Physical beauty affects worldwide trends in fashion, cosmetics

It is not a new notion that physical attractiveness is a desirable quality, but a new study has revealed that it also affects worldwide trends in fashion, cosmetics and, more recently, aesthetic surgery.

According to a team led by Anil Mathur of Hofstra University in New York and his colleagues there and at the City University of New York, marketers cannot build brand equity if they lack regional knowledge and an understanding of consumer characteristics and preferences across cultures.

"Given that modern consumer research and theory building have been largely conducted in the West, a recurring concern is the need to verify if the same theories and findings are applicable to other non-Western cultures," the team explained.

The team found that physical vanity is a universal construct that applies across cultures.

"Physical vanity relates to a person's often excessive concern for physical appearance and/or positive view of appearance," said Mathur.

"Data collected from three culturally diverse countries [China, India and USA] were used to assess this and verify if physical vanity is a universal trait.

"The results from a series of confirmatory factor analyses indicate that the physical vanity scale is indeed applicable to culturally diverse countries," Mathur added.