Men at work: using dress to communicate identities more

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1361-2026.htm JFMM 15,4 Men at work: using dress to communicate identities Minjeong Kang California State University, Sacramento, California, USA, and 412 Received November 2010 Revised November 2010 Accepted June 2011 Monica Sklar and Kim K.P. Johnson University of Minnesota, St Louis Park, Minnesota, USA Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate young professional men’s perceptions and use of dress in relationship to their work identities. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 49 young men using a snowball sampling technique. Responses were analyzed using techniques outlined by Van Manen. Findings – Salience of work identity was not connected to participants’ perceptions and use of dress. However, feeling complete in one’s work identity was connected. Participants who perceived themselves as incomplete in their work identities used and planned to purchase items symbolic of their professions. Participants also expected to achieve specific outcomes as a result of their dress. Research limitations/implications – Research findings support tenets of symbolic self-completion theory. Practical implications – Men’s apparel retailers could promote their apparel as a symbol of qualities young men are interested in expressing and as a means to achieve desired work-related outcomes. Originality/value – The majority of research on relationships between dress and identity have focused on women. The paper illustrates that, as men are demonstrating renewed interest in their appearance, research that examines how men relate to and use dress in a workplace context has potential to contribute to extant literature and provide practical implications for merchandising apparel. Keywords Dress, Men, Work, Identity, Fashion, Perception, Work identity, Professionals, Sex and gender issues, Clothing Paper type Research paper Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management Vol. 15 No. 4, 2011 pp. 412-427 r Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1361-2026 DOI 10.1108/13612021111169924 Individuals balance multiple identities (e.g. work, gender, family) and different identities become salient in diverse contexts (Stryker, 1980; Stryker and Burke, 2000; Tajfel, 1982). Dress has been repeatedly recognized as a visual symbol of identity as well as a non-verbal communicator of other personal traits (Roach-Higgins and Eicher, 1992; Johnson et al., 2002). Dress, as defined by Roach-Higgins and Eicher (1992, p. 1) is “an assemblage of modifications of the body and/or supplements to the body” and thus includes clothing, accessories (e.g. tie, shoes) and body modifications (e.g. tattoo). As individuals use dress to both communicate and enact various identities within the workplace, they may experience appearance labor (Peluchette et al., 2006). Appearance labor is any “dissonance between what individuals believe that they are expected to wear and what they would prefer to wear” (p. 50). Incidents of appearance labor may be particularly evident as individuals transition from one role to another such as from college student to full-time employee and make decisions about which of their identities to communicate to self and others and what dress to purchase to represent those identities. The value a man places on his work identity, as compared to other identities, influences how salient that identity is for him and therefore to what extent he may or may not use dress to communicate that identity. His decision making concerning his dress may reflect the salience of a work identity as well as reflect his perceived level of completeness in a work identity, that is, to what extent he believes he has all the attributes and competencies needed to meet the requirements of his job. The workplace is an important context within which to examine young men’s use of dress to shape and communicate work identities for a variety of reasons. First, dress influences perceptions of others (Damhorst, 1990; Johnson et al., 2002) and dress is specifically used in the workplace to manage others’ perceptions (Peluchette et al., 2006). Thus, it is reasonable to assume that dress may contribute to other’s perceptions of one’s performance. Second, in addition to using dress to shape the perceptions of others, men may be interested in using dress to shape self-perceptions (Kwon, 1994). Third, the contemporary young man and his dress practices are important to analyze because contemporary men appear to have a relationship with dress that is different than previous generations of men. A review of the publications and selling space dedicated to dress items for men versus women suggests that men buy less apparel and related accessories than women do and by default, implies men have less interest in their appearance than women. However, there have been reports that men’s interest in dress and fashion has been rapidly growing and menswear sales have been increasing (Bakewell et al., 2006; Frith and Gleeson, 2004). Men’s apparel consumption has risen to the point where a man with no interest in fashion, or at least in his general appearance, appears old-fashioned (Bakewell et al., 2006). Fourth, the US General Accounting Office reported that women earned an average of 80 percent of what men earn (United States General Accounting Office, 2003). Consequently, men have the potential to spend greater amounts of money on dress than women. Researchers interested in relationships between identity and dress have primarily focussed their attention on women. Because desire to communicate identities ultimately influences apparel consumption, our overall research purpose was to investigate young professional men’s perceptions and use of dress in relationship to their work identities. 1. Literature review 1.1 Theoretical foundations Identity theory (Stryker, 1980; Stryker and Burke, 2000) and symbolic self-completion theory (Wicklund and Gollwitzer, 1982) were used to guide our research. Identity theory provided a definition of work identity and guided our questions regarding associations between salience of work identity and work dress. Symbolic selfcompletion theory guided our questions regarding associations between completeness of work identity and work dress. 