The study from Pornhub – the world’s most visited pornography site – found searches for ‘natural’ breasts are around five times more popular than those for fake ones. It also revealed that boob-related searches account for a mere 1.5% of all queries made on the site each day. As the body positivity and gender equality movements gain more support, people’s ideas of what is sexy are diversifying.

There’s a growing appreciation for boobs of all shapes and sizes; Pornhub’s research found that, in the past year, the number of searches for small breasts has grown, while those for large boobs have started to dip. And there’s a generational split when it comes to interest in busts – those aged 18-24 are 19% less likely to target tits in their porn searches than other groups, while 55- to 64-year-olds are 17% more likely to include breasts in their searches.

Natural is best when it comes to breastsFreestocks.org (2017)

The changes in porn searches reflect a shift towards body positivity and more inclusive attitudes around attractiveness – something the 2.7 million #bodypositive Instagram posts are a testament to. These movements, combined with the fact that 94% of women believe portraying females as sex symbols in adverts is harmful, can spell bad news for brands that trade on ‘traditional’ ideas of sexy.

For example, ‘breastaurant’ Hooters, which features scantily clad waitresses in low cut tops, saw US locations drop 7% from 2012 to 2016. In response, it has launched more casual eateries, featuring fully-clothed staff of both genders. And such moves help brands find new life – when Playboy dropped nude photos from its pages, it saw newsstand sales jump 28% in six months.

Rebecca Smith is a behavioural analyst at Canvas8, which specialises in behavioural insights and consumer research. She’s previously worked on schemes promoting the open discussion of mental health issues among young people.