A famous study into what people think of us and what we wear (which has a significant impact in the world of consumerism and fashion) was conducted in 1998. The researchers asked people to find out who which celebrity was considered seriously ‘uncool’. The unlucky entertainer was Barry Manilow.
The real experiment began with people coming in and being asked to change into a T-shirt which has Manilow on it. They then sat in with another group of students but after a few minutes were asked to leave with the researcher. They were then asked how many people in the room would remember what was on the T-Shirt. The T-shirt wearers said around 48%. In reality the result was only 21%.
Perhaps this proves how self-obsessed we are, when in fact the majority of people aren’t really too bothered or interested in what we wear. This egocentrism which seems quite common among us was dubbed “The Spotlight Effect”.
I am unsure whether the fashion industry would like to believe this study as it does perhaps have some implications for them!
For the original research please click below:
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