1.2 Theories about identity Social identity theory (Tajfel, 1982) and identity theory (Stryker, 1980; Stryker and Burke, 2000) are two foundational theories that developed utilizing different conceptualizations and definitions of identity. Social identity theory positions the self as a composite of social and personal identities (Howard, 2000; Tajfel, 1982). A social identity is defined as an individual’s perceived membership in various social groups (e.g. clubs, organizations). A personal identity is defined as consisting of the idiosyncratic attributes that distinguish an individual from others. Dress can play a role in communicating both a social identity (e.g. wearing a team shirt) and a personal identity (e.g. wearing a team shirt with a unique accessory). Social identity theory has been used in research focussing on group-based identities (e.g. men or women, different Men at work 413 JFMM 15,4 414 ethnic groups) generating discussion surrounding social groups (Goby, 2004; Jacob and Cerny, 2004; Mosher et al., 2006; Schofield and Schmidt, 2005). A second approach to understanding identity is that of identity theory (Stryker, 1980; Stryker and Burke, 2000). According to identity theory, the self is composed of multiple identities that are tied to the social roles individuals play (Stryker, 1980; Stryker and Burke, 2000). Within this approach, an identity is defined as a set of internalized meanings and expectations for a social role. Researchers using identity theory have focussed on role-based identities (Arthur, 1997; Arthur 2006; Collett, 2005; Guiry et al., 2006). Within identity theory, identities have both a social and a personal component. An identity for any person is social because it is acquired on the basis of social positions individuals fill (e.g. parent, librarian). At the same time, identities are uniquely personal as a result of internalization. Internalization refers to the extent to which each individual embraces the meanings and expectations associated with a social position or role. Because the degree of internalization of a social role varies between individuals, not every social role an individual engages in becomes a part of the self. For example, teacher is a social role. There are agreed upon meanings associated with that role (e.g. lifetime learner, caring person, intelligent person) as well as expectations for behavior (e.g. being respectful of students, being helpful, being knowledgeable). If an individual internalizes the meanings and expectations for a teacher, then the role becomes an identity for him or her and becomes part of his or herself. Individuals decide for themselves which social meanings and expectations of a role they embrace and to what extent they embrace them. Through this uniquely individual process, individuals establish different identities for the roles they assume. The end result can be individuals that do not at all embrace the meanings and expectations of a role and consequently, do not view a role as being part of his or her self-definition, that is, do not view that role as one of their identities. In other words, one could view working as a teacher is something done to make a living; not as part of who he or she is. The reverse is also true. The role could be viewed as part of who one is and one of many identities. Applying this view of identity to our research, we used the term work identity to indicate the set of internalized meanings and expectations individuals hold for a role within the workplace and viewed work identity as a potential part of an individual’s self-definition. Individuals whose work identities are salient perceive their work role as a prominent part of their self-definitions and, as a result, exert considerable efforts toward successful role enactment (Stryker, 1980; Stryker and Burke, 2000). Because people hold expectations for dress and appearance that are tied to different occupational roles, dressing for work reflects one way to facilitate role enactment (Rafaeli et al., 1997). Consequently, individuals with salient work identities may differ from those with non-salient identities in their efforts to select and wear the “right” dress to enact and communicate their work identities. Individuals with salient work identities may also experience appearance labor as they select dress to express a work identity and perhaps suppress other identities. 1.3 Symbolic self-completion theory Symbolic self-completion theory (Wicklund and Gollwitzer, 1982) was also used to investigate relationships between men’s work identities and their dress. The theory proposes that when an individual feels incomplete in an identity, he or she may obtain the symbols associated with that identity to try to achieve a sense of completeness. An individual needs to be committed to an identity, if self-symbolizing is to occur (Wicklund and Gollwitzer, 1982). For example, when a young male professional is entering into a new profession or is entering into a new role within a profession, he is in the process of establishing or revising a work identity and feels insecure in his new position during this identity development process. He may feel deficient in this new role for a variety of reasons (e.g. lack of knowledge, confidence). As a consequence of feeling incomplete, he may adopt the dress and other symbols associated with the new role to enhance feelings of completeness. Similarly, an individual who feels complete in a new work role and accompanying identity may not alter his dress or may feel no need to wear specific dress associated with the role. These tenets of symbolic self-completion theory have been supported by researchers studying relationships between dress and ethnic identity (Crane et al., 2004) and dress and sorority identity (Arthur, 1997). Crane et al. interviewed selfdefined Scottish Americans. They found that individuals who identified their Scottish ethnicity to be an integral component of their self-definitions used dress when constructing their ethnic identity. They also reported that the use of dress to symbolize this identity decreased as individuals became secure in the identity. Similarly, Arthur found that the use of dress and other symbols was greatest when members were constructing their sorority identities and subsequently diminished as new members matured into the group and became assured in that identity. Left undocumented is whether dress is perceived and used by young men as a means to assist in the establishment of their work identities. 