Aesthetic Labor Rocky Horrors
International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research
Aesthetic labor, rocky horrors, and the 007 Dynamic
Bernie Quinn
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The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1750-6182.htm Aesthetic labor, rocky horrors, and the 007 Dynamic
AL, rocky horrors, and the 007 Dynamic
Bernie Quinn
School of Business, Enterprise and Management, Queen Margaret University,
Edinburgh, UK
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Abstract
77
Received March 2007
Revised August 2007
Accepted October 2007
Purpose – To ascertain if the use of attractive staff is common practice within the hospitality industry in Edinburgh.
Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative approach by a series of semi-structured interviews. The researcher took an instinctive humanist approach to this study. A sample of 3, 4 and 5 star hotels, bars and restaurants were included. The focus of the research developed from ascertaining if attractive staff were common place into one that, some organisations use more sophisticated techniques to have customers literally buy-in to the goods and services on offer.
Findings – Open admission from respondents, that they use attractive staff. However, aesthetic labor is strongly supported by the use of emotional labor as the worker needs to have a certain empathy with the customer. Furthermore, the aesthetic worker is supported by the uniform, the environment in which the service encounter takes place and provides a performance in which the customer actively participates. The highly developed manner that the organisation induces the customer to perceive when in this environment lead the researcher to propose a 007 Dynamic that happens, as the customer takes on an almost “James Bond” like persona.
Research limitations/implications – A relatively small sample but is perhaps indicative of contemporary hospitality industry common practices.
Practical implications – Hospitality management are using less highly “hard” skilled employees and focusing more on the “soft” skills of new workers.
Originality/value – Customers are susceptible to subliminal messaging from staff appearance, their empathy and environment.
Keywords Hospitality management, Employees, Scotland
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Contemporary researchers are starting to explore the concept of aesthetic labor (AL).
Social scientists have however studied emotional labor (EL) for several decades, for example, Hochschild (1983) and Goffman (1969). The use of AL in the UK may have its roots in the early post World War II proliferation of airline travel when young women were recruited to the then fledgling British Overseas Airline Corporation. These “sky girls” as they were known were not only attractive but they also had to be of good complexion, be well poised, have good posture and be well groomed (Mills et al., 2002).
Subsequently, some of these attributes are now referred to as generic terms to encapsulate researchers’ definitions of AL. Nickson and Warhurst (2003), Nickson et al.
(2005), Warhurst and Thompson (1999) and Payne (2005) provide considerable evidence of AL in various service sector environments. Additionally Speiss and
Waring’s (2005) work in the study of the sexualised labor force takes on even more significance as this research develops. As more data were captured from respondents
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what became clear is that AL was not perceived to be as politically incorrect a concept as was envisaged.
Instead some respondents went further and alluded to having a sexy workforce operating in sexy environments who captured the imagination of the customer by several means. This was done by, the performativity of the worker, the use of corporeal assets and the actual workplace itself. Completing the holistic assault on the senses of the customer was clever use of subtle imagery provided by uniform and emotional empathy, both worn as a costume by the worker. A great deal of previous research has been carried out in the greater Glasgow area of Scotland, however as far as can be ascertained to date, there has been no research on this topic in the Scottish capital.
This investigation was important therefore to determine if there is any evidence of AL in hospitality venues in Edinburgh that mirrored or disputed the results from Glasgow.
Previous researchers have considered various definitions of AL; Dean (2004) suggests that, “the aesthetic labor process in performing is about the need of the employer to conjure particular associations through the use of the worker’s body”
Payne (2005) states, “aesthetic labor includes things like body language, dress sense, grooming, deportment, voice/accent, body shape, demeanour and general stylishness” and Warhurst et al. (2000) address not only style but describe a need for interaction with the customers and importantly staff that can portray the image of the company while appealing to the senses of the customer. The interesting dimension to this particular phenomenon is that there is no clear definition of who, either female or male may be considered to be attractive. There are no gauges or easy assessment templates to assist the researcher in the identification process of possible candidates. Similarly this research attempts to include both heterosexual and the gay/lesbian scenes to give a broad representation of views and observations. The problem of access to gay social life if not part of it was highlighted by Humphries (1975) and in this instance is challenging. Additionally, previous researchers show a reluctance to use the term attractive in defining AL. However, preceding circumstances may have suggested that the individual might not have to be attractive but perhaps that an emphasis was on a certain look combined with person to person social skills (Warhurst and Thompson,
1999) or grooming and presentation (Payne, 2005).
What is of interest in this context however is that while researchers distance themselves from the politically incorrect langue de la rue, that they have paradoxically perhaps invented a new langue de la mode or trendy speak to describe good looking or trendy staff; Oaff (2003) who suggests “lookism” to describe these staff. Subsequently, this research examines the concept of AL and the presentation of self in conjunction with the performativity of the worker and this is considered in analogous reference to the workplace being similar to a theatrical stage and similarly the performativity of the workers’ body as it may be used by the worker or as directed by the organisation.
