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You’ve probably heard it before, and maybe you experience it yourself. Perhaps you find it exciting, or maybe just attractive. Either way, uniforms make an impression on people. I’ve often heard that women find men in, for example, firefighter or pilot uniforms attractive. Conversely, it’s the men who often find the attire of nurses in the hospital quite sexy. Why do uniforms make such an impression?
Why we find people in uniforms sexy
To answer these questions, I interviewed Chantal van den Berg, the expert in the field of neuromarketing. She knows better than anyone how our brain unconsciously experiences things and what influence that has on the way we act and think.
First question: why did you start with neuromarketing?
“I studied management sciences with a focus on marketing. After my studies, I started working in the corporate world. At one point, I ended up at a pension fund. I was recruited by a headhunter because I am very strong in marketing and communication. This company had a goal at that time, which was to become the best-communicating pension fund in the Netherlands. The language they used had to be understandable and transparent. There were certain indicators to test this. The goals were so ambitious that I had no idea how to achieve them.
Fortunately, I had the opportunity to work with agencies that conducted market research. This allowed me to learn a lot, and in the meantime, I started delving into how people experience certain communications. I read a lot about this at the time and quickly discovered that certain words or images can change people’s attitudes. This is called neuromarketing and is a way to activate the unconscious brain, resulting in people making choices and taking action.”
And did you then apply that to your work?
“I found it so fascinating that you can influence people this way that I started testing it with my colleagues. As a marketing manager, I often had to fight for people’s time and ensure that everyone submitted their work to me on time. From that moment on, I started using the knowledge about our brain to make collaboration with my colleagues smoother. Eventually, I got, as if it was meant to be, a terrible supervisor.
This was, of course, a good way for me to optimally apply and test the knowledge I had gained for this ‘problem’ situation. I soon noticed that it helped me in this situation as well. After a while, I started working at another company, and again I could apply the knowledge within my role. People found it interesting, and I was often asked to talk about it to groups. Eventually, there was a reorganization, and I was laid off. That was the moment for me to think about what I wanted to do next with my career. In 2013, I decided to work for myself part-time and give presentations about neuromarketing. I now do this full-time.”
I saw a while ago on LinkedIn that you posted something about why people find uniforms attractive. Can you tell us more about that?
“This has to do with two components. First, it’s about our brains. Part of what we think is conscious, but another part we experience unconsciously. When it comes to uniforms, we have to go back to our childhood.
Our parents and grandparents used to have a lot of respect for people in uniforms. Think of the doctor; there was a lot of respect for them in the past. The same was true for police officers. The fact that these people had prestige is embedded in our brain through a memory. When we see someone in that uniform again, we have a certain association with it. This can, of course, vary from person to person. People raised by parents who did not have much respect for people in uniforms will experience this effect less strongly. It’s all unconscious.”
And the second component?
“Besides upbringing, it’s also about the expert status someone has or doesn’t have. No matter how you look at it, people like it when someone is an expert. Additionally, the uniform also affects how someone behaves. There was once an experiment where prisoners had to wear either a guard’s uniform or nurse’s clothing.
When they wore the guard’s uniform, they were more assertive, while the nurse’s clothing made people more caring. If you go back to prehistoric times, you see that men were always hunting, and women took care of the children. Unconsciously, women find men in uniform attractive, partly because their behavior changes as a result. The same goes for nurse’s clothing for women. Men like it because it makes a woman seem more nurturing. I do want to emphasize that this doesn’t work the same for everyone. Each person is different, has had a different upbringing, and can experience things differently.”
I’m curious how you have applied this knowledge in practice. Can you give an example?
“When I had to present a plan at the office, I often wore blue. That creates openness and trust. I often knew in advance whether there could be a lot of resistance or not. If there could be a lot of resistance to my plan, I wore soft fabrics. That made me come across as friendlier. When I needed to appear assertive, I wore something made of leather, for example. This stiff fabric comes across as assertive and strong. This allowed me to convey my story in a certain way. I recommend it to everyone: it really works to your advantage.”
Best regards,
Aileen