When One Size Does Not Fit All Models: Does Inclusive Fashion Help or Harm Consumers’ Decision Making?
(A2025-126363)

AUTHORS

Yerong Zhang, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Jiska Eelen, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Iina Ikonen, University of Groningen; Ana Martinovici, Erasmus University, Rotterdam School of Management; Artem Belopolsky, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Laurens Stuurman, University of Amsterdam

ABSTRACT

As online fashion retailers increasingly feature models with diverse body sizes to promote inclusivity and improve consumers’ assessment of clothing fit, this research demonstrates the unintended negative consequences for vulnerable consumers. Through an eye-tracking experiment, we find that consumers fixate more on thin models than size-inclusive models both when browsing and actively searching to buy a product. The effect is especially strong for consumers with low body satisfaction, making them aspire more to products worn by thin-sized models. This work demonstrates the paradox that diversity in model sizes—a well-intentioned strategy that challenges thin beauty standards—inadvertently reinforces the attentional bias toward thin models among the vulnerable consumers it seeks to support. This highlights the complexity of improving consumers’ decision making in e-retail and underscores the importance of considering individual differences in response to marketplace interventions.