She's too pretty : how model attractiveness and social comparison impact consumer self-esteem and purchase intention

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The current research was performed to determine the relationships between model attractiveness, social comparison, consumer self-esteem, and consumer purchase intention among females age 35 to 44. The author hopes that such research will provide advertisers with a better understanding of the complex relationships between factors leading up to the purchase of a product. In the present experiment, 233 female participants age 35 to 44 were presented with advertisements featuring lowly- or highly-attractive models (based on pretest data) after being given a predetermined social comparison treatment. Participants' self-esteem and purchase intention were also measured. Results showed that high model attractiveness lowers consumer self-esteem and increases purchase intention. Social comparison has a moderate effect on self-esteem and purchase intention; positive relationships occur in both scenarios. Additionally, higher consumer self-esteem tends to produce lower purchase intention for cosmetics while lower self-esteem tends to produce higher purchase intention. Implications for advertisers as well as consumers are discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Journalism (MU)

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Missouri--Columbia

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Slaton, Lorah

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Frisby, Cynthia M.

Statement dc:rights

• Access to files is limited to the campuses of the University of Missouri with SSO login.

Language dc:language.iso

eng, English

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.32469/10355/43163

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mospace.umsystem.edu:10355/43163