Looking good is important to people throughout the world; particularly, in North America. According to a recent Gallup poll, seven out of ten Americans said physical appearance is important "in terms of happiness, social life and the ability to get ahead."
It's not just important for the young. In 1999, Parade magazine published the results of a national survey of men and women aged 18 to 75 that found 84 percent disagreed with the statement, "When you become old, looks are no longer important." However, while physical appearance is a significant part of image, there is more to image than looks.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines image as a "mental conception" of a person or organization. In other words, image is the beliefs that we have about someone or something. It may be an individual's or company's reputation that has developed over time.
Our impressions about other people may be based on how they look, talk, or behave. A person's overall "image" may consist of a variety of factors including their clothing, grooming, tone of voice, vocabulary, facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, and social behaviors (also known as etiquette).
Just as individuals have an image, so do companies. While public opinion about a corporation can be influenced by advertising, there are many factors involved in developing a company's image. For example, we may form impressions of a company when visiting their retail outlets, speaking with a customer service representative on the phone or even by seeing a company spokesperson interviewed in the news.
Image matters because people often make assumptions based on limited information. In their 2003 book Social Psychology, H. Andrew Michener, John D. DeLamater, and Daniel J. Myers explain that when we observe a single physical characteristic or behavior in someone, we tend to assume that person has a number of other qualities, too.
For example, someone may be perceived as confident because they have a firm handshake. They may seem as trustworthy because they make eye contact. They may be judged as capable, professional, successful - even wealthy or intelligent - because they are well dressed. The reverse is also true.
According to Brian Tracy, bestselling author of The Psychology of Achievement, "many capable men and women are disqualified from job opportunities because they simply do not look the part."The truth of the matter is that people are affected by your appearance. This is the case whether or not they realize it, and whether or not they think appearance is important. Regardless of a person's attitude toward appearance preferences, the truth remains that a person's first impression has a significant, measurable effect on the observer.
Your appearance strongly influences other people's perception of your:
Financial Success
Authority
Trustworthiness
Intelligence
Suitability for Hire or Promotion
Your Personal presentation (communication skills and appearance) influences people's behavior towards you, including:
Complying with your request
Trusting you with information
Giving you access to decision-makers
Paying you a certain salary or fee for contracted business
Hiring you or purchasing your product
These perceptions and behaviors are consistent amongst observers and persistent over time. In other words, most people will tend to form the same kinds of opinions about you based on your appearance.
Image has an impact on people's private lives, as well. You probably know from personal experience how much more respect you receive from store clerks when you are well dressed.
Beyond how we are treated by strangers or service staff, our image can have a significant impact on our happiness by affecting the development of friendships and romantic relationships. Children learn that looking or acting "different" often results in teasing and bullying. Adults experience similarly painful consequences.
Thomas F. Cash, professor of clinical psychology at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, has been studying the psychology of personal appearance for more than 30 years. In appearances on television shows such as 20/20 and print media such as Time Magazine, he has shared his research findings that being physically unattractive results in discrimination against both men and women.
For corporations and other organizations, image can affect the financial bottom line. Fortune magazine's annual rankings of most admired companies had found a correlation between a company's reputation and its profits. Not surprisingly, the most admired companies have higher financial returns than the least admired.
In a 2000 study for the Council of Public Relations Firms, Jeffries-Fox Associates researched the business literature, and identified the following benefits for companies that have a good reputation:
Increasing market share
Lowering market costs
Lowering distribution costs
Being able to charge a premium
Avoiding over-regulation
Being able to weather bad times
Greater employee alignment and productivity
Being able to attract and retain talent
Being able to attract investors
Gaining more favorable media coverage
If a company's reputation, or image, is not as good as it could be, the company may be losing out on all of these benefits.
Looking good is important to people throughout the world; particularly, in North America. According to a recent Gallup poll, seven out of ten Americans said physical appearance is important "in terms of happiness, social life and the ability to get ahead." 
Just as individuals have an image, so do companies. While public opinion about a corporation can be influenced by advertising, there are many factors involved in developing a company's image. For example, we may form impressions of a company when visiting their retail outlets, speaking with a customer service representative on the phone or even by seeing a company spokesperson interviewed in the news.
Image matters because people often make assumptions based on limited information. In their 2003 book Social Psychology, H. Andrew Michener, John D. DeLamater, and Daniel J. Myers explain that when we observe a single physical characteristic or behavior in someone, we tend to assume that person has a number of other qualities, too.
According to Brian Tracy, bestselling author of The Psychology of Achievement, "many capable men and women are disqualified from job opportunities because they simply do not look the part."The truth of the matter is that people are affected by your appearance. This is the case whether or not they realize it, and whether or not they think appearance is important. Regardless of a person's attitude toward appearance preferences, the truth remains that a person's first impression has a significant, measurable effect on the observer.
Image has an impact on people's private lives, as well. You probably know from personal experience how much more respect you receive from store clerks when you are well dressed. 
Thomas F. Cash, professor of clinical psychology at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, has been studying the psychology of personal appearance for more than 30 years. In appearances on television shows such as 20/20 and print media such as Time Magazine, he has shared his research findings that being physically unattractive results in discrimination against both men and women.
For corporations and other organizations, image can affect the financial bottom line. Fortune magazine's annual rankings of most admired companies had found a correlation between a company's reputation and its profits. Not surprisingly, the most admired companies have higher financial returns than the least admired.
In a 2000 study for the Council of Public Relations Firms, Jeffries-Fox Associates researched the business literature, and identified the following benefits for companies that have a good reputation:
