persuasion It is not uncommon for a store manager to assign an attractive female sales associate to the young man who walks in the door. Most store managers (although they won't admit it) hire attractive salespeople to attract more customers. Research has shown that looks matter outside of advertising as well. In various studies, attractive men and women, when compared to those who were considered to be less attractive, were judged to be happier, smarter, friendlier, and more likable. They were also considered likely to have better jobs, be better marital partners, or to get more dates. The halo effect causes us to see such people only in a positive way, which gives them persuasive power. Because of the way we view them, we want to be like them and we hope for them to like us in return.'1 The attractiveness of our clothes can also evoke the Law of Connectivity. Researchers Freed, Chandler, Mouton, and Blake conducted a nowfamous experiment on how easy it would be to encourage people to ignore a "Don't Walk sign at a city intersection. When a welldressed individual ignored the sign and walked into the street, 14 percent of the people who had been waiting for the light to change followed him across. When the same person repeated the experiment the next day, now dressed in sloppy clothes, only 4 Percent of the people followed him across. A similar effect has been found lrmg situations. In one study, the good grooming of applicants in a sions h employment interview accounted for more favorable hiring deci tiveness-un1attractive ones, and attractive males can persuade females than unattractive males can. We see obvious examples of this all und us At conventions and trade shows, large corporations fill their space ewers аП dld Ле1Г qualifications This happened even though the inter Wers claimed that appearance only played a minor role in their choices.7 When I have on jeans and a Tshirt, I am viewed as less attractive and, as a result, get less cooperation. Not only can we focus on our other abilities to make us appear more attractive, but we can also increase our physical attractiveness in many different ways. Attractiveness lies in the simple things that many people overlook, like being in shape and watching your weight, picking nice clothes to wear, paying attention to your accessories (i.e., jewelry, glasses, earrings, etc.), and having wellgroomed hair. Keep track of hair and clothing styles. Styles can change dramatically, and if we ignore fashion, our persuasive ability may be put in jeopardy. When in doubt, look to national newscasters as conservative role models in style. Similarity: Similar Is Familiar Similarity theory states that familiar objects are more liked than less familiar ones. The same holds true with people: We like people who are similar to us. This theory seems to hold true whether the commonality is in the area of opinions, personality traits, background, or lifestyle. persuasion