{"id":7111,"date":"2017-11-29T19:39:48","date_gmt":"2017-11-29T19:39:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/cameron\/?p=7111"},"modified":"2017-11-29T19:39:48","modified_gmt":"2017-11-29T19:39:48","slug":"economics-vanity-sizing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/cameron\/economics-vanity-sizing\/","title":{"rendered":"Economics of Vanity Sizing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Wan-Ju Iris Franz, PhD&#8212;\u201cSize inflation,\u201d also known as \u201cvanity sizing,\u201d is a phenomenon where the measurements of the same label size have been growing over time (The Economist)<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a>. For instance, size 14 in Sear\u2019s 1937 catalogue has similar measurements as a size 8 in 1967, which is a size 0 in 2011.<a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In my 2017 paper \u201cEconomics of vanity sizing\u201d published at the \u201c<em>Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization<\/em>\u201d (an A* scholarly journal), I examine size charts from 54 American apparel brands. Evidence demonstrates that sizes are systematically inflated for women\u2019s apparel brands with moderately higher prices. However, for women\u2019s apparel, very expensive designer brands measure significantly smaller than moderately higher priced brands. Furthermore, measurements of apparel brands that target younger consumers (such as Abercrombie &amp; Fitch and Express) are significantly smaller than their counterparts that target older consumers (such as Talbots). Finally, evidence suggests no \u201cvanity sizing\u201d in men\u2019s and children\u2019s apparel.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Label<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Although only the owner of the garment can see its label size, some people do care about what the label says. In a survey, I find that women wearing label size \u201clarge\u201d or above particularly care about what the label says. Specifically, if there are two identical shirts\u2014that is, the two shirts have the same color, shape, size, and price, but one labeled as \u201cL\u201d while the other labeled as \u201cXL,\u201d then this group of women, who are currently wearing large and above, would pick the shirt labeled with a smaller label size. In contrast, men, as well as women wearing size \u201cmedium\u201d and below, in general do not care about what their clothing label says.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Men and Children<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To make female customers feel better about their figure and self-image, as well as the clothes they purchase, apparel brands deliberately inflate the measurements of each label size. As size XL is relabeled as L, then size L must be relabeled as M, and M as S, and so on \u2014 like a domino effect. However, because men do not care about what their label size says, and small children do not know or care what label sizes they are wearing, there exists no vanity sizing for men\u2019s or children\u2019s apparel.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Hidden Dangers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While vanity sizing might make female consumers feel better, there could be potential public health issue for the practice of vanity sizing. If the same label size is growing with the consumer\u2019s waist circumference, then the consumer might be less aware of her own weight gain. As a result, she will less likely take actions to stay fit. As research shows that health care cost is positively associated with obesity, the practice of vanity sizing could result in negative externality in the health care system.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Next time when you go shopping, do not take it personally what the label size says about you; specifically, whether the size label indicates small, medium, or large. The label says nothing about you or your size. Rather, the label says something about the retailer, which is simply trying to maximize its profit.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Contributors\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/cameron\/contributors\/#irisfranz\">Wan-Ju Iris Franz, Ph.D.<\/a><br \/>\nVisiting Assistant Professor of Economics, Cameron School of Business<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> Daily chart: Size inflation. (2012, April). <em>The Economist<\/em>; retrieved from: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/blogs\/graphicdetail\/2012\/04\/daily-chart-1\">https:\/\/www.economist.com\/blogs\/graphicdetail\/2012\/04\/daily-chart-1<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> Clifford, S. (2011, April). One size fits nobody: Seeking a steady 4 or 10. <em>The New York Times<\/em>, retrieved from: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/04\/25\/business\/25sizing.html\">https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/04\/25\/business\/25sizing.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Wan-Ju Iris Franz, PhD&#8212;\u201cSize inflation,\u201d also known as \u201cvanity sizing,\u201d is a phenomenon where the measurements of the same label size have been growing over time (The Economist)[1]. For instance, size 14 in Sear\u2019s 1937 catalogue has similar measurements as a size 8 in 1967, which is a size 0 in 2011.[2] In my&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7115,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,33,37,5,10],"tags":[18,188,160,366],"class_list":["post-7111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-critical-thinking","category-commentary","category-csb-faculty","category-economics","category-marketing","tag-economics-2","tag-iris-franz","tag-marketing","tag-vanity-sizing"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Economics of Vanity Sizing - Cameron School of Business Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.stthom.edu\/cameron\/economics-vanity-sizing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Economics of Vanity Sizing - Cameron School of Business Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Wan-Ju Iris Franz, PhD&#8212;\u201cSize inflation,\u201d also known as \u201cvanity sizing,\u201d is a phenomenon where the measurements of the same label size have been growing over time (The Economist)[1]. 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