1.4 Work dress In addition to the evidence that individuals use dress in establishing identities, there is research that documents dress influences self-perceptions. Kwon (1994) studied the influence of dress on the self-perceptions of occupational attributes with male and female university students. Participants generally believed that wearing appropriate dress enhanced perceived attributes including responsibility, knowledge, and professionalism. In addition, for male participants, beliefs about dress were influenced by self-perceived attributes. For example, men who perceived themselves as competent held a stronger belief that wearing appropriate dress enhanced their competence than did men who did not perceive themselves as competent. In related research, Dellinger (2002) found dress impacted both self-perceptions and performance of male and female magazine editors and accountants. Editors who were considered “creative staff” reported they felt stifled when wearing suits at work. They attributed decreases in their self-expression abilities to wearing this type of dress. In contrast, accountants who were considered “conservative staff” shared that they felt professional when wearing business suits at work. Similarly Peluchette and Karl (2007) examined how different styles of clothing influenced self-perceptions of male and female MBA students. Wearing formal business clothing enhanced participants’ feelings of competence and trustworthiness as well as perceptions of being an authority. Wearing casual or business casual clothing made participants feel friendly. When compared to wearing business casual clothing, wearing casual clothing made participants feel less productive. Workplace dress can also be worn to intentionally shape perceptions of others. Pratt and Rafaeli (1997) were interested in how nurses used their dress. Nurses working in a rehabilitation unit shared that they wore casual dress to symbolize the environment outside of the hospital and patients’ eventual return to life there. In contrast, nurses working in an acute care unit reported they wore scrubs to symbolize their professionalism and competence. Men at work 415 JFMM 15,4 416 The work of several researchers documents that individuals use workplace dress to achieve specific outcomes. Rafaeli et al. (1997) interviewed female administrative employees who reported that they selected their workplace dress to influence other’s impressions and behaviors. For example, participants wore casual dress on the job to facilitate connections with coworkers. Similarly, Rucker et al. (1999) documented that university employees, especially minorities, managed their dress in order to obtain career advancement opportunities. Employees associated specific dress, including business suits or sports jackets, with outcomes such as making a powerful impression. Similar results were found by Peluchette et al. (2006) in their work with male and female MBA students. Students who placed importance on dress reported using dress to try to manage the impressions of others and to acquire power and influence. Taking into account reports that contemporary young men are interested in dress, we thought this was an opportune time to investigate young professional men’s perceptions and use of dress in relationship to their work identities. Based on our review of the literature, we developed the following research questions: R1. R1-A. What relationships do men perceive between their work identities and their dress? What differences exist between men with salient versus less salient work identities regarding their perception and use of dress? R1-B. What differences exist between men who feel complete versus incomplete in their work identities regarding their perception and use of dress? R2. What types of outcomes do men expect to achieve from their work dress? 2. Method 2.1 Research instrument The questionnaire, consisting of 30 questions, was divided into five parts and utilized primarily open-ended questions. The first part addressed participants’ ideas about appropriate dress at their work, their ideas about what makes dress appropriate for work, their efforts to adopt appropriate dress, types of dress they never wear to work, products they plan to or wish to purchase to wear to work in the near future, and why. Sample questions included “Do you think there is appropriate dress for your work? Please describe that dress and share why you think it is appropriate” and “Are you making any efforts to adopt the appropriate dress at your work?” The second part of the questionnaire contained items designed to gather information about the perceived salience of participants’ work identity and their perceived level of completeness in that work identity. Crane et al. (2004) assessed salience and completeness of Scottish ethnic identity by interpretation of participants’ interview data. This approach relied on the researchers’ ability to accurately infer these concepts. Since there was no existing objective measure of salience or completeness of an identity, we developed measures of these concepts by developing scale items based on relevant theory. The salience of a role identity is determined by the level of the importance a person places on that role in defining him or herself (Stryker, 1980; Stryker and Burke, 2000). Therefore, to assess how salient a work identity was, the following question was asked. “How important is your current job in defining your self?” Participants were asked to mark one of five choices ranging from “no importance” to “very important.” Symbolic self-completion theory suggests that a person with low experience and confidence in a role is more likely to feel less complete in that role identity than an individual with high levels of experience and confidence in the role. We assumed that the level of experience and confidence in a work role can be assessed with an individual’s perception of how expert he or she is. Thus, the degree to which an individual felt complete in his work identity was measured by asking participants to indicate if they felt they were an “expert,” “intermediate,” or “novice” professional at their work. As both of these are single item measures no reliability tests were conducted. Participant responses to these two questions were used to divide participants into high versus low groups on each concept. Details about group categorization can be found under the data analysis