Advertising Model Research Articles

Navigating ideals: effects of curvy and thin models in Instagram fashion advertising on body type preferences and clothing purchase intentions

Purpose In light of the challenge the fashion industry faces to be more body shape-inclusive, several brands now feature curvy models (large breasts and buttocks, wide hips and a small waist) in their online advertising. Gaps exist in the understanding of the influence of these models on young consumers’ perceptions of body ideals and advertising effectiveness. This study aims to investigate how brief exposure to idealized thin and curvy models in Instagram fashion advertising affects young female consumers’ body type preferences and clothing purchase intentions. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 245 late-adolescent girls, aged 17–19 years, through online questionnaires. Participants were randomly assigned to view Instagram fashion advertising featuring thin or curvy models before reporting on study variables. Findings Results revealed that girls expressed a preference for the body type to which they were exposed. However, they indicated a higher intention to purchase clothes worn by thin models than those worn by curvy models despite rating both thin and curvy models as equally attractive. This effect held even when controlling for participants’ body size. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first known study to experimentally examine the effects of curvy models featured in Instagram fashion advertising on late-adolescent girls’ body type preferences and clothing purchase intentions. The study shows that purchase intentions do not necessarily follow body type preferences. Findings also highlight the role that advertisement content has in promoting idealized, yet frequently unattainable, body types. Marketers are encouraged to weigh the ethical implications of their use of these extreme body types.

Should the pricing or advertising decision come first in a supply chain with a network externality?

PurposeThis paper aims to study how the timing of these decisions affects the total profit and the individual profits of the two agents.Design/methodology/approachThis paper study a supply chain for a network good where there is a manufacturer and a retailer. The manufacturer determines its wholesale price and its share in the retailer’s advertising cost while the retailer decides the retail price and the advertising cost.FindingsThis paper finds that a stronger network externality leads to higher prices and higher advertising efforts. This increases the profits of both manufacturer and retailer, but the manufacturer’s share of advertising costs depends on the order in which the supply chain enterprise make their decisions, the strength of network externality and the effect of advertising determines which decision timeline results in a higher price and greater advertising effort. The manufacturer prefers the price decision to be made before the advertising decision, while the retailer prefers these decisions to be made simultaneously.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough this paper studies the price and advertising decision-making order preferences of channel members based on network externalities, this research can also be expanded from the following aspects based on network effects. First, network externality affects advertising cooperation between both parties in the situation such that the pricing power of retail prices is transferred from the retailer to the manufacturer and the retailer relies on revenue sharing (revenue sharing contract, nonwholesale price contract. Second, the manufacturer dominates the issues in the supply chain, but in reality, a retailer can also be the dominator or there are no dominators (Nash equilibrium). Finally, it is possible to consider pricing and advertising decisions in situations where two manufacturers or retailers compete.Practical implicationsWhen the price is reasonable, advertising investment is the main determinant of product sales. The greater the intensity of network externalities the more retailers will be willing to invest in advertising. An increase in the intensity of network externalities may not necessarily enhance manufacturers’ motivation or cooperative advertising, but it depends on the decision-making sequence. The strength of network externalities determines the decision-making sequence preferences of supply chain channel members whose preferences vary leading to conflicts of interest.Originality/valueThe impact of cooperative advertising or decision sequence on corporate decision-making has not been considered. To fill this gap, the paper integrates network externality and supply chain cooperative advertising models, focusing on the impact of network externality on pricing and advertising decisions, as well as on the sequence of decisions.

Computational Methods for Improving the Observability of Platform-Based Advertising

The advertising ecosystem has been progressively reshaped by computational advertising models facilitated and controlled by digital media platforms. Meta and Alphabet, two of the dominant players in this ecosystem, have contributed significantly to industry disintermediation via the design and market dominance of their advertising systems, which in turn are symbiotic with their own business models, and feed on large amounts of consumer data generated by everyday platform use. The operations and impacts of these systems remain opaque and difficult to observe. Responding to this challenge, we present a methodological framework integrating cultural, legal, media, and computational perspectives to enable the observation of computational advertising. This methodology comprises three novel computational methods: direct data gathering from ad transparency libraries; automated data donation via participatory citizen science browser plug-ins; and a privacy-aware mobile screen capture app. We describe how our suite of computational approaches enables scalable and participant-situated research, overcoming limitations posed by restricted platform access to computational advertising data. Ethical considerations and practical implications are discussed alongside case study findings, further demonstrating the potential for these methods to inform regulatory debates and scholarly advancements in the field.

