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  • DOI: 10.2501/JAR-52-1-015-030 March 2012 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH 15

    INTRODUCTIONMarketing literature is replete with evidence of the

    positive effects of using attractive communicators

    and models on opinion change, product evalua-

    tion, and brand perception and recall (Baker and

    Churchill, 1977; Joseph, 1982). It has been demon-

    strated that physically attractive communicators

    are more liked than plain or unattractive commu-

    nicators. By extension, if a person has a positive

    attitude toward a communicator, she or he will

    evaluate that communicators message in positive

    terms (Joseph, 1982).

    The use of attractive communicators to increase

    advertising effectiveness seems to be appropriate.

    It appears, however, that many marketers have

    decided to apply this idea at its extreme. Often,

    models in advertising represent highly idealized

    images of physical attractiveness.

    This is especially true when considering the

    models body-mass index given increasing obe-

    sity in Western societies (Chandon and Wansink,

    2007). In a March 2010 issue, the Guardian asked,

    Why Are Models Still So Thin? Some run-

    way models presenting Riccardo Tisci, Dolce &

    Gabbanaand others representing Pradas Miu

    Miu autumn/winter ready-to-wear collection

    looked skeletal. Yet, models are a mirror for many

    young women and, most agree, should project an

    image of beauty and health rather than offer the

    perception of encouraging eating disorders.

    Moreover, it recently seems that not all marketers

    have agreed that such idealized images of physical

    attractiveness are the best way to increase adver-

    tising effectiveness. In 2004, Unilever was widely

    praised after the launch of their Dove campaign

    (Jeffers, 2005). The novel concept was to feature

    actual womennot modelsin Doves firming

    cream advertisements under the themeline Real

    Women Have Curves.

    The idea of using nonidealized images of

    physical attractiveness came from a global

    report commissioned by Dove and conducted

    Take Your Pick:

    Kate Moss or the Girl Next Door?The Effectiveness of Cosmetics Advertising

    MICHAEL ANTIOCOEMLYOn Business school,

    [email protected]

    DIRK SMEESTERSRotterdam school of

    Management, the netherlands

    [email protected]

    ALINE LE BOEDECFinaref, [email protected]

    In the last several years, marketers have started to use nonidealized models in

    advertisements (i.e., Doves campaign for Real Beauty). Little is known, however,

    about the effects of nonidealized advertising on consumers and whether this type of

    advertisingwhen compared to idealized advertisingis truly beneficial for the branded

    products promoted in these ads. Based on a sample of 347 French women exposed to

    either idealized or nonidealized models, the authors established that the way these

    advertising models have an effect on brand responsesspecifically, the attitude toward

    (and the purchase intention of) a brandoperates through a dual-process model.

    When a viewer had a high sense of self-esteem, it was crucial that both processes be

    understood simultaneously: the effect of the portrayed models body image on the brand

    responses can be suppressed by the model-evaluation process. The authors also note that

    consumers ages influenced the self-evaluative process following a quadratic function.

    Their place of residence (i.e., urban versus rural) influenced the self- and model-evaluation

    processes.

  • 16 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH March 2012

    TAkE YOUR PICk: kATE MOSS OR ThE GIRl NExT DOOR?

    by StrategyOne entitled The Real Truth

    About Beauty. Some 3,200 women from

    10 different countries were surveyed;

    results showed that only 2 percent of

    women described themselves as beauti-

    ful, and more than 68 percent of women

    strongly agreed that the media and

    advertising set an unrealistic standard

    of beauty that most women cant ever

    achieve (StrategyOne, 2004).

    To offset the unrealistically thin,

    unhealthy archetypal images associated

    with modeling, Dove decided to focus on

    promoting real, natural beauty (Media

    Awareness Network, 2004). Driven by

    much of the same awareness, in 2005 Rev-

    lon Inc. and J. C. Penney began adding

    fuller-figured women and older actresses

    into their fifties to their cast of youthful,

    thinner models.

    Some high-end marketersnotably,

    Charles Revson, the founder of Revlon

    believed that too much realism actually

    could compromise their brands. And,

    for some, the positive results of the Dove

    campaign may merely have been the con-

    sequence of its provocative nature.

    In fact, certain levels of provocation

    in advertising may be a valid strategy

    to attract potential consumers (Vzina

    and Paul, 1997). In the present paper,

    the authors seek to deepen further the

    understanding of the effects of Dove-like

    campaigns by examining to what extent

    exposure to nonidealizedas compared

    to idealizedmodels in advertisements

    affect consumers attitude and purchase

    intention of products promoted in these

    ads.

    The authors research was executed in

    the context of cosmetics ads. They con-

    tend that two types of processes may play

    a crucial role in the effects of exposure to

    idealized (i.e., overly thin) as compared

    to nonidealized (i.e., heavier) advertising

    models on brand evaluations and pur-

    chase intentions:

    a self-evaluation process (evaluation of

    the self in terms of self-esteem) and

    a model-evaluation process (the trust-

    worthiness of the model).

    Both processes can be affected by the type

    of models featured in the advertisements

    and are key factors driving the viewers

    brand attitudes and purchase intentions

    (Zinkhan and Hong, 1991; Deshpand and

    Stayman, 1994). Previous research demon-

    strated that consumers self-esteemvia a

    process of social comparisoncan shift in

    function of exposure to models in adver-

    tising (Mussweiler, 2003; Richins, 1991;

    Smeesters and Mandel, 2006; Smeesters,

    Mussweiler, and Mandel, 2010).

    At this point, however, it has not been

    demonstrated whether self-esteem also

    can play an important role in studying the

    effects of idealized versus nonidealized

    advertising on responses to brands. Next

    to a personal-evaluation process, consum-

    ers also might engage a judgment process

    of the model. For instance, can the way a

    model is portrayed (idealized or nonide-

    alized) affect the trustworthiness of the

    source? This is unknown at this point.

    Hence, the authors have examined the

    possible mediating role of trustworthiness

    on the effect on brand responses of ideal-

    ized versus nonidealized advertising.

    The present research examined what

    effect the different idealized and non-

    idealized images in advertisements had

    on advertising effectiveness. To do so,

    the authors have measured respondents

    brand responses. Importantly, the authors

    have examined the underlying role of self-

    esteem and trustworthiness in displaying

    these results. To that end, they investigated

    the reactions of an effective sample of 347

    French women after exposure to two cos-

    metics advertisementsone displaying

    nonidealized images of physical attrac-

    tiveness and the other more-traditional

    idealized images.

    HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENTBody Images, Self-Esteem, and Model TrustworthinessWhen exposed to advertising models

    (more specifically, body images), consum-

    ers might engage in two simultaneous

    processes.

    For one, they might begin a model-

    evaluation process in which they judge the

    trustworthiness of the model. A primary

    factor in an advertisements effectiveness

    is the trustworthiness of the source. And,

    in fact, consumers have strong intentions

    to judge the trustworthiness of advertis-

    ing sources (Priester and Petty, 2003). This

    might be a conscious process, as consum-

    ers probably are aware that they are judg-

    ing the trustworthiness of a model.