section. The third part of the questionnaire addressed participants’ ideas about connections between their work dress and expected outcomes. Questions asked included “To what extent do you feel or perceive coworkers judge your performance based on your dress?” and “What outcomes do you expect to be associated with your dress at work?” Participants were asked to discuss any outcomes they identified. The fourth portion addressed participants’ work dress consumption behavior. We asked them to identify the sources of influence on their decisions concerning what to buy to wear at work as well as their shopping habits and preferences. Questions included “Who does the shopping for your work dress?” and “From where do you get your ideas about what to buy to wear at work?” Finally, the last set of questions were included to determine if the participants worked full time in a profession where they were not required to wear a uniform, as well as to gather demographic information. At the end of the questionnaire, participants were also asked to share anything they thought was important to help the researchers’ understanding of their use of dress in the workplace. The questionnaire was pilot tested by two male professionals. Their comments were used to revise the questionnaire for clarity and comprehensiveness. 2.2 Data collection The questionnaire was distributed as a word text document to a set of known young men who were employed full time in professional occupations that do not require uniforms be worn at work and working in the USA. The questionnaire was attached to an e-mail, downloaded by participants, completed, reattached to an e-mail by participants, and e-mailed back to the researchers. Each participant was asked to forward the questionnaire to other qualified young men (i.e. men who are under 40, employed full time in professional occupations that do not require wearing uniforms, and working in the USA). This snowball sampling technique resulted in a convenience sample of 49 participants who met the criteria of young male professionals in the USA. The snowball sampling technique and e-mail distribution of the questionnaire were chosen to gain access to qualified participants across the country. Participants were offered no incentive to participate. 2.3 Data analysis Since majority of the questions were open-ended, it was possible for participants to make comments about a topic at multiple points in the questionnaire. Also, some participants volunteered providing additional comments at the end of the questionnaire. Therefore, we first organized data so that all related responses were examined together. Researchers independently read responses to each question. Van Manen’s (1990) line-by-line approach was used to identify major concepts by underlining each detail of a response to a question. Categories were developed to group Men at work 417 JFMM 15,4 418 together similar answers. Responses were then coded into categories. Coding was compared and differences of opinions were discussed until agreement was achieved. To answer the research question addressing identity salience and perception and use of dress, participants were divided into two groups based on their responses to the question “How important is your current job in defining yourself?” If a participant responded that his current job was of “no importance” to defining himself, then he was considered as not having a work identity that influenced his self-definition. Any other response indicated that the participant had a work identity that contributed to perceptions of self. If a participant indicated “important” or “very important,” as his response to this question, it was interpreted that the participant’s work identity was salient. These two types of participants formed the high salient work identity group. The remaining participants comprised the low salient group. These two groups’ responses toward their work dress were compared to identify differences. To answer the research question concerned with identity completeness and perception and use of dress, participants were divided into two groups based on their responses about whether they felt they were an “expert,” “intermediate,” or “novice” professional at their work. Participants who indicated they were experts were assumed to be complete in their work identity and were grouped together. Participants who indicated they were novice were likewise grouped together. These two groups’ responses toward their work dress were compared. 3. Findings 3.1 Participant characteristics Our participants represented a variety of professions. Of the total, 11 participants used the terms accounting, banking, or finance to describe their professions; seven participants used the terms creative, design, web development, web design, or advertising; three participants worked in education; the remaining 28 participants represented a variety of other fields (e.g. mortgage, insurance, consulting). Participants’ range of work experience was 15 years to two months (m ¼ 4.5). Participants ranged in age from 23 to 37 years (m ¼ 28.4 years). The majority of participants (n ¼ 43) had completed a bachelor’s degree. In terms of income, 28 participants indicated their personal income bracket was $50,000-$99,999 and 18 participants indicated their personal income bracket was $25,001-$49,999. Two participants indicated income levels of $100,000-$149,999. There was one participant who indicated he earned over $199,999 annually. The majority of participants (n ¼ 46) responded that they purchased their work dress. In general, participants shared they spent between 8 and 10 percent of their monthly income on workplace dress. Sources of influence on what to buy to wear at work varied. The majority of participants (n ¼ 36) used various media as their source of ideas. The media categories included television, magazines, films, photographs, and fashion blogs. They also reported that they used retailer resources including gathering information from merchandise displays, sales associates, catalogs, and the internet. Some participants mentioned coworkers or a company dress code as influential on their decisions concerning what to purchase to wear at work. Few individuals shared that they relied solely on a company dress code in making their decisions. Participants (n ¼ 41) indicated that they shopped for work dress using multiple types of retailers. The most frequently reported retailers included department stores and specialty stores, followed by off-price retailers, factory outlets, discount stores, and designer shops. In terms of type of retail channels, many participants (n ¼ 38) shopped only at brick and mortar stores. Some participants used catalogs and the internet. None of the participants used television home-shopping channels. Participants’ information regarding their dress consumption behaviors is consistent with the recent findings in the men’s dress literature. In accordance with the general trend of men’s consumption patterns (Bakewell et al., 2006; Clarkson, 2005; Frith and Gleeson, 2004), participants were active consumers with regard to purchasing their work dress. 