Body art as branded labour: At the intersection of employee selection and relationship marketing

Abstract

Acknowledgements: I am grateful to the editor and five reviewers for their helpful comments. I also kindly thank the participants for their time. AbstractUsing mixed methods, this paper examines the role of body art as a form of branded labour in customer-facing jobs. It brings together employee selection and relationship marketing into one framework, and uniquely conceptualizes body art as an asset in the labour market, rather than the traditional liability. In Study 1, 192 respondents with management experience participated in an online laboratory experiment in which they were asked to rate photographs of tattooed and non-tattooed job applicants in two hypothetical organizations: a fine dining restaurant and a popular nightclub. In Study 2, 20 in-depth, qualitative interviews were carried out with managers, tattooed frontline employees and potential consumers in two real-world service sector firms. The results show how body art can be strategically used to positively convey the brand of organizations, primarily those targeting a younger, 'edgier' demographic of customer.

The effects of negative content in social networking profiles on perceptions of employment suitability

“…A further limitation is that the study participants evaluated hypothetical candidate profiles. While this approach is often employed in research on selection decision making (e.g., Bohnert & Ross, ; Dunn, Mount, Barrick, & Ones, ; Tews et al, ; Timming, ), a useful extension of the present study would be to content analyze social networking profiles of actual job seekers and link content to actual job search outcomes.…”

Tattoos, Lifestyle, and the Labor Market

“…An individual who chooses to get a tattoo runs the risk of undergoing the consequences of such, predominantly negative, stereotypes in interacting with others. However, as Timming () shows, there are niches where tattoos can be associated with positively valued traits and thus can actually be seen as an asset, such as at popular nightclubs. This might offer extra work opportunities, e.g., with the growing number of festivals and artisan start‐ups.…”

“…Harger () finds higher recidivism for inmates with visible tattoos, possibly due to worse employment opportunities. On the other hand, Timming () shows that for certain types of industry, such as a popular nightclub, a tattooed workforce can actually be an asset instead of a liability.…”

The tattooed doctor: An exploration of the perceptions of medical students and medical school staff

“…Buttle & East (2010) noted that facial tattoos may affect the communicative nature of the face whilst Timming (2016) proposed that facial tattoos may deter from the 'aesthetic branding' of an organisation. Although the NHS and the UoD do not have an 'aesthetic brand' for their employees or students, they do share the aim of delivering professional healthcare.…”