Different looks create different first impressions – the importance of choosing the best one(s).

Creating a great headshot is more than lighting the face or other technical details – It’s important to have the right look and facial expression that create the right first impression for you, your brand, and your business. And research published in Psychological Science highlights how images with different expressions posted online can impact not only how we’re perceived, but other types of decisions.

In the study, participants rated various images/faces on different characteristics which included trustworthiness, intelligence, competence, creativity, etc.. The pose, lighting was consistent – each individual’s faces had different expressions. “The findings suggest that images we post online can affect us in unexpected, and undesired ways, subtly biasing other people’s decisions.” We’ve known that first impressions can impact how you’re perceived, but this research has created data that backs this up. Different images of the same individual elicited very different first impressions.

The research also showed the importance of using images that are contextually “appropriate” /preferred for how/where they’re being used. Participants in this study preferred certain types of images/looks when they told the images were going to be used for a dating profile, another type when they were told the person in the image was running for political office, etc..

We can our own quick experiment – look at each of the parings of images below – which images do you think creates the best first impression for a social media website such as Facebook or Instagram vs. LinkedIn? Likely the images where the person’s smile is broad (with teeth) would be better for the dating site – there’s no right or wrong here – it’s more about the first impression you want to create.

The next phase of their research will focus on the impact of other elements such as lighting,  face orientation/head tilt – I have a strong suspicion about the results they’ll get from that study.

Prior to my sessions with individual clients or businesses, I always discuss their branding, the target audience, the impression they want the images to create, and so on. This informs not only the choice of lighting, background color, clothing – but also the expressions on people’s faces and overall energy that will best create the desired first impression. Great to see that research supports this approach.

What do you want people to think when they see your image on your website or LinkedIn? Does your current image accomplish this? If not, I can help.