3.2 Relationships perceived between work identity and work dress Whether participants actually viewed their roles at work as part of their selfdefinitions, was assessed first before examining relationships between work identity and dress. Participant responses revealed that the current job of each participant was rated as at least “slightly important” to their self-definitions. Thus, we concluded that all participants possessed work identities. In order to understand the relationship between work identity and dress, participants’ responses to our questions about appropriate dress, their efforts to adopt appropriate dress, and efforts to avoid wearing inappropriate dress were analyzed. Participants (n ¼ 45) overwhelmingly responded that there was “appropriate” dress at their work and provided descriptions of that dress. Only four participants reported that there was no standard in their workplace. Two of these participants expressed confusion about what is considered “appropriate” dress at their work and commented on how they dressed for work. Participant’s occupation and age are listed after each quote. I have trouble following the “appropriate” attire [y]. I try to see what others are wearing, decide what is wrong with it, and then dress to the next level (mortgage, age 25). Appropriate attire is tricky. Too trendy can give an odd impression to a wide variety of clients (older, blue collar, conservative), while too out of date gives the impression that you are not current [y] This is my view of appropriate as my employer does not define it (insurance, age 24). I keep the look to the classics with some modern components. Nothing too “on the edge” but current cuts and patterns may be ok (education, age 28). Men at work 419 Participants’ responses to questions regarding the appropriateness of dress coalesced around the type of profession they worked in. A clear distinction became apparent based on whether their profession was design related or not. Among the participants who responded that there was appropriate dress at their work, those who were in nondesign professions (n ¼ 38) indicated that wearing business casual or business formal comprised appropriate dress. Specific items noted included dress pants, collared dress shirts, suits, and ties. Five of these 38 participants mentioned that their company had a specific dress code. Participants working in design-related professions (n ¼ 7) described appropriate dress as attire that expressed their creativity. Examples of those items included bright colored tennis shoes, fashion-forward designer jeans, bold patterned shirts, and unique accessories. Dress was identified as appropriate for a variety of reasons. We categorized these reasons into four groups labeled: professionalism (i.e. the character, spirit, or practice of a professional as distinguished from those of an amateur), confidence (i.e. belief in the powers, ability, or reliability of a person), creativity (i.e. the state or quality of demonstrating originality and the ability to create meaningful new forms), and company representative (i.e. demonstration through behavior of the agenda, goals, and ability of the organization). Professionalism emerged as the dominant category as it JFMM 15,4 was repeatedly noted by a majority of participants. The emergent themes are reflected in the following statements from different participants. [y] Collared dress shirt or dress sweater, slacks, and dress shoes. Suit coat and tie are needed when the occasion calls for it. My field is professional services, so we must always look professional so we give the right impression to our clients [professionalism] (accounting, age 27). In order to inspire confidence in investors, clients, and the community, those in the banking world are expected to wear “stuffy” clothing. Corporate financial employees, male or female, as dictated by our professional norms, should wear suits, collared shirts, nice sweaters, or other dress clothing combinations [confidence] (banking, age 24). I call it “caring casual.” Clients have certain expectations of what a creative director should dress like. It is about looking current and hip. I have to show my creativity and concern for aesthetics and personal style [creativity] (design, age 36). [y] Business professional. It’s appropriate because being a recruiter in human resources and meeting potential new hires everyday I have to act in the best interest of my employer; giving the potential new hire a lasting impression of the look of my company [company representative] (human resources, age 24). 420 Among participants who reported the existence of appropriate dress, the majority (n ¼ 38) answered that they made efforts to wear it; two participants commented that they did not make an extra effort to dress appropriately because their personal styles were within the guidelines for appropriate dress for their workplace. All of the participants were very clear about what kinds of dress they never wore to work. These “never worn” items represented the opposite of the dress they described as appropriate. For example, a participant identified business formal as appropriate attire for work and reported that he never wore items such as T-shirts, jeans, or tennis shoes for work. The following quote exemplifies this idea. I never wear polo shirts, or cotton twill pants (e.g. Dockers). [y] I feel that polo shirts and Dockers are not professional, as they give off a more casual look (consulting, age 26). Analysis of participants’ responses revealed that they perceived dress was a medium that communicated certain traits to others. These communicated traits reflected expectations tied to their roles at work such as acting professionally and being confident. Thus, participants visually expressed their work identities by only wearing the perceived “appropriate” dress and not wearing “inappropriate dress.” 