Clients' attitudes toward veterinarians' attire in the small animal emergency medicine setting

Evaluation of owners' and veterinarians' attitudes toward veterinarian dressing styles in a teaching hospital in Taiwan

This study examined preferences for veterinarian dressing styles from both pet owners' and veterinarians' perspectives. A questionnaire was distributed to investigate the attitudes of pet owners and veterinarians toward six different dressing styles, four hairstyles, and nine appearance-related subjects toward both male and female veterinarians. A total of 211 pet owners and 92 veterinarians were included. Our results indicated that veterinarian dressing style affected the first impression of pet owners. Pet owners considered wearing a white coat or surgical scrubs an appropriate dressing style for veterinarians. While owners had no sex preference for veterinarians (p < 0.001), they had different attitudes towards various hairstyle for female and male veterinarians. Although any hairstyle, except for a bald hairstyle, was regarded as appropriate for female veterinarians among owners, male veterinarians with short hairstyles were considered more appropriate than other hairstyles. Wearing glasses, a name tag, a stethoscope, a watch, or sneakers tended to leave a neutral or appropriate impression. Wearing an earring, necklace, ring, or tattoo was considered very inappropriate by some owners. Overall, the owners were stricter than the veterinarians on different hairstyles but more permissive on appearance-related subjects.

Investigation of the effects of veterinarians' attire on ratings of trust, confidence, and comfort in a sample of pet owners in Canada

OBJECTIVE

To examine companion animal owners' perceptions of appropriate veterinarian attire and investigate potential associations between a veterinarian's attire and clients' ratings of trust in, confidence in, and comfort with a veterinarian.

SAMPLE

449 pet owners.

PROCEDURES

Participants were randomly assigned to complete a questionnaire containing photos of a male or female model veterinarian photographed in 8 attire types (formal attire, white dress shirt with black pants, white casual shirt with khaki pants, surgical scrubs, white casual shirt with jeans, surgical scrub top with jeans, surgical scrub top with khaki pants, and white laboratory coat with khaki pants). Participants were asked to rate their trust in, confidence in, and comfort with the pictured individual on a response scale of 1 (low) to 7 (high), rank photos according to their preferences for attire, and provide input on the importance of attire and other appearance-related subjects. Attire and gender of photographed individual and participant demographics were investigated for associations with trust, confidence, and comfort scores.

RESULTS

Most (317/445 [71%]) respondents indicated veterinarians' attire was important. Attire type was significantly associated with respondents' trust, confidence, and comfort scores. Model veterinarian gender and participant education level were also associated with trust and comfort scores.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Veterinarians' attire is a form of nonverbal communication that is likely to inform clients' first impressions and may influence clients' trust in, confidence in, and comfort with a veterinarian. Veterinary personnel and veterinary management should consider how attire and general appearance represent staff members or their practice.

Effect of attire on client perceptions of veterinarians

This study examined the effect that veterinarian attire and gender had on clients' perceptions of veterinarians in a large academic specialty hospital. Clients volunteered to answer a survey in the small animal waiting area over a 3-month period. The survey consisted of demographic information, information about the nature of their appointment with their pet, and questions regarding clients' levels of comfort with and the perceived trustworthiness of a Caucasian male and Caucasian female model in four different types of attire: surgical scrubs, surgical scrubs with white lab coat, business casual, and business casual with white lab coat. Relevant effects of interest were estimated using linear mixed models. Five hundred and five clients participated in the survey, yielding a total of 6217 completed survey questions. Clients perceived veterinarians wearing white lab coats as more competent and reported more comfort with those veterinarians (P < 0.0001). When comparing surgical scrubs with no white lab coat to business attire with no white lab coat, surgical scrubs resulted in higher perceived competence and comfort levels (P < 0.0001). Wearing a white lab coat over both surgical scrubs and business casual increased clients' perceived competency and comfort levels compared to not wearing a white lab coat.