How Do I Look? The Importance of Appearance for Job Applicants

The types of values that are being sold to children in commercial culture are those of violence, rebellious behavior, materialistic, lost of self-respect, bullying, etc. I believe that marketing plays a significant role in shaping children's values and aspirations by encouragening children to loose their values and demmeding their aspirations. Children are no longer concerned with follwing their parents advise and are more interested in following what the media has shown to be what's right and cool.

Today’s jobseeker has tough competition. In our text book readings “Judging by the Cover” (657-658), Bonny Gainley begins the argument of the paper by stating that job seekers must be careful when they make personal choices that initially will affect their chances of entering the workplace. People have a need to be accepted by others just the way they are, in the same way people continue to say, “you can’t judge a book by its cover”, yet people do based solely on their personal appearances. That goes for businesses as well, “[t]he bottom line is that businesses exist to make money. Whether it seems fair or not, most employers do care about the personal appearances of the people they hire because those people represent the business to its customers”.

“Judging by the Cover,” is an essay written in 2003 by Bonny Gainley who is a consultant, speaker, and author. It originally appeared in an opinion column in a Colorado newspaper. Although non-discriminatory, she believes that people project messages about themselves with their appearance. This essay seems to be intended for recent graduates and young job seekers. The main point that she tries to explain to the reader is that even though our family and friends may accept us for who we are, employers may not.

Throughout modern society, children have become the primary consumers of marketing (Hill, 2011, p. 348). As the documentary Consuming Kids illustrates, infants are easily deceived by society, culture, and especially media scams (Barbaro, 2008). Marketing has shifted the focus of children from traditional playing to various consumerist desires. This paper will explore the causes of the mass decline in childhood identity and the social implications involved. The impact of marketing for children will be examined through its effects on culture and society, children’s identity, consumerist tendencies, the increase in need for media and their effects through symbolic interactionism. Jennifer Ann Hill states, "Consumerism has led to a host of seemingly endless needs for sophisticated electronic media technology, making it increasingly difficult to provide children with an environment that allows for creativity or original thinking" (Hill, 2011, p. 352)??*** and the presence of this marketing is the catalyst to several different issues in the development of children (Hill, 2011, p. 352). In this report, I will contend that marketing is detrimental to the growth of children shaping youth to become lifelong consumers and how it is a societal problem.

Parents have difficulty raising their children the way they want to because kids are being influenced by commercialism that often contradicts the goals and objectives of the parent. In Sarah Banet-Weiser’s,

Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2014). Principles of Marketing. Upper Saddle, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Marketing has always had an impact to the future of our children because children can be approached in easy manners. As marketing continues to digress among children, spending on them seems to increase due to the way the ads and merchandise is presented. I believe marketing towards youngsters is a positive benefit into our economy and pursuing positive behavior. Nowadays brands have developed a technique called “pester power” that’s supposed to encourage children to watch what they consume, join any sports or activities, and make them be socially aware of their well-being.

Appearance is the first thing that catches ones attention. Whether it be a supermodel, a famous photograph or the golden arches almost anyone can spot from miles away, we take notice. Appearances are often time superficial, and sometimes deceiving. The essays written by Judith Ortiz Cofer, Eric Schlosser and Nora Effron help identify some instances where appearances can be powerful honest and dishonest. Through these three essays the ideas and impact of appearances will be conveyed.

Kotler, Burton, Deans, Brown and Armstrong (2013), Marketing (9th ed.), Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest

Citigroup Inc (2010) by a former Citibank employee claiming that she was terminated for being “too hot” according to her filed complaint. Following this introduction section, the authors first provide some background material as to societal norms concerning “attractiveness,” the existence of appearance discrimination in society, especially regarding employment, and the presence of a certain “preferring the pretty” norm, and consequently discrimination against less attractive people.

Consequently, they have found out that there is a serious difference between “the attractive and average looking interviewees in terms of high and low status job packages offered”. During the experiment, women interviewers gave more high positions to handsome men than attractive women. But, on the other hand, men did not have preferences of gender or attractiveness. Beauty is an influential aspect in different camps such as media or jobs. People may think that beauty human beings are more intelligent and popular than other people. They are just taking in consideration this characteristic to employ these people, but they don’t see if these people are more capable mentally or intellectually than other citizens to do certain jobs.

My connection to marketing started when I was a child. My mother’s friend sold beauty products in gorgeous boxes, targeted at female customers in various age groups. Attracted by the exquisite designs and persuasive slogans, I hoped that one day I could come up with such creative marketing ideas. As I grew up, I gained a better understanding of marketing from my father, a corporate sales director. Through our conversations, I learned that while making a sale is undoubtedly important, establishing brand equity and customer loyalty is the ultimate goal. This can only be achieved through successful marketing. Such recognition sparked my interest in exploring the field of marketing, and the real-world experience I’ve gained since then has only strengthened my desire to pursue a marketing career. Admission to ICL’s Strategic Marketing program is a natural next step in my preparation.

Hiring for looks gives retailers a great advantage and benefits. However, not everyone can meet the company’s standards when it comes to be attractive. So, people shouldn’t bother applying to stores like Abercrombie & Fitch if they know they wouldn’t be able to represent the companies look. Because, that’s how these industries make their profit. It’s just how their method works! They need to apply to places where they know they meet the company’s standards.

Today’s marketing is very different from yesterday marketing. This paper will discuss how marketing has change through the years. Who are the marketers of today really targeting and are there method ethical, what marketers’ responsibility to society are and what parents are doing to feed this frenzy.

Overall people perceived as beautiful have more job opportunities as well as a higher chance for advancement in their carriers. A study was conducted by the University of North Carolina at Pembroke on the topic of the relationship between attractiveness of professors and the perceived quality of their teaching. What the study found out was a strong relationship between the two – “results indicated that as hotness ratings increased, so did ratings on overall quality, clarity, and helpfulness. Additionally, further analysis indicated that the greater the percentage of hotness ratings to overall ratings, the more likely that students rated the professors favorably.” Moreover research shows that attractive people perform better when interviewed. An interesting fact is