3.3 Work identity salience and work dress Participants varied in the importance they placed on their work identity. Of the total participants, 30 were identified as having highly salient work identities and 19 participants were classified as having less salient work identities. The highly salient identity group represented diverse professions and their responses revealed diverse views regarding dress. In general, the majority of people (n ¼ 21) in this group perceived work dress as very important and actively used dress as a means to express their work identity. This view is represented in the following comments. I dress professionally to reflect how serious and invested I am in my job. If I look in disarray, people will think I may not care too much about what I do. I think people put things together regardless of performance. I think it speaks more to attitude (public relations, age 26). I wear the clothing that is expected and I make every effort to keep myself neat and professional looking (investment management, age 28). Some participants (n ¼ 9) in this same group, however, did not assign a high level of importance to dress and consequently, did not use or little used dress to express their work identity. At times it seems if you want to move up the political corporate ladder you need to jump into a suit but I don’t feel that need [y]. I look for more of a dress shirt and slacks look, but half the time I find my self finding things that are more comfortable than what might be considered appropriate (advertising, age 35). Men at work 421 Participants in the less salient identity group (n ¼ 19) also provided diverse responses regarding their dress; ten of them were not highly concerned about work dress or minimized the importance of dress at work. They did not use or seldom used dress as a way to communicate their work identity. This view is represented in the following comment. I haven’t bought work clothes in years [y]. Nobody cares much about how a computer guy at a trading firm looks. Traders dress like bums (computer, age 32). However, nine participants in this same group indicated work dress was very important and actively used dress. There are times when I know that dressing the part helps. I’m often brought in to pitch a solution to people who don’t know much about technology. Looking professional helps a lot in bridging the gap (software, 23). [y] as I progress in my career and have more interaction with clients, wearing more professional look helps. Clients want their creative team to look avante garde and crazy (web design, age 25). Participant responses point to no clear connection between the salience of participants’ work identity and either their perceptions concerning importance of work dress or their actual use of work dress. Participants with salient work identities did not necessarily assign a higher level of importance to dress or more actively use dress to communicate their work identities than did participants with less salient work identities. 3.4 Work identity completeness and work dress As noted earlier, an individual needs to be committed to an identity if self-symbolizing is to occur (Wicklund and Gollwitzer, 1982). Therefore, only the responses of those individuals indicating they had salient work identities (n ¼ 30) were included in our analysis of relationships between identity completeness and dress. Overall, there appeared a connection between participants’ perceived level of completeness in their work identity and their use of dress in the workplace. Among the participants who perceived their work identity as salient to their self-definition, seven participants indicated they were “novice” professionals. These seven were considered to have salient work identities but to feel incomplete in those identities. All seven participants had been employed in their current jobs less than one and a half years and were the youngest of their associates. All seven assigned a high importance to work dress and reported they used and purchased dress which they believed was symbolic of their profession to construct their work identities. The following participants’ comments represent this behavior. Every industry has it’s “look.” In advertising, it’s trendy, classy, casual, and professional. I plan to buy nicer designer jeans, boots, and add more sport coats. They are timeless and always look good in my field (advertising, age 23). JFMM 15,4 I buy clothes specifically for work with brand names usually associated with professional attire (accounting, age 24). 422 Not all of these participants seemed to feel comfortable in wearing the dress they believed to be representative of their profession. Statements made by several of them suggested that they experienced appearance labor. Examples of their comments follow. The appropriate look within our downtown office is business casual. However, some partners dress very formally every day and like to see others dressed the same because of their ego. That makes me dress more formal than I need to at work. But I think that people should dress however they like such that it is not a distraction from the professional environment (finance, age 29). My productivity and confidence relies on comfort. However, I feel being in a “creative” profession I should show concern for aesthetics in my appearance (design, age 28). Among those participants whose work identities were salient, eight reported they were “expert” professionals. We defined this group of participants as having a salient work identity and as complete in that identity. A participant with seven years of work experience who perceived himself as an expert of finance shared, “I stopped dressing up to go to the office years ago [y] dry cleaning was an expensive pain.” Another participant with ten years of experience in advertising industry commented, “I don’t really try to fall into what is appropriate. I know I could/should [y] but now I’m all about comfort.” However, not all in this group stopped “dressing up.” The remaining “expert” participants expressed concern about wearing the appropriate dress for work. However, these participants did not mention using and/or buying symbols of dress that they believed signified their professions (e.g. expensive, brand-name dress). The following participant’s comments reflect this idea. When dealing with clients I think professional attire is required. It doesn’t need to be an expensive, brand name shirt, tie, and jacket but it needs to be thought out and well put together (creative industry, age 34). 