Is a Beard a Good Idea for Business?

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Facial hair has made a come back in the past decade as a fashion statement for the guys. Sorry ladies, not so much for you.  Interestingly a recent study in the Journal of Marketing Communications found that men with beards were deemed more credible than those who were clean-shaven. The study showed participants pictures of men endorsing certain products. In some photos, the men were clean-shaven. In others, the same men had beards. Participants thought the men with beards had greater expertise and were significantly more trustworthy when they were endorsing products like cell phones and toothpaste.

Take a look at these trustworthy and famous bearded:

Billy Mays Beard

Billy Mays sold us soap, insurance, tooth paste, and anything else he wanted until his passing.

Chuck-Norris-beard

Chuck Norris is legendary and his beard has powers of its own. He kept the beard in vogue during the smooth days of the 80's. There's no record of Mr. Norris without his beard. It holds the power of his awesomeness

Shawn Connery beard

Shawn Connery, aka the true James Bond, instills confidence and sophistication with his beard. It's so powerful we don't even realize he's bald.

Jim Kaviezel beard

Perhaps we trust men with beards because of the most famous beard of all: Jesus'. Here's the best looking Jesus to date--my friend, Jim Caviezel and his inspiring beard.

But before you decide to grow a beard, take a look at the chart below because not all beard styles are created equal and while some might deem you trustworthy, others might make you not only un-appealing, but downright threatening.

beard chart

click on the picture for a bigger version

Since I first posted this, I have now decided to grow a beard of my own. Interestingly, I have noticed people being more solicitous since the beard. So far it has been a mostly positive experience.

Maurilio beard Madrid

maurilio beard

Are you a fan of the beard?

  • I get positive “vibes” from ladies when I grow a beard, which may have something to do with why my wife prefers me clean-shaven.   My frustration is that my beard (usually a mustache and goatee) comes in gray but I don’t have gray hair.  I’m two-toned. At this point in life, it seems best to stay clean-shaven and happily married to the girl of my dreams!  Now when the hair on my head turns gray …

    • I see guys with gray hair in their beards that makes them look years older. I’m with you on this one.

  • Derek Brown

    I’m a big fan of the full beard.  And, that chart is hilarious.  Thanks!

    • I like full beards as well. The chart is my favorite part of the post.

    • I like full beards as well. The chart is my favorite part of the post.

  • Awesome chart, Maurilio.  As far as beards are concerned, I’ve never NOT had one of some kind (well, since high school anyway).  Mine changes from time to time, from goatee to full beard, but I’ve always had one.  I’ve always joked that it covers a whole lot of ugly!  LOL.

    • Besides telling me I look like a terrorist in a beard, my wife tells me that I’m too good looking to cover up with a beard. I must agree with her. 🙂

  • Tina

    Well, when my husband was younger he couldn’t get a beard to grow in very well and he looked like a child molester…so I said “No way!”  Now that he’s older, I asked him to try a goatee and it looked pretty nice, actually very sexy.  But it was too prickly to kiss and sometimes the odors of the food he had eaten stayed on his face.  So after a month or so, I asked him to shave it off.  Now I’m the cougar with the hot young looking guy. 🙂

  • Christian

    My “beard” grows out like sparsely planted spider legs. 🙁

  • Christian

    My “beard” grows out like sparsely planted spider legs. 🙁

  • Caviezel. Just FYI. 😉

  • Caviezel. Just FYI. 😉

  • I used to sport the full beard for a while, but kept it trimmed way down (I’m not a fan of unruly hair, especially on my face). It definitely made me look older (not necessarily a bad thing), but I got to the point where I was tired of trimming every night and trying to shave just right so it looked even. I haven’t had one since, but I have been contemplating bringing that look back. Give me two days. lol

  • Macmik1950

    I’ve worn a beard most of my adult life. My wife likes the full beard, but I prefer a goatee. It’s been gray since I was about 40 (as well as the rest of my hair).

  • Heather had never seen me without the goatee, so I surprised her by shaving it. Twenty-four hours later, she was begging me to grow it back. 

    Now she’s trying to convince me to “take the gray out.”  We need a Fashion Friday on the  the Just for Men solution. 

  • I think it’s very natural for a man to have a beard. 🙂 It’s part of man’s creation. I met my wife without having a beard. Enough said. 😉

    A friend of mine (with a huge beard) once worked with apes. In that group the male with the most face hair had the biggest authority. When my friend entered the rock, he got the respect of the apes without doing anything. When his bald shaven teammembers entered, they got nothing…

    I believe, when you have a job where it’s about your skills, a beard is no problem.

  • Peter Mag

    Beards were common in business prior to the 20th century.  Most influential businessman wore beards as it was the ultimate macho in a male dominated business world. 

  • I have gotten quite a few positive comments about my beard.  I guess the ones that don’t like it keep their opinion to themselves….I’m not too concerned what they think anyways 🙂

  • Not a fan of beards. My husband has a mustache but on others it depends on how it’s kept. Nothing nastier than unkempt facial hair. Instant ick factor. I think a clean-shaven appearance for business is best. However, my husband has only shaved off his mustache twice in nearly 30 years, and I wont’ go near him without his ‘stache. It just doesn’t look like him without it!

  • Being a younger guy in a position of leadership, I sported the beard since it made me look older. My first full time job was to be the Music Director, leading a choir of people mostly in their 40s, 50s or above. I honestly think it helped my credibility given that I was fresh out of college. Still sporting the “very trustworthy” gotee + mustache. Love the graphic by the way!

  • Grapplerschurch.tv

    My father worked for a large electric co. as a manager. He had a mustache. I remember they had a study that said men with facial hair were not trusted, so they banned facial hair. He was grandfathered in but told if he shaved his mustache he could not grow it back. Guess things have changed 😉

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