Search results

The purpose of this paper is to explore how consumers view sponsorship tattoos. This study specifically addresses three research questions: first, how consumers view the idea of sponsorship tattooing; second, how the brand of the tattoo alters acceptance of the tattoo; and third, how the placement on the body of the athlete affects acceptance of the tattoo.

To address these research questions, focus groups were conducted.

Findings highlighted three important themes related to tattoos, sponsorships and brand perceptions: meaning of the tattoo itself, meaning related to the brand and the tattoo and meaning related to the tattoo and athlete.

For practitioners, this research highlights the complexity between consumers’ interaction with brands through sponsorship tattoos, which is a complicated, multi-dimensional process during which meaning can be assigned to multiple facets of the sponsorship relationship.

For scholars, this research offers a glimpse into an emerging trend that ties together the multi-billion dollar sports and tattoo industries. In sum, this research identifies ways in which consumers interpret meaning related to the tattoo itself, the brand and the athlete based on placement, sport and brand perceptions.

This study draws on social stigma and prejudice to examine the perceptions and beliefs of managers and employees regarding visible tattoos and body piercings, as well as the impact they have on potential employment and human resource management in the global South, using Nigeria as the research context.

The study uses a qualitative research approach, drawing on data from 43 semi-structured interviews with employees and managers in Nigeria.

Contrary to the popular opinion that tattoos and body piercings are becoming more accepted and mainstream in society, this study finds that some Nigerian employers and employees may stigmatise and discriminate against people with visible tattoos and body piercings. The findings of this study suggest that beliefs about tattoos are predicated on ideologies as well as religious and sociocultural values, which then influence corporate values.

The extent to which the findings of this research can be generalised is constrained by the limited sample and scope of the research.

Religious and sociocultural preconceptions about people with visible tattoos and body piercings have negative implications for the recruitment and employment of such people and could prevent organisations from hiring and keeping talented employees. This implies that talented employees might experience prejudice at job interviews, preventing them from gaining employment. Furthermore, stigmatising and discriminating against people with visible tattoos and body piercings may lead to the termination of employment of talented employees, which could negatively affect organisational productivity and growth.

This study provides an insight into the employment relations regarding tattoos and body piercing in Nigeria. The study highlights the need for mild beliefs and positive perceptions about people with visible tattoos and unconventional body piercings. There should be a general tolerance of the individual preference for body art and physical appearance, and this tolerance should be incorporated in organisational policies, which are enactments of corporate culture.

The purpose of this paper is to present industry perspectives on diversity research for the hospitality industry. This piece transcribes a panel discussion at the 2010 Hospitality Industry Diversity Institute Conference.

The panel discussion created dialogue between industry professionals and academic researchers with the goal of creating research on a variety of diversity topics that are meaningful to the hospitality industry. The variety of topics include visible tattoos in the workplace, multicultural travelers, attracting minority employees to the hospitality industry, and a general discussion of various issues central to the industry.

As a result of this discussion, researchers have learned that there are potential research opportunities regarding many of the topics presented in the discussion panel. Specifically, there is an interest in research regarding consumer perceptions of visible tattoos on employees; understanding what motivates and influences multicultural travelers in their travel decisions; how to attract minorities to choose the hospitality industry as a career; and general comments and concerns about research such as the need to make findings “relevant and applicable.” “We need industry support, especially gaining access and collecting data” (Dr Fevzi Okumus), and feedback should be stressed to make sure “the right thing is happening from a customer's perspective” (Tom Cusimano).

Further research is needed in the areas of how tattoos can influence the customer's experience, what is driving the multicultural traveler's decisions, what career paths are minorities choosing, and how the hospitality industry may successfully attract minorities to make their career in the field.

The paper provides original material from industry professionals and academic researchers. This piece is valuable for members of both the industry and academic community to help each better understand the needs of one another, including the need for collaboration from organizations in research from the academic community, and the need for research from the industry as well as practical application of results.

To show how consumer researchers can learn from novels and analogous works of fiction.

Close reading of two recent novels, The Savage Girl by Alex Shakar and Jennifer Government by Max Barry.

The paper shows how works of fiction can be used as a intellectual resource by the consumer research community. It argues that fiction refreshed the parts that other research methods cannot reach.

Much depends on the caliber of the novels. Not every work of art is a work of genius. The article contends that consumer researchers need to move beyond singing the praises of fiction and, in pursuit of new paths to thick description, seek instead to novelise our findings. Or narrate them better at least.

Marketing practitioners might learn more from reading novels than the academic marketing literature.

There is nothing particularly original in the paper. It reiterates what several scholars have said already. The message is sufficiently important to warrant constant repetition, however.

It is proposed that visible tattoos on service personnel may be used as a clue by consumers in predicting service process and outcome. This paper aims to explore this general hypothesis by investigating consumer perceptions of tattooed service employees and whether they vary by type of service rendered, the age of the perceiver, and whether the perceiver has a tattoo or not.

A quota sample of age‐grouped subjects reported their perceptions of the appropriateness of visible tattoos on service personnel in nine different occupations as well as their inferences about tattooed people on five personal traits.

