St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  • Register / Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Taboo tattoos? A study of the gendered effects of body art on consumers' attitudes toward visibly tattooed front line staff

Thumbnail
View/Open
Timming_2015_JRCS_Tabootattoos_AM.pdf (801.6Kb)
Date
03/2016
Author
Baumann, Chris
Timming, Andrew Richard
Gollan, Paul
Keywords
Body art
Discrimination
Front line staff
Gender
Intersectionality
Tattoos
BF Psychology
HF Commerce
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
The purpose of this experiment is to examine the gendered effects of body art on consumers’ attitudes toward visibly tattooed employees. We analyse the reaction of 262 respondents with exposure to male and female front line staff in two distinct job contexts: a surgeon and an automobile mechanic. The results demonstrate differences on three dimensions: a) job context, b) sex of face and c) stimulus (i.e., tattooed or not). We demonstrate significant interaction effects on those three dimensions, and our findings point to the intersectionality of gender-based and tattoo-based discrimination. Consumers have a negative reaction to body art, but perceptions of tattoos on male and female front line staff differ significantly. A key marketing challenge is how to balance employees’ individual rights to self-expression and at the same time cater to consumers’ expectations regarding appearance of staff. Our study forms the basis for this debate that is only just emerging.
Citation
Baumann , C , Timming , A R & Gollan , P 2016 , ' Taboo tattoos? A study of the gendered effects of body art on consumers' attitudes toward visibly tattooed front line staff ' , Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services , vol. 29 , pp. 31-39 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2015.11.005
Publication
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2015.11.005
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2015.11.005
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/10806

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter