Young, white and super-skinny models out of fashion?

This article in today’s Guardian looks at research being carried out by Cambridge University’s Judge business school into the way in which women react to the models used in advertising.

Ben Barry, who is carrying out the research with 2,000 women from different countries including the US, China, Brazil, Kenya and Jordan, says:

“In general, people have a more favourable reaction to brands that show models who represent people’s age, size and background.”

This would suggest that campaigns such as that run by the Dove skincare advertisement, which used older and larger models in its award-winning Campaign for Real Beauty, might be an approach others would be likely to follow. However, Paddy Barwise, professor of marketing at the London Business School, feels that these findings should be treated with caution, saying that there may be a gap between what respondents say to researchers, particularly in the presence of other women, and what they would do actually at the point of sale.

You can also visit the website of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty here, to see an interesting example of corporate social responsibility, through the resources they make available to “help free the next generation from self-limiting beauty stereotypes”.