Critical Essay on Body Image and the Media

“Investigating the effects that the fashion industry and its promotional materials has on body image in female consumers of different ages”

Background and Rationale

This particular subject has been explored and researched in many different books and journal articles, all of which find links between how different aspects of the fashion industry, such as fashion advertising and social media, tend to affect the body image of a woman and create body dissatisfaction. The most recognized cause for this is the use of size zero models, which caused women to be left with a “thin ideal”, which generally can make a woman want to be thinner to fit into the current appearance-based society that we live in.

An article titled “Does size matter?” showed a study into whether different-sized models changed a female consumer's perception of a brand. The findings described that older consumers were not as significantly impacted by brand images, whether they involved an underweight or obese model. However, consumers aged between 18 and 25 seemed to be slightly more affected when images of slender models were used (Watson et al., 2015). Although this study does have limitations such as the sample size being small and limited to the city of Berlin, Germany, it still creates an outline of how other female consumers may react to the same study.

A study investigating what might “negatively influence the self-image perceptions of young women, causing them to strive for an “ultra-thin” ideal” found that social media influencers and social media networking can be a significant cause for a woman to have this perception of what their body should look like. The same article agreed that thin models used within the fashion industry are extremely influential to young women especially and can result in issues such as low self-esteem and body image, causing further problems like anorexia, bulimia, and depression (Grover et al., 2016). However, studies finding issues such as mental health and eating disorders being linked to social media and fashion cannot always take into account other factors that cause these specific outcomes.

Yu and Jung (2018) focused on the effects on young women’s body image and self-esteem after media image exposure. After 380 university students responded to a survey consisting of thin and nonidealized images in fashion advertisements, the findings were that there was a decrease in body dissatisfaction, self-esteem and increased levels of body image problems, whereas motivational media was seen to improve self-esteem and body anxiety (Yun and Jung, 2018).

Moreno-Domínguez et al., 2018 also correlated the findings of previous studies after exposing 145 women to a range of thin and plus-size models. They found that women who had seen the thin models had a decrease in body image, whereas women who were exposed to overweight models had an improvement in body image – potentially due to feeling less of a need to compare themselves to a slim model (Moreno-Domínguez et al., 2018)

Studies into the digital manipulation of models in advertisements found that imagery in the fashion industry promotes “unrealistic beauty standards that have harmful effects on public health” (McBride et al., 2019). These studies confirm that there is a definite relationship between fashion and the body image of a woman.

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Slater et al., 2019 looked into the difference in the mood of a woman who viewed an Instagram post of a thin celebrity model and then a parody of the same Instagram image. 102 women aged between 18 and 30 participated in the study which found that exposure to the parody images led to increased body satisfaction and an overall positive mood. This specific article explains how the findings can provide support for the use of “humorous, parody images” to improve mood in young females, giving social media and fashion advertisements the chance to have positive effects on women (Slater et al., 2019). To further prove these findings, Cohen et al., 2019 studied the effects of viewing body-positive content on the mood of young women, along with their body image. The 195 females ages 18-30 who participated were asked to view body-positive, thin-ideal, or appearance-neutral Instagram posts. They found that exposure to body-positive posts made improvements to the participants’ mood and body appreciation, whereas exposure to thin-ideal posts was associated with increased self-objectification (Cohen et al., 2019)

“The Thin Ideal and the Practice of Fashion” is an article that argues how even though there is a growing trend in obesity, the fashion industry and fashion consumers still have an ideal of thinness, due to it being “incorporated into habits, routines, objects and the bodies themselves” (Volonté, 2017). Years of the use of thin models in advertisements along with years of females with the need to be thin may have caused a habit that will prove difficult to break.

Overall, this is an important topic to research with it being an ongoing problem for the majority of women. It needs to be understood more in terms of the fashion industry and how a brand can advertise with their female consumer in mind and how this consumer may be affected by, in particular, the “thin ideal” and what this brings for negative body image and lack of self-worth. Studies that have been previously conducted show many limitations, in particular, the inconsideration of mature women and how they may be affected by today's current fashion industry, due to the problem seemingly affecting younger females more. This research study will look at why these issues are not as detrimental to the mature female fashion consumer, which could potentially be due to the way older women are advertised by the fashion industry.

Project Aim

To investigate in depth how women of different ages are affected by the fashion industry – specifically in terms of body image. The research will specifically show why women are affected differently according to their age and why this may be – for example, how fashion advertisements are created for different age groups or the huge impact of social media and its influencers on more of the younger generation than the elder.

