The Beauty Match-Up Hypothesis: Congruence between Types of Beauty and Product Images in Advertising

Abstract

This paper proposes the Beauty Match-Up Hypothesis, which has two main components: 1) That perceivers distinguish multiple types of physical attractiveness; and 2) That these specific types are seen as more or less suitable (i.e., better match-ups) for certain products when paired in advertising. A set of editors at major women's magazines sorted photos of professional fashion models. A multidimensional scaling analysis of these choices revealed six distinct types of good looks, and also identified prototypical fashion models who embodied these types. The beauty types were differentially associated with a set of perfumes and women's magazines representing diverse images. Implications of beauty types for product imagery in advertising are discussed.