Do birds of a feather shop together? The effects on performance of employees' similarity with one another and with customers

Theories have suggested that employee diversity can affect business performance both as a result of customer preferences and through changes of relations within the workplace. We examine these theories with data from more than 700 retail stores employing over 70 000 individuals, matched to census data on the demographics of the community. While past theories predict that increasing the similarity between employees and customers will increase sales, we find no consistent relationship. The exception is that Asian employees appear to be most productive when many nearby residents are Asian immigrants who do not speak English. Diversity of gender and race within a store had no important effect on sales, while age diversity predicted lower sales. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Advertising · Affect (linguistics · Business · Census · Demographic economics · Demographics · Diversity (politics · Economics · Geography · Immigration · Race (biology · Similarity (geometry · Sociology · Computer Science · Corporate Finance and Governance · Demography · Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Gender Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology · Marketing

• Diversity in Organizations

  Open Access•Michelle R Hebl, Derek R Avery•Handbook of Psychology, Second…•2012

  Incluir item

• The Role Of Context In Work Team Diversity Research

  Apoorva Joshi, Aparna Joshi et al.•Academy of Management Journal•2009

  Incluir item

• A Multilevel Integrated Review on Age Diversity in the Workplace

  Open Access•Yon Jin Suh, Ki-Jung Kim et al.•Work Aging and Retirement•2025

  Incluir item

• Shared leadership performance relationship trajectories as a function of team interventions and members' collective personalities

  Open Access•Lauren D’innocenzo, Michael Kukenberger et al.•The Leadership Quarterly•2021

  Incluir item

• Diversity and social capital within the workplace

  Open Access•Thomas Breda, Alan Manning•Industrial Relations A Journal of…•2024

  Incluir item

• How can we explain mixed effects of diversity on team performance? A review with emphasis on context

  Open Access•Hartmut Haas, Inge Bleijenbergh•Equal Opportunities International•2010

  Incluir item

• Age diversity, age discrimination climate and performance consequences-a cross organizational study

  Open Access•Florian Kunze, Stephan A Boehm et al.•Journal of Organizational Behavior•2010

  Incluir item

• Harnessing demographic differences in organizations

  Open Access•Yves R F Guillaume, Yodeline Guillaume et al.•Journal of Organizational Behavior•2015

  Incluir item

• Understanding the antecedents of emergency response

  Open Access•Chandrakantan Subramaniam, Hassan Ali et al.•Disaster Prevention and…•2010

  Incluir item

• Relational Demography Between Managers and Stakeholders and Business Unit Performance

  Open Access•Jorge A González•Journal of Leadership &…•2012

  Incluir item

• Propensity to Trust and the Impact on Social Exchange

  Open Access•Jeremy B Bernerth, H Jack Walker•Journal of Leadership &…•2008

  Incluir item

• Workforce diversity, diversity training and ethnic minorities

  Open Access•Basharat Hussain, Abdullah Zafar Sheikh et al.•International Journal of Cross…•2020

  Incluir item

• A field study of group diversity, participation in diversity education programs, and performance

  Open Access•Robin J Ely•Journal of Organizational Behavior•2004

  Incluir item

• The Effect of Age Diversity in Groups on Peer Evaluations and Individual Performance

  Open Access•Katja Görlitz, Tim Sels•Kyklos•2026

  Incluir item

• In our own backyard

  Open Access•Beth K Humberd, Judith A Clair et al.•Equal Opportunities International•2015

  Incluir item

• The Effects of Diversity and Network Ties on Innovations

  Open Access•Alina Lungeanu, Noshir S Contractor et al.•American Behavioral Scientist•2015

  Incluir item

• Assessing Customer Discrimination in National Television Viewership

  Open Access•Byungju Kang, Steven Salaga•American Behavioral Scientist•2025

  Incluir item

• Birds of a Feather Feel Together

  Open Access•Blair Kidwell, Virginie Lopez-Kidwell et al.•Journal of Consumer Research•2020

  Incluir item

• Sex Discrimination in Restaurant Hiring

  David Neumark, Roy J Bank et al.•The Quarterly Journal of Economics•1996

  Incluir item

• Customer Discrimination and Employment Outcomes for Minority Workers

  Harry J Holzer, Keith R Ihlanfeldt•The Quarterly Journal of Economics•1998

  Incluir item

• Organizational Demography

  Todd Zenger, T R Zenger et al.•Academy of Management Journal•1989

  Incluir item

• Race, Gender, and Partnership in the Patient-Physician Relationship

  Lisa Cooper-Patrick•JAMA•1999

  Incluir item

• Social Cognition and Social Perception

  E Tory Higgins, John A Bargh•Annual Review of Psychology•1987

  Incluir item

• Social Cognition and Social Perception

  Susan T Fiske•Annual Review of Psychology•1993

  Incluir item

• Caste, Class and Race

  Oliver C Cox•Phylon (1940-1956•1948

  Incluir item

• The People Make the Place

  Open Access•Benjamin Schneider•Personnel Psychology•1987

  Incluir item

• Research in Organizational Behavior

  Eliot R Hammer, L L Cummings et al.•Academy of Management Review•1984

  Incluir item

• Measurement of Diversity

  Open Access•Edward Simpson, E H SIMPSON•Nature•1949

  Incluir item

• You Just Don't Understand

  Deborah Tannen•You Just Don't Understand•1991

  Incluir item

• Toward a Theory of Minority Group Relations

  H M Blalock•Toward a Theory of Minority Group…•1973

  Incluir item

• The Economics of Discrimination

  Gary S Becker•Economics of Discrimination•1971

  Incluir item

• The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behavior

  Henri Tajfel, John Turner et al.•Political Psychology•2004

  Incluir item

• The Effects of Organizational Demographics and Social Identity on Relationships among Professional Women

  Robin J Ely•Administrative Science Quarterly•1994

  Incluir item

• Work Group Demography, Social Integration, and Turnover

  Charles A O’reilly, Charles A O'Reilly III et al.•Administrative Science Quarterly•1989

  Incluir item

• Why Differences Make a Difference

  Open Access•Karen A Jehn, Gregory B Northcraft et al.•Administrative Science Quarterly•1999

  Incluir item

• A Language Theory of Discrimination

  Kevin Lang•The Quarterly Journal of Economics•1986

  Incluir item

• Exploring the Black Box

  Open Access•Lisa Hope Pelled, Kathleen M Eisenhardt et al.•Administrative Science Quarterly•1999

  Incluir item

• Teachers, Race, and Student Achievement in a Randomized Experiment

  Thomas S Dee•The Review of Economics and…•2004

  Incluir item

• The Economics of Discrimination

  Richard C Leonard, Richard Leonard et al.•The American Catholic Sociological…•1957

  Incluir item

• Men and Women of the Corporation

  George Strau, George Strauss et al.•Industrial and Labor Relations…•1978

  Incluir item

• Discrimination in Professional Sports

  Lawrence M Kahn•Industrial and Labor Relations…•1991

  Incluir item

• Percent Black and Lynching

  J Shelton Reed•Social Forces•1972

  Incluir item