Hochschild’s (1983) theory that some institutions have become very adept at influencing deep acting in the workforce and directing the worker how to imagine and how to feel is explored to assess how the concept of EL may be linked to AL. Speiss and
Waring’s (2005) account of sexualised labor in South East Asian airlines is taken into account and is of interest as a contemporary contrast to early “sky girls” and
how modern advertising may subliminally suggest sex in the mind of the customer.
These concepts become increasingly important as the research unfolds and crucially
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links the importance of the so-called aesthetic worker from an appreciation from the customer to the customer interactively buying into and participating in the aesthetic environment. The results therefore appear under the following sections:
(1) Background of AL, evidence and tacit/explicit admissions of attractive staff.
Moulding of the employee, subordination, parity and superordination.
(2) AL – is it attractive, beautiful, stunning or sexy staff? Pose, poise, polish, performance and prettiness.
(3) Performativity, stage and EL – performance of the individual, transition, how to imagine and how to feel.
(4) Aestheticism and the relationship between staff and customers – introduction to an aesthetic labor.
Method
The aim of the research was to ascertain from employers if they target good looking staff as part of their recruitment strategy. A series of qualitative semi-structured interviews from a humanist perspective supplied the main source of raw data used in this research. The qualitative approach was taken due to the preference of inductive hypothesis-generating research rather than simply hypothesis testing (Silverman,
2001). This approach was justified as a quantitative approach may have missed the development of the interview observations that included the use of the uniform, the premises and subtle deep acting techniques used by an organisation as well as by individuals. Consequently, the sample was chosen by the selection of a large number of hotels, restaurants and bars that the researcher had never before entered. Managers and HR teams were called and only once was an interview granted did he enter those premises for the first time. Observational notes were made at a later date as to the general layout and ambience within the premises but it is recognised that these could not form part of the findings with the exception of the introduction of anaesthetic labor which was a suggestion made as an antonym to AL.
Development of aesthetic qualities
The term aesthetic was first used by the eighteenth century German philosopher,
Baumgarten who took the phrase from the Greek aisthanomai meaning, “perception by means of the senses” (Budd, 1998). Hospers (1969) describes the “aesthetic experience” as may being applicable to objects of nature and human beings while Johnton (1969) defined aestheticism to mean, “Broadly, a devotion to beauty, and to beauty as primarily found in the Arts”. Langer (1969) adds that works of art are made of sensuous elements but not all sensuous materials will do. Danaher et al. (2000) cite
Foucault who describes:
. . . “the art of the self” from a philosophical viewpoint: . . . those intentional and voluntary actions by which men not only set themselves rules of conduct, but also seek to transform themselves, to change themselves in their singular being and to make their life into an oeuvre
(work of art) that carries certain aesthetic values and meets certain stylistic criteria.
This research therefore takes these aforesaid basic concepts as preparatory points of reference to begin the investigation. Contemporary commentators suggest that not all people are looking for the same things from their staff, “but they are looking for that
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[special] something” (Gillen, 2003, cited by Nickson et al., 2004). In Edinburgh respondent 5 replied that a potential worker was hired immediately because, “I thought she’s got what it takes to wow people”. Payne (2005) adds that aesthetic skills are now at a premium within the up-market segments of service sector industries and that it is,
“the embodied attributes of the bar staff or sales assistant that helps to make the service being offered stylish or trendy”. Additionally Ball (2004) describes, “new style workers, working upon themselves in the fetishisation of image.” Nickson and Witz address not only style but describe a need for interaction with the customers and importantly staff that can portray the image of the company while appealing to the senses of the customer. Nickson and Warhurst (2003) present the argument that this style of AL is now occupying a niche market and that the relationship between the customer and the worker has now mutated into one of three possible interactions:
“employee/customer subordination, parity or superordination”.
Therefore, the standard “traditional” interaction between the customer and employee is recognised to have been one, of the employees being inferior to the customer. This control by the customer is known as subordination. Parity is acknowledged to happen between meetings of equals where neither the customer nor employee feel subordinate to the other. Superordination is a distinct control or intimidation, when the customer feels out of place, out of depth or uncomfortable by the totality of the images of both the employees and the surroundings where the service encounter is taking place (Nickson and Warhurst, 2003). This may be seen in many service industries when the customers do feel that the employee may be better dressed, better spoken or even better looking than the customer. Interestingly, this issue was raised with all respondents and with the exception of one, all suggest parity with the customer. Respondent 6 states that his staff does not wear name badges because they are expected to strike up conversation with guests naturally and “get to know them”.
