Directory UMM :Data Elmu:jurnal:J-a:Journal of Economic Psychology:Vol21.Issue2.Apr2000:
Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
www.elsevier.com/locate/joep
Keeping up oneÕs appearance: Its importance and the choice
of type of hair-grooming establishment
R. Keith Schwer *, Rennae Daneshvary
Center for Business and Economic Research, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Parkway,
P.O. Box 456002, Las Vegas, NV 89154-6002, USA
Received 20 September 1998; accepted 10 September 1999
Abstract
This study investigated factors which in¯uence the importance one attributes to overall
appearance and the choice of type of hair-grooming establishment. Data were collected from a
sample of 245 respondents residing in a southwestern metropolitan area. Analyses reveal that
respondents employed in professional/managerial, clerical/secretarial, sales, services, and
military occupations, ones in which appearance could in¯uence job performance, identi®ed
maintaining an overall good appearance as very important signi®cantly more often than respondents employed in other occupations. Employment in appearance-important occupations
signi®cantly in¯uences the choice of hair-grooming establishment. Demographic variables
have greater explanatory power than economic variables (appearance-important occupations
and income) and establishment attribute variables (image, service experience, and convenience). Ó 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PsycINFO classi®cation: 3920
JEL classi®cation: D12
Keywords: Physical attractiveness; Occupational success; Choice behavior
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-702-895-3191; fax: +1-702-895-3606.
E-mail address: schwer@nevada.edu (R.K. Schwer).
0167-4870/00/$ - see front matter Ó 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 1 6 7 - 4 8 7 0 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 4 3 - 4
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1. Introduction
Americans are taking care of themselves by exercising, eating nutritious
foods, taking care of their skin, and enhancing their appearance including
their hair via color, transplants, and permanents. In a quest to enhance their
appearance, both women and men are spending more time and money on
physical appearance, including personal grooming at beauty salons, beauty
shops, and barbershops.
Men, historically patrons of barbershops, are relatively new customers to
beauty salons and beauty shops. 1 According to American Demographics, one
in six men patronized a beauty salon in 1989. As would be expected, men who
frequent beauty salons differ from men who patronize barbershops. Men
who did so were more likely to have a higher level of education, a higher level
of income, and to be employed in an executive or a managerial position than
men who frequented barber shops (Exter, 1990). These facts give rise to two
questions: (a) Why is appearance important? and (b) What determines oneÕs
choice of hair-grooming establishment?
Many early studies (1970s and 1980s) of appearance used a social psychological approach. 2 According to Eagly, Ashmore, Makhijani and Longo
(1991) these studies primarily addressed the perception (e.g., social, intelligent), treatment (e.g., selection as a dating partner), and characteristics (e.g.,
personality traits, behavioral tendencies) of attractive and unattractive individuals.
The economic eects of physical attractiveness have been more recently
investigated by Bosman, Pfann, Biddle and Hamermesh (1997), Collins and
Zebrowitz (1995), Frieze, Ohlson and Russell (1991), Hamermesh and Biddle
(1994), Kyle and Mahler (1996), Loh (1993) and Roszell, Kennedy and
Grabb (1989). Generally, less attractive people earn less than better looking
people (Frieze et al., 1991; Hamermesh & Biddle, 1994; Roszell et al., 1989).
Roszell et al. (1989) found that attractiveness in¯uenced income attainment
for men, older individuals, and those employed in predominantly male occupations. Similarly, Frieze et al. (1991) showed that the starting salary of
1
Beauty salons usually oer full service including cutting, coloring and perming hair, selling retail
products, and oering skin care such as facials. Beauty shops are more limited in their services usually
omitting skin and nail care. Beauty salons are usually frequented by males and females, beauty shops by
women, and barbershops by men.
2
Economic studies are likely to use measurable physical-appearance information to assess measurable
behaviour, such as assessing the eect of height and weight on wage levels.
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
209
men was signi®cantly in¯uenced by their attractiveness, but not so for
women. However, both attractive women and men earned more over time. A
principal ®nding is that appearance is important in occupations which rely on
person-to-person contact and ones in which appearance may in¯uence economic productivity.
Height and weight have also been used in assessing the economic eects of
physical attractiveness. Loh's (1993) results showed that height positively
aected the wage levels for men and women; whereas, obesity slowed wage
growth, particularly for men. Likewise, Collins and Zebrowitz (1995) found a
signi®cant relationship between height and income ± taller men had higher
incomes than did shorter men. Other appearance cues such as the color of
hair and the use of cosmetics can also in¯uence income, as demonstrated in
an experimental setting by Kyle and Mahler (1996).
Physical attractiveness not only pays o for the individual but also for
®rms which hire attractive employees. Bosman et al. (1997) demonstrated
that Dutch advertising ®rms with more attractive executives experienced
faster growth and higher revenues than did ®rms with less attractive executives. Thus, there appears to be an economic incentive to appear attractive.
Previous research, however, has not addressed whether or not people who
are employed in some occupations, rate the maintenance of overall appearance more important than do people who are employed in other occupations.
Moreover, research has not fully considered the behavioral consequences of
individuals putting more or less emphasis on physical appearance (e.g., does
it aect grooming habits or maintenance rituals?). Nor has it addressed if
they patronize a beauty shop, barbershop, or a beauty salon in maintaining
their appearance.
This paper uses a sample to investigate whether oneÕs (a) occupational
status in¯uences the importance one attributes to maintaining overall appearance, and (b) occupation in¯uences oneÕs choice of type of hair-grooming
establishment. Speci®cally, we test two hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1. The importance respondents attribute to maintaining overall
appearance is signi®cantly related to their occupation, gender, racial/ethnic
group, and age.
Hypothesis 2. RespondentsÕ choice of hair-grooming establishment is significantly related to their socioeconomic characteristics (occupation, gender,
racial/ethnic group, income, and age) and perceptions of important hairgrooming establishment attributes.
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The hypotheses are tested using logit analysis. We measure the importance
of appearance with a binary assessment and the type of hair-grooming establishment with a nominal-choice variable. A set of economic, demographic,
and choice variables used separately and collectively oers empirical evidence
as to the signi®cance of occupational status and other factors in¯uencing
appearance assessment and the choice of hair-grooming establishment.
