Size matters: Here's how thin models can be bad for business

Are 'thin' models alienating your customers?

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Miranda Kerr
Miranda Kerr

So you designed an amazing ad campaign but market research reveals that it fails to connect with your customers? The secret probably lies in your choice of models(s) as the revelations of a study suggest that thin models could alienate up to 70 percent of your audience.

"The current 'thin sells' fixation is a gross oversimplification of how women respond to advertising," the study noted.

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"We need to look at the target market, and we also have to look at the product category," said study co-author James Roberts, professor of marketing at the Baylor University in the US.

The researchers also noted that all women will not buy products because the model(s) featured in the advertisement are thin

"For some product categories, 'thin' is probably going to do better. For others, it very well may be that an average-size model may sell better than a thin model. It just may be a good business decision," Roberts noted.

For the research, 239 women were studied. During the course of the study the researchers aimed to identify which of the women surveyed internalised the 'thin ideal' as they believed that such women would be more receptive to thinner model(s).

Of those surveyed, 25 percent disagreed with the 'thin ideal' while 45 percent did not fully ascribe to it. "For those who did not ascribe to the thin ideal, model size did not play a part in ad effectiveness," Roberts added.

The study was published in the Atlantic Marketing Journal.