Abstract
Using 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 front-line 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.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1041-1063 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Human Relations |
| Volume | 70 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| Early online date | 6 Jan 2017 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2017 |
Keywords
- Aesthetic labour
- Body art
- Branded labour
- Recruitment and selection
- Relationship marketing
Access to Document
- Timming_2016_HR_BodyArt_AM
Copyright © 2016, the Author(s). 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 accepted for publication in Human Relations, available at http://hum.sagepub.com/ https://dx/doi.org/10.1177/0018726716681654