How Do Digital Advertising Auctions Impact Product Prices?

Abstract We present a model of digital advertising with three key features: (1) advertisers can reach consumers on and off a platform, (2) additional data enhances the value of advertiser–consumer matches, and (3) the allocation of advertisements follows an auction-like mechanism. We contrast data-augmented auctions, which leverage the platform’s data advantage to improve match quality, with managed-campaign mechanisms that automate match formation and price-setting. The platform-optimal mechanism is a managed campaign that conditions the on-platform prices for sponsored products on the off-platform prices set by all advertisers. This mechanism yields the efficient on-platform allocation but inefficiently high off-platform product prices. It attains the vertical integration profit for the platform and the advertisers, and it increases off-platform product prices while decreasing consumer surplus, relative to data-augmented auctions.

Pricing strategies for shared manufacturing platform considering cooperative advertising based on differential game.

Shared manufacturing is a new business form that focuses on all aspects of production and manufacturing, mainly relying on the shared manufacturing platform to achieve the optimal allocation of idle resources. For enterprises, in the process of deciding to lease idle resources, the pricing and advertising investment efficiency of the shared manufacturing platform is a valuable research issue. The shared manufacturing model in this paper consists of one manufacturer and one shared manufacturing platform, which will invest in cooperative advertising while the shared manufacturing process is completed. The cooperative advertising involves four models: the traditional cooperation model, the cost-sharing contract model, the revenue-sharing contract model, and the bilateral cost-sharing contract model. We investigate the impact of some key parameters on the prices and profits of the manufacturer and the shared manufacturing platform based on the differential game. The numerical examples demonstrate the viability of the model. Finally, we provide suggestions based on the decision-making of the manufacturer and the shared manufacturing platform under different cooperative advertising models.

Everything they touch turns to gold: Disabled social media influencers and perceptions of product luxury

This article initiates a debate on consumer perceptions of products promoted by disabled social media influencers. The findings of six experimental studies show that consumers consider products promoted by disabled (vs. nondisabled) influencers more luxurious. Further extending this effect, driven by perceived influencer uniqueness, this research also demonstrates that consumers are willing to pay a premium for products promoted by disabled influencers. The positive effect of disabled influencers on perceptions of product luxury is especially robust for consumers with a relatively strong belief in psychological contagion. Substituting a disabled influencer’s promotional post with a brand-generated post featuring a disabled model does not render the same effect, emphasizing the unique role of disabled influencers (vs. models) in advertising. This research demonstrates a critical contribution that disabled influencers can make to luxury advertising, thereby highlighting the need for companies to collaborate with such influencers in promoting luxury products.

Research on cooperative advertising strategies for dual channel supply chain of fresh agricultural products considering carbon reduction efficiency under retailer leadership.

With the development of low-carbon economy and the dominant position of retailers, through the establishment and comparison of three cooperative advertising models: model of supplier's independent advertising, model of supplier's independent advertising and model of retailer's and supplier's cooperative advertising, this paper studies the cooperative advertising decision-making of fresh agricultural products supply chain with two channels, and the demand of both channels is affected by the level of advertising investment, the proportion of advertising cost sharing and the efficiency of carbon emission reduction. The results show that when supplier and retailer adopt the two-way cooperative advertising mode, the demand and profit level of the two channels reach the optimal level. Numerical analysis shows that carbon emission reduction efficiency has an important impact on profits and market demand, which is closely related to cooperative advertising strategy.

