Why Professional Attire Still Matters
How clothing shapes credibility, perception, and professional success in pharmaceutical sales.
Why Professional Attire Still Matters: The Science of First Impressions, Sales Credibility, and the Scrubs Problem in Pharmaceutical Sales
By Laurie J. Newcomb | April 8, 2026
In business, people often say performance should speak for itself. In reality, appearance speaks first. Before a sales professional ever begins a clinical discussion, presents data, or responds to an objection, the other person has already formed judgments about credibility, competence, discipline, and fit.
Research shows these judgments happen quickly, and clothing is one of the most powerful signals involved in that process. Princeton researchers found that people make competence judgments based on clothing cues in milliseconds, and those impressions are difficult to override once formed.
That is why attire in business is not superficial—it is strategic.
Clothing influences how others evaluate us, but it also affects how we think and perform. The well-known theory of “enclothed cognition,” introduced by Hajo Adam and Adam Galinsky, found that clothing can shape the wearer’s psychological processes through both symbolic meaning and physical experience. In their experiments, wearing a garment described as a doctor’s coat improved attention-related performance compared to not wearing it—or wearing the same coat described differently.
In other words, attire does not merely communicate an image to others; it can also influence the mindset of the person wearing it.
This matters deeply in sales.
Sales is a trust business long before it is a product business. A customer is more likely to listen to someone who appears prepared, credible, and intentional. Research across professional settings consistently shows that formal attire increases perceptions of competence, professionalism, and trustworthiness, while casual attire can reduce those perceptions.
A 2021 JAMA Network Open study found that healthcare professionals in white coats were perceived as significantly more experienced and professional than those in casual outerwear, reinforcing how strongly attire influences assumptions about authority and expertise.
Attire in Pharmaceutical Sales
In pharmaceutical sales, these dynamics are especially important because representatives are not simply selling a consumer product. They are asking busy physicians and clinical staff to trust their knowledge, judgment, and often their ability to support patient care and office efficiency.
A polished professional appearance supports that mission. It signals respect for the physician’s time, seriousness about the conversation, and awareness that the representative is there as a business partner—not as a peer attempting to blend into the clinical team.
That distinction is where the recent scrub trend in pharmaceutical and medical sales becomes more complicated.
Industry conversations over the past few years suggest that scrubs have become increasingly common for some representatives, particularly in device and hospital-based environments. This trend has sparked debate among sales professionals about whether it reflects practicality or a broader erosion of professional standards.
Even within those discussions, however, there is general agreement on one point: attire should match the environment. And office-based sales calls are fundamentally different from operating room support or procedural settings.
When Scrubs Work—and When They Don’t
Scrubs make sense when a person is functioning in a true clinical role or needs to move through procedural spaces where sterile workflow, access, and practicality matter. For surgeons, hospital staff, and procedural teams, scrubs communicate readiness and role alignment.
Patient preference research reflects this context. Studies show that people often prefer scrubs for surgeons and emergency physicians, while more formal attire is favored for office-based specialties.
The University of Michigan’s widely cited physician attire study found that formal attire with a white coat received the highest overall ratings, while scrubs were more preferred in procedural environments. Similarly, the JAMA Network Open study found that a white coat with scrubs was preferred for surgeons, while a white coat with business attire was preferred for family physicians and dermatologists.
That distinction is critical.
Physicians and advanced practitioners are clinicians. A pharmaceutical sales representative is not.
In a professional outpatient practice, the goal is not to look like another staff member moving between exam rooms. The goal is to present as a polished, credible business professional who understands healthcare.
When a representative wears scrubs in that setting, the signal can become unclear. Instead of projecting authority and executive presence, the rep may appear overly casual, out of place, or as though they are borrowing the visual identity of a clinician without actually holding that role.
Why Role Clarity Matters
This can have real consequences for perception.
Clothing helps define role clarity. Research on healthcare attire shows that what people wear influences whether others perceive them as professional and experienced—and even affects whether their role is correctly identified.
That same JAMA Network Open study found that attire significantly impacts role identification, which matters in environments where confidence, clarity, and authority are essential.
In outpatient medical offices, professional attire creates a clearer distinction: the physician is the clinician, and the representative is the business partner bringing insight, product knowledge, and commercial value.
The Brand and Conversation Impact
There is also a brand consideration. Pharmaceutical representatives do not only represent themselves; they represent their company, their product, and their standard of professionalism.
Professional attire communicates organization, maturity, and seriousness. Scrubs, by contrast, can sometimes read as overly casual in a non-procedural setting—especially when compared with the sharper impression created by tailored trousers, structured dresses, blazers, or polished business attire.
The concern is not that scrubs are inherently inappropriate. The concern is that in many outpatient settings, they are the wrong uniform for the wrong role.
Even more importantly, attire can subtly influence the level of conversation. When a representative looks polished, the visual message supports a high-value business discussion. When attire appears overly casual or clinician-adjacent without necessity, the interaction can feel less like a strategic meeting and more like an informal drop-in.
First impressions are cumulative. In a competitive market, small signals influence whether a representative is remembered as exceptional, average, or forgettable.
Final Perspective
The strongest argument is not simply that professional clothing “looks better.” It is that it performs better.
It shapes first impressions.
It reinforces role clarity.
It supports executive presence.
And it aligns the representative with the seriousness of the physician’s practice.
Science supports the idea that clothing affects perception and behavior. Healthcare research supports the idea that attire influences judgments of professionalism. And practical experience supports the final point: in outpatient pharmaceutical sales environments, representatives should present as polished professionals—not as participants blending into a clinical role they do not hold.
In the end, attire is not the whole job—but it is part of the job.
The best representatives understand that expertise opens the conversation, but appearance often earns them the invitation to have it.
Works Cited
Adam, Hajo, and Adam D. Galinsky. “Enclothed Cognition.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 48, no. 4, 2012, pp. 918–925.
Pine, Daniel S. “In a Split Second, Clothes Make the Man—More Competent, in the Eyes of Others.” Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, 2012.
Petrilli, Christopher M., et al. “Understanding the Role of Physician Attire on Patient Perceptions: A Systematic Review of the Literature.” BMJ Open, 2015.
Petrilli, Christopher M., et al. “Effect of Physician Attire on Patient Perceptions of Empathy, Trust, and Confidence.” JAMA Network Open, 2021.
University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. “What Doctors Wear Really Does Matter, Study Finds.” 2018.
Foroff, Mace. “Scrubs at Sales Calls? Let’s Talk About It.” LinkedIn, 2025.