    At the same time, however, it can be

    expected that consumers who view an

    advertisement also engage in a self-

    evaluation process. And, in those cases,

    comparing oneself with a model in an

    advertisement might affect a womans

    self-esteem. Past research has shown that

    advertising models do function as strong

    comparison standards for females, who

    tend to compare themselves with these

    models in a fairly automatic fashion (Rich-

    ins, 1991; Mussweiler, 2003; Smeesters and

    Mandel, 2006; Smeesters et al., 2010).

    Social comparison is a central feature

    of human social life, as people have a

    natural drive to evaluate their own attrib-

    utes by comparing themselves to others

    (Festinger, 1954). Research has shown that

    this kind of automatic social comparison

    also takes place when people are exposed

    to persons portrayed in advertisements

    more specifically, when female consumers

    compare themselves with female models

    (Bower, 2001; Bower and Landreth, 2001;

    Richins, 1991; Smeesters and Mandel,

    2006; Smeesters et al., 2010).

    Comparing oneself to a model can affect

    ones self-esteem. In the marketing and

    advertising literature, self-esteem appears

  • March 2012 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH 17

    TAkE YOUR PICk: kATE MOSS OR ThE GIRl NExT DOOR?

    as a recurrent and important individual

    factor (Hong and Zinkhan, 1995; Lee and

    Shrum, 2007; Zinkhan and Hong, 1991)

    because it is one of the strongest psycho-

    logical needs (Durgee, 1986). The effects

    of female models on self-esteem occur

    mainly for women, as they generally are

    more concerned than men are about their

    own appearance (beauty, body image)

    a consideration that some evolutionary

    psychologists argue is due to competi-

    tion with other females for male attention

    (Ward and Voracek, 2004).

    Researchers repeatedly have shown that

    women who view the ideal thin images

    in the lab experience lower self-esteem

    and higher body dissatisfaction than do

    women who view neutral images (see

    Grabe, Ward, and Hyde, 2008 for an exten-

    sive overview and meta-analysis). These

    findings have been replicated for women

    exposed to thin ideal women in print ads,

    television commercials, and music videos

    (Bower, 2001; Bower and Landreth, 2001;

    Halliwell and Dittmar, 2004; Hargreaves

    and Tiggemann, 2004; Pollay, 1986;

    Richins, 1991; Tiggemann and Slater,

    2003). Positive assimilation effects of thin

    models on females self-esteem are rarely

    published (Grabe et al., 2008; but see

    Smeesters and Mandel, 2006).

    If idealized images of models reduce

    self-esteem, the natural question is: Does

    the use of nonidealized images increase

    self-esteem? One piece of recent research

    demonstrated that using nonidealized

    images of physical attractiveness in adver-

    tisements could have a positive impact

    on viewers self-esteem (Smeesters and

    Mandel, 2006). Particularly, participants

    with an average body-mass index reported

    higher self-esteem after viewing adver-

    tisements that featured extremely heavy

    modelsa confidence resulting from

    feelings of dissimilarity with the models

    that actually caused them to feel thin (see

    Smeesters et al., 2010).

    Nonetheless, exposure to extremely thin

    models often caused lower self-esteem,

    again due to a feeling of dissimilarity

    with the thin models that caused them to

    feel heavy. This recent research, however,

    used very different models (i.e., different

    people) in the different comparison condi-

    tions. A cleaner way to look at comparison

    processes is to use models who are close

    to identical to the women featured in the

    advertisement and then manipulate ide-

    alization levels based on weight, a promi-

    nent physical attribute of importance in

    Western societies (Chandon and Wansink,

    2007).

    Under these conditions, confounding

    factors such as differences in facial expres-

    sions, hair style and color, age, clothing

    style, and so on are better controlled. Fur-

    ther, Smeesters and Mandels research

    used advertisements with respect to cloth-

    ing, which is a product that is very much

    related to the weight of the model. This

    might have induced very strong compari-

    son tendencies with respect to the weight-

    dimension. It is, therefore, important to

    test their hypothesis using advertisements

    in which the product is not weight-related,

    such as cosmetics.

    One of the aims of the current research

    is to demonstrate that exposure to non-

    idealized advertising, in fact, can increase

    womens self-esteem (as opposed to expo-

    sure to idealized advertising). In addi-

    tion, the authors have examined to what

    extent the articulated differences in self-

    esteem were related to such factors as age,

    socio-professional category, and place of

    residence.

    Given that previous research in adver-

    tising demonstrated that the advertised

    product can have an influence on the

    viewers perception of the advertisement

    and its content (Brown and Stayman,

    1992), the authors first seek to confirm

    the following hypothesis for cosmetics

    ads:

    H1: Self-esteem will be significantly

    higher after exposure to a non-

    idealized model compared to an

    idealized model.

    In addition to comparing ones self-image

    to a model in the ad, consumers also might

    engage in anotheroften simultaneous

    process in which they simply evaluate

    the model in the advertisement. The goal

    of advertising is to present information

    to consumers, which is often reached by

    presenting favorably evaluated models in

    an ad to also induce more favorable atti-

    tudes toward the advertised product. One

    of the main factors in the effectiveness of

    an advertisement is the trustworthiness

    of various sources of information in an

    advertisement, even including the fea-

    tured model.

    In 2003, J. R. Priester and R. E. Petty,

    writing in the Journal of Consumer Psy-

    chology (The Influence of Spokesperson

    Trustworthiness on Message Elabora-

    tion, Attitudes Strength and Advertising

    Effectiveness), observed, A trustwor-

    thy endorser is one whom consumers

    believe to be honest and sincere, whereas

    an untrustworthy endorser is one about

    whom consumers feel skepticism and

    suspicion (2003, p. 408). More precisely:

    a source can be perceived as trustworthy

    based on verbal cues demonstrating the

    expertise, credibility, and even friend-

    liness of a source and nonverbal cues

    such as physical attributes that are con-

    gruent to those of the viewer or the buyer

    (Wood, Boles, Johnston, and Bellenger,

    2008).

    Higher trustworthiness, attained by

    nonverbal cues in print ads, generally has

    positive effects on the attitude toward an

    advertised product (Priester and Petty,

    2003). Not quite so clear is whether ideal-

    ized or nonidealized advertising has the

    strongest effects on the trustworthy attrib-

    utes of the model.

  • 18 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH March 2012

    TAkE YOUR PICk: kATE MOSS OR ThE GIRl NExT DOOR?

    There is evidence to suggest that the

    more similar to the individual the model is,

    the more the individual will self-reference

    (i.e., process information in an advertise-

    ment) by relating it to some aspect of one-

    self (Kwai-Choi, Fernandez, and Martin,

    2002). Prior literature also suggested that

    when individuals perceive similarities

    between themselves and a model in an

    advertisement (i.e., self-reference), they

    tend to perceive the model as trustworthy

    (Deshpand and Stayman, 1994).