Similarly respondent 3 states “it’s not a tiered effect, it’s very much equal”. The one main exception was from respondent 7 who states that his staff would never be subordinate to anyone and “I won’t let them [staff] take any crap. . . I’ve always kind of remembered that I’m better than these people”. His clear inference was that customers coming into his premises were not superior or even equal to the staff but were something else below that description.
The reluctance of researchers to use the term attractive when describing certain workers in this context is interesting and whilst taking into account the rather politically incorrect suggestion that employees are recruited for their looks only, was one concept that this researcher was keen to address. Subsequently, all respondents are asked if they recruited attractive staff or if they believed that their staff were attractive.
Respondents were surprisingly candid with their replies. Respondent 2 replies, “they’re all quite handsome girls and boys”. This respondent is also asked if he favoured attractive people during the interview and he responds “if they’re in the front line serving customers, especially bar and restaurant, it’s probably a good thing”.
Respondent 3 states that “ young and funky, confident and good looking people do really well on the floor, looks good, people are attracted by that” and respondent
5 suggests that her staff “are stunning”. Respondent 7 suggests that all of his staff have to be good looking and that “these are all very good looking kids, if this was a straight bar I would have all very good looking girls behind the bar”.
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Pose, poise, polish, performance and prettiness
Subsequently, AL would encompass; pose of the worker , this may be a general first impression of the holistic message that is being transmitted by the individual and would be a broad spectrum image of the body, dress and image. Poise would be suggested to be important as to how the individual is actually using his/her corporeal qualities, for example the slouching individual does not present the same image as the naturally erect, well carried one. Polish is important and is a common factor in the image presented to the customer; generally the worker may have worked upon their personal grooming standards to an extent that goes beyond simple cleanliness. Hair may be stylishly coiffured, shaped and/or coloured. Tasteful make up applied (may be both male and female) nails given extra attention and clothing of a high standard, not only by cut but also by care to shape enhancement and suitable accoutrements.
Performance is all important and these aesthetic individuals are encouraged to add a sense of drama at appropriate times to the service encounter. This should be taken to mean however not drama in its purest sense but as a method of engaging the customer more by a mix of the aesthetic image and the emotional attack on the senses of the customer. The performance will usually be indicative of an act that the worker is engaged in; the stage is the workplace and the customer buys into the act because of the personal show that is put on for him or her only. Finally, prettiness is all important; the individual may have a good body shape, good manners, a nice way of interacting with customers but the actual appearance must be of a pretty, good looking individual.
An interesting codicil came from this part of the research. One concept that was suggested to be of importance was that of the sexualised work force. Speiss and
Waring (2005) suggest that this labor force is subliminally marketed to appeal to the subconscious of the customer to imply that the staff are sexy or even erotic.
Consequently, within this research in Edinburgh, the question of sexiness in staff started to naturally appear within the interview process and it was subsequently looked at further in depth with the respondents.
Two of the respondents in particular highlighted not only good looking staff but also sexy staff. When pressed further if their staff are sexy they reply, “yes, young, sexy, attractive” and, “yes it sells beer”. One of the most important issues however was that respondent 3 introduced the connection between sexy staff and the sexy brand of the hotel , “which is quite funky and quite sexy”.
Deep acting within the organisation
This leads the researcher to look further at the appearance of staff in this environment and in particular the uniforms of the staff and the atmosphere generated by the brand.
Hochschild’s (1983) theories that some institutions have developed very sophisticated techniques of deep acting implies an environment that is a catalyst for instigation of how to feel and how to imagine. This is subsequently taken further by looking at how the brand or organisation may influence both the worker and the customer when they meet then in the service encounter. Dean (2004) interestingly suggested that one part of the AL process is related to the employer being able to conjure particular associations through the use of the workers body. Buttle (1989) viewed participants, physical evidence and process as part of a marketing mix and that “actors” who play a part in service delivery can influence buyer’s perceptions.
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Respondents are therefore asked about performance and the stage analogy within their particular organisations. Respondent 1 discussed the movement between back and front of house (within a five star hotel) “at the back bare halls and then you pass through here and you have chandeliers”. She subsequently describes that movement as being similar to the actor going on stage from behind the curtains, out to the bright lights of the theatre and the audience. Several other respondents allude to the stage analogy with another stating that “they [staff] bond with them and they connect with them”. Respondent 13 is an image consultant and discussed how the wearing of uniform affects the wearer, the viewer and the service environment. This respondent proposes that the worker may use a “halo effect” to expand the way that they look and that the uniform may enhance this effect. When shown some photographs of smart female business suits she is asked if they are in any way sexual or sexy.
This respondent indicates that even the wearing of simple black boots “almost goes into bondage” and perhaps intriguingly that “you’d never get it so that it isn’t slightly sexual”. The question then of sexy staff is a concept that needs careful consideration.
