Appearing Authentic: How Dress Formality Influences Perceived Authenticity in Investment Evaluations
This article explores the important but understudied topic of authenticity in investment evaluations. Building on research in authenticity and signaling theory, we theorize how visual first impressions, such as clothing, can generate perceptions of authenticity that lead investors to overlook later...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | IE |
| Repositorio: | Repositorio IE |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:repositorio.ie.edu:20.500.14417/4277 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063251366209 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14417/4277 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01492063251366209 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | 53 Ciencias Económicas::5311 Organización y dirección de empresas ODS 1 - Fin de la pobreza ODS 5 - Igualdad de género ODS 9 - Industria, innovación e infraestructura authenticity signaling theory first impression bias clothes |
| Sumario: | This article explores the important but understudied topic of authenticity in investment evaluations. Building on research in authenticity and signaling theory, we theorize how visual first impressions, such as clothing, can generate perceptions of authenticity that lead investors to overlook later quality signals, including a lack of prior experience. We found support for our theory in two field studies and a randomized experiment: investors tend to perceive entrepreneurs who are casually dressed as more authentic than those formally dressed, which is associated with higher investor evaluations. Moreover, perceptions of authenticity generated by casual clothes crowd out later signals: Casually dressed entrepreneurs are evaluated highly regardless of their entrepreneurial experience, but formally dressed entrepreneurs are penalized for perceived inexperience. We discuss the implications of our findings for authenticity research, the temporal order of signals, and early-stage investments. |
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