Summaries of Scholarly Research and Some Reactions

            There are several existing articles with research on the topic of teens, advertising, and body image. In Yeqing Bao and Alan T. Shao’s article, “Nonconformity advertising to teens” it is noted that generation Y, the current generation of teens, are more aware of their purchases but also more skeptical of ads (56). It is far harder to convince teens to purchase particular products through the use of advertising (57).  The study tried to see whether an advertising campaign using Unique Selling Proposition (USP) , a campaign designed to tell buyers that the product is unique and has unique benefits that competitors don’t have. made the teenage subjects more interested in buying a particular brand of soda. The teens who listened to a radio program about the soda were far more likely to want to buy the soda if USP techniques were incorporated into the ad (60).

            Duane A. Hargreaves and Marika Tiggemann’s article, “Idealized Media Images and Adolescent Body Image; ‘Comparing’ Boys and Girls” notes that body image has a defining role in girls’ adolescence (352). The study also notes that there is far more research on the effects of ads on girls body image than research on the effects of boys’ body image. The study analyzed televised ideals of “idealized male and female attractiveness”(352). In the study, groups of girls were shown television commercials having to do with thinness or not having to do with body size, and groups of boys were shown television commercials having to do with muscles or not having to do with body size (353). The subjects were then given quizzes to identify mood. It was discovered that the thinness ads had a small but reliably negative effect on the girls’ moods (357). The boys, however, did not seem to have an effect at all, and the study attributes the subject’s ages (8-12) as probably being too young to be effected by this media (357).

            In Cornelia Pechmann’s study, “Impulsive and Self-Conscious: Adolescents’ Vulnerability to Advertising and Promotion”, her team investigates how the brain development of adolescence effects their susceptibility to advertising. The study explains that because the parts of the brain associated with rational thought take the longest to develop, teenagers are more likely to be persuaded and to make impulsive decisions. The study also notes that teenagers’ self-confidence issues also makes them more sensitive to “heavily advertised and high-status brands” (209). Teenagers will use brands to “to project a positive image to others and to bolster feelings of self worth” (210). The study suggests regulating ads for highly addictive products because teenagers are likely to become susceptible to these ads and to wanting to use the product (213). On a whole, the study notes that students are highly susceptible to advertisements and are easily swayed by them.

In Marika Tigemann’s study “The role of Media Exposure in Adolescent Girl’s Body Image Dissatisfaction and Drive for Thinness” she notes that there is an increasing amount of evidence to prove that girls’ media consumption leads to body dissatisfaction. She designed a longitudinal study to assess this effect on a group of girls. She asked the participants to read a tv guide and circle the programs they had watched, and to list any magazines they had bought (527). She then had the subjects take both the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire, the Appearance Schemas Inventory, and the Drive for Thinness subscale of the Eating Disorders Inventory to test their reactions to the media they listed (529). She then repeated the same procedure a year later compared the results. It was concluded that media consumption and body dissatisfaction occur at the same time but that there does not appear to be a causal relationship.

These articles make their purposes clear, but they are slightly contradictory. Tigemann, in both her own article and in her collaboration with Hargraves both feel that media is related to body image but that there isn't a direct effect. Bao and Pechmann feel that the body image and media are directly correlated. I am not surprised by either finding, because they are both well proven, but I am surprised that there is so much contention when they use similar evidence. Information covering this issue isn’t just found in academic circles, but also on websites on the internet. TeensHealth has a section on body image, which can be found here: http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/wellbeing/body_image.html. This website outlines factors that contribute to body image issues, such as peer pressure, families, school, and the media. The article emphasizes the importance of self confidence and resilience, both tools teens can use to fight the affects media might have on them.

A classic pop culture reference to body image issues are the Barbie dolls, an example of which can is included in this image. Barbie dolls, a hugely popular toy, contain very small waists and sculpted bodies, suggesting to girls that they need to look that way to be considered beautiful. Barbie dolls are considered to influence girls’ perceptions of the ideal body type. 


References

Bao, Y., & Shao, A. T. (2002). Nonconformity advertising to teens. Journal Of Advertising Research, 42(3), 56-65.

Hargreaves, D. A., & Tiggemann, M. (2004). Idealized media images and adolescent body image:'Comparing' boys and girls. Body Image, 1(4), 351-361. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2004.10.002

Tiggemann, M. (2006). The role of media exposure in adolescent girls' body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness: Prospective results. Journal Of Social And Clinical Psychology, 25(5), 523-541. doi:10.1521/jscp.2006.25.5.523

Pechmann, C. Levine, L., Loughlin, S. & Leslie, F. (2005). Impulsive and self-conscious: Adolescents' vulnerability to advertising and promotion. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 24 (2), 202-221