Race, beauty type, and femininity in fashion advertising: Analysis of young Chinese female consumers’ responses

Abstract

This study investigated young Chinese female consumers’ responses to fashion advertising that features Eastern (local) and Western (global) fashion ideals. These ideals were operationalized into categories of race (East Asian versus Caucasian), beauty type (“Cute/Girl-next-door” versus “Sensual/Sex-kitten”), and femininity (submissive versus assertive). The results of two experiments (n₁= 114, n₂ = 208) revealed that, overall, young Chinese female consumers preferred advertising with Caucasian (versus East Asian), Cute/Girl-next-door (versus Sensual/Sex-kitten), and assertive (versus submissive) fashion models. Moreover, both Caucasian and East Asian models portrayed as Sensual/Sex-kitten types received more positive responses when posed as assertive rather than submissive. Caucasian models portrayed as Cute/Girl-next-door types received more positive responses when posed as assertive rather than submissive, whereas the opposite results were found for East Asian models. This study highlights managerial implications for cultural positioning strategies and implementation in fashion advertising that targets young Chinese female consumers.

Keywords:

• Fashion advertising
• race
• beauty type
• femininity
• glocalization

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2020NTSS24).

Notes on contributors

Chen Gan

Chen Gan is an assistant professor at the school of Journalism and Communication, Beijing normal University. Her research focuses on international advertising, media and gender. Her studies have been published in Journal of Business Research, Telematics and Informatics, International Journal of Communication, Computers in Human Behavior, and Journalism & Communication (Chinese).