Erasing Institutional Bias

Chapter Seven

Customer Bias

Retail

The first thing that comes to mind when we think of customer bias is the allegory of the car salesman. In the story, two people walk onto a car lot. One of the people is impeccably dressed and the other looks disheveled at best. The two car salespeople on the lot flip a coin for first choice at a customer. The salesperson who wins is ecstatic as he approaches the well-dressed patron.

We think you know how this story ends. Turns out the well-dressed customer doesn’t buy anything and instead spends an hour and a half of the salesperson’s time asking questions and test-driving fancy cars. The disheveled customer, on the other hand, was wealthy and decisive. She knew what she wanted and came prepared to purchase. ...