I recently learnt that in the first US Presidential debate in 1960 between Kennedy and Nixon—which was also the first ever televised political debate—the TV viewers believed Kennedy won, but the radio listeners believed Nixon won.
This was given as an example to explain a phenomenon known as ‘attractiveness bias’, which is described as “a tendency to see attractive people as more intelligent, competent, moral, and sociable than unattractive people”.
Being aware that unconscious biases exist, and understanding that people, companies, and politicians will use them to try and shape our opinions, is the first step to building a solid defence against them.