In another sign that we’re horribly narcissistic pack animals, this passage from a Physorg post about Clay Voorhees’ study on brand loyalty:

“Customer loyalty increased when the participants viewed other customers as similar to themselves. The general physical appearance and behavior of the other customers also played a role.

‘Basically, do I feel like they’re the same type of person as me?’ said Voorhees. ‘Do they look good? Do they behave? These factors increase the likelihood of people returning to the store.’

Companies that incorporate these factors into their marketing efforts could increase loyalty by 30 percent – nearly doubling the ability to predict customer loyalty compared to traditional survey approaches that narrowly focus on the quality of service provided by the employees.

Voorhees said most companies today have become good at customer service and managing their employees.

‘So the next frontier is how to better manage their portfolio of customers,’ he said. “