Whole body scanning as a tool for clothing sizing: effects on women’s body satisfaction

Abstract

Whole-body scanning is increasingly used in the clothing industry, including in large-scale sizing surveys and virtual fitting. However, the impacts of 3D scanning on women’s body satisfaction are unclear as no previous studies have investigated impacts in a controlled experiment. This experiment investigated any causal effect of 3D whole-body scanning, as used in clothing applications, on women’s body satisfaction. Seventy women aged 18–35 years completed body image measures at baseline, immediately post-test, and two weeks later. At post-test relative to controls and controlling for baseline scores, women randomly allocated to the scanner condition scored significantly higher on Body Areas Satisfaction and significantly lower on Self-classified Weight, and positive effects persisted two weeks beyond the experimental session. Results suggest that whole-body scanning may improve women’s body satisfaction and reduce perceived overweight relative to controls, though further research is necessary to examine the reliability of this effect and underlying mechanisms.

Keywords:

• 3D scanning
• body satisfaction
• self-classified weight
• virtual fitting

Acknowledgements

Christopher J Armitage acknowledges support from the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre and NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.