    Nonidealized models, in fact, are a bet-

    ter representation of the real world (Food

    Standards Agency, 2004) and, therefore, it

    can be expected that consumers will self-

    reference more in case of nonidealized

    images compared to idealized images.

    Hence, when an individual perceives

    some similarity between her- or himself

    and another person, she or he may per-

    ceive that other person as more trustwor-

    thy (cf. Deshpand and Stayman, 1994;

    OKeefe, 1990). In the current study, the

    authors examined to what extent differ-

    ences in trustworthiness are related to

    socio-demographic factors such as age,

    profession, and place of residence.

    H2: Model trustworthiness will be

    significantly higher in the case

    of exposure to a nonidealized

    model compared to an idealized

    model.

    Self-Esteem and Brand ResponsesThe authors posit that the impact of self-

    esteem on the advertising effectiveness

    of cosmetics needs to be nuanced in a

    comparison of advertisements that use

    idealized and nonidealized images. More

    specifically, in addition to the understand-

    ing that self-esteem may be affected by a

    models image, the current study poses

    that self-esteem also might act as a mod-

    erator of the effect of model image on the

    attitude toward the brand.

    In other words: exposure to an ideal

    model may (on average) lead to lower

    self-esteem compared to exposure to a

    nonideal model; the degree to which par-

    ticipants actually reflect lower (versus

    higher) levels of self-esteem might moder-

    ate the impact of model image on the atti-

    tude toward the brand.

    This typically might occur in case of

    variables related to the self (such as self-

    esteem, anxiety, and emotional stability)

    because the scores on these variables show

    meaningful variability among individuals

    (Preacher, Rucker, and Hayes, 2007). For

    instance, previous research has found that

    public situations led to higher anxiety in

    individuals compared to private situations

    (Lambert et al., 2003). Anxiety, however,

    also moderated the effect of public versus

    private situations on perceived control in

    these situations, with the result that even

    though high-anxiety individuals reported

    lower control in public situations com-

    pared to private situations, low-anxiety

    individuals reported no difference.

    Alternatively, consumers might have

    preexisting levelssome higher than oth-

    ersof self-esteem. Exposure to idealized

    models may shift consumers preexisting

    levels of self-esteem down, whereas expo-

    sure to nonidealized models may shift all

    consumers preexisting levels up. In either

    case, a consumers self-esteem still can

    function as a moderator of the impact of

    advertising models on the responses to the

    advertised brand.

    Earlier research demonstrated that,

    when individuals face negative feelings

    toward themselves, they often experience

    these negative feelings toward objects

    related to themselves (Bower, 2001; Gaw-

    ronski, Bodenhausen, and Becker, 2007;

    Lundstrom et al., 1999). In 2007, one study

    found that participants in the experiment(s)

    showed implicit positivity or negativ-

    ity toward objects (color print pictures)

    when their implicit self-evaluation was

    respectively positive or negative (Gaw-

    ronski et al., 2007). A comparable find-

    ing should result when a low self-esteem

    consumer is exposed to a source (an ideal-

    ized model) that may lower her or his self-

    esteem even more. In such instances, these

    consumers should report more negative

    attitudes to the brand when exposed to an

    idealized model compared to a nonideal-

    ized model.

    The authors expect that consumers with

    a high level of self-esteem will be less nega-

    tively affected in their attitudes toward the

    brand when exposed to idealized models.

    High self-esteem consumers have more

    positive feelings about themselves. Even

    if their self-esteem is temporarily lowered

    due to exposure to idealized advertising,

    their relatively higher level of self-esteem

    may buffer them against negative feelings

    (Mandel and Smeesters, 2008).

    High self-esteem individuals even may

    implicitly engage in self-affirmation as

    a way to enhance self-integrity and pro-

    tect themselves against such ego threats.

    Therefore, exposure to idealized images

    might work, even inspiring high self-

    esteem consumers to further bolster their

    self-esteem (Lockwood and Kunda, 1997).

    They, therefore, may have a more positive

    brand attitude when exposed to an ideal-

    ized model compared to the nonidealized

    model.

    H3: The authors expect self-esteem to

    moderate the relationship between

    model image and responses to the

    brand (i.e., attitude toward the brand,

    purchase intention of the brand), such

    that

    for consumers with a low self-

    esteem, brand responses should be

    lower after exposure to idealized

    models than after exposure to non-

    idealized models and,

    for consumers with a high self-

    esteem, brand responses should be

  • March 2012 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH 19

    TAkE YOUR PICk: kATE MOSS OR ThE GIRl NExT DOOR?

    higher after exposure to idealized

    models than after exposure to non-

    idealized models.

    Model Trustworthiness and Brand ResponsesOne of the determinants of an effective

    advertisement is the source of the mes-

    sage, including the model who endorses

    the product (Kwai-Choi et al., 2002;

    Solomon, 2007). There is evidence to sug-

    gest that the more similar to the individ-

    ual the model is, the more the individual

    will self-reference and, hence, the model

    should be perceived as more trustworthy.

    For thoroughness, we should note that, in

    addition to self-referencing mechanisms

    activated by models unknown to the

    viewers, model trustworthiness also can

    be achieved by displaying familiar models

    to the viewers (e.g., a celebrity, a sports-

    woman) (Priester and Petty, 2003).

    The authors expect that trustworthiness

    will have a direct link with the attitude

    toward (and the purchase intention of)

    the brand (i.e., brand responses) but that it

    will not moderate the effect of body image

    on the attitude toward (and the purchase

    intention of) the brand.

    Previous research has indicated that

    individuals generate more positive atti-

    tudes toward advertised brands that are

    endorsed by a trustworthy source (Priester

    and Petty, 2003). Therefore, the more view-

    ers trust a model (independent of whether

    the model is or is not idealized), the more

    positive their attitudes and purchase

    intentions should be.

    There are two reasons for positing the

    absence of a moderating effect of trustwor-

    thiness between body images and adver-

    tising effectiveness:

    To process the models body image,

    recipients do not need to engage in

    complex information elaboration (Smith

    and Shaffer, 1995), which has been

    demonstrated to interact with model

    trustworthiness on the resulting attitude

    strengths (Priester and Petty, 2003).

    In contrast to self-esteem, trustworthi-

    ness is not an intrapersonal variable

    but rather an interpersonal factor (i.e.,

    evaluation of the model) that varies

    less among participants (Lambert et al.,

    2003). Trustworthiness de facto should

    solely play a mediating role between

    the exposure to the models and the

    responses to the advertised brand (See

    Figure 1).

    H4a: The higher the model trustwor-

    thiness, the higher the brand

    responses will be.

    H4b: Trustworthiness will mediate

    the effect of exposure to ideal-

    ized versus nonidealized mod-

    els on brand responses.

    METHODParticipantsThe current study focused essentially on

    female subjects between the ages of 18

    and 65. Existing literature had endorsed

    the ideas that women are

    more prone to react to advertising

    images and

    more vulnerable to those images than

    men are (Baird and Grieve, 2006).

