Study: warm hands affect attitudes toward strangers

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BOULDER, Colo. -- Handling a hot cup of coffee can change a person's attitude toward a stranger, according to a University of Colorado professor's theory that feeling warm and fuzzy inside is linked to physical warmth.Lawrence E. Williams, an assistant professor of marketing at CU's Leeds School of Business, relays his findings Friday in the journal Science.The discovery that there's a strong bond between how somebody feels physically and psychologically could help marketers make cozier connections with consumers, according to the professor. He conducted the study with Yale University's John A. Bargh.Here's how the experiment worked: A "confederate" was enlisted to help with the study, escorting unsuspecting subjects from the lobby to the test area. The confederate carried a clipboard, two textbooks and a cup of hot or iced coffee. During the trip to the test area, the confederate asked the subject to hold the cup of coffee while she recorded information.Turns out that subjects who briefly held the hot coffee cups gave more positive ratings of a hypothetical person they were asked to read about once they reached the testing room. Those who held the cold cups gave icier reviews.In a similar study, Williams asked subjects to retrieve either a hot or cold pad and to evaluate it under the guise of a product test. After rating the effectiveness of the pads, the study subjects were given a choice of a "reward" for participating in the study. Those primed with coldness were more likely to choose a gift for themselves, while those evaluating the warmer pads were more likely to choose a gift for a friend, according to the findings.He said physical temperature - even the warmth of a brief handshake - affects one's impressions of other people and their behavior toward them."At a board meeting, for instance, being willing to reach out and touch another human being, to shake their hand, those experiences do matter, although we may not always be aware of them," he said. "In a restaurant, it's been shown that the wait staff who touch customers usually get a better tip. It's a nice gesture, but it also has a warming effect."He also suggests that marketers should pay attention to the physical world to which their customers are tied - if there's a promotion outdoors on a cold day, it might be a good idea to give away warm cookies.On the Net: http://www.sciencemag.org(Brittany Anas writes for the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colo.)