Field Experiment

Sarah Stephenson, Drew Murray, Danielle Perri, Meche Rico

Introduction

Examining the effects of dress, conservative versus sexy, on customer service

IV: conservative dress vs. sexy dress DV: customer service Conservative Dress: wearing modest clothing

that disguises one’s body Sexy Dress: wearing revealing and provocative

clothing Does the way a person dresses affect how the

employee perceives the customer?

Literature Review

“Sexy has become defined by our culture as objectification, which means girls in particular are turned into objects.” (Levin, D.E., & Kilbourne, J., 2009)

Women’s clothing trends have demonstrated a “widespread acceptance” of conservative dress” (Harp, S. S. et al, 1990)

Employee’s perception of the customer affects the level of service provided (Kim, M., & Lennon, S. J., 2005)

Research Method

Conservative Dress VS Makeup Hair Jewelry Clothes Shoes Accessories

Sexy Dress Makeup Hair Jewelry Clothes Shoes Accessories

Results

GreetedNot greetedGreetedNot greeted

Asked

Not asked

Asked

Not asked

SmiledDid not smileSmiledDirty Look

Results Con’t

Showed an item

Not show an item

Showed and item

Not shown an item

Said goodbye

Did not

Said goodbye

Did not

Conclusion

Conservative dress received the best customer service