What you wear affects your job prospects and how much you get paid, research claims
Small study indicates the 'peacock effect' on employment opportunities
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.What you wear to a job interview could determine your chance of success and how much you might end up being paid, new research claims.
The small study claims to show that interviewees with clearly expensive – or branded – clothing were more likely than competitors in cheaper clothing to win the job.
In the study, conducted with 180 students at a Korean university, participants were shown three photographs of a woman being interviewed for an internship at a film agency.
All three versions were identical, except in one the woman wore an unbranded shirt, in the next a H&M branded shirt and the final video featured the woman wearing a shirt with the Louis Vuitton logo.
The majority of the Seoul students picked the individual wearing the Louis Vuitton branded shirt as the one most likely to get the job – and researchers noted they also expected her to be paid more than the other two.
The students picked the Louis Vuitton woman as the one most likely to have the highest worth and status.
The study, published in the Journal of Business Research, confirmed the effect as part of signalling theory, whereby individuals show off to confirm to other individuals their high worth.
Be warned though: even the researchers commented that the results were not conclusive and could backfire.
A wealthy – or gaudy – outfit will backfire to a significantly wealthier observer, who may find it distasteful, while an exclusive but subtle outfit may not be picked up by interviewers thus negating the effect.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments