On September 26, 1960, 70 million Americans saw the first televised presidential debate.
The debate was between then-vice president Richard Nixon and soon-to-be-president John F.
Kennedy. Richard Nixon, just out of the hospital, looked pale and uncomfortable. Kennedy,
fresh from a vacation, looked tanned and relaxed. Nixon’s light gray suit blended in with the
light gray background of the black-and-white TV image. But Kennedy’s black suit made him
stand out.
According to the polls, radio listeners thought Nixon won the debate. But the TV audience
who saw as well as heard the two candidates gave the victory to Kennedy.6 Person Perception in Audience Decision Making
How could such an important issue be decided by personal appearance and the color of a suit? Yet
there is little doubt that person perception—the mental activity of evaluating other people—played
an essential role in Kennedy’s victory over Nixon in the televised debates.^1 Experimental studies
have since verifi ed that evaluations of political candidates by debate viewers and listeners differ
signifi cantly.^2
Skill in person perception enables audiences to recognize a professional’s emotions, compre-hend their character traits, and judge how well they fi t an occupational role—such as executive,
accountant, physician, or professor. Person perception is typically based on direct observation of
a professional’s verbal behaviors (the words they write or speak), their nonverbal behaviors (their
eye contact, facial expressions, tone of voice, and so on), and their appearance. Recruiters engage
in this type of person perception when they interview job applicants. In fact, any number of audi-
ences engage in this type of person perception when they listen to presentations, read reports and
proposals, and talk with professionals one on one. Person perception can also be based on verbal
descriptions of professionals and their behaviors.
In addition, the concept of person perception can be broadened to include not only the activ-ity of evaluating individual professionals but also the activity of evaluating groups of professionals,
organizations, and even brands. Just as audiences ascribe human personality traits to themselves
and other individuals,^3 they also ascribe human traits to organizations^4 and product brands.^5
For example, consumers generally perceive the Coca-Cola brand as having a personality that is
all-American.^6 They perceive the Pepsi brand as young and exciting.^7