Whereas some respondents may candidly suggest that their staff are sexy, this was an admission of corporate strategy, but for other staff the distinction may not be quite so clear. For those staff who may wear some sort of uniform, this may provoke subliminal thought in some customers that the wearer is sexy, even when the wearer is unaware of it. This may be caused by the cut of the uniform enhancing wide shoulders, bust, small hips or lengthening of legs. There is therefore the possibility that for some viewers that business suits may always be in some way sexual or that the organisation may be utilising deep acting techniques inspiring certain thoughts and inciting certain acts by clever use of the worker, their uniform and the actual service encounter arena. The guest either feels compelled or readily recognises and buys into the brand and accepts that the brand requires certain behaviours or actions in response.
When the guest pays to enter a particular hotel, it is on the understanding that he/she will dress in a certain way and behave in an acceptable manner within certain protocols. The reward for doing so is the appreciation of the possible aesthetically pleasing environment and interaction with the staff. This subsequently leads this researcher to suggest a further catalyst may be involved that invites the customer to more readily buy-in to this particular environment. It is proposed therefore that this final phenomena may be described as the 007 Dynamic. For many generations who have been reared on a social diet of the infamous James Bond spy movies it is proposed that subliminally for a certain customer in a particularly high-impact aesthetic environment that they may buy in fully to the complete experience by the influences of film and television’s most famous spy. The customer in this environment can be whoever he/she wishes to be and can act in conjunction with the theatre’s
(hotel) main players (staff) who themselves are involved in a production and are also acting, playing a part for the audience [customer]. Certain criteria need to be in place for this particular phenomena to take place. The environment will have been designed with a certain measure of aesthetic qualities; the staff will possess aspects of pose, poise, polish, performance and prettiness. Staff uniform will be a contributing factor by its style, cut and a certain subliminal implication of wearer statement. There will be a particular atmosphere implemented by the deep-acting techniques of the organisation that suggest to the customer how to act and even how to feel and
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consequently the customer buys into this complete experience and acts in a suitable manner. This suitable manner is clearly an enjoyable experience; the customer is empowered by the organisation to appreciate the intense images and interactions they are faced with and the final buy-in for the customer is the actual participation in their possibly uncharacteristic spending; cocktails, champagne, fine dining and perhaps casino gambling. The organisation wins by it is subtle up-selling techniques and the customer wins by feeling a part of the actual production. This is truly only one step up from the customer who participates in the Rocky Horror Picture Show. However, in this instance the customer is not asked to overtly dress and behave in an outrageous manner in tandem with the staff but instead is asked to covertly dress in an appropriate manner and interact with the staff who are similarly dressed and acting in a comparable manner.
Anaesthetic labor
Finally, within the terms of reference that encompass the term of AL that there may be an antonym to this phenomena. During this particular research whilst observing the dynamics within one particular venue, it was obvious that in one particular instance that all indicators of an aesthetic environment including aesthetic staff were completely absent. Little effort had been made to make these premises attractive, service was poor, staff dressed in their own personal clothes and styles and there was very little or no interaction with customers. There was an alarming lack of any kind of hospitableness or care to any customers It is proposed that these staff might be referred to as anaesthetic labor. Collins (1997) describes anaesthesia as a loss of bodily feeling or when consciousness is lost. In this way then, the anaesthetic worker is losing the customer’s empathy, feelings and focus on remaining within this environment and the spending of the individual will be diminished due to these factors. Conclusions
In conclusion, AL may not be a new concept but it certainly is one that is being utilised as a tool by many contemporary hospitality organisations. Whether it is overt or covert by nature may well be down to the perceptions of each individual customer. Naturally it is true that there is no particular scientific way to measure beauty in an individual but there are arguably many common tacit admissions on who may or may not be considered to be attractive. Consequently, then this commentator would argue that the aesthetic worker comprises many attributes (pose, poise, polish, performance and prettiness) but also that the subtle mental imagery provided by the uniform combined with a particularly suggestive aesthetic atmosphere provides a psychological impact upon the customer. Thus, the perception of AL is ultimately in the mind of the consumer. Regardless of all of the imagery and subtle implications made by surroundings, the workers and uniforms; if the customer does not make the psychological connections and connotations that are planned by the organisation then they ultimately do not “buy-in” to the scenario and nor do they then in all probability spend appropriately in comparison to the organisations expectations. AL then counts upon a service encounter that offers much by way of innuendo, unspoken promises, a tease or perhaps simply a mild evocation in the customers mind that tonight, for one night only: one may be that world famous spy or his partner. Clearly further research
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in future needs to focus on those particular associations as perceived by the customer in this particular service arena and similarly those perceptions of the staff employed in this sector.