A Study on Advertising Effectiveness Depending on Information Source Type (Real Human vs. Virtual Human)

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate the differences in information source properties according to the type of information source (real human vs. virtual human) and to empirically analyze the impact of the information source type on advertising attitude and product attitude. In addition, this study examined the moderating effect of consumer gender on the effect of information source type on advertising attitude, and the mediating effect of advertising attitude on the effect of type of information source on product attitude. Theoretical framework: The Source effect refers to the degree to which consumers' message acceptance varies depending on the information source, that is, the properties of the advertising model. In general, representative properties that affect information source effectiveness include expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness. The Uncanny Valley theory is the theory that when humans see a non-human being, the more it resembles a human being, the more they feel favorable towards it, but when it reaches a certain level, they feel displeased with it. Methodology: To test hypotheses, this study conducted an online and offline mixed survey, and a total of 410 questionnaires were used in the final analysis. To test validity and reliability of measurement tools, this study did factor analysis and reliability analysis. Hypotheses were tested with t-test and ANOVA analysis. To test mediating effects, it did mediating regression analysis. Findings: The findings of data analysis were as follows. First, when the information source type was a virtual human, the level of information source properties was lower than when the information source type was a real human. When the information source type was a virtual human, expertise and trustworthiness were low, and there was no difference in attractiveness. Second, when the information source type was a virtual human, the attitude toward advertising was low. Third, the information source properties of the virtual human advertising model were confirmed to have a positive (+) effect on consumer advertising attitudes. Fourth, the information source properties of the virtual human advertising model were confirmed to have a positive effect on consumer product attitudes. Fifth, the impact of the type of information source on advertising attitude was found to be higher for male consumers than for female consumers, confirming that there is a moderating effect of consumer gender. Sixth, it was confirmed that advertising attitude has a positive effect on product attitude. Seventh, it was confirmed that the effect of information source type on product attitude was mediated by advertising attitude. Research, Practical & Social implications: The results of this study suggest the following implications. First, this is the first level of research to theoretically verify the effectiveness of advertisements featuring virtual humans and examine whether the theoretical foundation of the information source effect can be extended to virtual humans. Second, this study empirically verified the moderating effects of consumers' psychological mechanisms and demographic factors on the effect of information source types on advertising attitudes. Originality/value: This study empirically analyzed the source effect of a virtual human advertising model based on the information source effect and the uncanny valley effect.

An optimal advertising model with carryover effect and mean field terms

We consider a class of optimal advertising problems under uncertainty for the introduction of a new product into the market, on the line of the seminal papers of Vidale and Wolfe (Oper Res 5:370–381, 1957) and Nerlove and Arrow (Economica 29:129–142, 1962). The main features of our model are that, on one side, we assume a carryover effect (i.e. the advertisement spending affects the goodwill with some delay); on the other side we introduce, in the state equation and in the objective, some mean field terms that take into account the presence of other agents. We take the point of view of a planner who optimizes the average profit of all agents, hence we fall into the family of the so-called “Mean Field Control” problems. The simultaneous presence of the carryover effect makes the problem infinite dimensional hence belonging to a family of problems which are very difficult in general and whose study started only very recently, see Cosso et al. [Ann Appl Probab 33(4):2863–2918, 2023]. Here we consider, as a first step, a simple version of the problem providing the solutions in a simple case through a suitable auxiliary problem.

Do plus-size models really benefit obese consumers? Investigating the influence of plus-size models on negative emotions and mental imagery

PurposeIn keeping with recent body image social trends, consumer demand for the adoption of plus-size models is increasing, although the use of thin models remains prevalent. The current study explores how consumers process information about fashion products displayed on different sizes of models in advertisements, focusing on model and consumer body sizes and both genders. As an underlying mechanism explaining how the relationship between model and consumer body sizes shapes consumer purchase intention, this study explores the role of guilt, shame and mental imagery.Design/methodology/approachThe current study uses a text analytics technique to identify female consumers' general opinions of thin models in advertising. Employing a 3 (consumer body size: normal, overweight, obese) × 2 (model body size: thin, plus-size) × 2 (gender: male, female) between-subjects online experiment (n = 718), the main study comparatively analyzes the influences of plus-size and thin models on consumer responses.FindingsThe results reveal that, despite body positivity movements, thin models still generate negative emotions among female consumers. For obese female consumers, advertisements featuring plus-size models produce fewer negative emotions but not more mental imagery than advertisements featuring thin models. Conversely, for obese male consumers, advertisements featuring plus-size models generate more mental imagery but not more negative emotions than advertisements featuring thin models. The results also reveal that the relationship between consumer body size and guilt is moderated by perceived model size, which is also moderated by gender in generating mental imagery. While guilt plays a mediating role in enhancing mental imagery, resulting in purchase intention, shame does not take on this role.Originality/valueThis study is the first to present an integrated model that elucidates how consumers with varying body sizes respond to different sizes of models in advertising and how these responses impact purchase intentions.Research limitations/implicationsOur findings only apply to contexts where consumers purchase fashion clothing in response to advertisements featuring thin versus plus-size models.Practical implicationsExposing normal-size consumers to plus-size models generates less mental imagery, and thus, practitioners should seek to match the body sizes of the models featured in advertising to the body sizes of their target audience or ad campaigns that include both plus-size and thin models may help improve message persuasiveness in fashion advertising. Moreover, guilt-appeal advertising campaigns using thin models would appeal more to thin consumers of both genders than shame-appeal advertising.

