A classic clash of cultures: Style versus money. Which do you bet will prevail?

Professors don't have to deal with this problem very often but other people do.  

The sign reads, simply:  "Dress code strictly enforced.  No denim allowed."  And an increasing number of private clubs and restaurants are having to confront some serious conflict resolution:  Should the rule of "no jeans" continue to be honored, or not?  Across the U.S. long time rules to ban denim jeans is coming under close scrutiny and being challenged on its merits.  

Long-standing--typically older patrons--are aghast that an adherence to a code that calls for respectable dress is being questioned at all, and in some cases dropped!  Younger patrons--or, more accurately, would-be patrons--by contrast, are mildly surprised that the rule exists in the first place; they wonder why there's much of a discussion about it to begin with--wearing jeans isn't a test of class, or good taste...it's a matter of comfort.  

So what prompts the discussion in the first place?  In some important way, it's not really jean-haters against jean-wearers--in fact, jean-advocates are sort of by-standers in the fray.  Instead, it comes down, on the one hand, to the guardians of good, elite taste in attire, versus people who want to simply keep the clubs and restaurants open for business!  You see, it comes down to a clash of people who want to be around other people dressed with eye-appeal versus those who simply want more people around--jeans or no jeans--to pay the bills.  

Today there are a little more than 4,000 private golf clubs in the U.S. Last year about 10 percent either went out of business--or simply opened their doors to the general public--and, thus, relaxing strict dress codes in the process.   The remaining 90 percent holding on are increasingly challenged to find a new membership base which both has the money to join and likes a no-jean policy.  One does not need to be a marketing genius to figure out that that market is limited at best--and shrinking by the day!  

Who will win the conflict?  

So how will the fight turn out?  Well, it's just a matter of time before "the style-conscious" become the "membership minority" and the bills start getting paid by people with admittedly less flair and good-taste--at least in clothes.  This is a classic services-marketing, service-management dilemma.  You see, in many service operations, other clientèle are frequently and literally part of the "product."  In other words, people seek out and then enjoy the benefits of hanging out with others they think are either just like they are--or they aspire to be like.  Let's be honest here:  in this case, neither group really wants to be like the other!  

Follow where the money is.  Or will be.  

Driven by almost solely by economics, this problem's one that points to a collision course between people who have both money and perceived good taste and those who have money and--how should I say this artfully?--arguably less-refined tastes in apparel.  So which group will prevail is simple to figure out--it's the one with the most money.  Apparently until now, those with elevated tastes have had individually or collective more money; but that's about to change; soon it will be the other way around.  

Last week, The Wall Street Journal's Christina Binkley wrote an article "Admitting jeans to the club."  It's worth a read if you're interested in these kind of consumer issues and trends.  Her story is an interesting one, but I disagree slightly with her analysis:  She says the issue is between generations of people--and that's not a crazy idea.  However, a better, and more accurate way to put it, is to say that it's between two groups of people, those with previously had more money and those who collectively today promise to have more than the old-timers who remain.  

Like I said at the start:  Marketing professors like me don't usually have to personally deal very often with this kind of problem--certainly as a patron of exclusive country clubs--so it's kind of interesting and not a little amusing to be a by-stander here.  However, I suppose that for a fair number of others, who find themselves in the clash itself, find it a little more disconcerting to have to trade good taste for money.  Now that's a problem nobody likes to have!