Vocal imitation governs speech acquisition. But the role of imitation in the routine phonetic behavior of adult speakers still needs to be investigated. The experiment reported here is an attempt to induce imitative phonetic variation in the laboratory. The experimental setting aims at giving rise to modifications in the phonetic realizations of speakers who are exposed to a recorded speaker from another French dialect. Results show that the speakers’ productions get closer to the productions they are exposed to, although the instructions are not to imitate or even to listen to the recorded speaker. We discuss the implications of this finding for the study of the emergence and the propagation of sound changes within a speech community.