2. Physical appearance
The inferences that people make about others based on their physical
appearance have been extensively studied by researchers. In general, the
studies conclude that beauty is good, meaning that physically attractive
people will be successful in a multitude of endeavors, including professional
and social. 3 Another line of physical-appearance research investigates the
concern for oneÕs appearance, also referred to as vanity, and its relationship
to behavior. 4 For example, in their study of vanity and consumer behavior
Netemeyer, Burton and Lichtenstein (1995) found correlations between
vanity scales and consumer-based constructs such as cosmetics-use behavior
and clothing concern. Burton, Netemeyer, Lichtenstein (1995) studied the
role of appearance concern in relation to health-related behaviors and
concluded that women were more likely to engage in potentially harmful
behaviors such as eating disorders, cosmetic surgery, and intentional sunbathing than men. The authors attribute the dierences in appearance
concern to cultural socialization processes and attitudes which have existed
for centuries. They suggest that perhaps with the increased number of
women in the work force, concern for personal appearance would diminish
3
Brie¯y, the beauty is good theory suggests that beautiful people are perceived to have more favorable
personal attributes than nonbeautiful people. Extensive reviews of research on physical attractiveness
stereotypes using meta-analysis were conducted by Feingold (1992) and Eagly et al. (1991). Feingold's
(1992) review showed that physically attractive people were viewed as more sociable, dominant, sexually
warm, mentally healthy, intelligent, and socially skilled than physically unattractive people. Whereas, ``the
correlation literature indicated generally trivial relationships between physical attractiveness and measures
of ability'' (Feingold, 1992, p. 304). Eagly et al.'s (1991) ®ndings on the physical attractiveness stereotype
traits were similar and concluded that ``. . . the average magnitude of this beauty-is-good eect was
moderate, and the strength of the eect varied considerably from study to study''. To some extent, both
studies debunked the good-is-beautiful stereotype.
4
Netemeyer et al. (1995) de®ne physical vanity as ``an excessive concern for, and/or a positive (and
perhaps in¯ated) view of oneÕs physical appearance'' (p. 612).
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
211
as women succeed at work and gain social power ± although, further
opportunities for success in the workplace may be achieved by enhanced
appearance.
Research shows, however, that the importance of appearance may dier by
occupation. Hamermesh and Biddle (1994) used a survey (Holzer, 1993)
which assessed employersÕ views on the importance of appearance for hiring
to determine if better-looking people sort into occupations where beauty is
more productive. The survey asked employers ``How important or unimportant is attractive physical appearance [for the job most recently ®lled]?''
Although the sample size was small, the summary statistics revealed some
interesting ®ndings, for example, 90.9% of employers said that looks were
important for retail sales occupations; whereas, only 16.6% considered looks
important in precision production occupations. Thus, it appears that appearance is important in occupations where employees have more contact
with their customers.
In summary, the studies suggest that individualsÕ concern for their appearance may aect grooming behavior. This supports our studyÕs premise
that individuals employed in occupations where appearance is important will
solicit services from an establishment that will enhance their appearance,
making them more successful in the workplace.
3. Methods
Surveys were distributed to a convenience sample of 245 subjects (of which
220 answered all questions) including university sta, employees of a bank,
employees of a government building, patrons of beauty salons and barbershops, and members of a civic organization. Though respondents were selected on an availability basis, surveying at ten beauty establishments and four
nonbeauty establishments introduced randomness into the survey and acted
as a check against bias-sample selection. The surveys were distributed by
students during the spring of 1995 and the summer of 1998. The sample was
comprised of more women than men, 60.9% and 39.1%, respectively. The
mean age of respondents was 33.6 years with a range from 18 to 80 years.
About 36.0% were employed in professional/managerial occupations, followed by secretarial/clerical (18.6%), sales (14.1%), service (11.4%), technical/
trades (8.2%), and armed forces (6.4%). About 4% were retired and 1.4% were
homemakers. The median household income was in the $35,000±$49,999
range. By far whites represented the largest portion of the sample (77.1%),
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followed by African-Americans (8.6%), Asians/Paci®c Islanders (6.7%), Hispanics/Latinos (6.2%), and American Indians (1.4%).
3.1. Development of hair-grooming establishment attribute scale
In order to measure consumersÕ perceptions of important hair-grooming
establishment attributes, a scale of attributes was developed by drawing on
the limited hair-grooming establishment literature (Strischek & Du, 1989)
and initial ®eld work. Respondents were asked to rate nine attributes in selecting a hair-grooming establishment as either very important, somewhat
important, or not at all important.
To identify dimensions underlying the original nine important attribute
variables, an unrestricted factor analysis was performed. A three-factor solution emerged which explained 61.6% of the total variance of the nine items.
The alphas for the factors ranged from 0.58 to 0.76. The items had loadings
from 0.61 to 0.88.
Factor 1, Image, was composed of three items: reputation, atmosphere,
and attire of employees; Factor 2, Service Experience, consisted of quality
service, cleanliness, and courtesy; and Factor 3, Convenience, consisted of
location, price, and convenient hours. The scores from the factors were used
in subsequent regression analyses.
3.2. Modeling
This section describes our model of (1) the importance of maintaining
overall appearance and (2) choice of type of hair-grooming establishment.
3.3. Modeling the importance of appearance
Given previous ®ndings suggesting the linkage of one's economic livelihood and appearance, we might, therefore, expect that the importance of
appearance should depend on one's occupational status. We test this hypothesis using a binary dependent variable of the importance of maintaining
overall appearance RATE APPEARANCE (1 very important, 0 not
very important), and independent variables re¯ective of the respondents'
occupation and other explanatory variables identi®ed in the literature. Appearance-important occupation group was operationally de®ned as being
employed in professional/managerial, military, services, secretarial/clerical,
or sales occupations. The variable APPEARANCE OCCUPATION was
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
213
de®ned as 1 if respondent was employed in appearance-important occupations and 0, if not employed. A positive relation between occupation and the
importance of appearance is anticipated.
Research has established that women spend more time managing their
appearance than men (Daly, Hogg, Sacks, Smith & Zimring, 1983; Aune &
Aune, 1994) and that among African Americans, Caucasian Americans, and
Asian Americans, Caucasian Americans spend the most time on appearance
management and Asian Americans the least (Aune & Aune, 1994). On the
other hand, African Americans spend more money on personal care and
clothing than other groups which indicates they are concerned about their
appearance (Fisher, 1996). Given seemingly contradictory conclusions, we
forgo a directional hypothesis for race and appearance. Females, however,
are more likely to consider appearance maintenance to be more important
than males. The independent variables WHITE (white 1, minority 0)
and FEMALE (female 1, male 0) were included in the model. Pliner,
Chaiken, and FlettÕs (1990) study con®rmed that females were not only more
concerned with their physical appearance than males; but that the importance females place on appearance decreased with age. The continuous
variable AGE is included and we expect it will be negatively related to the
appearance variable. Our estimating equation in functional form is as follows:
RATE APPEARANCE f Appearance Occupation; White;
Age; Female:
1
3.4. Modeling the choice of type of hair-grooming establishment
Given previous ®ndings suggesting the linkage of one's economic livelihood and appearance, we would expect that oneÕs choice of a hair-grooming
establishment would depend on an individualÕs employment in an appearance-important occupation. This hypothesis is tested with a multinomial logit
regression, using a dependent variable CHOICE (1 frequent barbershop
most often, 2 frequent beauty shop most often, and 3 frequent beauty
salon most often), and independent variables re¯ective of economic, demographic, and important hair-grooming establishment attributes (factor scores
generated from attribute responses). Our estimating equation in functional
form is as follows:
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CHOICE f Appearance Occupation; Female; White; Age;
Income; Image; Service Experience; Convenience:
2
APPEARANCE OCCUPATION in the choice equation was rede®ned to
exclude the military since an appearance standard valued by the military may
be dierent from what is valued by civilians. In particular, with respect to
haircuts, the crewcut available at any barbershop may be considered ideal in
the military; whereas, a fashionable haircut that would help one get ahead in
an advertising ®rm, might be seen as inappropriate in the military. Accordingly, we would expect that persons employed in appearance-important occupations (professional/managerial, clerical/secretarial, sales, and services,
operationally de®ned as APPEARANCE OCCUPATION 1) would seek
beauty-enhancing services, since an economic incentive exists for looking
oneÕs best. The greater variety of appearance-enhancement services, we posit,
would be received from a beauty salon. Additionally, higher-income individuals, other things equal, may select a beauty salon since they are more
expensive than beauty shops or barber shops.