Project Objectives

1. To research the link between the fashion industry and the body image of young and mature women
2. To identify the use of body image in fashion promotion – e.g. fashion retailers’ advertisements and social media etc
3. To identify the effect of body image presented in fashion promotion on female consumers of different age groups
4. To make a comparative analysis of findings from the above objectives

Methodology

A mixture of qualitative and quantitative research will be used for this research study. The main source of data however will be qualitative, as the point of the research is to find underlying causes and explanations for the relationship between the fashion industry and how it affects women. This can be achieved by analyzing existing articles and studies on this topic, but also by conducting primary research such as questionnaires with women to gain first-hand knowledge. Following on from the questionnaires, an in-depth interview could be carried out with a person(s) from the younger age group and with a person(s) from the older age group – this will give more information into the topic.

The use of quantitative data collection methods will also be beneficial to the outcome of this research study. Collecting numerical data such as statistics will outline any trends between body image and the fashion industry – this will be helpful in comparing the differences between young and mature women and how they are affected. These statistics will be found through existing studies, for example, what percentage of women are affected in terms of body image by promotional material in the fashion industry. This sort of data can also be collected by asking questions in a survey that require a numerical answer.

Methods

I will use the method of literature review to research the link between body image and the fashion industry, and also to identify how body image is used within fashion promotion materials. This will be an effective method for the first two objectives due to the large sample sizes used across existing studies. For the third objective, the use of surveys and interviews will allow me to identify how a woman’s body image is affected by fashion promotion. This will be done by asking a variety of questions to women through an online survey to gain information about the main issues for body image – this information can be further correlated by using an in-depth interview with a small sample of female consumers, where I can gain more information and establish how the effects on body image differ between ages. Finally, I will utilize findings from literature reviews, surveys, and interviews to make a comparative analysis of how the fashion industry and its promotional materials affect female consumers of different ages and why this happens.

Limitations and Ethical Considerations

• Using literature reviews as a method may have limitations when comparing existing research – for example, if participant samples are not similar enough to draw a trend from
• Sample sizes of female consumers in surveys for primary research may not be large enough to establish a firm trend – will need to gain as many participants as possible
• If questions used for surveys and interviews are not clear, it may be difficult to gain accurate opinions and answers
• The use of female participants when conducting surveys and interviews may not be ethical – especially if the participants suffer from self-esteem issues. I will apply for ethics approval through EThoS, the MMU online system
• I will gain signed consent through a participant information sheet and consent form when using interview methods
• Participants will be informed that their data will be used purely for this research study and all personal data will be protected under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), 2018, and the Data Protection Act (DPA), 2018.
• Any personal data collected through primary research methods will be stored securely, for example, in locked cabinets at MMU or on the MMU Hard-Drive which is password protected
• Participants will be kept anonymous, apart from their age

References

1. Cohen, R., Fardouly, J., Newton-John, T. and Slater, A. (2019) '#BoPo on Instagram: An experimental investigation of the effects of viewing body positive content on young women’s mood and body image'. New Media & Society, 21(7) pp.1546-1564.
2. Grover, A., Foreman, J. and Burckes-Miller, M. (2016) '“Infecting” those we care about social network effects on body image'. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, 10(3) pp.323-338.
3. McBride, C., Costello, N., Ambwani, S., Wilhite, B. and Austin, S. (2019) 'Digital Manipulation of Images of Models' Appearance in Advertising: Strategies for Action Through Law and Corporate Social Responsibility Incentives to Protect Public Health'. American Journal of Law & Medicine, 45(1) pp.7-31.
4. Moreno-Domínguez, S., Servián-Franco, F., Reyes del Paso, G. and Cepeda-Benito, A. (2018) 'Images of Thin and Plus-Size Models Produce Opposite Effects on Women’s Body Image, Body Dissatisfaction, and Anxiety'. Sex Roles, 80(9-10) pp.607-616.
5. Slater, A., Cole, N. and Fardouly, J. (2019) 'The effect of exposure to parodies of thin-ideal images on young women’s body image and mood'. Body Image, 29 pp.82-89.
6. Volonté, P. (2017) 'The thin ideal and the practice of fashion'. Journal of Consumer Culture, 19(2) pp.252-270.
7. Watson, A., Leckie, N. and Lebcir, M. (2015) 'Executive summary of “Does size matter? An exploration of the role of body size on brand image perceptions”'. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 24(3).
8. Yu, U. and Jung, J. (2018) 'Effects of Self-Discrepancy and Self-Schema on Young Women's Body Image and Self-Esteem after Media Image Exposure'. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 47(2) pp.142-160.