Visible tattoos make for "unprofessional professions"

Consumer perceptions of visible tattoos on service personnel was written by Dwane H. Dean and published by Emerald Group Publishing, Ltd in 2010.

Summary 
Compared to what they are purchasing (the “goods”), it is believed that consumers actually have more difficulty evaluating the service they receive prior to purchase.  Prospective consumers search for “clues” as to the type of service performance and quality they can expect; one of the main clues they use is the physical appearance of employees (Dean, 2010).

Generation Y (those born in 1980 and after) is probably the most tattooed out of any generation thus far.  More than a third of 18- to 25-year-olds have a tattoo, and many of these are in places unlikely to be covered up (Dean, 2010).  Since the percentage of Generation Y employees in the service workforce is growing at a rapid pace, service managers will need to address the issue of visible tattoos, and the possible backlash of consumer perceptions of them.  A study was done which explored these perceptions of visibly tattooed service employees and what it would possibly mean for the perceived service quality the consumers received.  It attempted to determine if these perceptions varied based on: 

• the type of service being provided (a dentist versus a bartender, for example);
• whether or not the customer has a tattoo; and
• the consumer’s age. 

Methods.  Each respondent in the sample study reported their perception of the “appropriateness” of visible tattoos on service workers by occupation as well as to what they believed the personal traits of the service providers were.  The participants of the study were requested to fill out a questionnaire, as well as a blank space for write-in comments of a brief explanation on their selection of answers.  The front page of the questionnaire was related to how they felt about visible tattoos on employees they might meet during business transactions.  They were provided with a list of various occupations, including hair-stylist, mechanic, nurse, accountant and dentist, to name a few; they were also provided with a list of traits/attributes including intelligent, honest, attractive or rebellious. The remainder of the questionnaire consisted of demographics (whether or not they had a tattoo, gender, age group, etc.).  The flip-side of the questionnaire involved comparing people with and without tattoos, outside of business transactions. 

Results.  Both the non-tattooed and tattooed groups felt that visible tattoos on bank loan officers, accountants and stockbrokers are inappropriate.  For all three occupations that dealt with money and finances (the ones listed previously), the words “unprofessional” and “untrustworthy” were common in the written portions of the questionnaire.  Others felt it was a sign of poor judgment and suggested an “inexperienced” employee (Dean, 2010).
In regards to the health care occupations (dentist, nurse) those who said visible tattoos were inappropriate wrote in their explanations that the presence of tattoos would be “dirty” or “unsanitary” in these professions (Dean, 2010).

The two tattoo groups agreed that visible tattoos are appropriate on mechanics and bartenders.  Written explanations suggested that tattoos were acceptable because they are “not office jobs”, mechanics “don’t have to dress up”, and tattoos on a bartender demonstrated “personality” which is seen as a desirable trait for the job.
Looking at age in general, younger respondents held a more favourable view of tattooed employees, while older respondents felt tattooed people to be less intelligent, more rebellious, less attractive and less honest than non-tattooed people.

The author of this article concludes that consumers seem to eagerly judge service quality from the presence of visible tattoos, and managers should be concerned with them on financial service workers, those in health care and possibly other white-collar occupations.  They also suggest that policies should be developed addressing tattoo appearance in these professions.

Opinion
I thought this was a pretty interesting and unique study.  A lot of research has been done on employee appearance in general, but the visibility of tattoos on employees has not been researched or investigated before.  Not only did this look specifically at tattoos (and it looked at tattoos in locations that you can’t cover up, like arms and neck) but it looked at it from a consumer/customer perspective rather than an employer perspective.

I can’t say that I’m completely shocked with the results.  However, I don’t agree with them (this may be because I’m slightly biased in regards to tattoos).

I was quite taken aback with seeing consumer perceptions like “inexperienced” and “untrustworthy” for jobs involving finances and people’s money.  Untrustworthy?  For having a tattoo on your arm?  Come on.  Just because an accountant or a bank teller has a tattoo doesn’t mean they’re going to steal your money.  I can see someone thinking it wouldn’t be AS professional (it still isn’t completely unprofessional in my opinion) to show an entire arm-full of tattoos … but someone being considered “untrustworthy” and having poor judgment because of it seems a little farfetched. 

My mouth dropped for the next one.  Apparently nurses and dentists with tattoos are “unsanitary” and “dirty”… what? It’s not like these people don’t shower, or don’t wash their hands before they put them in your mouth; because that’s probably what I would consider dirty in that type of environment.

But after saying all this, the participants in the study were in complete agreement for bartenders and mechanics to have visible tattoos because “they don’t have to dress up” and it’s part of their uniform. 

If you’re not okay with someone having a visible tattoo in one job it should probably be accepted as the same across the board (of all occupations).  Bartending is still a service job - you’re still being “served”.  What difference does it make whether it’s the person cleaning your teeth, putting your money in the bank, fixing your car or serving you a drink?  When you really think about it, it makes absolutely no difference. I’m not going to think my teeth weren’t cleaned properly, or the wrong amount of money was deposited into my bank account because the person who served me had a tattoo… it’s their job, they got hired because they’re good at what they do.  If everyone thought the way the participants did in the study, no one would go get injections from nurses or get their teeth cleaned professionally (yes, professionally... tattoos or not).  Everyone service industry would be out of business because there's no one willing to be served.

More and more service employees are going to have tattoos as the young generation demands jobs... it’s inevitable.  It’s just disappointing to think that customers, not even employers, stereotype how people decide to express themselves.

Citation 
Dean, Dwane H. (2010).  Consumer perceptions of visible tattoos on service personnel.  Managing Service Quality. 20(1), 294-308. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198031702/23960620F76B4F35PQ/1?accountid=3455

Questions
Do you think the professionalism of visible tattoos varies from job to job, as the participants in the study felt?

Do you see the consumer/customer perception of service quality (based on visible tattoos) changing as more tattooed people get hired?