Barbershops are more likely to operate on a ®rst-come ®rst-serve basis;
and, beauty shops and salons are more likely to accept appointments. As
such it may be inconvenient for auent males to wait around in the traditional barbershop. Thus, appearance-important occupation and income
should decrease the probability of choosing a barbershop or a beauty shop
relative to a beauty salon. We use two income classes in (2).
Three independent variables, re¯ecting the importance of hair-grooming
establishment attributes, are expected to in¯uence choice of type of establishment: FACTOR 1 (Image), FACTOR 2 (Service Experience), and FACTOR 3 (Convenience). Choosing a beauty salon which oers quality service
and ambience, for example, may enhance a customerÕs self-esteem and similarly boost their esteem in the eyes of others. Many exclusive beauty salons are
places to be seen and to be pampered. Generally, they are also more lavishly
decorated than beauty shops or barbershops, and in some cases, provide their
customers with complimentary service, for example, wine or champagne.
Patronage of these types of establishments may also symbolize the status of a
customer, that is, a re¯ection of social class. However, if price is the most
important attribute to a customer, then a no-frills beauty shop or a barbershop would be preferred over a full-service salon. Factors 1 (Image) and 2
(Service Experience) are expected to decrease barbershop and beauty shop
choice; and, Factor 3 (Convenience) should increase such probability.
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
215
Lastly, three demographic variables are added to the model: FEMALE,
AGE, and WHITE. We would expect that patronage of the types of establishments to dier along gender lines for historical reasons. Historically, men
frequent barbershops and women use beauty shops. With the advent of the
beauty salon, de®ned as a full-service establishment, the traditional gender
segmentation became less prevalent. As noted earlier, males are fairly new
customers to beauty salons. As such, we expect males to choose barbershops
over beauty salons, other things equal.
Age might also come into play because younger people may be less averse
to crossing boundaries that were traditionally de®ned along gender lines.
Previous empirical research shows that younger persons are more concerned
with their appearance than are older persons (Pliner, Chaikner & Flett, 1990).
Therefore, we would expect younger individuals to be attracted to the
amenities that beauty salons oer ± facials and nail care, tanning booths, sale
of beauty products, and at some salons, trendy music and furnishings.
Since all ethnic/racial groups may be employed in appearance-important
occupations, no directional hypothesis is formulated for race. 5
4. Results
Binary logit regression was used to test Hypothesis 1 and a multinomial
logit was used for Hypothesis 2. The variables are described in Table 1. We
used 220 observations for which there were no missing values.
4.1. Importance of maintaining appearance
Table 2 presents the results of the binary logit regression of maintaining
appearance. Overall, the model exhibited good explanatory power, the hypothesis of all slopes equaling zero was rejected and the model correctly
predicted the importance ratings for 74.5% of the respondents. Individually,
the model estimated statistically signi®cant coecients for two variables ±
APPEARANCE OCCUPATION and WHITE. APPEARANCE OCCUPATION (de®ned as 1 for occupations readily identi®ed as likely to pay a
premium for appearance, otherwise zero) yielded the expected statistically
signi®cant positive coecient (statistically greater than zero at less than the
5
The small numbers of some of the ethnic groups warranted a less ambitious consideration of ethnicity.
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Table 1
Description of variables
Variable
Description
Rate appearance
Choice
1 if rate overall appearance important
1 if choose barbershop
2 if choose beauty shop
3 if choose beauty salon
1 if employed in the military, professional/managerial, secretarial/
clerical, service, or sales occupations
1 if female
1 if household income is $75,000 or more
1 if household income is $35,000±$74,999
Age of respondent
1 if respondent is white
Image
Service experience
Convenience
Appearance occupation
Female
Income 1
Income 2
Age
White
Factor 1
Factor 2
Factor 3
Table 2
Binary logit regression of the importance of maintaining overall appearancea
Variable
Coecient and z value
Constant
1.23
(1.56)
1.31
(3.04)
0.008
(0.62)
)1.78
(3.20)
)0.29
(0.86)
)119.46
)131.75
24.58
4
0.00001
0.093
74.5
Appearance occupation
Age
White
Female
LL n c
LL 0 d
v2
d.f.
Signi®cance level
Likelihood ratio index
Percent correct
a
Marginal eects on probabilityb
(overall appearance very important)
0.235
(3.02)
0.002
(0.62)
)0.339
(3.48)
)0.06
(0.86)
n absolute z value in parenthesis; *** P < 0.01.
Partial derivative of probabilities with respect to the vector of characteristics evaluated at means.
c
Log likelihood with n explanatory variables.
d
Log likelihood with all b 0 except for the intercept term.
b
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
217
0.01 level using a one-tail test). Thus, respondents employed in professional/
managerial, sales, clerical/secretarial, services, and the armed forces, identi®ed maintaining an overall good appearance as very important signi®cantly
more often than respondents employed in occupations where appearance is
considered less important. Whites were less likely to rate maintenance of
appearance important than minorities. This result stands in contrast to Aune
and Aune (1994), but in agreement with Fisher (1996). Moreover, the marginal eects, also shown in Table 2, support the signi®cance of the occupation
and white variables. Contrary to the literature (and in some cases, popular
opinion), there was no dierence in the perception of appearance maintenance by gender.
4.2. Choice of type of hair-grooming establishment
Table 3 contains the multinomial logit regression results of the choice of
type of hair-grooming establishment. The estimated parameters for each
equation in the table measure the eect of changes in explanatory variables
on the logarithm of the ratio of the probability of a ``beauty shop'' or a
``barbershop'' choice relative to the probability of ``beauty salon'' choice.
The explanatory variables were grouped into three separate sets shown in
columns 2±4 in Table 3, and one joint set, identi®ed in the column heading
All. Using the likelihood ratio test distributed according to the chi-square
distribution with the degrees of freedom equal to the number of explanatory
variables in the set, we tested for the contribution of the set of economic,
demographic, and establishment-attributes variables. The null hypothesis
that the slope coecients for all variables in each set equals zero was rejected
decisively as shown by the signi®cance levels of 0.000, 0.000, and 0.001, respectively.
For the economic variable set, being employed in an appearance-important occupation decreased the probability of using a barbershop and a beauty
shop relative to a beauty salon, statistically signi®cant at 1% and 5%, respectively. INCOME1 was also negative and statistically signi®cant for the
beauty-shop-choice group, indicating a reduced probability of using a beauty
shop relative to a beauty salon.
For the demographic data set all three variables were statistically signi®cant
for the barbershop group and for the beauty shop group. We ®nd that older,
nonwhite males had a higher probability of using a barbershop than a beauty
salon. On the other hand, being female, younger, and nonwhite increased the
probability of using a beauty shop relative to a beauty salon, all things equal.
Variable
Appearance
Occupation
Income 1
Income 2
Explanatory variable set
Economic
Demographic
Establishment attributes
All
)1.247
(3.645)
)1.722
(4.678)
)0.348
(0.654)
)0.175
(0.438)
)1.923
(3.023)
)2.704
(14.217)
0.067
(0.080)
)1.762
(3.636)
)0.045
(0.071)
)0.732
(1.351)
0.040
(1.955)
)5.017
(4.467)
)1.682
(3.118)
)0.016
(0.075)
)0.499
(3.186)
0.638
(2.534)
Age
0.040
(2.222)
)4.721
(4.527)
)0.974
(2.195)
Female
White
Image
)0.210
(1.224)
)0.500
(3.597)
0.298
(1.609)
Service experience
Convenience
Choice group: Beauty shop
Constant
Appearance
Occupation
Income 1
Income 2
)1.239
(3.730)
)0.886
(2.563)
)1.834
(2.476)
)0.252
(0.795)
)3.791
(5.854)
)2.322
(14.078)
)2.925
(3.813)
)0.761
(1.981)
)1.731
(2.288)
)0.388
(1.150)
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
Choice group: Barber shop
Constant
218
Table 3
Multinomial logit regression for choice of type of hair-grooming establishmenta
Table 3 (Continued)
Age
Female
White
Image
Service experience
Convenience
LL n b
LL 0 c
v2
d.f.
Signi®cance level
Likelihood ratio index
Percent correct
a
)284.106
)301.163
34.115
6
0.000
0.057
73.9
)250.479
)301.163
101.369
6
0.000
0.168
74.6
0.154
(1.056)
0.224
(0.883)
0.475
(2.751)
)289.303
)301.163
23.721
6
0.001
0.039
73.4
0.022
(1.861)
1.469
(2.665)
)0.596
(1.618)
)0.087
(0.532)
0.231
(0.784)
0.377
(2.206)
)226.097
)301.163
150.132
18
0.000
0.249
77.1
Coecients show relative to excluded category, beauty salon (absolute s values are in parentheses); *** P < 0.01; ** P < 0.05; * P < 0.10.
Log likelihood with n explanatory variables.
c
Log likelihood with all b 0 except for the intercept term.
b
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
)3.791
(5.854)
1.484
(2.751)
)0.615
(1.860)
219
220
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The stronger contribution of the demographic variables relative to the economic and establishment attribute variables is supported using the likelihood
ratio index. The index is 0.168 for the demographic set, and 0.039 and 0.057
and for the establishment-attributes and economic sets, respectively.
The establishment-attributes pattern revealed two interesting points: (a) a
statistically signi®cant negative sign on quality for the barbershop group, and
(b) a signi®cant positive sign with convenience for the beauty shop group.
Considering the explanatory factors jointly (shown in column 5 of Table
3), the pattern of signi®cant coecients for the barbershop group remained
essentially unchanged from consideration of each explanatory set separately.
The signs and the signi®cance of the economic and demographic factors remained unchanged. On the other hand, a slight decrease in signi®cance occurred for SERVICE EXPERIENCE and a marked increase in signi®cance
occurred for CONVENIENCE. CONVENIENCE when considered separately with the establishment attributes had been insigni®cant. Whereas,
considering all variables resulted in the CONVENIENCE variable gaining
statistical signi®cance, although the sign of the coecients did not change. A
positive sign suggests that the importance of convenience favors a barbershop relative to a beauty salon.
The pattern of the signi®cant coecients for the beauty salon group also
remained essentially unchanged. When considering the explanatory factors
jointly, a decrease in signi®cance occurred for AGE. WHITE when considered separately had been signi®cant, albeit at the 10% level; whereas, considered jointly with all variables, it lost its statistical signi®cance.
All in all, demographic and establishment attributes factors accounted for
greater in¯uence on the probability ratio between barbershops and beauty
salons than the economic factors. Our survey responses suggest that the
demographic dimension, in particular, age and gender, plays the signi®cant
role.
5. Conclusion
We ®nd that an appearance-important occupation is a signi®cant predictor
of the importance one attributes to overall appearance and that it signi®cantly reduces the probability of choosing a barbershop or a beauty shop
relative to a beauty salon. We reach the same conclusion when considering
the economic factors separately or jointly with demographic and establishment attribute factors.
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
221
Using a set of economic variables which includes appearance-important
occupation and income variables, we compared the relative contribution to
the likelihood ratio index with a set of demographic variables (age, gender,
and race) and establishment attributes (image, service experience, and convenience). The demographic set contributes more explanatory power than the
economic and establishment attributes.
Considering all explanatory-variable sets jointly, the probability of
choosing a barbershop relative to a beauty salon is signi®cantly associated
with older, nonwhite males not employed in appearance-important occupations, preferring convenience and accepting less quality in hair grooming. On
the other hand, the probability of choosing a beauty shop relative to a beauty
salon signi®cantly re¯ects older women with lower incomes, who are not
employed in appearance-important occupations. Similar to barbershop
®ndings, convenience is a signi®cant factor in choosing a beauty shop relative
to a beauty salon.
Our ®ndings point to a signi®cant dimension in the importance people
attribute to maintaining appearance; but, people choose a hair-grooming
establishment based on a mix of economic and noneconomic factors. As
such, one may maintain oneÕs appearance using the services of either a beauty
shop, a barbershop, or a beauty salon. Thus, the quality of the product, that
is the haircut or style, is but one of a number of amenities oered by some
high-end beauty salons. ``Keeping up appearances'', on the other hand, using
a barbershop or a beauty shop, may result in quality hair care and few, if any,
accompanying amenities in a less-than-fashionable salon.
The diculties encountered in operationally de®ning ``appearance occupation'' is an indication of some of the complexities involved in making selfimage relevant consumer decisions. Appearance importance seems like a
straightforward construct, but upon further examination, issues about what
kind of appearance one wishes to project add complexity to the issue. Additional research on this issue is warranted.
Important appearance issues not addressed in this exploratory study merit
further attention. For example, do people who focus on appearance select
appearance-important jobs? Are people in appearance-important occupations
forced by their situation to focus on their appearance? To better understand
the importance that appearance plays in the occupational setting researchers
should also assess the complementarity of other components of appearance,
that is, hair, clothing, posture, cleanliness, with occupational groups and the
amount of money and time spent for each of the grooming and appearance
enhancements. Such research, no doubt, calls for a rich data set.
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R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Shana Black and Bill Kuhn for their help on the
questionnaire and preliminary data collection, and Harvey Mann and
Edward Rivera for data collection.
References
Aune, R. K., & Aune, K. S. (1994). The in¯uence of culture, gender, and relational status on appearance
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Bosman, C. M., Pfann, G. A., Biddle, J. E., & Hamermesh, D. S. (1997). Beauty success and businesses'
beauty capital. Working paper series. No. 6083. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic
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attitudes and behaviors: Implications for consumer welfare. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 14,
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Collins, M. A., & Zebrowitz, L. A. (1995). The contributions of appearance to occupational outcomes in
civilian and military settings. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25 (2), 129±163.
