it raises doubts about your usefulness, writes Sarah Wild
"Smile for the camera," they said. "It will make you seem more approachable." And so you try to coax a toothy grin from resistant facial muscles, while your tortured and uncomfortable eyes stare back at the camera. This is usually the mantra of the work photographer (or school photographer — it is an indignity that did not end with matriculation), but this is not necessarily good advice, particularly if you are trying to sell someone something. A new study out of the University of Kansas in the US has found that while smiling does make you appear friendlier, it makes people think you are less useful at what you do. "We found that broad smiles lead people to be perceived as warmer but less competent," said Jessica Li, an assistant professor of marketing at the university’s business school. "We ask how that can influence consumer behaviour and in what situations might marketers want to smile more broadly," she said. Published in the Journal of Consumer Research, the study had a two-pr...
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