I don't know, the study kind of raises questions on my perception of what works versus what actually works.

I am wondering whether the conclusions they've drawn here are a result of mistakenly thinking correlation = causation. I wish they had also gathered data on the participants doing the judgments. I have a feeling the results would support mirroring and that those with lower animation levels themselves at time of judgement prefer those who were less animated while those with high energy levels preferred higher levels of animation.

It's an interesting study nonetheless, I just don't think enough data was gathered to draw the conclusions they have, I think there's more to it. I also think it's possible to bring someone's energy level up to a higher level of animation if they're nudged correctly.

Using the study as a grounded basis though the thing to take away would be to assume a lesser animation level at least to start with.