Technical Note—The Generalized Sethi Advertising Model

New Flexible Advertising Model Unveiled: Enhancing Advertising Strategies Researchers have generalized the classical Sethi advertising model (1983) to provide a flexible yet tractable approach to optimizing advertising strategies. Unlike traditional methods, the generalized Sethi advertising model is designed to adapt to different market conditions in various media and markets, offering advertisers greater flexibility. By assuming a constant-returns-to-scale relationship between advertising expenditure and untapped market potential, the generalized Sethi advertising model provides advertisers with more options without sacrificing tractability. The research team has made important breakthroughs by developing practical formulas for determining the best advertising strategies for both individual companies and groups of companies. They have also conducted analyses to better understand how different factors influence these strategies. The generalized Sethi advertising model opens up new opportunities for advertisers to fine-tune their campaigns and reach more customers. This research marks a significant step forward in advertising optimization, giving businesses a valuable tool to achieve better results and make informed decisions in their advertising efforts.

An Uncritiqued Frontier of Social Media: The Social Media Subscription Model

Even after Elon Musk announced Twitter Blue, subscription services such as Snapchat+, YouTube Premium and Meta Verified, remain an uncritiqued aspect of social media. Within this article, subscription services on social media take centre stage. This article focuses on three key points: First, subscription services have remained uncritiqued because of the blind spot created by the emphasis on data collection. Second, the Social Media Subscription Model (SMSM) now asserts social media as part of a mixed model (Fuchs 2020, 134) instead of only being considered as an advertising model. Third, applying the classical Marxian twist of capitalism as self-negating, the SMSM is also a structural response to a contradiction of "peak data", meaning how does social media sustain itself if commodifies all data? Stressing the necessity of viewing the SMSM and social media as part of a Mixed Model.

Cooperative advertising and coordination in a supply chain: the role of Nash bargaining fairness concerns

This study constructs a game-theoretic model of cooperative advertising in a supply chain with Nash bargaining solutions as the fairness reference point. We use a square root response function to describe the saturation effect of advertising. We find that the retailer’s Nash bargaining fairness concerns (NBFC) improve the local advertising investment even more than the level of the centralized case. The effect of NBFC on the retailer’s profit is inverted U-shaped, rising first and then falling, and vice versa for the manufacturer. As the fairness-concerned coefficient increases from small to large, the efficiency of the supply chain changes from improvement to decline. Moreover, we find that a two-way subsidy mechanism in cooperative advertising still works on coordination although the retailer possesses NBFC. The study offers practical management insights into the operational strategies of supply chain members.

Stochastic Maximum Principle for Optimal Advertising Models with Delay and Non-Convex Control Spaces

Stochastic Maximum Principle for Optimal Advertising Models with Delay and Non-Convex Control Spaces

Female advertising models and their body mass index (BMI): How does BMI similarity affect perceived product quality?

AbstractRecent research has pointed out the importance of appearance similarity as a special instance of homophily. The current paper introduces body mass index (BMI) similarity as a convenient and powerful proxy of perceived appearance homophily in the context of female advertising models by showing process evidence and boundary conditions for the effect of BMI similarity on marketing‐relevant downstream variables. Study 1 tests how BMI similarity relates to a traditional measure of appearance homophily and perceived reliability of a female advertising model. Study 2 shows that BMI similarity influences perceived product quality and purchase intention. Website vividness negatively moderates the relationship between BMI similarity and product quality. Study 3 tests for alternative explanations and provides support for the mediating effect of appearance homophily for the relationship between BMI similarity and perceived product quality. The findings provide marketing managers with important insights on how to increase their marketing effectiveness by integrating BMI similarity into their marketing communications. Additionally, using BMI similarity serves as an alternative way to promote diversity and inclusion of models with plus‐size body type often sought by societal brands.

