The procedure of the experiment was as follows: two students acted as experimenters. They sat in the lobby of a hotel and watched guests who approached the reception desk. After a random guest had left, one student approached the receptionist. The receptionist was asked to assess the physical appearance of the guest. The other student approached the hotel guest. Guests were asked to assess how pleased he or she was with the service that he or she had been provided by the receptionist. Receptionists were informed beforehand of the experiment and invited to voluntarily participate in it. They were motivated by the thought that they could take a part in the improvement of hotel staff education.
It was explained to the guests that research was taking place in the hotel and they were also invited to be participants in the experiment. The guests, on the whole, agreed to participate; not one guest refused.