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Loh, E. S. (1993). The economic eects of physical appearance. Social Science Quarterly, 74, 420±438.
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Pliner, P., Chaiken, S., & Flett, G. L. (1990). Gender dierences in concern with body weight and physical
appearance over the life span. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 16 (2), 263±273.
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www.elsevier.com/locate/joep
Keeping up oneÕs appearance: Its importance and the choice
of type of hair-grooming establishment
R. Keith Schwer *, Rennae Daneshvary
Center for Business and Economic Research, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Parkway,
P.O. Box 456002, Las Vegas, NV 89154-6002, USA
Received 20 September 1998; accepted 10 September 1999
Abstract
This study investigated factors which in¯uence the importance one attributes to overall
appearance and the choice of type of hair-grooming establishment. Data were collected from a
sample of 245 respondents residing in a southwestern metropolitan area. Analyses reveal that
respondents employed in professional/managerial, clerical/secretarial, sales, services, and
military occupations, ones in which appearance could in¯uence job performance, identi®ed
maintaining an overall good appearance as very important signi®cantly more often than respondents employed in other occupations. Employment in appearance-important occupations
signi®cantly in¯uences the choice of hair-grooming establishment. Demographic variables
have greater explanatory power than economic variables (appearance-important occupations
and income) and establishment attribute variables (image, service experience, and convenience). Ó 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PsycINFO classi®cation: 3920
JEL classi®cation: D12
Keywords: Physical attractiveness; Occupational success; Choice behavior
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-702-895-3191; fax: +1-702-895-3606.
E-mail address: schwer@nevada.edu (R.K. Schwer).
0167-4870/00/$ - see front matter Ó 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 1 6 7 - 4 8 7 0 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 4 3 - 4
208
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
1. Introduction
Americans are taking care of themselves by exercising, eating nutritious
foods, taking care of their skin, and enhancing their appearance including
their hair via color, transplants, and permanents. In a quest to enhance their
appearance, both women and men are spending more time and money on
physical appearance, including personal grooming at beauty salons, beauty
shops, and barbershops.
Men, historically patrons of barbershops, are relatively new customers to
beauty salons and beauty shops. 1 According to American Demographics, one
in six men patronized a beauty salon in 1989. As would be expected, men who
frequent beauty salons differ from men who patronize barbershops. Men
who did so were more likely to have a higher level of education, a higher level
of income, and to be employed in an executive or a managerial position than
men who frequented barber shops (Exter, 1990). These facts give rise to two
questions: (a) Why is appearance important? and (b) What determines oneÕs
choice of hair-grooming establishment?
Many early studies (1970s and 1980s) of appearance used a social psychological approach. 2 According to Eagly, Ashmore, Makhijani and Longo
(1991) these studies primarily addressed the perception (e.g., social, intelligent), treatment (e.g., selection as a dating partner), and characteristics (e.g.,
personality traits, behavioral tendencies) of attractive and unattractive individuals.
The economic eects of physical attractiveness have been more recently
investigated by Bosman, Pfann, Biddle and Hamermesh (1997), Collins and
Zebrowitz (1995), Frieze, Ohlson and Russell (1991), Hamermesh and Biddle
(1994), Kyle and Mahler (1996), Loh (1993) and Roszell, Kennedy and
Grabb (1989). Generally, less attractive people earn less than better looking
people (Frieze et al., 1991; Hamermesh & Biddle, 1994; Roszell et al., 1989).
Roszell et al. (1989) found that attractiveness in¯uenced income attainment
for men, older individuals, and those employed in predominantly male occupations. Similarly, Frieze et al. (1991) showed that the starting salary of
1
Beauty salons usually oer full service including cutting, coloring and perming hair, selling retail
products, and oering skin care such as facials. Beauty shops are more limited in their services usually
omitting skin and nail care. Beauty salons are usually frequented by males and females, beauty shops by
women, and barbershops by men.
2
Economic studies are likely to use measurable physical-appearance information to assess measurable
behaviour, such as assessing the eect of height and weight on wage levels.
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
209
men was signi®cantly in¯uenced by their attractiveness, but not so for
women. However, both attractive women and men earned more over time. A
principal ®nding is that appearance is important in occupations which rely on
person-to-person contact and ones in which appearance may in¯uence economic productivity.
Height and weight have also been used in assessing the economic eects of
physical attractiveness. Loh's (1993) results showed that height positively
aected the wage levels for men and women; whereas, obesity slowed wage
growth, particularly for men. Likewise, Collins and Zebrowitz (1995) found a
signi®cant relationship between height and income ± taller men had higher
incomes than did shorter men. Other appearance cues such as the color of
hair and the use of cosmetics can also in¯uence income, as demonstrated in
an experimental setting by Kyle and Mahler (1996).
Physical attractiveness not only pays o for the individual but also for
®rms which hire attractive employees. Bosman et al. (1997) demonstrated
that Dutch advertising ®rms with more attractive executives experienced
faster growth and higher revenues than did ®rms with less attractive executives. Thus, there appears to be an economic incentive to appear attractive.
Previous research, however, has not addressed whether or not people who
are employed in some occupations, rate the maintenance of overall appearance more important than do people who are employed in other occupations.
Moreover, research has not fully considered the behavioral consequences of
individuals putting more or less emphasis on physical appearance (e.g., does
it aect grooming habits or maintenance rituals?). Nor has it addressed if
they patronize a beauty shop, barbershop, or a beauty salon in maintaining
their appearance.
This paper uses a sample to investigate whether oneÕs (a) occupational
status in¯uences the importance one attributes to maintaining overall appearance, and (b) occupation in¯uences oneÕs choice of type of hair-grooming
establishment. Speci®cally, we test two hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1. The importance respondents attribute to maintaining overall
appearance is signi®cantly related to their occupation, gender, racial/ethnic
group, and age.
Hypothesis 2. RespondentsÕ choice of hair-grooming establishment is significantly related to their socioeconomic characteristics (occupation, gender,
racial/ethnic group, income, and age) and perceptions of important hairgrooming establishment attributes.
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The hypotheses are tested using logit analysis. We measure the importance
of appearance with a binary assessment and the type of hair-grooming establishment with a nominal-choice variable. A set of economic, demographic,
and choice variables used separately and collectively oers empirical evidence
as to the signi®cance of occupational status and other factors in¯uencing
appearance assessment and the choice of hair-grooming establishment.