    In total, 347 Caucasian French women par-

    ticipated in this study and were randomly

    assigned to either the idealized model

    condition or the nonidealized model con-

    dition. The sample is diverse in terms of

    age, socio-professional category, or place

    of residence (urban or rural zone). The

    majority of the respondents (41.8 per-

    cent) were women between the ages of

    18 and 24. Participants younger than 18

    accounted for 16.7 percent of the sample,

    and those between 25 and 34 represented

    22.2 percent of the sample. The segments

    of women whose ages ranged from 35 to

    44 and 45 to 65 accounted for, respectively,

    8.6 percent and 10.7 percent of the sample.

    Participants were selected by posting

    invitations on Web-site forums that asked

    volunteers to fill out a questionnaire and

    +

    +

    +

    +

    NonidealizedBody Image

    Attitude Towardthe Brand

    ModelTrustworthiness

    Self-Esteem

    PurchaseIntention

    Figure 1 Effects of self-Esteem and Model Trustworthiness on the Effectiveness of cosmetics Advertising.

  • 20 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH March 2012

    TAkE YOUR PICk: kATE MOSS OR ThE GIRl NExT DOOR?

    linked participants to the online survey

    page. Rather than randomly distributing

    surveys to potential female consumers

    of beauty products, the invitations were

    posted on women-magazine forums such

    as

    www.marie-claire.fr

    www.topsant.fr

    www.versionfemina.fr

    www.prima.fr

    www.famili.fr

    www.glamourparis.com

    www.20ans.fr

    The study also included such Web-site

    forums as

    www.aufeminin.com

    www.femmesplus.fr

    www.plurielles.fr

    www.absolufeminin.fr

    www.pourtouteslesbeautes.fr

    www.pulpeclub.com

    www.lycosfemmes.fr

    www.fluctuat.net

    www.ado.fr.

    The motivation for posting the invita-

    tions on women-magazine and Web-site

    forums was to target female consumers

    who had, a priori, a higher probability of

    being exposed to such print ads. Although

    such parameters made data collection

    more difficult, the authors believed it

    was important to narrow the range of

    the female respondents. No significant

    differences regarding the age (Z = 1.18;

    p = 0.24), socio-professional category

    (Z = 1.47; p = 0.14), or the place of resi-

    dence (Z = 0.40; p = 0.69) were observed

    between participants in the two model

    conditions.

    ProcedureParticipants on the online question-

    naire were exposed to a body-cream

    advertisement with an idealized or non-

    idealized model.

    The survey team explained to the par-

    ticipants that the goal of the research was

    to gather impressions of an advertisement.

    The participants simply were asked to

    observe the advertisement, then respond

    to the questionnaire.

    In their preview, the researchers insisted

    that there was no right or wrong

    answer and that all answers would remain

    anonymous.

    The idealized image was created by

    cutting and pasting a photograph from

    Vogue/UK January 1998 magazine. This

    photograph was chosen, first of all,

    because Vogue is known to picture ideal-

    ized images of physical attractiveness.

    Furthermore, the photograph presented

    two very thin (body-mass Index < 19),

    attractive models. Moreover, the models

    were wearing underwear, which is realis-

    tic for cosmetics advertisements.

    The nonidealized advertising that was

    contained was created by photograph-

    ing two normal women, reproducing

    the Vogue photograph.1 The nonprofes-

    sional models were selected for the color

    of their hair and their normal body size

    (19 < body-mass index < 25; Smeesters and

    Mandel, 2006). Using this photograph,

    the authors created a second advertise-

    ment for the same body-cream brand (See

    Appendix 1).

    A pre-test carried out with 179 respond-

    ents who randomly rated the weight

    of the idealized (M = 3.08; SD = 0.99)

    or the nonidealized image (M = 4.86;

    SD = 1.13) on a 7-point scale with end-

    points very thin (1) and very heavy

    (7) confirmed that the research team

    1 For legal reasons related to the right to ones own image, the authors could not manipulate the weight of the Vogue models and had to ask nonprofessional models with the same hair color and (approximately) the same height to strike as precisely as possible the pose taken by the Vogue models.

    successfully had manipulated the body

    image (F(1, 178) = 123.96; p < 0.001).

    The questionnaire took participants

    approximately 10 minutes to complete

    and was accessible for a period of 3 weeks.

    Respondents first were asked to rate their

    perceived current level of beauty using a

    single-item measure.

    The authors later verified the sampling

    distribution and observed that female con-

    sumers fully satisfied with their beauty

    were underrepresented (28 respondents

    of 347). This fully represents reality (Strat-

    egyOne, 2004) and conferred face validity

    to the study.

    After the exposure to one of the two

    model ads, participants had to complete

    several multi-item measurement scales,

    including a self-esteem scale (Martin and

    Gentry, 1997) and a trustworthiness scale

    (Ohanian, 1990):

    Self-esteem was measured using a

    5-point scale, with endpoints of not at

    all (1) and very much so (5).

    Trustworthiness was measured using a

    5-point scale with endpoints dishonest/

    honest, unreliable/reliable, not depend-

    able/dependable, and not trustworthy/

    trustworthy.

    Participants then were asked to complete

    measures related to the attitude toward

    the brand (Leclerc, Schmitt, and Dube,

    1994) and the purchase intention of the

    brand (Bruner, Hensel, and James, 2005).

    The latter two scales were scored on a

    5-point scale, with endpoints such as dis-

    like/like, bad/good, or disapprove/

    approve for the attitude toward the brand

    and totally disagree (1) and totally

    agree (5) for the purchase intention.

    The specific items are presented in

    Appendix 2. All scales in this study were

    translated professionally into French and

    then back-translated into English (Brislin,

    1980).

  • March 2012 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH 21

    TAkE YOUR PICk: kATE MOSS OR ThE GIRl NExT DOOR?

    RESULTSFrom the original sample of 347 French

    women, 176 effectively viewed the ideal-

    ized advertisement, and 171 effectively

    viewed the nonidealized advertisement.

    PLS-Graph Version 3.0 (Chin, 2001) was

    used to assess the psychometric proper-

    ties of the measures (Chin, 1998; Hulland,

    1999). To do so, the research team tested

    a measurement model without structural

    paths in PLS-Graph Version 3.0 (Chin,

    2001), which is analogous to confirmatory

    factor analysis in covariance-based SEM.

    The authors found that two indicators

    for self-esteem did not display standard-

    ized loading exceeding 0.50. Measures

    were purified to reach convergent valid-

    ity (Tenenhaus, Vinzi, Chatelin, and

    Lauro, 2005). Further, they assessed reli-

    ability with composite reliability and

    average variance extracted (AVE; Chin,

    1998). Composite scale reliability ranged

    between 0.823 and 0.962, well in excess

    of the cutoff value of 0.70 suggested by

    Nunally and Bernstein (1994). The AVE

    ranged between 0.542 and 0.895 and thus

    exceeded the 0.50 cutoff value proposed

    by Fornell and Larcker (1981; Appendix 3).

