Composed of how one walks, talks, acts, and dresses, communications studies show that image, how others perceive a person, plays a major role in his or her success in life. Even the simplest or seemingly absurd details, like how many pieces of jewelry you wear to an interview, can determine which doors open and which remain triple padlocked. Because of this, we, as a society, carefully choose what we wear to work, on a date, or to church, etc., to coincide with the how we want others to see us.

In fact, our culture goes to such extremes to procure the best reputation that we spend millions of dollars every year on courses, workshops, and consultants dedicated solely to this purpose! Most times, we are prejudged based on the aforementioned traits, and the truth about our real personalities gets lost in the mix. Instead, what remains are the opinions others form based where we stand in their paradigm. Whether we like it or not, perception matters.

And the business world is no different.

Customer beliefs and views of a company and its product directly correlate to whether the finances stay in the black or fall into the red. Take the once-popular Mexican food restaurant, Chi-Chi’s, known for its signature margaritas and reasonable prices. After a hepatitis outbreak in Pittsburgh in 2003, allegedly due to a bad case of green onions, the food-chain suffered tremendous losses. Despite proactive efforts by the organization to ensure the safety of all the restaurants, patronage fell and stayed down. Where once you were guaranteed to find a Chi-Chi’s in most cities, the notoriously yellow-painted buildings closed their doors. Sadly, I’ve yet to see one open today.

The lesson to be taken from this is that the public’s perception of a company can determine how strong of a player it is in the marketplace. However, that’s not to say that business owners are at the mercy of the customer, with no control in the situation. Through strategic public relations campaigns, consisting of publicity, promotions, and crisis management (something Chi-Chi’s could have used), companies can take a proactive approach to forming a positive position in the industry.

Without constant dedication to create and maintain this identity, organizations can, and have, fallen to the wayside, letting others that understand the value of image, control the market. For Nike spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually promoting its image globally. Year after year, the athletic gear giant commands one of the highest portions of its sports-centric market. The reason is not necessarily because Nike shoes are better than all the other footwear. The reason is because we, the consumers, are led to believe in the strong, dedicated attitude of the brand. We believe in the image, and that’s what sells us.