Ernest Dichter was an Austrian-American psychologist and marketing expert known as the "father of motivational research." He applied his Freudian education to examine consumer behavior and shared his findings with advertisers on how to influence the market. He was the first to introduce the term "focus group" and emphasize the significance of image and persuasion in advertising.

In 1958, Mattel hired Dichter's Institute for Motivational Research to observe a group of 8-12-year-old girls and their mothers as they played with a range of Barbie prototypes. Its final report to Mattel concluded that children considered the doll "grown-up," while the mothers expressed concern about its "sexy" appearance. One parent even remarked that the doll would make a good decoration for a man's bar, unknowingly referring to Bild Lilli. Despite the study results, Mattel made only minor changes to Barbie's appearance, such as altering her eyebrows and heavy eye makeup, based on feedback that she looked "haughty" and "snobbish."