Rasheena Rattu
P11270471
The aim of this project is to understand how visual merchandising can impact young adults impulse buying patterns.
During the project I will create surveys for face to face interaction, experimental studies in controlled and structured environments such as toy stores which then would develop into case study on particular families which were interesting during the experiment.
Identify-I would like to identify the key factors of visual merchandising for young adults – what works best, what persuades a young adult to buy?
Compare- the different technique that works with different ages for example, a particular technique would work better with a 7 year old rather than as 15 year old. Look at different stores
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A psychology experiment was done in the U.K. in 2006 by psychology professors Helga Dittmar from the University of Sussex, Suzanne Ive from the University of Sussex, and Emma Halliwell of the University of the West of England. Their findings from their experiment have been published in Developmental Psychology in 2006. Their study is also a part of the American Psychological Association her in the U.S. Their experiment is called “Does Barbie Make Girls Want to Be Thin? The Effect of Experimental Exposure to Images of Dolls on the Body Image of 5- to 8-Year-Old Girls.”
In their experiment “a total of 162 girls, from ages 5 to age 8, were exposed to images of either Barbie Dolls, Emme dolls (U.S. size 16), or no dolls (baseline control) and then completed assessments of body image." The professors discovered that those exposed to Barbie doll images produced “lower self-esteem and a greater desire for a thinner body shape than in the other exposed conditions.” Although, the oldest girls did not have an immediate negative impact from the Barbie doll images. The study concluded that “these findings imply that, even if dolls cease to function as aspirational role models for older girls, early exposure to dolls epitomizing an unrealistically thin body ideal may damage girls’ body image, which would contribute to an increased risk of disordered eating and weight cycling."(Dittmar, Suzanne Ive, and Emma Halliwell. "Does Barbie Make Girls Want to Be Thin?
One study took a group of 6th grade girls and had them play with Barbie’s, then later asked them what their views of Barbie were:
Starting young, adolescent girls around the world are becoming self-conscious due to society’s influence upon what they should and shouldn’t look like. Many argue that The Barbie Doll plays a key influence in what young girls assume their bodies should look like. However, some will argue that the Barbie Doll toy is a good role model for young children, especially girls, because of her career choices, how she’s depicted in her movies, and her overall personality.
Young girls have been playing with Barbie dolls since the dolls inception at the American International Toy Fair in New York. Recently, researchers have been skeptical on whether the dolls have an effect on the self-image of girls who play with them. In order to determine if Barbies have an impact on young-girls self-concept, clinicians have carried out several studies where they monitor the interaction between the young girls and the famous figurine. From these experiments, scientists concluded that Barbies can have a bearing on a girls self-image, making the consumers who buy the doll more aware of the issue Barbie
Unfortunately, it also is highly unattainable and instills unrealistic goals in girls’ minds. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, there are up to 24 million people suffering from eating disorders and 86% of those are under the age of 20 (anad.org). That being said, negative adverse effects are often the results of our world placing the upmost importance on body image. At Radboud University, Doeschka Anschutz and Rutger Engels conducted an experiment designed to test the effects of playing with thin dolls on body image and food intake in 6-10 year old girls. After splitting the girls into three different groups where they either played with a thin doll, an average sized doll or a slightly oversized doll, as seen in figure one, the results yielded that indeed there were significant differences between the girls’ body image and food intake which was completely dependent on which doll they played with (Anschutz, Engels 625). For example, a girl that played with the thinnest doll, the Barbie Doll, consumed the least amount of food following playtime when girls that played with either the average sized doll or even slightly larger doll consumed significantly more food. This experiment explicitly highlights the unknown dangers associated with playing with Barbie Dolls at a young age. Immediately the doll caused young girls to see themselves as ‘too big’ or
A website stated that “58% of girls that are currently attending college stated that they are not satisfied with the size of their body” (qtd. in DoSomething). Throughout the world, little girls are being negatively affected by the assumptions set forth by companies and society that being fat is bad for oneself. The creation of Barbies have set unrealistic and unobtainable goals for little girls, which won’t allow them to reach the good life because they will never reach this “Barbie” body. The central argument being addressed is analyzing how a girl’s image of herself affects her ability to reach the good life. Even though society and companies have engraved into us that the shape and size of our bodies is so important, Prager and Whittal show us that to achieve the good life one must focus on their self image rather than letting society influence them.
There is a new version of Barbie that came out, “Slumber Party Barbie.” This Barbie caused a lot of controversy in our society. The reason being, the doll came with a scale that only went up to 110 pounds and a diet book. There was also a sign that said, “How to lose weight? Don’t eat” (HuffPost UK,2017). Mattel, the maker of Barbie, had numerous complaints from many parents. Due to that, researchers ran an experiment to test whether the doll did influence young girls on their body image. There was a survey that was conducted with women that played with Barbie’s when they were younger, 18 out of 25 stated that they would rather be hit by a truck than be fat. In another experiment that was done by scientists, young girls would be exposed to three different dolls. On one hand, the young girls that viewed the Barbie had a self-image problem, and a desire to be thin compared to the other girl that looked at the other two dolls. The conclusion of this experiment proved that young girl’s role model was Barbie, and being exposed to that doll impacted them in a negative manner. As a result, these girls developed an eating disorder. The empirical reasoning or the bottom up thinking was specific data was collected, and after further analysis supported the hypothesis. Barbie’s do have a significant influence on
(12) "We observed that the frequency of reading fashion magazines was positively associated with the prevalence of having dieted to lose weight, having gone on a diet because of a magazine article, exercising to lose weight or improve body shape, and deciding to exercise because of a magazine article "(Field, 1999). Despite the fact, young girls exposure to these women have had some beneficial factors to weight concerns. Some girls took these images and made it into positive goals for themselves. (14) "the print media was effective at promoting physical activity as a healthy means of weight control. In fact, more girls reported exercising than dieting to lose weight" (Field 1999). The increase in weight concerns have led to some girls eating healthier, as well as working out to reach their set body goals. (13) "However, aspiring to look like underweight models may have deleterious psycho-logical consequences. The results suggest that the print media aimed at young girls could serve a public health role by refraining from relying on models who are severely underweight and printing more articles on the benefits of physical activity." (Field, 1999) If the media had displayed women in a healthier light, it could have potentially had less negative effects to young girls and their perception. However, it is this concept of
As girls begin to hit puberty, their bodies start to change. Their bodies will gain fat and move away from this ideal thin body image (Kerr 2010). In a study done by Clay, Vignoles and Dittmar they showed three groups of adolescent girls magazine images. Two groups viewed magazine covers with female models who were somewhere between underweight or a little below average weight, while the third group viewed magazine covers with inanimate objects. The researchers found that the first two groups resulted in a less likely report of body satisfaction and self-esteem than the third group (2005). This demonstrates that when adolescent girls are exposed to the media’s thinness they feel like their size and shape is not good enough.
