Beyond performance? The importance of subjective and objective physical appearance in award nominations and receptions in football

Despite an extensive body of research indicating multifaceted advantages for employees deemed physically attractive, factors that limit or even negate the attractiveness premium have not been sufficiently investigated. In this paper, we are interested in whether a rich set of physical appearance factors matter when performance information is transparently available, rather than – as is mostly the case in the labor force – imperfect or costly to obtain. To this end, we explore the labor market of professional football players in one of the world's most prestigious football leagues, namely the German Bundesliga. We investigate whether a rich set of physical appearance factors (including subjective attractiveness, facial symmetry, facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR), and body gestalt) affect players’ chances of being nominated or receiving the prestigious Player of the Month award. This study offers a unique opportunity to explore selection heuristics among team captains who are responsible for the nomination of the players, and the public who votes on the three top selections by captains. Our results indicate that individual performance tends to be a stronger driver of award success than physical appearance. Interestingly, performance can moderate some physical appearance factors (e.g., beauty matters more for lower performing players) and some positive assortative effects between captains and players along physical appearance are observed (captains with higher fWHR scores are more likely to nominate players who also have higher fWHR scores). In general, heuristics for captains are easier to identify empirically than for the public. We also find some differences; for example, only the public demonstrates a bias towards domestic players.