    Finally, the authors assessed discrimi-

    nant validity by examining whether each

    construct shared more variance with its

    measures than with other constructs in the

    model (Barclay, Higgins, and Thompson,

    1995; Chin, 1998). Therefore, the square

    root of the AVE should exceed the con-

    struct intercorrelations in the model. This

    was the case.

    Because the data were collected using

    survey questionnaires, the current study

    verified for common method variance

    (CMV) because (1) the measures for the

    dependent and independent measures

    were obtained from the same person at

    the same point in time, and (2) experi-

    mental studies that can demonstrate that

    the relationships observed between the

    variables of interests are significant after

    controlling for method biases provide

    more compelling evidence than those who

    do not (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, and

    Podsakoff 2003, p. 899).

    The authors also posited that the small-

    est correlation with a theoretically unre-

    lated variable was a judicious estimate of

    common method variance (Lindell and

    Brandt, 2000; Lindell and Whitney, 2001).

    Then, for all bi-variate correlations, the

    effect of the smallest correlation (rs) needed

    to be partialed out to remove the effect of

    CMV. The survey questionnaire, how-

    ever, did not contain such a theoretically

    unrelated construct. The authors, there-

    fore, took a slightly different approach by

    selecting the smallest correlation among

    our theoretical variables (Lindell and

    Whitney, 2001; See Tables 1 and 2). This is

    the correlation between model trustwor-

    thiness and self-esteem (|rs| = 0.062)

    for the nonidealized questionnaire and the

    correlation between the attitude toward

    the brand and self-esteem (|rs| = 0.13)

    for the idealized one.

    From the application of that procedure,

    the research team concluded that, for all

    existing significant effects at the 0.05 level,

    the corresponding bivariate correlation

    coefficients remained statistically signifi-

    cant at p < 0.05 after adjusting for CMV;

    except for the correlation between self-

    esteem and model trustworthiness in the

    idealized context, which became nonsig-

    nificant similarly to the nonidealized con-

    text. It, therefore, is possible to conclude

    that the effects due to CMV are negligible

    in the current study.

    Body Images and Self-EsteemH1, which stated that self-esteem will be

    significantly higher after exposure to a

    nonidealized model (M = 3.15; SD = 0.84)

    compared to an idealized model (M = 2.93;

    SD = 0.85), was confirmed (F(1, 345) = 4.92;

    p < 0.05).

    TABLE 1correlations for the nonidealized Advertisement

    Self-esteemModel Trustworthiness

    Attitude toward the Brand

    self-esteem

    Model Trustworthiness 0.062

    Attitude toward the Brand 0.212*** 0.368***

    Purchase Intention 0.282*** 0.331*** 0.574***

    ***p < 0.001

    TABLE 2correlations for the Idealized Advertisement

    Self-esteemModel Trustworthiness

    Attitude toward the Brand

    self-esteem

    Model Trustworthiness 0.157**

    Attitude toward the Brand 0.130* 0.276***

    Purchase Intention 0.232* 0.383*** 0.477***

    ***p < 0.001; **p < 0.05; *p < 0.10

  • 22 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH March 2012

    TAkE YOUR PICk: kATE MOSS OR ThE GIRl NExT DOOR?

    To refine the results, the current study

    also verified that H1 was supported despite

    the respondents perception of their cur-

    rent level of beauty. For consumers who

    tended to have higher self-esteem, self-

    esteem was significantly higher after expo-

    sure to a nonidealized model compared

    to an idealized model (F(1, 172) = 3.67;

    p < 0.05). For consumers who tended to

    have lower self-esteem, self-esteem also

    was significantly higher after exposure to

    a nonidealized model compared to an ide-

    alized model (F(1, 171) = 4.06; p < 0.05).

    Further, the authors established whether

    age, socio-professional category, and place

    of residence (urban versus rural) could

    explain consumers levels of self-esteem,

    which can yield useful results for seg-

    mentation strategies. It appeared that the

    relationship between age and the level of

    self-esteem followed a quadratic function

    (F(2, 344) = 9.468; p < 0.001; self-esteem

    = C + 0.547 age 0.09 age). The func-

    tions maximum was in the age category

    between 35 and 44.

    The authors also found an effect of the

    place of residence: The closer one lives to

    an urban area, the higher the self-esteem

    ( = 0.214; t(344) = 4.05; p < 0.001). No effect for socio-professional category was

    found (F(2, 344) = 1.658; p > 0.19).

    Body Images and Model TrustworthinessIt was postulated in H2 that after view-

    ing an advertisement for cosmetics, model

    trustworthiness would be significantly

    higher in the case of exposure to a nonide-

    alized model (M = 3.61; SD = 0.97) com-

    pared to an idealized model (M = 2.72;

    SD = 0.94). This hypothesis was confirmed

    (F(1, 345) = 75.60; p < 0.05).

    Similar to what the authors did for self-

    esteem, they also established whether age,

    socio-professional category, and place of

    residence influenced model trustworthi-

    ness. They found no significant effect of

    age ( = 0.027; t(344) = 0.504; p = 0.614)

    or socio-professional category on self-

    esteem (F(2, 344) = 1.99; p = 0.138). They

    did find, however, an effect for place of

    residence: The closer one lived to an urban

    area, the lower the model trustworthiness

    ( = 0.127; t(344) = 2.37; p < 0.05). Regard-ing this interesting effect, the authors note

    that significant differences in model trust-

    worthiness between the rural (M = 2.97;

    SD = 0.97) and urban areas (M = 2.64;

    SD = 0.92) appeared in the case of an ide-

    alized image (F(1, 174) = 4.125; p < 0.05)

    but not in the case of a nonidealized one

    (F(1, 170) = 1.905; p > 0.10).

    Consistent with previous findings,

    model trustworthiness for the nonideal-

    ized image in an urban area (M = 3.55;

    SD = 0.98) was significantly higher than

    trustworthiness for the idealized image

    (M = 2.64; SD = 0.92) in the same area.

    Self-Esteem and Brand ResponsesH3 postulated a moderating effect of self-

    esteem between the body image and (1)

    attitude toward the brand and (2) the pur-

    chase intention such that

    for consumers with a low self-esteem,

    brand responses would be lower after

    exposure to idealized models than after

    exposure to nonidealized models and,

    for consumers with a high self-esteem,

    brand responses would be higher after

    exposure to idealized models than after

    exposure to nonidealized models.

    As expected, the current study revealed

    a significant body image self-esteem

    interaction on the attitude toward the

    brand ( = 0.179; t(346) = 3.27; p < 0.001) and the purchase intention ( = 0.189; t(346) = 4.02; p < 0.001). Decomposition of

    the interaction at one standard deviation

    above and below the mean for self-esteem

    (Aiken and West, 1991) revealed that, in

    the case of low self-esteem, the attitude

    toward the brand was significantly lower

    after exposure to idealized models than

    after exposure to nonidealized models

    ( = 0.206; t(346) = 2.71; p < 0.05).The same relationship was valid

    for the purchase intention ( = 0.409; t(346) = 5.54; p < 0.001). As posited in H3b,

    for consumers with a high self-esteem, the

    attitude toward the brand and its purchase

    intention was higher after exposure to ide-

    alized models than after exposure to non-

    idealized models, respectively ( = 0.318; t(346) = 3.28; p < 0.001) and ( = 0.382; t(346) = 4.06; p < 0.001; See Figure 2).

