What you wear affects your job prospects and how much you get paid, research claims

Small study indicates the 'peacock effect' on employment opportunities

Could what you wear affect your job prospects? (Rex Features)

What you wear to a job interview could determine your chance of success and how much you might end up being paid, new research claims.

The small study claims to show that interviewees with clearly expensive – or branded – clothing were more likely than competitors in cheaper clothing to win the job.

In the study, conducted with 180 students at a Korean university, participants were shown three photographs of a woman being interviewed for an internship at a film agency.

All three versions were identical, except in one the woman wore an unbranded shirt, in the next a H&M branded shirt and the final video featured the woman wearing a shirt with the Louis Vuitton logo.

The majority of the Seoul students picked the individual wearing the Louis Vuitton branded shirt as the one most likely to get the job – and researchers noted they also expected her to be paid more than the other two.

Louis Vuitton (Getty Images)

The students picked the Louis Vuitton woman as the one most likely to have the highest worth and status.

The study, published in the Journal of Business Research, confirmed the effect as part of signalling theory, whereby individuals show off to confirm to other individuals their high worth.

Be warned though: even the researchers commented that the results were not conclusive and could backfire.

A wealthy – or gaudy – outfit will backfire to a significantly wealthier observer, who may find it distasteful, while an exclusive but subtle outfit may not be picked up by interviewers thus negating the effect.