2. Physical appearance
The inferences that people make about others based on their physical
appearance have been extensively studied by researchers. In general, the
studies conclude that beauty is good, meaning that physically attractive
people will be successful in a multitude of endeavors, including professional
and social. 3 Another line of physical-appearance research investigates the
concern for oneÕs appearance, also referred to as vanity, and its relationship
to behavior. 4 For example, in their study of vanity and consumer behavior
Netemeyer, Burton and Lichtenstein (1995) found correlations between
vanity scales and consumer-based constructs such as cosmetics-use behavior
and clothing concern. Burton, Netemeyer, Lichtenstein (1995) studied the
role of appearance concern in relation to health-related behaviors and
concluded that women were more likely to engage in potentially harmful
behaviors such as eating disorders, cosmetic surgery, and intentional sunbathing than men. The authors attribute the dierences in appearance
concern to cultural socialization processes and attitudes which have existed
for centuries. They suggest that perhaps with the increased number of
women in the work force, concern for personal appearance would diminish
3
Brie¯y, the beauty is good theory suggests that beautiful people are perceived to have more favorable
personal attributes than nonbeautiful people. Extensive reviews of research on physical attractiveness
stereotypes using meta-analysis were conducted by Feingold (1992) and Eagly et al. (1991). Feingold's
(1992) review showed that physically attractive people were viewed as more sociable, dominant, sexually
warm, mentally healthy, intelligent, and socially skilled than physically unattractive people. Whereas, ``the
correlation literature indicated generally trivial relationships between physical attractiveness and measures
of ability'' (Feingold, 1992, p. 304). Eagly et al.'s (1991) ®ndings on the physical attractiveness stereotype
traits were similar and concluded that ``. . . the average magnitude of this beauty-is-good eect was
moderate, and the strength of the eect varied considerably from study to study''. To some extent, both
studies debunked the good-is-beautiful stereotype.
4
Netemeyer et al. (1995) de®ne physical vanity as ``an excessive concern for, and/or a positive (and
perhaps in¯ated) view of oneÕs physical appearance'' (p. 612).
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
211
as women succeed at work and gain social power ± although, further
opportunities for success in the workplace may be achieved by enhanced
appearance.
Research shows, however, that the importance of appearance may dier by
occupation. Hamermesh and Biddle (1994) used a survey (Holzer, 1993)
which assessed employersÕ views on the importance of appearance for hiring
to determine if better-looking people sort into occupations where beauty is
more productive. The survey asked employers ``How important or unimportant is attractive physical appearance [for the job most recently ®lled]?''
Although the sample size was small, the summary statistics revealed some
interesting ®ndings, for example, 90.9% of employers said that looks were
important for retail sales occupations; whereas, only 16.6% considered looks
important in precision production occupations. Thus, it appears that appearance is important in occupations where employees have more contact
with their customers.
In summary, the studies suggest that individualsÕ concern for their appearance may aect grooming behavior. This supports our studyÕs premise
that individuals employed in occupations where appearance is important will
solicit services from an establishment that will enhance their appearance,
making them more successful in the workplace.
3. Methods
Surveys were distributed to a convenience sample of 245 subjects (of which
220 answered all questions) including university sta, employees of a bank,
employees of a government building, patrons of beauty salons and barbershops, and members of a civic organization. Though respondents were selected on an availability basis, surveying at ten beauty establishments and four
nonbeauty establishments introduced randomness into the survey and acted
as a check against bias-sample selection. The surveys were distributed by
students during the spring of 1995 and the summer of 1998. The sample was
comprised of more women than men, 60.9% and 39.1%, respectively. The
mean age of respondents was 33.6 years with a range from 18 to 80 years.
About 36.0% were employed in professional/managerial occupations, followed by secretarial/clerical (18.6%), sales (14.1%), service (11.4%), technical/
trades (8.2%), and armed forces (6.4%). About 4% were retired and 1.4% were
homemakers. The median household income was in the $35,000±$49,999
range. By far whites represented the largest portion of the sample (77.1%),
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followed by African-Americans (8.6%), Asians/Paci®c Islanders (6.7%), Hispanics/Latinos (6.2%), and American Indians (1.4%).
3.1. Development of hair-grooming establishment attribute scale
In order to measure consumersÕ perceptions of important hair-grooming
establishment attributes, a scale of attributes was developed by drawing on
the limited hair-grooming establishment literature (Strischek & Du, 1989)
and initial ®eld work. Respondents were asked to rate nine attributes in selecting a hair-grooming establishment as either very important, somewhat
important, or not at all important.
To identify dimensions underlying the original nine important attribute
variables, an unrestricted factor analysis was performed. A three-factor solution emerged which explained 61.6% of the total variance of the nine items.
The alphas for the factors ranged from 0.58 to 0.76. The items had loadings
from 0.61 to 0.88.
Factor 1, Image, was composed of three items: reputation, atmosphere,
and attire of employees; Factor 2, Service Experience, consisted of quality
service, cleanliness, and courtesy; and Factor 3, Convenience, consisted of
location, price, and convenient hours. The scores from the factors were used
in subsequent regression analyses.
3.2. Modeling
This section describes our model of (1) the importance of maintaining
overall appearance and (2) choice of type of hair-grooming establishment.
3.3. Modeling the importance of appearance
Given previous ®ndings suggesting the linkage of one's economic livelihood and appearance, we might, therefore, expect that the importance of
appearance should depend on one's occupational status. We test this hypothesis using a binary dependent variable of the importance of maintaining
overall appearance RATE APPEARANCE (1 very important, 0 not
very important), and independent variables re¯ective of the respondents'
occupation and other explanatory variables identi®ed in the literature. Appearance-important occupation group was operationally de®ned as being
employed in professional/managerial, military, services, secretarial/clerical,
or sales occupations. The variable APPEARANCE OCCUPATION was
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
213
de®ned as 1 if respondent was employed in appearance-important occupations and 0, if not employed. A positive relation between occupation and the
importance of appearance is anticipated.
Research has established that women spend more time managing their
appearance than men (Daly, Hogg, Sacks, Smith & Zimring, 1983; Aune &
Aune, 1994) and that among African Americans, Caucasian Americans, and
Asian Americans, Caucasian Americans spend the most time on appearance
management and Asian Americans the least (Aune & Aune, 1994). On the
other hand, African Americans spend more money on personal care and
clothing than other groups which indicates they are concerned about their
appearance (Fisher, 1996). Given seemingly contradictory conclusions, we
forgo a directional hypothesis for race and appearance. Females, however,
are more likely to consider appearance maintenance to be more important
than males. The independent variables WHITE (white 1, minority 0)
and FEMALE (female 1, male 0) were included in the model. Pliner,
Chaiken, and FlettÕs (1990) study con®rmed that females were not only more
concerned with their physical appearance than males; but that the importance females place on appearance decreased with age. The continuous
variable AGE is included and we expect it will be negatively related to the
appearance variable. Our estimating equation in functional form is as follows:
RATE APPEARANCE f Appearance Occupation; White;
Age; Female:
1
3.4. Modeling the choice of type of hair-grooming establishment
Given previous ®ndings suggesting the linkage of one's economic livelihood and appearance, we would expect that oneÕs choice of a hair-grooming
establishment would depend on an individualÕs employment in an appearance-important occupation. This hypothesis is tested with a multinomial logit
regression, using a dependent variable CHOICE (1 frequent barbershop
most often, 2 frequent beauty shop most often, and 3 frequent beauty
salon most often), and independent variables re¯ective of economic, demographic, and important hair-grooming establishment attributes (factor scores
generated from attribute responses). Our estimating equation in functional
form is as follows:
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R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
CHOICE f Appearance Occupation; Female; White; Age;
Income; Image; Service Experience; Convenience:
2
APPEARANCE OCCUPATION in the choice equation was rede®ned to
exclude the military since an appearance standard valued by the military may
be dierent from what is valued by civilians. In particular, with respect to
haircuts, the crewcut available at any barbershop may be considered ideal in
the military; whereas, a fashionable haircut that would help one get ahead in
an advertising ®rm, might be seen as inappropriate in the military. Accordingly, we would expect that persons employed in appearance-important occupations (professional/managerial, clerical/secretarial, sales, and services,
operationally de®ned as APPEARANCE OCCUPATION 1) would seek
beauty-enhancing services, since an economic incentive exists for looking
oneÕs best. The greater variety of appearance-enhancement services, we posit,
would be received from a beauty salon. Additionally, higher-income individuals, other things equal, may select a beauty salon since they are more
expensive than beauty shops or barber shops.
