Dressing for success – and scent?

The common slogan “dress for success” underlines the wide-held view that what you wear matters in everyday life. It originates in Erving Goffman’s studies on the social world as a stage. Accordingly, individuals interact as performers. In the context of management and organization studies this mode of interaction has later been labeled as “impression management”. It is obvious that workplace attire is used to manage the impressions of others. Studies show that women are more interested in clothing and experience more “appearance labor” when compared to men.*

Inspired by Elizabeth Taylor’s quote, “Success is a great deodorant,” this study shifts to scent as a dimension of career success and individual impression management at the corporate workplace.  The project conducted by Jasmin Rehmann follows a quantitative survey research design.  Partners of this project are: The business magazine Women in Business, as a media partner, as well as the exclusive labels Humiecki & Graef and Folie A Plusieurs. The results will be submitted in part fulfillment of the degree of the Master in Business Administration at Bern University of Applied Sciences.

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*Peluchette, J. V., Karl, K., & Rust, K. (2006). “Dressing To Impress: Beliefs And Attitudes Regarding Workplace Attire.” Journal of Business and Psychology, 21(1), 45–63.