Maybe we should smile more. At least, that’s the clear conclusion of a long list of studies showing how smiling (or not smiling) in profile photos affects how people treat you.
The latest research that caught my attention: A study co-authored by a Harvard Business School professor that examined what smiling profile photos do to the financial performance of Airbnb listings.
Bottom line upfront: Writing in a recent edition of the Journal of Consumer Research, researchers said they analyzed millions of images and found that consumer demand dropped about 3.5% when people didn’t smile, compared to listings from hosts who did smile.
Happy faces, happy results
Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Shunyuan Zhang and colleagues built a deep learning model that allowed them to categorize 3.3 million host images, and determine the gender and age of the people in them — along with whether they were smiling.
Among their findings:
75 percent of hosts smiled in their photos.
Hosts who smiled were perceived by customers as “more warm and competent” than those who did not.
The benefit to smiling was even more pronounced for men than women; men who smiled in their photos had 9 percent higher demand than those who did not.
While this study focused on Airbnb specifically, the research suggests a likely benefit in “any industry where trust is paramount, including those focused on customer service,” as a Harvard summary put it. As a result, Zhang suggested companies should “consider displaying happy faces strategically on their websites.”
“People make a lot of inferences based on the faces of other people,” Zhang said. While it can be “hard to quantify … it’s important in influencing our daily decision-making.”
A long line of smile research
The journal article, Serving with a Smile on Airbnb: Analyzing the Economic Returns and Behavioral Underpinnings of the Host’s Smile, was co-authored by Zhang along with Columbia Business School professor Elizabeth Friedman, Carnegie Mellon University professor Kannan Srinivasan, Ravi Dhar from Yale University, and Xupin Zhang, of East China Normal University.
However, it’s just one in a long line of other studies showing the quantitative advantages of smiling in profile photos:
A study published in January in the Journal of Small Business Strategy found that crowdfunders who smiled in their LinkedIn photos: “The results suggest that LinkedIn profile pictures with a smile (versus no smile) increase perceptions of trustworthiness and investment interest.”
A study published last month in Scientific Reports found that when entrepreneurs set out to raise money to fund businesses, “smiling in profile pictures is significantly associated with both higher likelihood of securing funding and higher amount raised.”
Related: a study of 63,014 jobs “completed” on Freelancer.com didn’t quite involve smiles, but suggested that when it came to profile photos, “above and beyond demographics and beauty, there is a strong correlation between simply looking the part and perceived job performance.” (Granted, that’s a very subjective standard.)
What about on dating apps?
We can’t let this moment pass without also taking a look at the study Hinge did several years ago regarding how smiling affects people’s odds of making a good match on dating apps.
The results were striking — and maybe a bit sexist:
Women who smiled, showing their teeth in photos, were 76% more likely to get a like than those who didn’t.
But men were 43% more likely to get “likes” on their photos if they smiled without teeth.
Other Hinge advice: Don’t post beach photos, do post sports photos, do post candids, and don’t post selfies — especially bathroom mirror selfies.
Actually, I suppose that last bit of advice probably holds true for Airbnb, LinkedIn, and fundraising photos as well, although I’m not aware that anyone has tested it.
Bottom line? It seems Aaron Burr was right: “Talk less, smile more.“
The science backs it up.
7 other things worth knowing
More homebuyers are pushing for sleepovers before buying a property: ‘Try it before you buy it.' “If you can drive a car off a lot, why not test-drive a home?” asked Compass agent Ari Afshar, who once arranged a one-night stay in a $14.6 million Hollywood Hills spec house. (New York Post)
Elon Musk’s chatbot gave tips on assassinating him: Chats leaked on Google show Grok users being provided with ‘detailed’ plans to kill the billionaire and advice on making DIY bombs and drugs. (The Times)
How the Richest People in America Avoid Paying Taxes: A clever new paper puts concrete numbers to the taxes paid by members of the Forbes 400. (The Atlantic)
President Trump indicated that he could move soon to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War: "I have a feeling we’re going to be changing. Everybody likes that. We had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War." (The Hill)
Actor Dean Cain is a candidate for laughingstock of the Internet after a Fox News segment showed the former Superman star struggling through an obstacle course at an ICE training facility in Georgia last week. The video of Cain going through the obstacle course has gone viral, with multiple users dragging the one-time star of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. (Mediaite, Twitter)
Albania Seizes Its Moment in the Sun: Gorgeous beaches, unspoiled nature, unusual historical sites and low prices have made this former “hermit state” one of Europe’s newest destinations. I’m pushing for this destination for a Murphy family trip, FWIW. (New York Times)
Thousands of climbing catfish filmed scaling waterfalls: New footage provides rare insight into the daring migration of an enigmatic fish. (Science.org)
Thanks for reading. Photo by Lesly Juarez on Unsplash. I wrote about some of this before at Inc.com. See you in the comments.
I know that I make a conscious effort to smile when answering every call as an insurance agent, and the vast majority of my calls go extremely well. It helps to start with a smile.
During my brief stint in radio, my director actually bought balloons and placed them in the studio that encouraged us to smile more. Smile but don’t force it too much is what I say to that.
I usually start my day by reading a host of articles, newsletters, etc from the center left to the center right. So I began my day this morning with my cup of coffee reading George Wills' article in which, among other things, he criticized college professors for spending too little time teaching and more time chasing grants and conducting studies. Then my next stop was reading today's Understandably in which I read that professors from Harvard, Colombia, Carnegie Mellon, Yale and the East China Normal University conducted studies on whether Air B&B hosts did better at renting their listing if they smiled for their listing photo. Is this how college professors are spending their time away from the classroom? It's just another confirmation that the countryI love is slowly going down the tubes! Am I fatalistic? Yep!