STUDY: Lululemon's Success Lies in Making Its Customers Feel Bad

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Why can’t you do this?!

Speaking of “unapologetic” Barbie, observers have long argued that apparel and beauty brands play on their consumers’ own insecurities to move products—and research now confirms that it’s all true (surprise surprise).

The study in question, performed by the Canadian Review of Sociology, concluded that Lululemon and other “aspirational” brands succeed on the psychological level by “promoting a philosophy that blames people if their lives aren’t fabulous”—a philosophy that reaches directly into your wallet.

While the researchers admit to admiring the homegrown brand, they question its philosophy of “neoliberal hyperindividualism and broader self-help discourses that define health and wellness as a personal and moral achievement”.

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