    Model Trustworthiness and Brand Responses: Moderation and Suppression EffectsThe current study found no significant

    moderating effect of model trustworthi-

    ness between the body image displayed in

    the advertisement and the attitude toward

    the brand ( = 0.08; t(346) = 1.07; p = 0.28).The research team also observed that

    trustworthiness did not moderate the rela-

    tionship between body image and the pur-

    chase intention ( = 0.02; t(346) = 0.330; p = 0.74). It found support for H4a,

    which hypothesized a positive relation-

    ship between model trustworthiness and

    the attitude toward the brand ( = 0.294; t(346) = 3.66; p < 0.001) and the purchase

    1

    1.5

    2

    2.5

    3

    3.5

    4

    IdealizedImage

    Nonidealized Image

    Low Self-EsteemHigh Self-Esteem

    Purc

    hase

    Inte

    ntio

    n

    Figure 2 Effects of Body Image and self-Esteem on Purchase Intention.

  • March 2012 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH 23

    TAkE YOUR PICk: kATE MOSS OR ThE GIRl NExT DOOR?

    intention ( = 0.257; t(346) = 3.69; p < 0.001) independently from the body image of the

    model portrayed in the advertisement.

    The authors then examined whether

    model trustworthiness fully mediates the

    effect of exposure to advertising images

    on the attitude toward the brand and the

    purchase intention.

    In a first step, the research team did not

    find, overall, that the relationship between

    body image and the attitude toward

    the brand was significant ( = 0.025; t(346) = 0.470; p = 0.64). This meant that,

    normally, they could not further test for

    mediation in case of the attitude toward

    the brand (Baron and Kenny, 1986). Given

    that the authors previously had estab-

    lished that self-esteem moderates the

    relationship between body image and the

    attitude toward the brand, however, they

    continued by carrying out the mediation

    test including the findings on the mod-

    eration effect of self-esteem (e.g., Morin,

    Dub, Chebat, 2007).

    In a second step, they found evidence

    for a significant relationship between the

    independent variable (body image) and

    the mediator (trustworthiness) ( = 0.424; t(346) = 8.69; p < 0.001): The more idealized

    the model was, the lower model trustwor-

    thiness. Introducing the effect of model

    trustworthiness on the attitude toward the

    brand ( = 0.356; t(346) = 6.359; p < 0.001) did not cause body image self-esteem to

    become nonsignificant ( = 0.271; t(346) = 3.175; p < 0.05). In other words, model

    trustworthiness did not fully mediate the

    relationship between the body image and

    the attitude toward the brand when one

    takes into account the moderating effects

    of the viewers self-esteem (R: 0.184).

    One must then conclude that there is,

    under specific circumstances, a suppres-

    sion effect (Kenny, Kashy, and Bolger,

    1998). When the model was idealized and

    the viewers self-esteem was high, the posi-

    tive effect of this interaction on the attitude

    toward the brand was suppressed by the

    negative influence of an idealized body

    image on the trustworthiness of the model.

    Also, when the body image was nonideal-

    ized and the viewers self-esteem was high,

    the negative effect of this interaction on the

    attitude toward the brand was suppressed

    by the positive influence of a nonidealized

    image on the trustworthiness of the model.

    For the high self-esteem viewers only

    (median split), an idealized body image

    had a negative influence on trustworthi-

    ness ( = 0.398; t(171) = 5.516; p < 0.001), whereas body image ( = 0.241; t(170) = 3.176; p < 0.05) and model trustworthi-

    ness ( = 0.442; t(170) = 5.826; p < 0.001) both had positive effects on the attitude

    toward the brand. Overall, the direct and

    indirect effects of body image on the atti-

    tude toward the brand for high self-esteem

    viewers were equal to 0.241 and 0.176,

    respectively (R: 0.199).

    Further, the authors demonstrated the

    significant effect of body image on the pur-

    chase intention ( = 0.186; t(346) = 3.53; p < 0.001): Idealized body images led to

    lower purchase intention compared to

    nonidealized body images. When regress-

    ing the independent variable and the

    mediator simultaneously on purchase

    intention, the authors found a significant

    relationship between model trustworthi-

    ness and purchase intention ( = 0.384; t(345) = 7.03; p < 0.001), whereas the rela-

    tionship between body image and pur-

    chase intention became nonsignificant

    ( = 0.023; t(345) = 0.429; p > 0.05). The authors also performed a Sobel (1982)

    mediation test, which confirmed the

    full mediation of model trustworthiness

    between body image and the purchase

    intention (z = 3.15; p < 0.05).

    In sum, H4b was supported only par-

    tially, as model trustworthiness fully

    mediated only the relationship between

    body image and purchase intention.

    The authors, however, did observe a

    suppression effect of model trustworthi-

    ness on the relationship between body

    image and the attitude toward the brand

    when the viewers self-esteem was high.

    Excluding the overall neutral effect of

    body image on the attitude toward the

    brand under high self-esteem circum-

    stances, the authors showed that lower

    perceptions of trustworthiness means that

    idealized body images led to lower pur-

    chase intentions compared to nonideal-

    ized images.

    GENERAL DISCUSSIONAdvertisers frequently use models in mar-

    keting communications. In general, they

    select attractive thin models who represent

    a certain kind of the beauty ideal, reason-

    ing that such imagery would positively

    influence consumers to buy the brand

    endorsed by the ideal model.

    Earlier research, however, has shown

    that exposure to such ideal images actu-

    ally may have negative effects on the self-

    evaluation of consumers. For instance,

    some studies have demonstrated that

    exposure to attractive faces in advertise-

    ments has led consumers to evaluate

    themselves more negatively (Richins,

    1991; Smeesters and Mandel, 2006).

    Recently, marketers have shown some

    interest in employing more realnon-

    idealizedmodels in advertisements.

    Little is known, however, about the effects

    of such modelsboth on self-evaluation

    and product evaluations and on the pro-

    cesses that play a role during exposure to

    such models. It, therefore, is important to

    make a comparison between idealized and

    nonidealized models and examine their

    potentially different effects on the adver-

    tising effectiveness of advertised brands.

    In the current study, female consum-

    ers were exposed to either thin or heav-

    ier models. The findings indicated that

    the way advertising models have had an

    effect on the purchase intention of (and the

  • 24 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH March 2012

    TAkE YOUR PICk: kATE MOSS OR ThE GIRl NExT DOOR?

    attitude toward) a brand operates through

    a dual-process model.

    The first process by which advertis-

    ing models affect responses to brands is

    through a self-evaluation route. By com-

    paring oneself to models, consumers self-

    esteem may shift.

    In general, exposure to nonidealized

    models leads to higher self-esteem com-

    pared to exposure to idealized models.

