Appearances matter: the impact of unattainable idealizations of an Individual's physical self

Eagle, Lynne;Hay, Rachel

Abstract

The influence of marketing communications has been debated for decades, particularly in relation to whether it is a strong or weak force (see e.g.Jones, 1990). Part of this ongoing debate is whether it changes people's values or mirrors contemporary social values, albeit in a way that distorts reality with unintended consequences such as misrepresenting and marginalizing many sectors of society (Gopaldas & Siebert, 2018; Pollay, 1986). It is suggested that beauty pays, both in personal relationships and in the labour market (El Jurdi & Smith, 2018; Madan, Basu, Ng, & Lim, 2018). Portrayal of idealized beauty for women and masculinity for men is therefore based on socially grounded perceptions of the importance of physical attractiveness although this perception has changed over time and varies across cultures. The market for beauty-related products is estimated to be worth almost US$500 billion by 2020 (Madan et al., 2018), making it a potentially lucrative sector for marketers.

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The SAGE Handbook of Marketing Ethics

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978-1-5297-0929-2

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SAGE

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London, UK

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