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Corresponding author
Bernie Quinn can be contacted at: bquinn@qmu.ac.uk
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Aesthetic labor, rocky horrors, and the 007 Dynamic
Bernie Quinn
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Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 2 Iss 1 pp. 77 - 85
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7 pp. 743-757 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09596110810899086
G. Maxwell, M. McDougall, S. Blair, (2000),"Managing diversity in the hotel sector: the emergence of a service quality opportunity", Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 10 Iss 6 pp. 367-373 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09604520010351176 Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by 357121 …show more content…
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The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1750-6182.htm Aesthetic labor, rocky horrors, and the 007 Dynamic
AL, rocky horrors, and the 007 Dynamic
Bernie Quinn
School of Business, Enterprise and Management, Queen Margaret University,
Edinburgh, UK
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Abstract
77
Received March 2007
Revised August 2007
Accepted October 2007
Purpose – To ascertain if the use of attractive staff is common practice within the hospitality industry in Edinburgh.
Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative approach by a series of semi-structured interviews. The researcher took an instinctive humanist approach to this study. A sample of 3, 4 and 5 star hotels, bars and restaurants were included. The focus of the research developed from ascertaining if attractive staff were common place into one that, some organisations use more sophisticated techniques to have customers literally buy-in to the goods and services on offer.
Findings – Open admission from respondents, that they use attractive staff. However, aesthetic labor is strongly supported by the use of emotional labor as the worker needs to have a certain empathy with the customer. Furthermore, the aesthetic worker is supported by the uniform, the environment in which the service encounter takes place and provides a performance in which the customer actively participates. The highly developed manner that the organisation induces the customer to perceive when in this environment lead the researcher to propose a 007 Dynamic that happens, as the customer takes on an almost “James Bond” like persona.
Research limitations/implications – A relatively small sample but is perhaps indicative of contemporary hospitality industry common practices.
Practical implications – Hospitality management are using less highly “hard” skilled employees and focusing more on the “soft” skills of new workers.
Originality/value – Customers are susceptible to subliminal messaging from staff appearance, their empathy and environment.
Keywords Hospitality management, Employees, Scotland
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Contemporary researchers are starting to explore the concept of aesthetic labor (AL).
Social scientists have however studied emotional labor (EL) for several decades, for example, Hochschild (1983) and Goffman (1969). The use of AL in the UK may have its roots in the early post World War II proliferation of airline travel when young women were recruited to the then fledgling British Overseas Airline Corporation. These “sky girls” as they were known were not only attractive but they also had to be of good complexion, be well poised, have good posture and be well groomed (Mills et al., 2002).
Subsequently, some of these attributes are now referred to as generic terms to encapsulate researchers’ definitions of AL. Nickson and Warhurst (2003), Nickson et al.
(2005), Warhurst and Thompson (1999) and Payne (2005) provide considerable evidence of AL in various service sector environments. Additionally Speiss and
Waring’s (2005) work in the study of the sexualised labor force takes on even more significance as this research develops. As more data were captured from respondents
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what became clear is that AL was not perceived to be as politically incorrect a concept as was envisaged.
Instead some respondents went further and alluded to having a sexy workforce operating in sexy environments who captured the imagination of the customer by several means. This was done by, the performativity of the worker, the use of corporeal assets and the actual workplace itself. Completing the holistic assault on the senses of the customer was clever use of subtle imagery provided by uniform and emotional empathy, both worn as a costume by the worker. A great deal of previous research has been carried out in the greater Glasgow area of Scotland, however as far as can be ascertained to date, there has been no research on this topic in the Scottish capital.
This investigation was important therefore to determine if there is any evidence of AL in hospitality venues in Edinburgh that mirrored or disputed the results from Glasgow.
Previous researchers have considered various definitions of AL; Dean (2004) suggests that, “the aesthetic labor process in performing is about the need of the employer to conjure particular associations through the use of the worker’s body”
Payne (2005) states, “aesthetic labor includes things like body language, dress sense, grooming, deportment, voice/accent, body shape, demeanour and general stylishness” and Warhurst et al. (2000) address not only style but describe a need for interaction with the customers and importantly staff that can portray the image of the company while appealing to the senses of the customer. The interesting dimension to this particular phenomenon is that there is no clear definition of who, either female or male may be considered to be attractive. There are no gauges or easy assessment templates to assist the researcher in the identification process of possible candidates. Similarly this research attempts to include both heterosexual and the gay/lesbian scenes to give a broad representation of views and observations. The problem of access to gay social life if not part of it was highlighted by Humphries (1975) and in this instance is challenging. Additionally, previous researchers show a reluctance to use the term attractive in defining AL. However, preceding circumstances may have suggested that the individual might not have to be attractive but perhaps that an emphasis was on a certain look combined with person to person social skills (Warhurst and Thompson,
1999) or grooming and presentation (Payne, 2005).
