People have long believed that inundating women with images of super-thin celebrities and models in advertising has created our obsession with thinness. It’s not a new notion, but there might be some actual evidence to back it up now.

A study conducted by researchers in the United Kingdom shows that as women were shown several images of thinner-than-average women, the test subjects began to develop a preference for the thin models.

However, when shown pictures of average or plus-sized women prior to looking at images of thin women, the preference shifted away from the thin women, even by those who had favored skinnier models previously.

What exactly does this all mean?

If advertisers and marketers were to incorporate more pictures of normal-sized women in their materials, we might be inclined to accept the average woman as an ideal body type. We’ve been conditioned to believe that size-0 frame is the only desirable physique.

Of course, high-fashion models, and women with similar body types, represent a very small percentage of the population. After all, the average woman wears a size 14, not a 0, and while wanting to get in good shape is a noble effort, there is a mindset that is pervasive in our culture that if you’re not one of those women from the billboards, you’re fat. This of course leads to confidence and self-esteem issues, which often lead to eating disorders and depression.

Despite this new research, we doubt there will be a mass shift toward using average-sized women in ads marketing to women. The only way we see a change coming would be if a brand were to launch a successful campaign sans skinny models. If that kind of advertising were to do well, we could see the idea of incorporating more normal body types in advertising gain some traction, but we’re not holding our breath.

FletcherPR is a national communications firm that specializes in reaching women through the power of media. Headquartered in Knoxville, TN with staff in Nashville & Los Angeles, we are a full-service agency providing strategic public relations, social media and marketing communications services to our clients throughout the U.S.