Barbershops are more likely to operate on a ®rst-come ®rst-serve basis;
and, beauty shops and salons are more likely to accept appointments. As
such it may be inconvenient for auent males to wait around in the traditional barbershop. Thus, appearance-important occupation and income
should decrease the probability of choosing a barbershop or a beauty shop
relative to a beauty salon. We use two income classes in (2).
Three independent variables, re¯ecting the importance of hair-grooming
establishment attributes, are expected to in¯uence choice of type of establishment: FACTOR 1 (Image), FACTOR 2 (Service Experience), and FACTOR 3 (Convenience). Choosing a beauty salon which oers quality service
and ambience, for example, may enhance a customerÕs self-esteem and similarly boost their esteem in the eyes of others. Many exclusive beauty salons are
places to be seen and to be pampered. Generally, they are also more lavishly
decorated than beauty shops or barbershops, and in some cases, provide their
customers with complimentary service, for example, wine or champagne.
Patronage of these types of establishments may also symbolize the status of a
customer, that is, a re¯ection of social class. However, if price is the most
important attribute to a customer, then a no-frills beauty shop or a barbershop would be preferred over a full-service salon. Factors 1 (Image) and 2
(Service Experience) are expected to decrease barbershop and beauty shop
choice; and, Factor 3 (Convenience) should increase such probability.
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
215
Lastly, three demographic variables are added to the model: FEMALE,
AGE, and WHITE. We would expect that patronage of the types of establishments to dier along gender lines for historical reasons. Historically, men
frequent barbershops and women use beauty shops. With the advent of the
beauty salon, de®ned as a full-service establishment, the traditional gender
segmentation became less prevalent. As noted earlier, males are fairly new
customers to beauty salons. As such, we expect males to choose barbershops
over beauty salons, other things equal.
Age might also come into play because younger people may be less averse
to crossing boundaries that were traditionally de®ned along gender lines.
Previous empirical research shows that younger persons are more concerned
with their appearance than are older persons (Pliner, Chaikner & Flett, 1990).
Therefore, we would expect younger individuals to be attracted to the
amenities that beauty salons oer ± facials and nail care, tanning booths, sale
of beauty products, and at some salons, trendy music and furnishings.
Since all ethnic/racial groups may be employed in appearance-important
occupations, no directional hypothesis is formulated for race. 5
4. Results
Binary logit regression was used to test Hypothesis 1 and a multinomial
logit was used for Hypothesis 2. The variables are described in Table 1. We
used 220 observations for which there were no missing values.
4.1. Importance of maintaining appearance
Table 2 presents the results of the binary logit regression of maintaining
appearance. Overall, the model exhibited good explanatory power, the hypothesis of all slopes equaling zero was rejected and the model correctly
predicted the importance ratings for 74.5% of the respondents. Individually,
the model estimated statistically signi®cant coecients for two variables ±
APPEARANCE OCCUPATION and WHITE. APPEARANCE OCCUPATION (de®ned as 1 for occupations readily identi®ed as likely to pay a
premium for appearance, otherwise zero) yielded the expected statistically
signi®cant positive coecient (statistically greater than zero at less than the
5
The small numbers of some of the ethnic groups warranted a less ambitious consideration of ethnicity.
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R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
Table 1
Description of variables
Variable
Description
Rate appearance
Choice
1 if rate overall appearance important
1 if choose barbershop
2 if choose beauty shop
3 if choose beauty salon
1 if employed in the military, professional/managerial, secretarial/
clerical, service, or sales occupations
1 if female
1 if household income is $75,000 or more
1 if household income is $35,000±$74,999
Age of respondent
1 if respondent is white
Image
Service experience
Convenience
Appearance occupation
Female
Income 1
Income 2
Age
White
Factor 1
Factor 2
Factor 3
Table 2
Binary logit regression of the importance of maintaining overall appearancea
Variable
Coecient and z value
Constant
1.23
(1.56)
1.31
(3.04)
0.008
(0.62)
)1.78
(3.20)
)0.29
(0.86)
)119.46
)131.75
24.58
4
0.00001
0.093
74.5
Appearance occupation
Age
White
Female
LL n c
LL 0 d
v2
d.f.
Signi®cance level
Likelihood ratio index
Percent correct
a
Marginal eects on probabilityb
(overall appearance very important)
0.235
(3.02)
0.002
(0.62)
)0.339
(3.48)
)0.06
(0.86)
n absolute z value in parenthesis; *** P < 0.01.
Partial derivative of probabilities with respect to the vector of characteristics evaluated at means.
c
Log likelihood with n explanatory variables.
d
Log likelihood with all b 0 except for the intercept term.
b
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
217
0.01 level using a one-tail test). Thus, respondents employed in professional/
managerial, sales, clerical/secretarial, services, and the armed forces, identi®ed maintaining an overall good appearance as very important signi®cantly
more often than respondents employed in occupations where appearance is
considered less important. Whites were less likely to rate maintenance of
appearance important than minorities. This result stands in contrast to Aune
and Aune (1994), but in agreement with Fisher (1996). Moreover, the marginal eects, also shown in Table 2, support the signi®cance of the occupation
and white variables. Contrary to the literature (and in some cases, popular
opinion), there was no dierence in the perception of appearance maintenance by gender.
4.2. Choice of type of hair-grooming establishment
Table 3 contains the multinomial logit regression results of the choice of
type of hair-grooming establishment. The estimated parameters for each
equation in the table measure the eect of changes in explanatory variables
on the logarithm of the ratio of the probability of a ``beauty shop'' or a
``barbershop'' choice relative to the probability of ``beauty salon'' choice.
The explanatory variables were grouped into three separate sets shown in
columns 2±4 in Table 3, and one joint set, identi®ed in the column heading
All. Using the likelihood ratio test distributed according to the chi-square
distribution with the degrees of freedom equal to the number of explanatory
variables in the set, we tested for the contribution of the set of economic,
demographic, and establishment-attributes variables. The null hypothesis
that the slope coecients for all variables in each set equals zero was rejected
decisively as shown by the signi®cance levels of 0.000, 0.000, and 0.001, respectively.
For the economic variable set, being employed in an appearance-important occupation decreased the probability of using a barbershop and a beauty
shop relative to a beauty salon, statistically signi®cant at 1% and 5%, respectively. INCOME1 was also negative and statistically signi®cant for the
beauty-shop-choice group, indicating a reduced probability of using a beauty
shop relative to a beauty salon.