What is of interest in this context however is that while researchers distance themselves from the politically incorrect langue de la rue, that they have paradoxically perhaps invented a new langue de la mode or trendy speak to describe good looking or trendy staff; Oaff (2003) who suggests “lookism” to describe these staff. Subsequently, this research examines the concept of AL and the presentation of self in conjunction with the performativity of the worker and this is considered in analogous reference to the workplace being similar to a theatrical stage and similarly the performativity of the workers’ body as it may be used by the worker or as directed by the organisation.
Hochschild’s (1983) theory that some institutions have become very adept at influencing deep acting in the workforce and directing the worker how to imagine and how to feel is explored to assess how the concept of EL may be linked to AL. Speiss and
Waring’s (2005) account of sexualised labor in South East Asian airlines is taken into account and is of interest as a contemporary contrast to early “sky girls” and
how modern advertising may subliminally suggest sex in the mind of the customer.
These concepts become increasingly important as the research unfolds and crucially
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links the importance of the so-called aesthetic worker from an appreciation from the customer to the customer interactively buying into and participating in the aesthetic environment. The results therefore appear under the following sections:
(1) Background of AL, evidence and tacit/explicit admissions of attractive staff.
Moulding of the employee, subordination, parity and superordination.
(2) AL – is it attractive, beautiful, stunning or sexy staff? Pose, poise, polish, performance and prettiness.
(3) Performativity, stage and EL – performance of the individual, transition, how to imagine and how to feel.
(4) Aestheticism and the relationship between staff and customers – introduction to an aesthetic labor.
Method
The aim of the research was to ascertain from employers if they target good looking staff as part of their recruitment strategy. A series of qualitative semi-structured interviews from a humanist perspective supplied the main source of raw data used in this research. The qualitative approach was taken due to the preference of inductive hypothesis-generating research rather than simply hypothesis testing (Silverman,
2001). This approach was justified as a quantitative approach may have missed the development of the interview observations that included the use of the uniform, the premises and subtle deep acting techniques used by an organisation as well as by individuals. Consequently, the sample was chosen by the selection of a large number of hotels, restaurants and bars that the researcher had never before entered. Managers and HR teams were called and only once was an interview granted did he enter those premises for the first time. Observational notes were made at a later date as to the general layout and ambience within the premises but it is recognised that these could not form part of the findings with the exception of the introduction of anaesthetic labor which was a suggestion made as an antonym to AL.
Development of aesthetic qualities
The term aesthetic was first used by the eighteenth century German philosopher,
Baumgarten who took the phrase from the Greek aisthanomai meaning, “perception by means of the senses” (Budd, 1998). Hospers (1969) describes the “aesthetic experience” as may being applicable to objects of nature and human beings while Johnton (1969) defined aestheticism to mean, “Broadly, a devotion to beauty, and to beauty as primarily found in the Arts”. Langer (1969) adds that works of art are made of sensuous elements but not all sensuous materials will do. Danaher et al. (2000) cite
Foucault who describes:
. . . “the art of the self” from a philosophical viewpoint: . . . those intentional and voluntary actions by which men not only set themselves rules of conduct, but also seek to transform themselves, to change themselves in their singular being and to make their life into an oeuvre
(work of art) that carries certain aesthetic values and meets certain stylistic criteria.
This research therefore takes these aforesaid basic concepts as preparatory points of reference to begin the investigation. Contemporary commentators suggest that not all people are looking for the same things from their staff, “but they are looking for that
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[special] something” (Gillen, 2003, cited by Nickson et al., 2004). In Edinburgh respondent 5 replied that a potential worker was hired immediately because, “I thought she’s got what it takes to wow people”. Payne (2005) adds that aesthetic skills are now at a premium within the up-market segments of service sector industries and that it is,
“the embodied attributes of the bar staff or sales assistant that helps to make the service being offered stylish or trendy”. Additionally Ball (2004) describes, “new style workers, working upon themselves in the fetishisation of image.” Nickson and Witz address not only style but describe a need for interaction with the customers and importantly staff that can portray the image of the company while appealing to the senses of the customer. Nickson and Warhurst (2003) present the argument that this style of AL is now occupying a niche market and that the relationship between the customer and the worker has now mutated into one of three possible interactions:
“employee/customer subordination, parity or superordination”.
Therefore, the standard “traditional” interaction between the customer and employee is recognised to have been one, of the employees being inferior to the customer. This control by the customer is known as subordination. Parity is acknowledged to happen between meetings of equals where neither the customer nor employee feel subordinate to the other. Superordination is a distinct control or intimidation, when the customer feels out of place, out of depth or uncomfortable by the totality of the images of both the employees and the surroundings where the service encounter is taking place (Nickson and Warhurst, 2003). This may be seen in many service industries when the customers do feel that the employee may be better dressed, better spoken or even better looking than the customer. Interestingly, this issue was raised with all respondents and with the exception of one, all suggest parity with the customer. Respondent 6 states that his staff does not wear name badges because they are expected to strike up conversation with guests naturally and “get to know them”.
