The clothes make the man: The relation of sociocultural factors and sexual orientation to appearance and product involvement

•Appearance ideals internalization affects appearance enhancing product importance.•Appearance investment is associated with grooming product importance.•Pressures to be lean and muscular were associated with grooming product importance.•Pressure to be muscular and appearance investment predict apparel importance.•High levels of appearance ideal internalization predicted apparel importance.•Apparel product importance was predicted by a stronger homosexual orientation.

In a sample of 730 men, using hierarchical regression, we examined the relation of appearance orientation, body satisfaction, internalization, perceived pressures to be lean and muscular, and sexual orientation to the importance men place in apparel and grooming products. Although investment in appearance was the strongest predictor for both product categories, internalization, body satisfaction, pressures about leanness and muscularity, and sexual orientation also were related, explaining 30–39% of the variance. Thus, men may use such appearance-enhancing products as a result of sociocultural factors but also to meet internalized societal ideals about attractiveness.