When you browse through a fashion magazine, you can see numerous ads featuring tall, physically appealing white fashion models posing for famous brand-names. To attract consumers, companies rely on thin, physically appealing models since brand-names believe that the models' youthful, sharp appearance draw value and attention to the clothes and products they want to promote.
However, it was interesting to read a recent finding that disputes this commonly-accepted claim. According to the studies conducted by a model agency founder, Ben Barry, he discovered that using models with unrealistic body size significantly alienate potential customers. For his study, he created eight different ads featuring the same Diane Von Furstenberg dress. Even though the ads had the same art direction and format, his ads showcased models of different body size, age, and race. His results founded:
- "Women increased their purchase intentions by more than 200% when the models in the mock ads were their size"
- "Women increased their purchase intentions by over 175% when they saw models who reflected their age"
- "Black women were 1.5 times more likely to purchase a product advertised by a black model"
In sum, women are more likely to buy products advertised by women with similar body types and image. Given this result, I wonder why companies are hesitant to cast women with real body proportions? Will brand-names lose their recognition and status if they change their ways? But don't companies want to make money?
From this article, I learned that businesses need to appeal to the masses. Even though the finding showed the importance of diversity, brand-names have yet to change their ways.
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