Overall, visible tattoos on white‐collar workers were deemed inappropriate while similar tattoos on blue‐collar workers were viewed as appropriate. Respondents (both young and old and tattooed versus non‐tattooed) believed financial services workers should not have visible tattoos. Older subjects held a more unfavorable view of tattooed people, in general, than younger subjects, believing tattooed people are less intelligent and less honest than non‐tattooed people.

The respondents did not evaluate actual tattoos, just the location of the tattoo on the arms, hands, or neck. Also, subjects evaluated hypothetical employees. Prior acquaintance with the employee might alter the perception of the tattoo.

This is apparently the first study to investigate consumer perceptions of visibly tattooed service personnel. Written explanations given by subjects for their responses suggest that judgment of the appropriateness of the tattoo is driven by expectations. That is, whether the presence of the tattoo is congruent with the mental image of people in that occupation in the mind of the perceiver. Interestingly, judgment of appropriateness was not affected by whether the perceiver had a tattoo or not, suggesting that perceived similarity of the object to the perceiver had little influence on evaluation.

The prevalence of body art is on the rise; particularly among college age persons. This study aims to use group norms theory (GNT) and the justification‐suppression model of the expression of prejudice to examine the impact of body art such as tattoos and piercings on ratings of acceptability by co‐workers.

In a full‐factorial two‐by‐two scenario‐based experiment the authors manipulated the presence or absence of face‐to‐face customer contact and the interdependency of the distribution of rewards.

After controlling for participants' own tattoos and piercings, impression management, openness‐to‐experience, and agreeableness, the authors have found that an inside sales job and independent rewards are significantly positively related to acceptability but that their interaction was not.

The limitations of this study include the fact that it is a scenario‐based experiment using a fictitious co‐worker and that the sample is comprised of college students. However, manipulating body art in a live confederate would likely to have been impossible and college students are in the age group in which body art is most prevalent, making them logical candidates on which to examine the hypotheses.

Even those with body art themselves still prefer not to work with body art (non‐concealable) wearers in jobs with high levels of face‐to‐face customer contact or in jobs in which rewards are shared equally like team‐based sales.

An experimental design is used so as to manipulate only those characteristics of the work relationship hypothesized to be of interest, while controlling for extraneous variables like attractiveness and personality in the co‐worker, which vary greatly from person to person.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how small firms in the tattooing industry actively shape institutional expectations of value for consumers in a changing industry.

The paper draws upon interviews with key actors in the firms under study to explore their experiences with consumers and other constituents in determining how competitive advantage is constructed in this environment. These data are complemented data with interviews with governmental representatives and material from secondary sources.

The results reveal efforts of firms to construct and increase organizational legitimacy through the prominence of discourses of professionalism based on artistry and medicine/public health. These bases of competitive differentiation are not the clear result of exogenous pressure, rather they arise through the active efforts of the firm to construct value guidelines for consumers and other constituents.

Strategic management in small firms is a complex and dynamic process that does not necessarily mirror that of large organizations. Constructing competitive advantage is an interacting process between key actors of small firms and various constituents.

The paper extends the application of institutional theory in strategic management by illuminating the active role that firms play in creating industry norms, especially in industries where norms are not well established or no longer entrenched. Moreover, exploring an alternative site of study offers a means through which to see well‐studied issues in new ways.

The purpose of this paper is to gain better understanding of the attitudes toward those with tattoo(s) – by both those with and without tattoos – within the workplace. Specifically, this paper works to gain better understanding of attitudes toward those within specific employment and workplace groups.

This study utilized a self-administered Likert scaled original survey through a combined random and snowball sampling method. Results were analyzed using quantitative statistical analysis based on responses to attitudinal questions and demographic factors.

The results of this study indicate that negative attitudes toward tattoos are diminishing, and that there is an ever shrinking gap in negative attitudes between those with and those without tattoos.

While intended to be an exploratory exercise, this study may have been limited by the participant base. Even with a high number of responses, the random and snowball sampling of the participants may have resulted in clusters of data which may not be transferable across the population. Future studies should seek more closed collection of the data within specific organizations or controlled participant groups.

This study makes a new contribution to the literature as it is one of the first studies to specifically ask those with tattoos how they feel about others with tattoos. It is also one of the first academic articles, rather than journalistic, which explores attitudes toward tattoos within specific organizations.

A brand exists through the values it reflects. These can be outlined in a brand character statement (BCS) to provide guidance to the brand’s speech. This article discusses the application of a tool from psychiatry for the development of a BCS. In addition, we present steps for implementing and evaluating a branding strategy consistent with the BCS principles. Concludes that the concept of a “brand” and that of a “product” are diametrically opposed and rewards will go to those who do successfully build a brand.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the recruitment and selection procedures employed in the body art sector.

Qualitative interviews were conducted with the owners/managers of eight body art studios located across the USA and the UK.

The results suggest that recruitment and selection in the body art sector is characteristically informal and instinctive. It was also found that the use of formal methods of recruitment and selection in one of the case studies appeared to enhance difficulties in attracting and retaining talent.

The research corroborates the argument that smaller firms employ HRM strategies that are distinct from larger firms. But, more importantly, it also suggests that firm size could be a red herring in light of the various other factors that simultaneously influence HR service delivery.

This paper explores HRM practices in a hitherto unstudied sector of the economy. It also adds another layer of complexity to the academic debates surrounding HRM in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises.