Person Perception in Audience Decision Making 283decisions, they have to integrate “hard” fi nancial data about the loan applicant’s credit worthiness
with their “soft” intuitions about the loan applicant’s credibility.^295 Interestingly, loan offi cers regard
their intuitions as more valid indicators of the worthiness of a loan application than the relevant
fi nancial indicators.
Biases in Person Perception
The Attractiveness Bias: The Persuasive Appeal of Good Looks
Audiences are more likely to be biased toward and persuaded by attractive professionals than by
unattractive ones.^296 For example, attractive product endorsers in advertisements are more per-
suasive than less attractive endorsers.^297 Somewhat alarmingly, attractive professionals are equally
persuasive whether or not their messages include supportive argumentation.^298 Even when no
explicit evaluation of them or their message is required, attractive professionals elicit feelings of
positivity from audience members.^299
Attractive professionals are more persuasive in a variety of situations and media. Attractive pro-fessionals tend to be more persuasive as salespeople,^300 as survey solicitors,^301 and as attitude change
agents.^302 In the courtroom, physically attractive surrogates who read the depositions of expert
witnesses unable to appear in court are more persuasive than less attractive surrogates.^303 In a study
of fundraisers for the American Heart Association, attractive fundraisers generated nearly twice as
many donations as less attractive ones.^304 When emotionally charged advertisements are attributed
to attractive endorsers, customers tend to like the product more and express more intentions to
buy.^305 A large-scale study of a lender’s direct mail solicitation to potential borrowers that offered
them substantial, short-term loans fi nds that adding a photograph of an attractive smiling woman
has the same positive effect on both male and female borrowers’ acceptance of a loan offer as drop-
ping the monthly interest rate by 25%.^306
Audiences also tend to attribute more desirable personal traits to physically attractive profes-sionals.^307 Attractive people are deemed to be more sociable, altruistic, and intelligent than their
less attractive counterparts.^308 Voters attribute more desirable personal traits to physically attractive
political candidates than to less attractive opposing candidates.^309 Although they are unaware of the
role physical appearance plays in their hiring decisions, students conducting mock job interviews
are more likely to hire well-groomed but less qualifi ed job applicants than better qualifi ed but
poorly groomed applicants.^310 Mock jurors are less likely to fi nd attractive defendants guilty, unless
they used their good looks to commit the crime.^311 Indeed, actual courtroom evidence shows that
physical attractiveness is one of the greatest advantages a defendant can have.^312 On the job,
heightened attractiveness is related to better employment prospects,^313 more advantageous work
evaluations,^314 and increased earning potential.^315
Expertise has the power to mitigate the effects of the attractiveness bias. In contrast to the waystudents playing recruiters make hiring decisions, a study of experienced personnel managers fi nds
they make hiring decisions exclusively on the basis of recommendations and experience. None of
the personnel managers in the study showed signifi cant effects for irrelevant attributes such as the
applicants’ gender, age, or physical attractiveness.^316
The Status Bias: The Persuasive Appeal of High Status
Audiences who believe a professional has high status are more likely to comply with the profes-
sional’s requests. For example, audiences are more likely to comply with the requests of speakers