Similarly respondent 3 states “it’s not a tiered effect, it’s very much equal”. The one main exception was from respondent 7 who states that his staff would never be subordinate to anyone and “I won’t let them [staff] take any crap. . . I’ve always kind of remembered that I’m better than these people”. His clear inference was that customers coming into his premises were not superior or even equal to the staff but were something else below that description.
The reluctance of researchers to use the term attractive when describing certain workers in this context is interesting and whilst taking into account the rather politically incorrect suggestion that employees are recruited for their looks only, was one concept that this researcher was keen to address. Subsequently, all respondents are asked if they recruited attractive staff or if they believed that their staff were attractive.
Respondents were surprisingly candid with their replies. Respondent 2 replies, “they’re all quite handsome girls and boys”. This respondent is also asked if he favoured attractive people during the interview and he responds “if they’re in the front line serving customers, especially bar and restaurant, it’s probably a good thing”.
Respondent 3 states that “ young and funky, confident and good looking people do really well on the floor, looks good, people are attracted by that” and respondent
5 suggests that her staff “are stunning”. Respondent 7 suggests that all of his staff have to be good looking and that “these are all very good looking kids, if this was a straight bar I would have all very good looking girls behind the bar”.
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Pose, poise, polish, performance and prettiness
Subsequently, AL would encompass; pose of the worker , this may be a general first impression of the holistic message that is being transmitted by the individual and would be a broad spectrum image of the body, dress and image. Poise would be suggested to be important as to how the individual is actually using his/her corporeal qualities, for example the slouching individual does not present the same image as the naturally erect, well carried one. Polish is important and is a common factor in the image presented to the customer; generally the worker may have worked upon their personal grooming standards to an extent that goes beyond simple cleanliness. Hair may be stylishly coiffured, shaped and/or coloured. Tasteful make up applied (may be both male and female) nails given extra attention and clothing of a high standard, not only by cut but also by care to shape enhancement and suitable accoutrements.
Performance is all important and these aesthetic individuals are encouraged to add a sense of drama at appropriate times to the service encounter. This should be taken to mean however not drama in its purest sense but as a method of engaging the customer more by a mix of the aesthetic image and the emotional attack on the senses of the customer. The performance will usually be indicative of an act that the worker is engaged in; the stage is the workplace and the customer buys into the act because of the personal show that is put on for him or her only. Finally, prettiness is all important; the individual may have a good body shape, good manners, a nice way of interacting with customers but the actual appearance must be of a pretty, good looking individual.
An interesting codicil came from this part of the research. One concept that was suggested to be of importance was that of the sexualised work force. Speiss and
Waring (2005) suggest that this labor force is subliminally marketed to appeal to the subconscious of the customer to imply that the staff are sexy or even erotic.
Consequently, within this research in Edinburgh, the question of sexiness in staff started to naturally appear within the interview process and it was subsequently looked at further in depth with the respondents.
Two of the respondents in particular highlighted not only good looking staff but also sexy staff. When pressed further if their staff are sexy they reply, “yes, young, sexy, attractive” and, “yes it sells beer”. One of the most important issues however was that respondent 3 introduced the connection between sexy staff and the sexy brand of the hotel , “which is quite funky and quite sexy”.
Deep acting within the organisation
This leads the researcher to look further at the appearance of staff in this environment and in particular the uniforms of the staff and the atmosphere generated by the brand.
Hochschild’s (1983) theories that some institutions have developed very sophisticated techniques of deep acting implies an environment that is a catalyst for instigation of how to feel and how to imagine. This is subsequently taken further by looking at how the brand or organisation may influence both the worker and the customer when they meet then in the service encounter. Dean (2004) interestingly suggested that one part of the AL process is related to the employer being able to conjure particular associations through the use of the workers body. Buttle (1989) viewed participants, physical evidence and process as part of a marketing mix and that “actors” who play a part in service delivery can influence buyer’s perceptions.
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Respondents are therefore asked about performance and the stage analogy within their particular organisations. Respondent 1 discussed the movement between back and front of house (within a five star hotel) “at the back bare halls and then you pass through here and you have chandeliers”. She subsequently describes that movement as being similar to the actor going on stage from behind the curtains, out to the bright lights of the theatre and the audience. Several other respondents allude to the stage analogy with another stating that “they [staff] bond with them and they connect with them”. Respondent 13 is an image consultant and discussed how the wearing of uniform affects the wearer, the viewer and the service environment. This respondent proposes that the worker may use a “halo effect” to expand the way that they look and that the uniform may enhance this effect. When shown some photographs of smart female business suits she is asked if they are in any way sexual or sexy.
This respondent indicates that even the wearing of simple black boots “almost goes into bondage” and perhaps intriguingly that “you’d never get it so that it isn’t slightly sexual”. The question then of sexy staff is a concept that needs careful consideration.
