Monkey See, Monkey Buy

Retail salespeople who subtly mirror customers’ speech and behavior are more likely to make a sale. Researchers led by Céline Jacob, of the Université de Bretagne-Sud, observed 129 customers who asked for information about an MP3 player. In half the cases the employee had been told to mimic the customer. Some 79% of customers who interacted with a mimic bought an MP3; just 62% of those who interacted with a nonmimic did—a difference of 17 percentage points. Those who were mimicked were also more apt to take advice about models and to rate the employee and the store favorably.