The shirt was unstained and fresh-looking but not new. Finally, after the initial data collection, the subjects were advised of the genuine research topic and method in connection with a request for their consent to analyze the results participant-by-participant. Originally, they were assured of anonymity. All 20 participants granted consent to analyze their responses individually.

Experimental Hypothesis and Variables

Hypotheses

Hypothesis #1 -- the control group will characterize the professor's attire as

"Casual" or "Unprofessional."

Hypothesis #2 -- the test group will characterize the professor's attire as

"Fashionable."

Hypothesis # 3 -- the control group will characterize the professor's style as

"Tries too hard."

Hypothesis # 4 -- the test group will characterize the professor's style as

"Probably quite well."

Independent Variable

The independent variable is the presence or absence of the "DKNY" label on the professor's shirt.

Dependent Variable

The dependent variable is the responses to Questions 9 and 10.

Results

Question 9:

Within the control group, there were 7 "Unprofessional" and 3

"Casual" responses. Within the test group, there were 5 "Fashionable" responses, 3 "Casual" responses, and 2 "Unprofessional" responses.

Question 10:

Within the control group, there were 4 "Probably quite well" responses, 4 "Unable to evaluate" responses, and 2 "Tries too hard" responses. Within the test group, there were 8 "Probably quite well" responses and 2 "Tries too hard" responses.

Data Analysis and...

When the professor wore a lab coat casually fashioned into a plain shirt, it elicited a 70% disapproval rate and 0% characterization of "Fashionable." When the professor wore the same shirt with the DKNY brand label, it elicited a 50% "Fashionable" rating, and only 20% disapproval. Clearly, the subjective connotations associated with the brand label appear to have contributed substantially to the response of the subjects to the professor.
Similarly, when the professor wore the self-styled shirt, 40% of the subjects assumed that he probably related well to students; but when he wore the shirt with the designer label, that assumption doubled to 80%. One unexpected result was revealed in the subsequent person-by-person analysis: namely, in the test group, the 2 subjects who responded "Unprofessional" to Question 9 were the same subjects who also responded "Tries too hard" to Question 10.

Conclusion

Apparently so-called "designer" labels are the contemporary equivalent of the age-old adage from the tale about the Emperor's New Clothes. In the experimental sample of college students, a worthless, hand-altered lab coat was regarded as unprofessional attire. However, when the identical attire was presented with a label known to be widely associated with positive social connotations, the responses became much more positive on the two measured questions. Further research in this area should include similar studies of different populations besides college students. Nevertheless, the results of this study indicate that popular opinions formed about others on first impression are capable of being influenced substantially by superficial arbitrary…