Fat people spend more when reminded of being skinny

  • Experts in the US conducted tests on shoppers with a higher BMI Index reading 
  • Discovered that even subtle visual references triggered retail splurges and debt
  • According to Public Health England, two thirds of UK adults are overweight

By

James Draper For Mailonline


Published:
07:53 EDT, 23 March 2017

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Updated:
08:48 EDT, 23 March 2017

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The spending habits of overweight shoppers is influenced by images of thin people. 

That’s the finding of new research which claims even subtle visual references can trigger retail splurges and cause consumer debt.

It reinforces the long-standing argument that marketeers actively manipulate customers by targeting their insecurities, especially health-related ones. 

Retail therapy: Experts in the US conducted tests on shoppers with a higher BMI Index reading
Retail therapy: Experts in the US conducted tests on shoppers with a higher BMI Index reading

Retail therapy: Experts in the US conducted tests on shoppers with a higher BMI Index reading

The data, published in the Journal of Consumer Research on Thursday, was compiled from two studies by Colorado State University and the University of Kentucky.

In the first, consumers were shown an object with a thin, human-like shape. 

Those participants were more likely to buy a higher-priced bottle of Fiji water than a lower-priced, generic-brand bottle.

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Insecurities: Thin images made fat people feel less capable of their abilities, including managing their spending impulses
Insecurities: Thin images made fat people feel less capable of their abilities, including managing their spending impulses

Insecurities: Thin images made fat people feel less capable of their abilities, including managing their spending impulses

GENDER HEALTH GAP 

Liver cancer rates are projected to rise by 38% in the UK between 2014 and 2035. 

This will increase to 15 cases per 100,000 people.

Currently, 1 in 105 men will be diagnosed with the disease during their lifetime, while the rate is 1 in 195 for women.

Overall, men are 16 per cent more likely to get cancer than women. 

They are also 40 per cent more likely to die from it.

SOURCE: CANCER RESEARCH UK 

In the second, high-BMI consumers were more willing to take on credit card debt after seeing a thin shape because they felt less capable of their abilities, including managing their spending impulses.

‘Marketers have long used slender models, forms, and designs to promote economic and social benefits,’ say the study’s authors, Marisabel Romero and Adam Craig.

‘However, their design decisions might lead overweight consumers, who lack identification with idealised standards, to make more indulgent spending decisions.

‘We demonstrate that seeing a thin (vs. wide) human-like shape leads high-body-mass-index consumers to make more indulgent spending decisions.

‘Our studies confirm that body shapes are powerful cues that can influence consumer spending preferences,’ the authors conclude.’  

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