Barbie has become a pillar of the children’s toy market since her inception. Forbes reports, “Ninety percent of American girls ages three to ten own at least one Barbie, according to the doll’s maker, Mattel톖.” The doll has an impactful reach on kids today through both the dolls and other products that have been inspired by or created to accompany Barbie. This exposure, which has been proven to damage the self-esteem of women (American Psychological Association 1), impacts the development of kid’s views of themselves and other people. Comparing real women to these images causes these girls to have negative views of themselves as they grow older and judge other women harshly. It also causes boys to hold girls to an unreasonable standard of their appearances, which further damages the girl’s self worth when they don’t meet these standards (ScienceDaily 1). Consequently, the
There have been several articles calling attention to the images children are exposed in cartoons, or Disney productions, but what about the toys they play with? In the death grip of my two year old sister, like many other young girls, lies a fairy princess Barbie doll. Barbie has been the toy of choice for girls everywhere since her debut fifty years ago, representing the ideal girl with a perfect life to match that can not be achieved. Barbie and other dolls alike negatively affect young girls causing body image issues and low self-esteem.
In 1959 Mattel Toy releases a womanized figure called Barbie, a doll with unrealistic body proportions. Little girls all over the world idolized this toy, wanting to grow up just like Barbie. The blond hair, skinny waist and blue eyes toy. Parents were thrilled by this toy but little did they know it created a big self-esteem drop and brought their child’s insecurities up.
To begin with, the issue about body image, how it is displayed in the media, and people’s decisions about their physical and mental health because of it has been an ongoing issue for decades. The age group mostly affected are adolescent girls. Body image is the main factor to adolescent girls’ definition of their self because they have been brought up to believe that appearance is very important for self-evaluation and for the evaluation of other people. Because of this, many adolescent girls have caused great numbers of harm to their bodies. Not only are adolescent girls affected, but boys as well. Scientists and researchers have conducted many studies to show how the media’s portrayal of body image has negatively affected young adolescents. “Harrison (2001) found that exposure to thin-ideal TV was associated with a rise in eating disorder symptoms in adolescent girls; this effect was partially mediated through increasing perceived discrepancies between actual and ideal body shape. Stice, Schupak-Neuberg, Shaw, and Stein (1994) found that, among young college women, greater media exposure was linked directly with more eating disorder symptoms and indirectly— through stronger internalization of the ideal-body stereotype—with greater body dissatisfaction.” (Clay). The argument that Daniel Clay has made here is that because of the exposure to these
We have an eleven year old girl, and we do let her to play with Barbie dolls. However, we do not let her play with Bratz dolls. My fiancée thinks that the Bratz line of dolls are too sexualized, and I must admit, when I first saw them I joked that the Bratz line should be called “Street Walker Barbie.” I do think that negative body image is real problem, but the impact of dolls on body image is comparatively insignificant. Barbie dolls, which have been around for nearly sixty years, are not the cause of the current body image crises that is infecting the girls and woman of our country. We are contently bombarded by advertising, fashion magazines, video games, TV shows, and music videos, that dictate what beauty is supposed to be, setting unrealistic
The results suggest that Barbie dolls are pervasive with girls’ experiences, and that young adolescents believe the dolls influence girls’ developing self-concept.” In fact, according to my experience over Spring break, visiting the toy section in “toys “R” Us” I observed toys such as Barbie’s. I took a closer look at their bodies and how they were dressed. The message I perceived through this observation was: as young girls get older, this is what they’re supposed to look like. They should maintain tight fitted clothing, a slim body with long shiny legs, and always wear makeup to create the illusion of having a flawless face, with “perfect” features. Dressing up the Barbie’s and brushing their hair can be very encouraging to playing with them. They also influence the player to become addicted and take on these stereotypical roles into their daily lives. Therefore, several toy companies not only stereotype body images, but also a woman’s lifestyle. Sharing my experience and visions of what children play with is: although Barbie is known for being the developmental toy, it is very vague and has nothing to do with
This experiment involved girls, 6-10 years old, playing with dolls with various body proportions. After that they had a taste-test and filled out a questionnaire about body image. This study concluded that playing with thin dolls affected the girls eating behavior. They found that girls ate less food when playing with a thin doll then when played with an average sized doll. The researchers showed evidence that the physical appearance of a model can influence the ‘normative’ standard of food intake in an eating context. This is evidence that what might seems as just harmless children toys can have a serious effect on young girls. This helps my argument that these toys do have serious consequences. Although this particular study does not really