The Expectancy Violation Theory is a communication theory that views communication as the exchange

of information with a strong relational component. It highlights the potential for violating someone's
expectations during communication, leading to either positive or negative perceptions depending on the
level of affinity between the individuals involved. Expectancies, as defined by Burgoon are the preferred
patterns of behavior that are expected from an individual. Violation of expectancies stimulates the
information processing of a person in a given situation. Burgoon considered nonverbal expectancy
violations as contributors to behaviors that serve as reactions to the deviant element to which people
draw attention to. High levels of credibility are assigned to the source of a message (or the wearer)
when the source is dressed appropriately (O'Neal & Lapitsky, 1991). On that note, the expectancy
(credibility) towards the wearer is challenged by the degree of importance one has for what they wear.