“Average-Sized” Models Sell More Clothes

The perception of rail-thin models being the ultimate aspiration of beauty might be changing. That’s cos a recent study found that it’s actually “average-sized” models that help brands sell the most clothes.

Research by the University Of Kent found that when brands used, what the study calls, “average-sized models’ in their advertisements, they actually sold more clothes than if they’d featured size four models or skinnier.

While the women polled in the study showed no preference between “average” and size four models in established fashion brands, when they were presented with fictitious new brands they preferred average-sized models.

The fashion industry has nothing to fear from using average-sized models.

Researchers found that with well-known brands, those polled already had a set of perceptions about what those models look like, so were less influenced by the models they were shown. But when it came to the “new” clothing brands, the women overwhelmingly preferred advertisements featuring average-sized models.

“The issue of fashion industry use of skinny models is very controversial,” explains the study’s lead author Dr. Bian. “And we have even seen France’s parliament considering a ban. Our research shows that the fashion industry has nothing to fear from using average-sized models in its marketing campaigns, and could even find that it sells more of its products by doing so.”

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