3.5 Expected outcomes from work dress Participants had clear expectations for outcomes that they linked to their dress. While some participants were interested in using their dress to avoid negative outcomes, the majority used dress as a strategy to attain positive outcomes relating to career progression, communicating desirable impressions to important others, and to enhancing self-perceptions and/or performance. Participants’ responses were categorized into the following: upward mobility, shaping others’ impressions, enhancing self-perceptions and/or performance, and avoiding problems. Upward mobility was a major outcome participants (n ¼ 25) tied to their work dress. This theme was identified by comments such as “I start wearing nice suits and try to use that as a way to advance up the ladder,” “If one wants to be successful, one should always shoot for the more ‘put together’ end of the spectrum,” “I think being well dressed would give me more chances of meeting with upper level executives,” and “to be promoted to higher positions.” In all three participants wrote the same phrase, “One of the best quotes I heard was to dress for the position that you want, not the position that you have.” Another outcome identified (n ¼ 15) was being able to manage impressions formed by important others including clients, bosses, and coworkers. This outcome is reflected in the following statements; “I think being appropriately dressed makes people think I am more competent and serious about my job. I also feel it lets clients know that I am a professional” and “I feel that if I am dressed well they expect me to perform well.” One participant shared his experience of the impact of dress on others’ behaviors toward him. “I believe dress has a pretty high impact. Lately I have dressed down more at work and have noticed that people tend to give me more detailed instructions and are more worried about me getting something wrong than when I dressed up.” Enhancing self-perceptions and/or performance was also an important outcome identified (n ¼ 9). The following statements reflect the array of self-perceptions and outcomes recognized. “I would feel less competent and important if I dressed down,” “professional look ¼ professional attitude and respect for the job,” “It is a good personal feeling that is gained from what I choose to dress for work,” “for productivity and comfort!” and “to be more effective in my job.” Three participants commented that avoiding problems was what they expected from adhering to dress policies. This theme emerged from statements such as “the only expectation right now is to not be questioned by managers and partners about my dress” and “avoiding employer punishment.” Discussion and implications Participants shared that dress was important to communicating their work identity. They noted that appropriate dress communicated work-relevant expectations (e.g. creativity). This connection between dress and work identity supports previous researchers who found dress was used to shape others’ perceptions at work (Peluchette et al., 2006; Pratt and Rafaeli, 1997). Our finding is also consistent with the theorizing of Roach-Higgins and Eicher (1992). There was no consistent connection between the salience of participants’ work identity and either their perceptions concerning either the importance of or actual use of work dress. Not all participants who indicated they held salient work identities exerted effort into dressing for work and not all participants who did exert consistent effort indicated their work identities were important. Perhaps some participants who had salient work identities expressed this fact through other behaviors such as staying late or arriving early at work. Additionally, participants who had less salient work identities and made considerable effort in dressing for work may reflect individuals who simply have an interest in dress in general. As a result, they may have shown interest and concern about their dress regardless of the salience of their specific work identities. In contrast to salience of work identity, perceived completeness in work identity seemed to be a factor in explaining connections between identity and dress. All participants who reported they had a salient work identity but felt incomplete in this identity, shared that they either used or planned to purchase dress to symbolize their professions. This finding supports the basic tenet of symbolic self-completion theory, that is, individuals who feel a sense of incompleteness in an identity use symbols to achieve a sense of completeness in that identity (Wicklund and Gollwitzer, 1982) and is consistent with findings of Crane et al. (2004) and Arthur (1997). Participants reporting they felt complete in their work identities did not report using relevant symbols (e.g. brand label clothing, luxury brand accessories) as part of their workplace dress. These individuals did however, continue to show concern about wearing the “right” dress for work, suggesting that feeling complete in a work identity did not mean total disregard for dress. Men at work 423 JFMM 15,4 424 Experiences of appearance labor were evidenced from participants who had limited professional experience and indicated they had salient work identities. They seemed unable to easily transition to wearing the dress expected at their workplace, preferring to wear dress expressive of their other identities. Regardless of this tension, they did wear dress that reflected a work identity and suppressed forms of dress that were associated to non-work-related identities. This finding adds to the literature about the new concept of appearance labor and indicates a point in individuals’ lives where support could be provided. This support could come from varied sources such as from the workplace or the self-help industry through training about balancing one’s work life with outside roles. It could also come from the fashion world providing insight for male consumers to make a graceful transition in their dress from youth into the full-time workforce. Our research findings also support the findings of previous