Is Your Tattoo Grossing Out Your Friends?

Everyone who has been in a crowd in the last 5 years knows intuitively that tattoos and piercings are becoming more common.  Statistics bear this out. Whereas only 6% of Americans 65 and older have a tattoo, 35% of Americans 18–25 years old and 40% of those 26-40 have at least one (according to statisticsbrain.com).  It makes no sense for workplaces to be too strict about workers not having or covering up tattoos when more and more customers have them too, and won’t care if they see one on the arm of the company employee they interact with.

But there’s tattoos and then tattoos. They’re not all the same. Some make us say “nice!” and some make us say “yuk!” or “yikes!”

Recent research shows that it isn’t just a personal reaction that matters: the kinds of tattoos do have different kinds of impact on who consumers trust and who they are willing to work with.

In a 2012 article, two researchers from Old Dominion University looked at how people thought about tattoos on salespeople in two industries—auto sales and real estate. What they found says a lot both about stereotypes about tattoos and about gender.

The authors surveyed about 100 college students, almost evenly split between men and women, and asked them first to rate 21 tattoos and choose which they thought were the most masculine and most feminine.

This was rated most masculine

and this one most feminine.

Then the tattoos on the more masculine and feminine side of the scales were given to about 250 people with an average age of 34 ½.  They were given the question “if you were going to buy a new car [house] and saw a salesman [saleswoman] in his [her] early 20’s with this tattoo on his [her] wrist, what would go through your mind?”  with randomly chosen salesperson gender, tattoo rated masculine or feminine, and industry.

Here’s what they found. When selling to people with tattoos, an “appropriate” tattoo on a salesperson is not a liability.  In fact, people with tattoos trust salespeople with tattoos more than they trust those without them, and want to work with them more. So you do the math. If 40% of 26-40 year olds have a tattoo, companies better get them some tattooed employees!

But . . . the kind of tattoo matters. The study showed that salespeople, “regardless of gender, who have highly feminine tattoos are rated as more feminine, and salespeople who have highly masculine tattoos are rated as more masculine.”

Finally,  the study showed that consumers are “less likely to trust or intend to work with salespeople who have a highly masculine tattoo” vs. a salesperson with a feminine tattoo. This is especially true for saleswomen. Both salesmen and saleswomen with highly masculine tattoos were expected to be “more aggressive, ambitious, and dominant.”

So bottom line, a more feminine tattoo will get you more business if you are in sales, whether you are a man or a woman.

Tattoos are becoming just another way to judge how compatible you are with the person you’re working with or buying something from.  According to statisticsbrain.com, the percentage of people who say their tattoo makes them feel rebellious is 29%, and 31% say it makes them feel more sexy. So in looking at another person with a tattoo, they’re seeing that tattoo or piercing as an object that reflects qualities they like in themselves.  It’s seeing common ground, a kindred spirit.

It’s clear now that as tattoos becoming more and more common, more and more normal, research like this is going to increase.  Research is going to start appearing that studies how tattoos can actually function as an advantage and not a disadvantage.  That current view of tattoos as a disadvantage is a reflection of the older management class, as can be judged by the number of companies that currently have dress codes specifying that tattoos and piercings need to be covered and removed while at work.  That will all change as millenials become the managers. And the consumers.

Citation:
Arndt, A. D., & Glassman, M. Y. R. O. N. (2012). What tattoos tell customers about salespeople: The role of gender norms. Marketing Management Journal, 22(1), 50-65.