Now hold photograph A in front of a mirror. Notice that photograph A now looks like photograph B, the reverse or mirror image. Photograph B is the image that the subject is used to seeing. The subjects were asked to select the photograph they preferred. To ensure the validity of the study, a close friend of each subject was also asked to indicate a preference.
People are accustomed to observing mirror images of themselves.
Therefore, a mirror-image portrait is going to feel more natural to the subject than a standard photograph. Common sense dictates that someone who feels good about his or her portrait will also be more prone to purchase the image. Curious about the extent to which portrait sales might be expected to increase because of the mere exposure effect, I presented mirror-image proofs to twenty prospective portrait customers, while presenting standard proofs to another twenty customers. The next time you shoot portraits of a client have two proofs printed, one the reverse of the other. Show only the reverse-image portrait to the subject.