Comment: look of the draw

I am afraid I have some bad news. The feedback was that you did not look trustworthy enough for the role of CEO.

Not trustworthy enough? Have you seen my track record running privately owned businesses?

Yes, very impressive. But publicly owned companies are not for you.

Not for me! The skill sets are virtually identical; I just need to learn how to discuss strategy and numbers with shareholders. I’m looking forward to the challenge.

Sadly, your face isn’t up to it.

That’s the second dig you’ve made at my appearance! Explain yourself.

The nominations committee says your face does not have enough trustworthy features.

Have you gone completely mad?

The chairman has read some new research by Aldo Rustichini at the University of Minnesota, which claims people with trustworthy faces attract, on average, 42 percent more money than those with non-trustworthy faces. Rustichini asked people to invest between zero and 100 virtual pounds in 20 computer-generated characters with both ‘untrustworthy’ and ‘trustworthy’ identities.

What nonsense! You’re trying to tell me that the wart at the end of my nose would deter investors?

The study finds manipulating a character’s facial trustworthy features significantly affects investment decisions: trustworthy identities received on average 61.91 virtual pounds; their untrustworthy counterparts earned just 43.69.

Surely investors aren’t so fickle? They must consider other factors.
 
Have you seen their recent returns? Who knows what they consider. But yes, when the study added extra reputational information – ‘good’ and ‘bad’ histories – into the mix, the results were not quite so extreme. The average amount invested in ‘trustworthy’ identities (with both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ histories) was 6 percent higher than in ‘untrustworthy’ identities.

That’s not so bad; perhaps the initial findings were a fluke?

I don’t think so. Rustichini asked participants how much they would invest in characters based solely on their behavioral history, without having any facial characteristics to judge. He then considered the difference between the amount invested in a character’s untrustworthy identity coupled with behavioral history and the amount invested in just the behavioral history. The mean facial trustworthy bonus was 1.47 virtual pounds, while the facial untrustworthy penalty was 1.83 virtual pounds.

What does that mean in English?

It means people are influenced by appearance even if they have other information at their fingertips.
 
But we’re talking virtual pounds, about as valuable as drachma.

He tried it with real money, too. Participants were given £5 ($8) to invest in 10 untrustworthy and 10 trustworthy faces with a direct-eye gaze. On average, the trustworthy faces earned 40 percent more.

I’m doomed.

Helen Dunne is editor of CorpComms in London.