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Published 1:30 am Sunday, January 22, 2017

Trader Joe’s clerks make small talk as they bag our groceries. Zappos reps “let their true personalities shine” while fielding shoe returns. Sure, it’s an act. Salespeople are required to put on a happy face in the service of “company culture.”

It turns out customers may feel equally satisfied if stores appeal to their subconscious, suggests Gary Latham, professor of organizational behavior at the University of Toronto.

His study found that putting happy-face stickers on receipts improved customers’ impressions of their experiences.

Shoppers at a Candaian retailer got one of two receipts — one with a smiley-face sticker and one with a geometric-shape sticker.

Afterward, they were asked to rate the friendliness of the store. And those who got happy-face stickers were “significantly more satisfied.”

“I was shocked,” said Latham. “I think customer service matters, but if you want to affect someone’s recall of that experience, you can do so regardless of whether that experience was negative, neutral or positive.”

— Bloomberg