researchers who studied relationships between work dress and self-perception and performance (Dellinger, 2002; Kwon, 1994; Peluchette and Karl, 2007). These researchers found that individuals used appropriate dress to enhance self-perceptions of several job attributes including professionalism, responsibility, and trustworthiness. In addition to reinforcing various job attributes identified in previous studies, several of our participants shared simply feeling good about themselves as an expected outcome tied to their dress. This expectation was not directly related to enhancing desired job attributes but was related to enhancing self-esteem. This finding adds an important new perspective to the existing literature about the impact of work dress on self-perceptions in that dressing up for work serves not only an utilitarian purpose (e.g. to better achieve a sense of desired job attributes), but also a hedonic purpose (e.g. feeling good about oneself). The content of our participant’s responses was heavily focussed on the impact of dress on others rather than on themselves. This outcome was probably as a result of our questionnaire not specifically asking about connections between work dress and self-perceptions. Previous researchers asked directly about this relationship (Dellinger, 2002; Kwon, 1994; Peluchette and Karl, 2007) and this would account for some differences between our findings and theirs. In addition, our participants were employed full time. They were not undergraduates (Kwon, 1994) or graduate students (Peluchette and Karl, 2007) recollecting their sometimes limited employment experiences. This fact might also have contributed to our participants noting only the influence of their dress on others and not on themselves. Similar to the work of several researchers, (Peluchette and Karl, 2007; Rafaeli et al., 1997; Rucker et al., 1999), we found individuals linked their dress to opportunities to enhance their career (e.g. upward mobility). This finding may be as a result of increased workplace competition men are facing or it may reflect the cultural shift noted earlier that suggests men need to be concerned about their dress (Bakewell et al., 2006; Frith and Gleeson, 2004) and to participate in fashion. Our research findings provide multiple implications for retailers. As retailers are looking for new markets, it appears that these professional men are active apparel consumers with considerable purchasing power. Retailers interested in developing and growing their men’s apparel business could promote the symbolic nature of apparel and market dress as a means to achieve desired work-related outcomes. Moreover, noting that these men are using the mass media as a source of information concerning what to wear to work, retailers can take this opportunity to promote apparel with specific directions about how dress can function within the workplace. Lastly, noting that many participants shared their purchase decisions were influenced by in-store displays, menswear retailers can benefit from interesting and appealing merchandising. Overall, this research evaluated an always relevant yet understudied population, men, in an arena that is pertinent to all, the workplace. Also, by studying young men who are motivated, growing and changing, this research presented findings that others can use as a jumping off point for workplace improvement if used in the business sector, personal life improvement if used in social science, or capitalizing on for fashion developments if used by retailers, designers, or the media. Furthermore, this research contributed to the study of identity salience and multiple identities, and could be taken as a case to imply there is an interesting course of study regarding dress and the delicate negotiation that is one’s identity expression. Limitations and future research directions The process of emailing the questionnaire to potential participants and then having them email their completed questionnaires back to the researchers meant that true anonymity was not possible, which is a limitation. Although participants were informed that all identifying information would be removed once their questionnaire was returned, the e-mail address could identify a participant and that could have affected the content of participant responses if they had concern over being identified when read. Different findings could have resulted from guiding potential participants to a public and anonymous web site that contained the questionnaire instead of having the questionnaire attached to an e-mail. Moreover, although use of a snowball sampling technique helped us reach the qualified participants that we targeted (i.e. young full-time professional men), recruiting based on friend and coworker relationships limited our sampling into certain groups of professionals, when compared to using random sampling techniques. Also, being asked to answer the questionnaire by people who have personal and/or professional relationships with may have exerted pressure to take part in the research and this may have exerted an influence on the candidness and openness of responses as participants may not have believed their responses would be kept confidential from the individual’s recruiting them to participate. In addition to addressing the limitations mentioned above in any future research, examining whether there exist both gender and generational differences regarding the relationship between dress and work identity could be a future direction for researchers. Many participants mentioned that they expected their work dress to shape the perceptions of others in a positive way. Appearance management (Kaiser, 1997) could be utilized to investigate the specifics and realities of the management of appearance and how appearance management correlates with career success and advancement including hiring, promotions, pay raises, and productive coworker relationships. Role theory (Sarbin and Allen, 1968) and dramaturgy (Goffman, 1959) could also be applied to research designed to explain the learning processes, objectives, and behavioral issues regarding dressing for specific situations and environments. Finally, research could focus on men’s fashion marketing, retailing, and consumption behaviors, as much of what we know about marketing, retailing, and consumption is based on data drawn from women. 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