    The data in the current study, however,

    indicated that self-esteem also moderated

    the effect of advertising models on the

    responses to the advertised brand. More

    specifically, participants with a lower

    self-esteem reported a more negative atti-

    tude and a lower purchase intention of

    the brand after exposure to an idealized

    model compared to a nonidealized model.

    Conversely, participants with a higher

    self-esteem reported a more positive atti-

    tude and a higher purchase intention of

    the brand after exposure to an idealized

    model compared to a nonidealized model.

    These results indicated that self-esteem

    can vary in function of the advertising

    models but that inter-individual variations

    in self-esteem largely could affect how

    consumers evaluate brands supported by

    an idealized or nonidealized model.

    Consumers with an overall higher level

    of self-esteem reacted more positively to a

    brand when it was endorsed by an ideal-

    ized model, whereas consumers with an

    overall lower level of self-esteem reacted

    more negatively in a comparable situation.

    Practically, this means that companies

    must try to measure their target consum-

    ers level of self-esteem before making

    advertising decisions. Companies could

    request that this crucial information be

    added to survey questionnaires for con-

    sumer market research.

    Given that the current study found con-

    sumers between 35 and 44 years old dis-

    played the highest levels of self-esteem,

    the authors recommend advertisers not

    utilize a nonidealized model in their

    appeals to this target groupespecially if

    this target group also lives in urban areas,

    where self-esteem is relatively higher.

    A second crucial process by which

    advertising models affected responses to

    brands was through a model-evaluation

    route. It appeared that nonidealized mod-

    els were judged to be more trustworthy

    than idealized models. Further, trustwor-

    thiness mediated the effect of the adver-

    tising models on the purchase intention

    of the advertised brand and the attitude

    toward the brand considering the modera-

    tion effect of self-esteem.

    Hence, compared to idealized models,

    nonidealized models led to higher pur-

    chase intentions (and attitudes toward

    the brand under the condition of low self-

    esteem) due to higher perceived trustwor-

    thiness of the model.

    The current study demonstrated that

    the closer one lives to an urban area, the

    lower model trustworthiness becomes in

    the case of an idealized image. Advertisers

    carefully must study the balance between

    using an idealized model for the suppres-

    sion effects between the self-evaluation

    and the model-evaluation processes.

    Finally, this paper demonstrated that

    multiple processes play a role during

    exposure to advertising models. In other

    words, the relevant findings regarding

    the self-evaluative process can be signifi-

    cantly linked to advertising effectiveness

    only when the model-evaluation process

    is considered.

    Of course, the question remains whether,

    under the relevant high self-esteem condi-

    tion, these processes always will suppress

    one another to enable researchers to con-

    clude with full certainty that idealized

    images are best avoided on advertising

    campaigns.

    Indeed, if the effects of body image

    self-esteem under a high self-esteem con-

    dition is significantly stronger than the

    negative effect of an idealized body image

    on trustworthiness, it could be that ideal-

    ized images are not detrimental to adver-

    tising effectiveness.

    In fact, it is possible that one of these two

    processes dominates the other, depend-

    ing on situational or personal circum-

    stances. For instance, if one is planning

    to purchase a product like the one that is

    advertised, model trustworthiness may

    have a stronger effect than social compari-

    son. Further, earlier research had demon-

    strated that some individuals are more

    likely to compare themselves with others

    than other individuals. For example, one

    study demonstrated that social compari-

    son effects were stronger for individuals

    whose self-concept was activated or who

    were more uncertain (Stapel and Koomen,

    2001).

    It, therefore, could be demonstrated

    that, for individuals whose self-concept

    is activated (i.e., who are more focused

    on themselves) or who are more uncer-

    tain about themselves, the self-evaluation

    process will dominate, whereas individu-

    als whose self is not activated or who are

    more certain about themselves will be

    more likely to experience a dominating

    model-evaluation process. Future research

    should examine specific situational and

    personal moderators that determine

    when the self-evaluation and the model-

    evaluation route will dominate.

    It also should be noted that companies

    should analyze carefully whether their

    target consumers would like the nonide-

    alized models in their advertisements.

    This is not always the case. One piece of

    research found that, although all partici-

    pants in the studies agreed that there is

    an unattainable thin norm in society and

    applauded the use of nonidealized mod-

    els, not all of the subjects liked the mod-

    els used in Doves campaign (Gustafson,

    Hanley, and Popovich, 2008). More spe-

    cifically, the participants in that study said

  • March 2012 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH 25

    TAkE YOUR PICk: kATE MOSS OR ThE GIRl NExT DOOR?

    that they did not like the women shown

    in underwear and in unflattering poses. In

    addition, participants also found the mes-

    sage that Dove conveyed to be contradic-

    tory by suggesting that plus-sized women

    were attractive but that they still need

    firming cream.

    Although there are many positive effects

    of using nonidealized models in advertise-

    ments, it is important that the way these

    models are presented does not offend con-

    sumers and that the conveyed message is

    believable.

    LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCHThe results of the current study have

    important implications for marketers. In

    general, it seems that nonidealized models

    lead to higher purchase intentions com-

    pared to idealized models, due to higher

    perceived trustworthiness and positive

    shifts in self-esteem. Only participants

    with on average higher levels of self-

    esteem have a higher purchase intention

    in case of idealized models. These findings

    would suggest that it might be more suc-

    cessful to use nonidealized models over

    idealized models.

    Some limitations, however, should be

    considered regarding the theoretical and

    managerial contributions of the current

    findings:

    First, the current sample includes only

    French women, who may not react to

    advertising in the same way as women

    in other countries or from other cultures

    (Lundstrom, White, and Chopoorian,

    1999).

    The models portrayed in the advertis-

    ing and respondents were Caucasian,

    which may affect some conclusions

    given that the perceptions and reac-

    tions to advertising images may vary

    between ethnic groups. A similar study

    with non-Caucasian women exposed to

    different advertisements with thin or

    full-figured models from different eth-

    nicities remains an avenue for future

    research.

    Indeed, cultural diversity is growing

    fast in most industrialized countries.

    The use of ethnic minorities in advertis-

    ing has already been studied in other

    countries such as the United States,

    New Zealand, and the United Kingdom,

    where ethnicity was revealed to have a

    significant impact on consumption pat-

    terns, shopping orientation, responses

    to promotion, purchase decisions,

    media usage, and brand loyalty among

    ethnic consumers (Briley, Shrum, and

    Wyer, 2007; Kwai-Choi, Fernandez and

    Martin, 2002). However, none of these

    studies established how visible minori-

    ties and the Caucasian majority could

    react differently to an exposure to thin or

    full-figured models in advertisements.

    The authors also must note that the dif-

    ferent levels of uncertainty avoidance

    and individualism in different coun-

    tries (Hofstede, 2001) may lead to a

    suppression effect with slightly altered

    intensities.

