Jacques Fischer-Lokou

Mimicry and Propagation of Prosocial Behavior in a Natural Setting

This study tested, in a natural setting, the effect of mimicry on peoples disposition toward helping others and the extent to which this helping behavior is extended to people not directly involved in the mimicry situation. In the main street of a busy town, men (n = 101) and women (n = 109) passersby were encountered and asked for directions. These passersby were subjected to mimicry by naïve confederates who mimicked either verbal behavior alone or verbal and nonverbal behaviors together, including arm, hand, and head movements. In the control condition, passersby were not mimicked. Following this first encounter, each subject was then met further down the street by a second confederate who asked for money. The results show that people who had been mimicked complied more often with a request for money and gave significantly more, suggesting they were more helpful and more generous toward other people, even complete strangers.

Semantically Induced Memories of Love and Helping Behavior

This study tested the effect of semantically induced thoughts of love on helping behavior. In a natural setting, 253 participants were interviewed and asked to retrieve the memory of a love episode or, in the control condition, a piece of music they loved. They then met another confederate who asked for money. Analysis showed that inducing the idea of love had a significant positive effect on compliance to a request by a male passerby who was asked for help by a female confederate, but not by a female passerby. Theoretical explanations are presented, based on a gender-role expectation hypothesis.

Hitchhikers' smiles and receipt of help.

The positive association of smiling on helping behavior is well established in social psychology. Nevertheless, no study was found for the effect of smiling on hitchhiking success. An experiment was carried out in France where hitchhiking is a legal and common practice. Four confederates, 2 young men and 2 young women, selected for their “average attractiveness” hitchhiked, signaled to 800 (503 men and 297 women) motorists driving along the road on a peninsula. In half of the cases, the confederate smiled at the motorist. Analysis showed that, when hitchhiking women were smiling, motorists stopped more frequently but not when hitchhikers were men. Also, in all conditions, motorists who stopped were male.

Selling Tourism on the Internet: Analysis of the Balance of Power Between Seller and Consumer During Information Exchange and Negotiation

Abstract Business on the Internet is experiencing rapid development. Numerous companies in the tourism industry are setting up sites on the “World Wide Web” in order to create virtual shopping, to promote their product lines and to offer a service or to make direct sales. However, the exploitation of this new communication medium works regardless of the consequences of such an evolution on consumer behavior, in particular during the phase of commercial research and negotiation. This article is an analysis of the balance of power between seller and consumer within the framework of Computer-Mediated Communication. The result of this commercial research will make it possible to assess the different degrees of influence on retailers that are competing within the framework of network communication. Recommendations regarding the development of direct sales on the Web will be made.

Men’s music ability and attractiveness to women in a real-life courtship context

This experiment tested the assumption that music plays a role in sexual selection. Three hundred young women were solicited in the street for their phone number by a young male confederate who held either a guitar case or a sports bag in his hands or had no bag at all. Results showed that holding a guitar case was associated with greater compliance to the request, thus suggesting that musical practice is associated with sexual selection.

Compliments and receptivity to a courtship request: a field experiment.

160 young women were solicited in the street to have a drink with a young male confederate. In the ingratiation condition, the solicitor complimented the woman regarding her physical appearance before making the request, while in the no-compliment condition, the confederate asked his request directly. Results showed that complimenting was associated with greater compliance to the request.

A Web Replication of Snyder, Decker and Bercheid (1977)'s Experiment on the Self-Fulfilling Nature of Social Stereotypes

Abstract Authors instructed two groups of male participants to respond to a web personal advertisement that had a photograph of either an attractive or unattractive woman. In the physically attractiveness condition, it was found that the message was longer and contained few spelling and grammatical mistakes than in the condition where the males participant believe that the personal advertisement came from an unattractive woman. Two undergradutates females who were unaware of the experimental conditions judged that they had more probability to respond to the males message in the physically attractiveness condition.

Does the sense of the geographic proximity of a requester influence donation? Three evaluations in field studies

ABSTRACT It has been reported that familiarity or incidental similarities with a stranger influenced an individual’s behavior. However, the effect of the sense of geographical proximity believing that someone comes from the same area that somebody has never been examined. Three field experiments examined this effect on donations to humanitarian organizations. In the first study, participants were asked by a confederate to donate food products to a humanitarian organization. In Study 2, participants were asked by confederates to donate money for children. In Study 3, donation boxes were displayed in bakeries with a message that invited customers to donate money for children. In all the studies, participants were led to believe that they would be helping people in need or people who live in their national or local geographic area. Results showed that donations were higher in the geographical proximity condition. This “neighborhood effect” was discussed.

“Wrong place to get help”: A field experiment on luxury stores and helping behavior

Abstract Three experiments were conducted in field settings. It was hypothesized that luxury stores may act as environmental reminders of materialism and that helpfulness would vary according to the presence or absence of such cues. Study 1 (N = 80) indicated that consumers coming out of famous brand stores displayed less helpfulness, as compared to mere passersby. Study 2 (N = 112) showed passersby were less helpful near a luxury brand store than in an ordinary street with no shops. In Study 3 (N = 360), passersby were less helpful when walking down a street lined with highly exclusive stores, as compared to streets with ordinary stores or no stores. Results, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Places for help: micro-level variation in helping behavior toward a stranger.

A field experiment was conducted to explore whether certain urban places have an influence on helpfulness. Places semantically associated with the idea of love may act as primes and trigger increased helpfulness. Passersby (96 men, 96 women) happened upon a female confederate with a “leg injury” who inadvertently dropped personal items. The experiment took place in a common street or near a hospital entrance, a Catholic church, or a flower shop. Results indicated that helpfulness increased near a hospital or flower shop. These results are explained in light of automatic activation of normative behavior.