The expansion of varieties in the new age of advertising

The last decades have seen large improvements in digital advertising technology that allowed firms to target better specific consumer tastes. This research studies the relationship between digital advertising, the rise of varieties, and economic welfare. A model of advertising and varieties is developed, where firms choose the intensity of digital ads directed at specific consumers as well as traditional ads that are undirected. The calibrated model shows that improvements in digital advertising have driven the rise in varieties over time. Empirical evidence is presented using detailed micro data on firms' products and advertising choices since 1995. Causal analysis using exogenous variation in consumers' differential access to the internet supports the suggested mechanism.

Optimal control in linear-quadratic stochastic advertising models with memory

This paper deals with a class of optimal control problems which arises in advertising models with Volterra Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process representing the product goodwill. Such choice of the model can be regarded as a stochastic modification of the classical Nerlove-Arrow model that allows to incorporate both presence of uncertainty and empirically observed memory effects such as carryover or distributed forgetting. We present an approach to solve such optimal control problems based on an infinite dimensional lift which allows us to recover Markov properties by formulating an optimization problem equivalent to the original one in a Hilbert space. Such technique, however, requires the Volterra kernel from the forward equation to have a representation of a particular form that may be challenging to obtain in practice. We overcome this issue for Hölder continuous kernels by approximating them with Bernstein polynomials, which turn out to enjoy a simple representation of the required type. Then we solve the optimal control problem for the forward process with approximated kernel instead of the original one and study convergence. The approach is illustrated with simulations.

A Simplified Mobile Advertising Model to Study Advertising Spreading through Personal Social Networks and Branded Apps

Research on mobile advertising has evolved considerably over the last few years. However, several under-researched topics remain, including mobile advertising spreading by leveraging users’ personal social networks. The present research addresses this gap by proposing a model for studying advertising spreading through personal networks using a viral approach and branded apps. The proposed model simulation suggests that the influence of spreader users’ percentage in ad spreading was significant, but increasing it beyond 20% did not impact the spreading growth. Additionally, including user privacy perception in the model positively affected spreading by increasing advertising propagation risk.

Konnichiwa's Advertising Model in an Effort to Reach Consumers (Case Study at Konnichiwa Japanese Restaurant, Bandung City)

Konichiwa is a Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises company that has a Japanese restaurant concept inspired by an Anime (Japanese cartoon). However, Konnichiwa restaurants are still not optimal in carrying out direct promotions or promotions through social media, so many people do not know about Konnichiwa restaurant stores. This study uses a qualitative descriptive type method, with collection using interviews and documentation techniques. The data analysis used was in the form of data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. The data validation technique uses triangulation techniques. The result of the research is to find that the advertising that Konnichiwa is currently doing is using social media advertising, advertising through banners, and events, and relying on (WOM) or word of mouth.

Addressing eating disorders through legislation: The Israeli 'Models' Law'-process, enactment, and dilemmas.

Preventing the onset of eating disorders and disordered eating pathology is crucial. While these conditions have a multi-factorial etiology, socio-cultural norms, particularly the media, contribute greatly. Policy and legislative action are warranted to change harmful media images. To the best of our knowledge, Israel was the first country to tackle the problem of unrealistic and unhealthy images in the media through legislation by initiating and passing an innovative law. The "Knesset," the Israeli Parliament, voted in December 2012 to pass new legislation that forbids the appearance of underweight models (BMI of 18.5 or less) in commercial advertising. The law further requires that if a graphic editing program has been used to reduce the dimensions of a model in advertising photographs, this fact must be clearly indicated. The purpose of this article is to describe the law; the process and obstacles to creating and passing the law in the Knesset; national and international reactions to this Israeli law; and the challenges of implementing (enacting and enforcing) this law in Israel. Given that other countries are implementing similar policies, additional legal approaches are described, including ideas for further research on how to enact, enforce, and evaluate the impact of such laws.