Why being too attractive can hurt fitness influencers
by Andrew Edelblum and Abby Frank, The Conversation from Ars Technica - All content on (#718GX)
Sex sells" has been a mantra in marketing for decades. As researchers who study consumer behavior, we've seen plenty of evidence to support it: Attractive models and spokespeople have been shown to reliably grab attention, boost clicks, and make products seem more desirable.
But our new research suggests that in a digital world full of influencers-trusted tastemakers with large online followings-being too attractive can actually backfire, particularly in the fitness space.
We call this the beauty backfire effect," and we put it to the test in a series of laboratory experiments.