    Uncertainty avoidance may make

    the model-evaluation route dominant

    whereas individualism may make the

    self-evaluation route dominant. In

    France, levels of individualism and

    uncertainty avoidance practically

    are identical (Hofstede, 2001). In the

    United Kingdom and the United States,

    individualism is very high whereas

    uncertainty avoidance is lower. This

    could mean that the effects of self-

    esteem may outweigh the effects of

    model trustworthiness in the suppres-

    sion mechanism.

    The use of nonidealized images may be

    very detrimental for high self-esteem

    consumers between 35 and 44 years

    old living in urban areas such as Lon-

    don, Paris, New York, or Chicago. This

    remains an avenue for future research

    given that we did not establish cultural

    differences in this paper.

    The authors studied the effects of non-

    idealized images of physical attractive-

    ness using a body cream advertisement.

    Body creams are mass beauty products,

    and the findings of the current study

    may not hold true for other categories

    of products such as luxury beauty prod-

    ucts or vacations (Kwortnik and Ross,

    2007) and/or other types of products

    featuring female models in their adver-

    tising campaigns.

    As Charles Revson, the founder of Rev-

    lon, once said, In the factory, we make

    cosmetics; in the drugstore, we sell

    hope. In other words, the level of con-

    sumer involvement with the purchase

    (Assael, 1995) and the salience and

    amount of differences between brands/

    products may lead to the dominance

    of the self-evaluation or the model-

    evaluation route. This remains to be

    tackled by future research.

    Finally, similar research could be car-

    ried out with male consumers given

    that the mens personal-care market

    should exceed $33.2 billion by 2015

    (Global Industry Analysts, 2010).

    Given the growing numbers of met-

    rosexual men in industrialized econo-

    mies (Flocker, 2003), advertisers should

    establish whether this important group

    of consumers who spend time and

    money shopping for their appearance

    are sensitive to the body-mass index of

    male models in advertising.

    Female and male consumers exhibit

    significantly different attitudes toward

    brands and purchase intentions (Orth

    and Holancova, 2004). Also, men

  • 26 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH March 2012

    TAkE YOUR PICk: kATE MOSS OR ThE GIRl NExT DOOR?

    belonging to different subcultures of

    consumption (e.g., sexual orientation;

    Kates, 2002) could affect the relative

    dominance of the self-evaluation and

    the model-evaluation routes.

    To conclude, given that often female

    consumers buy beauty products for

    their male partner, the authors acknowl-

    edge that studying the responses of

    female consumers toward idealized ver-

    sus nonidealized images of male mod-

    els constitutes an interesting avenue for

    future research.

    michaeL antioco is an associate professor of marketing

    at EMLYOn Business school, France, where he

    teaches courses on marketing management and

    the marketing of luxury products. His main research

    interests are new product development, the

    management of consumer feedback information, and

    advertising. His work is being published in the Journal

    of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal

    of Product Innovation Management, the Journal

    of Business Ethics, and the European Journal of

    Marketing, among other journals.

    DiRk SmeeSteRS is at the Rotterdam school of

    Management, Erasmus University, the netherlands,

    where he teaches courses on marketing management

    and experimental methods. He received his BA, MA,

    and PhD in psychology from the katholieke Universiteit

    Leuven, Belgium. His research on unconscious

    influences on human perception and behavior, the

    psychology of money, social comparison, and mortality

    salience has been published in the leading academic

    marketing and psychology journals, such as the Journal

    of Consumer Research, the Journal of Marketing

    Research, and the Journal of Personality and Social

    Psychology.

    aLine Le BoeDec studied political science, economics

    and marketing at sciences Po strasbourg, France, and

    worked at IEsEG school of Management in Lille/Paris

    as a marketing lecturer. Her research interests include

    advertising, retailing, and sensorial marketing. she now

    works at credit Agricole consumer Finance as a senior

    product manager for major French retailers.

    AcknOWLEDGMEnT

    The authors are very thankful to Ms. Anne-

    Sophie Mourgere for her valuable help in carry-

    ing out this research project.

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    TAkE YOUR PICk: kATE MOSS OR ThE GIRl NExT DOOR?

    APPENDIX 1nonidealized image versus idealized image

    APPENDIX 2Measurement scales

    Scale Items

    Self-esteem (Martin and Gentry, JA, 1997)

    1. I feel satisfied with the way my body looks right now

    2. I feel that others respect and admire me*

    3. I am dissatisfied with my weight ()

    4. I feel good about myself

    5. I am pleased with my appearance right now

    6. I feel unattractive ()*

    Model Trustworthiness (Ohanian, JA, 1990)

    1. Dishonest/Honest

    2. Unreliable/Reliable

    3. not dependable/Dependable

    4. not trustworthy/Trustworthy

    Attitude toward the Ad (Holbrook and Batra, JCR, 1987)

    1. I dislike the advertisement/I like the advertisement

    2. I react unfavorably to the advertisement/I react favorably to the advertisement

    3. I feel negative toward the advertisement/I feel positive toward the advertisement

    4. The advertisement is bad/The advertisement is good

    Attitude toward the Brand (Leclerc, schmitt and Dube, JMR, 1994)

    1. This is a bad brand/This is a good brand

    2. I dislike the brand/I like the brand

    3. I feel negative toward the brand/I feel positive toward the brand

    4. The brand is awful/The brand is nice

    5. The brand is unpleasant/The brand is pleasant

    6. The brand is unattractive/The brand is attractive

    7. I disapprove of the brand/I approve of the brand

    Purchase Intention (Bruner, Hensel and James, 2005)

    1. I am eager to check out the product because of this advertisement

    2. I intend to buy this product

    3. I plan on buying this product

    * This item was dropped during measurement purificationNote: The full-faced nonidealized model has been purposefully hidden to respect her anonymity.

    APPENDICES

  • 30 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH March 2012

    TAkE YOUR PICk: kATE MOSS OR ThE GIRl NExT DOOR?

    APPENDIX 3standard loadings, composite reliability, and average variance extracted for idealized and nonidealized images of beauty

    Construct Items Type

    Standard Loadings Idealized

    Standard Loadings Nonidealized

    Composite Reliability

    Average Variance Extracted

    self-esteem 12*3456*

    Reflective 0.600.790.820.80

    0.610.810.840.64

    I: 0.860NI: 0.823

    I: 0.607NI: 0.542

    Model Trustworthiness 1234

    Reflective 0.770.800.820.81

    0.820.730.900.82

    I: 0.881NI: 0.917

    I: 0.598NI: 0.917

    Attitude toward the Ad 1234

    Reflective 0.890.920.930.79

    0.870.920.880.90

    I: 0.937NI: 0.942

    I: 0.790NI: 0.803

    Attitude toward the Brand 1234567

    Reflective 0.870.880.890.800.840.810.88

    0.860.860.870.870.880.820.88

    I: 0.950NI: 0.955

    I: 0.733NI: 0.753

    Purchase Intention 123

    Reflective 0.900.950.96

    0.920.960.94

    I: 0.956NI: 0.962

    I: 0.880NI: 0.895

    * This item was dropped during measurement purificationI: Idealized; NI: Nonidealized

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