Special: Trustworthy smiles

Welcome to this special edition of Science Says! I’ve partnered with Katelyn Bourgoin from Why We Buy, to explore why smiling faces increase trust and conversions 😁

🤝 A special takeover: Science Says <> Why We Buy

Katelyn is taking over this edition of the newsletter, while I take over hers. I couldn’t be more excited to experiment with this collaboration (we’ve been wanting to collaborate on something for years).

There’s no one more talented than Katelyn at bringing the most important behavioral science principles to life, and showing exactly how you can use them to nudge people to buy.

If you like this, join the 63,353 marketers who subscribe for $0 to her newsletter, Why We Buy 👇 

P.S.: If you like this and think I should do more like these (recommendations welcome!) just hit reply to this email, I’d love to hear what you think 🙏

All yours, Katelyn!

Imagine this…

You’ve been grinding on a big new project, and you’re absolutely buried in admin work.

Which means…

It’s finally time to hire a virtual assistant.

You know there are a gazillion marketplaces where you can find people to hire, but you figure it’ll be easier to vet candidates if they’re already connected to someone you know.

So you log onto LinkedIn and type “virtual assistant” into the search bar.

You filter the results to only see profiles from people connected to your LinkedIn contacts… and there are still 147 results. gulp

You hope it’ll be easy to find the right person… but within five minutes, all their profile pictures and headlines begin blurring together.

Most are “serious” selfies or cold corporate headshots that make them feel unapproachable.

So you keep scrolling (while silently panicking that no one will ever feel like the right fit).

Suddenly, one person stands out…

She’s smiling.

But not a tight, forced smile like everyone else that whispers, “I hate my job.”

You can’t quite put your finger on it, but there’s something you like about this person—something that makes her seem reliable.

A minute later, you’ve already sent a message introducing yourself.

What was it about this profile picture that made you stop, click, and DM?

In this special issue from Why We Buy 🧠 we’ll explore a Trustworthy Smile—why we are wired to trust people who smile sincerely. 

Let’s get into it.

🧠 The Psychology of a Trustworthy Smile 

Trust isn’t just built. It’s triggered.

Research suggests we evaluate trustworthiness based on facial cues that resemble happy expressions, like an upturned mouth and slightly raised eyebrows.

They signal to us that a person is likely approachable and has good intentions, so our guard drops.

But it runs deeper than just feeling comfortable.

One study found people invested up to 42% more money in strangers who had “trustworthy” features. 🤯

Why?
Because, as research shows, feelings of trust quiet our risk radar.

When someone looks trustworthy, we’re less likely to imagine getting scammed or disappointed. 

So instead of spiralling through all the scary “what ifs” on the checkout page, we click “Buy now” with confidence.

That’s why trust isn’t just a vibe—it’s the currency of business.

🤑 How To Apply This

Alright, so how can you apply this right now to sell more?

Choose a profile picture that gives trustworthy vibes

A picture’s worth a thousand words.

And Sahil Bloom’s profile picture tells you his entire brand story (investor, NYT best-selling author, and entrepreneur) without needing to read a word of it:

Confidence, success, and… trustworthiness.

Sure, his content is scroll-stopping, which has helped skyrocket his growth to 2.5M+ social media followers in just 5 years. But Sahil may have also had a biological advantage that helped drive his success…

According to science, he exhibits facial features that scream “I’m trustworthy,” so people are more likely to hit “Follow.”

Use the same picture across all platforms

I (Katelyn here 👋)  use the same smiling profile picture across all social media platforms, including my newsletter.

That’s not by accident.

This technique taps into Familiarity Bias.

The more we see the same thing (like a person, brand, or product), the more we tend to like and trust it.

And because our brains interpret familiarity as safety, we’re more likely to choose it as well.

Don’t fake your smile (because people can tell)

All smiles are not created equal.

Studies show that a real smile includes animated eyes, crow’s feet, and no bottom teeth showing. 

The basis of trust (and, consequently, making more sales) is transparency and genuineness.

So if you fake a smile (like on the right), customers can often smell it a mile away. You may be perceived as less trustworthy, which can hurt sales.

💥 The Short of It

In just milliseconds, potential customers will judge your profile picture and decide if you’re trustworthy or not.

So if you wanna trigger trust and earn more sales?

Smile genuinely, choose a profile picture that screams “I’m trustworthy,” and use that same pic across every platform. 

​Until next time, happy selling!

Katelyn Bourgoin
Helping 280,000+ smart people learn buyer psychology

P.S. Thomas here! Did you enjoy today’s special issue from Why We Buy?

Join 63,353 marketers (including me) who get inspiration from Katelyn on how to apply buyer psychology insights to our day-to-day marketing life.

If you did, subscribe for $0 👇