Ulf Aagerup and Edson Roberto Scharf
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of obese models vs normal weight models on fashion brands’ attractiveness.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of obese models vs normal weight models on fashion brands’ attractiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
An experiment was carried out in which 1,225 university students in Sweden and Brazil rated the attractiveness of a fashion brand worn by a normal weight model and an obese model.
Findings
The overall effect of obese models’ effect on fashion brand attractiveness was insignificant. Furthermore, neither culture nor the consumer’s own weight had a significant effect. There was, however, a significant effect of the participant’s own gender; women rate fashion brands worn by obese models significantly higher on attractiveness than they did fashion brands worn by normal weight models. Men displayed the inverse response.
Research limitations/implications
The effect of the model’s ethnicity was beyond the scope of the experiment, and the brand attractiveness scale captured only one aspect of brand character, leaving other potential brand effects for future studies.
Practical implications
Companies can use obese models with no overall brand attractiveness penalty across markets and for marketing to women of all sizes. Given men’s negative reactions, such models might however be unsuitable for the male-to-female gift market.
Social implications
The results support the use of obese models, which can lead to greater representation of larger women in the media, and consequently, reduced fat stigma.
Originality/value
The study validates the theory of user imagery, and it extends the theory by examining how different target consumers react to user imagery traits and thus provides evidence for gender bias toward obese models.
Details
Keywords
Edson Roberto Scharf, Josiane Fernandes and Bruno Diego Kormann
The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the set of corporate social responsibility actions of a Brazilian bank as support to the strengthening of an organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the set of corporate social responsibility actions of a Brazilian bank as support to the strengthening of an organizational brand. The specific scope is to discuss the reflections of sustainable actions adopted for the recognition of the organization's brand.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study, based on Yin, and in‐depth interviews with those responsible for the sustainability department of the studied organization were adopted.
Findings
Literature and the understanding of the organization's executives, when compared to actions adopted by Banco do Brasil, allow the conclusion that the set of corporate social responsibility actions reflects, in its instrumental use, the intention of managing answers to social, economical and environmental demands, and in its conceptual use has helped in strengthening the financial institution's brand.
Originality/value
The paper focuses on the set of corporate social responsibility actions adopted by the largest financial institution in Brazil and its relationship with brand strengthening. It is one of the few studies examining the efforts of corporate social responsibility in a bank's brand.
Details
Keywords
Edson Roberto Scharf and Josiane Fernandes
Organizations achieve brand awareness through marketing efforts. Studies show that advertising plays a central role in garnering results. The purpose of this paper is to analyze…
Abstract
Purpose
Organizations achieve brand awareness through marketing efforts. Studies show that advertising plays a central role in garnering results. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the corporate social responsibility (CSR) advertised by a retail bank in Brazil.
Design/methodology/approach
Critical discourse analysis (CDA) was adopted, with the three steps proposed by Fairclough: textual analysis, processing analysis, and social analysis. This approach allows in‐depth analysis of the CSR discourse present in communications of organizations with their target.
Findings
Literature indicates that consumers prefer to obtain personal advantages rather than benefits to the environment in which they live. This could influence organizations’ preference towards communication campaigns that demonstrate CSR actions, and that additionally communicate benefits which individuals receive. However, one of the largest banks using advertising limited to CSR‐specific aspects achieves impressive brand awareness results.
Originality/value
This study presents evidence that CSR advertising can stimulate brand awareness without using commercial aspects in its content.