Our mind is a pattern hunter, constantly in search of patterns. Whenever the mind finds one with the same pattern as another, it associates & pairs the two closely. Immediately, this triggers upon the new, all values, virtues & emotions of the first on the other. Imagine in a negotiation meeting, you come across someone who strongly physically resembles the scamster - Harshad Mehta in your mind. Irrespective of any other facts, the Appearance Bias would get triggered blocking the objective evaluation of the current actor in the game. You would clamp down & be super conscious. Not only physical looks, such pattern hunting is done for behaviours, styles, gestures and several such other resembling elements. There are two set backs to the Appearance Bias. One obviously where real values & virtues do not match with the triggered links. Second, objectively, the assessment is blocked by strong pattern triggers! If you are smart, you could benefit from existence of appearance biases. Do a bit of background check. Understand the likes, dislikes & other publicly known triggers of the person you are about to transact with. This may help. It could provide you an enabling support. Needless to stress, all other factors being kept authentic.