For the demographic data set all three variables were statistically signi®cant
for the barbershop group and for the beauty shop group. We ®nd that older,
nonwhite males had a higher probability of using a barbershop than a beauty
salon. On the other hand, being female, younger, and nonwhite increased the
probability of using a beauty shop relative to a beauty salon, all things equal.
Variable
Appearance
Occupation
Income 1
Income 2
Explanatory variable set
Economic
Demographic
Establishment attributes
All
)1.247
(3.645)
)1.722
(4.678)
)0.348
(0.654)
)0.175
(0.438)
)1.923
(3.023)
)2.704
(14.217)
0.067
(0.080)
)1.762
(3.636)
)0.045
(0.071)
)0.732
(1.351)
0.040
(1.955)
)5.017
(4.467)
)1.682
(3.118)
)0.016
(0.075)
)0.499
(3.186)
0.638
(2.534)
Age
0.040
(2.222)
)4.721
(4.527)
)0.974
(2.195)
Female
White
Image
)0.210
(1.224)
)0.500
(3.597)
0.298
(1.609)
Service experience
Convenience
Choice group: Beauty shop
Constant
Appearance
Occupation
Income 1
Income 2
)1.239
(3.730)
)0.886
(2.563)
)1.834
(2.476)
)0.252
(0.795)
)3.791
(5.854)
)2.322
(14.078)
)2.925
(3.813)
)0.761
(1.981)
)1.731
(2.288)
)0.388
(1.150)
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
Choice group: Barber shop
Constant
218
Table 3
Multinomial logit regression for choice of type of hair-grooming establishmenta
Table 3 (Continued)
Age
Female
White
Image
Service experience
Convenience
LL n b
LL 0 c
v2
d.f.
Signi®cance level
Likelihood ratio index
Percent correct
a
)284.106
)301.163
34.115
6
0.000
0.057
73.9
)250.479
)301.163
101.369
6
0.000
0.168
74.6
0.154
(1.056)
0.224
(0.883)
0.475
(2.751)
)289.303
)301.163
23.721
6
0.001
0.039
73.4
0.022
(1.861)
1.469
(2.665)
)0.596
(1.618)
)0.087
(0.532)
0.231
(0.784)
0.377
(2.206)
)226.097
)301.163
150.132
18
0.000
0.249
77.1
Coecients show relative to excluded category, beauty salon (absolute s values are in parentheses); *** P < 0.01; ** P < 0.05; * P < 0.10.
Log likelihood with n explanatory variables.
c
Log likelihood with all b 0 except for the intercept term.
b
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
)3.791
(5.854)
1.484
(2.751)
)0.615
(1.860)
219
220
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
The stronger contribution of the demographic variables relative to the economic and establishment attribute variables is supported using the likelihood
ratio index. The index is 0.168 for the demographic set, and 0.039 and 0.057
and for the establishment-attributes and economic sets, respectively.
The establishment-attributes pattern revealed two interesting points: (a) a
statistically signi®cant negative sign on quality for the barbershop group, and
(b) a signi®cant positive sign with convenience for the beauty shop group.
Considering the explanatory factors jointly (shown in column 5 of Table
3), the pattern of signi®cant coecients for the barbershop group remained
essentially unchanged from consideration of each explanatory set separately.
The signs and the signi®cance of the economic and demographic factors remained unchanged. On the other hand, a slight decrease in signi®cance occurred for SERVICE EXPERIENCE and a marked increase in signi®cance
occurred for CONVENIENCE. CONVENIENCE when considered separately with the establishment attributes had been insigni®cant. Whereas,
considering all variables resulted in the CONVENIENCE variable gaining
statistical signi®cance, although the sign of the coecients did not change. A
positive sign suggests that the importance of convenience favors a barbershop relative to a beauty salon.
The pattern of the signi®cant coecients for the beauty salon group also
remained essentially unchanged. When considering the explanatory factors
jointly, a decrease in signi®cance occurred for AGE. WHITE when considered separately had been signi®cant, albeit at the 10% level; whereas, considered jointly with all variables, it lost its statistical signi®cance.
All in all, demographic and establishment attributes factors accounted for
greater in¯uence on the probability ratio between barbershops and beauty
salons than the economic factors. Our survey responses suggest that the
demographic dimension, in particular, age and gender, plays the signi®cant
role.
5. Conclusion
We ®nd that an appearance-important occupation is a signi®cant predictor
of the importance one attributes to overall appearance and that it signi®cantly reduces the probability of choosing a barbershop or a beauty shop
relative to a beauty salon. We reach the same conclusion when considering
the economic factors separately or jointly with demographic and establishment attribute factors.
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
221
Using a set of economic variables which includes appearance-important
occupation and income variables, we compared the relative contribution to
the likelihood ratio index with a set of demographic variables (age, gender,
and race) and establishment attributes (image, service experience, and convenience). The demographic set contributes more explanatory power than the
economic and establishment attributes.
Considering all explanatory-variable sets jointly, the probability of
choosing a barbershop relative to a beauty salon is signi®cantly associated
with older, nonwhite males not employed in appearance-important occupations, preferring convenience and accepting less quality in hair grooming. On
the other hand, the probability of choosing a beauty shop relative to a beauty
salon signi®cantly re¯ects older women with lower incomes, who are not
employed in appearance-important occupations. Similar to barbershop
®ndings, convenience is a signi®cant factor in choosing a beauty shop relative
to a beauty salon.
Our ®ndings point to a signi®cant dimension in the importance people
attribute to maintaining appearance; but, people choose a hair-grooming
establishment based on a mix of economic and noneconomic factors. As
such, one may maintain oneÕs appearance using the services of either a beauty
shop, a barbershop, or a beauty salon. Thus, the quality of the product, that
is the haircut or style, is but one of a number of amenities oered by some
high-end beauty salons. ``Keeping up appearances'', on the other hand, using
a barbershop or a beauty shop, may result in quality hair care and few, if any,
accompanying amenities in a less-than-fashionable salon.
The diculties encountered in operationally de®ning ``appearance occupation'' is an indication of some of the complexities involved in making selfimage relevant consumer decisions. Appearance importance seems like a
straightforward construct, but upon further examination, issues about what
kind of appearance one wishes to project add complexity to the issue. Additional research on this issue is warranted.
Important appearance issues not addressed in this exploratory study merit
further attention. For example, do people who focus on appearance select
appearance-important jobs? Are people in appearance-important occupations
forced by their situation to focus on their appearance? To better understand
the importance that appearance plays in the occupational setting researchers
should also assess the complementarity of other components of appearance,
that is, hair, clothing, posture, cleanliness, with occupational groups and the
amount of money and time spent for each of the grooming and appearance
enhancements. Such research, no doubt, calls for a rich data set.
222
R.K. Schwer, R. Daneshvary / Journal of Economic Psychology 21 (2000) 207±222
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Shana Black and Bill Kuhn for their help on the
questionnaire and preliminary data collection, and Harvey Mann and
Edward Rivera for data collection.
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