Whereas some respondents may candidly suggest that their staff are sexy, this was an admission of corporate strategy, but for other staff the distinction may not be quite so clear. For those staff who may wear some sort of uniform, this may provoke subliminal thought in some customers that the wearer is sexy, even when the wearer is unaware of it. This may be caused by the cut of the uniform enhancing wide shoulders, bust, small hips or lengthening of legs. There is therefore the possibility that for some viewers that business suits may always be in some way sexual or that the organisation may be utilising deep acting techniques inspiring certain thoughts and inciting certain acts by clever use of the worker, their uniform and the actual service encounter arena. The guest either feels compelled or readily recognises and buys into the brand and accepts that the brand requires certain behaviours or actions in response.
When the guest pays to enter a particular hotel, it is on the understanding that he/she will dress in a certain way and behave in an acceptable manner within certain protocols. The reward for doing so is the appreciation of the possible aesthetically pleasing environment and interaction with the staff. This subsequently leads this researcher to suggest a further catalyst may be involved that invites the customer to more readily buy-in to this particular environment. It is proposed therefore that this final phenomena may be described as the 007 Dynamic. For many generations who have been reared on a social diet of the infamous James Bond spy movies it is proposed that subliminally for a certain customer in a particularly high-impact aesthetic environment that they may buy in fully to the complete experience by the influences of film and television’s most famous spy. The customer in this environment can be whoever he/she wishes to be and can act in conjunction with the theatre’s
(hotel) main players (staff) who themselves are involved in a production and are also acting, playing a part for the audience [customer]. Certain criteria need to be in place for this particular phenomena to take place. The environment will have been designed with a certain measure of aesthetic qualities; the staff will possess aspects of pose, poise, polish, performance and prettiness. Staff uniform will be a contributing factor by its style, cut and a certain subliminal implication of wearer statement. There will be a particular atmosphere implemented by the deep-acting techniques of the organisation that suggest to the customer how to act and even how to feel and
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consequently the customer buys into this complete experience and acts in a suitable manner. This suitable manner is clearly an enjoyable experience; the customer is empowered by the organisation to appreciate the intense images and interactions they are faced with and the final buy-in for the customer is the actual participation in their possibly uncharacteristic spending; cocktails, champagne, fine dining and perhaps casino gambling. The organisation wins by it is subtle up-selling techniques and the customer wins by feeling a part of the actual production. This is truly only one step up from the customer who participates in the Rocky Horror Picture Show. However, in this instance the customer is not asked to overtly dress and behave in an outrageous manner in tandem with the staff but instead is asked to covertly dress in an appropriate manner and interact with the staff who are similarly dressed and acting in a comparable manner.
Anaesthetic labor
Finally, within the terms of reference that encompass the term of AL that there may be an antonym to this phenomena. During this particular research whilst observing the dynamics within one particular venue, it was obvious that in one particular instance that all indicators of an aesthetic environment including aesthetic staff were completely absent. Little effort had been made to make these premises attractive, service was poor, staff dressed in their own personal clothes and styles and there was very little or no interaction with customers. There was an alarming lack of any kind of hospitableness or care to any customers It is proposed that these staff might be referred to as anaesthetic labor. Collins (1997) describes anaesthesia as a loss of bodily feeling or when consciousness is lost. In this way then, the anaesthetic worker is losing the customer’s empathy, feelings and focus on remaining within this environment and the spending of the individual will be diminished due to these factors. Conclusions
In conclusion, AL may not be a new concept but it certainly is one that is being utilised as a tool by many contemporary hospitality organisations. Whether it is overt or covert by nature may well be down to the perceptions of each individual customer. Naturally it is true that there is no particular scientific way to measure beauty in an individual but there are arguably many common tacit admissions on who may or may not be considered to be attractive. Consequently, then this commentator would argue that the aesthetic worker comprises many attributes (pose, poise, polish, performance and prettiness) but also that the subtle mental imagery provided by the uniform combined with a particularly suggestive aesthetic atmosphere provides a psychological impact upon the customer. Thus, the perception of AL is ultimately in the mind of the consumer. Regardless of all of the imagery and subtle implications made by surroundings, the workers and uniforms; if the customer does not make the psychological connections and connotations that are planned by the organisation then they ultimately do not “buy-in” to the scenario and nor do they then in all probability spend appropriately in comparison to the organisations expectations. AL then counts upon a service encounter that offers much by way of innuendo, unspoken promises, a tease or perhaps simply a mild evocation in the customers mind that tonight, for one night only: one may be that world famous spy or his partner. Clearly further research
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in future needs to focus on those particular associations as perceived by the customer in this particular service arena and similarly those perceptions of the staff employed in this sector.
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Corresponding author
Bernie Quinn can be contacted at: bquinn@qmu.ac.uk
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