In what is believed to be the first such global survey of female consumers’ attitudes, the research says women respond more favourably to a brand if the models it uses somehow mirror their own identities.
Advertisers cannot, however, simply enlist a few fuller-figured models, says Ben Barry, who is carrying out the research at Cambridge University’s Judge business school: “In general, people have a more favourable reaction to brands that show models who represent people’s age, size and background.”
Modernism = one size fits all. Reality = we each want to live with our own.