The effects of TV commercials using less thin models on young women's mood, body image and actual food intake

This study experimentally tested the effects of exposure to television commercials using less thin models on mood, body focused anxiety and food intake, as compared to the effects of commercials using thin models. In a naturalistic setting, 110 young women were exposed to a neutral movie, interrupte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Body image 2009-09, Vol.6 (4), p.270-276
Main Authors: Anschutz, Doeschka J, Engels, Rutger C M E, Becker, Eni S, Van Strien, Tatjana
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advertising as Topic
Affect
Anxiety
Body Image
Eating - physiology
Eating - psychology
Female
Humans
Imitative Behavior
Students - psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Television
Thinness - psychology
Young Adult
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Summary:This study experimentally tested the effects of exposure to television commercials using less thin models on mood, body focused anxiety and food intake, as compared to the effects of commercials using thin models. In a naturalistic setting, 110 young women were exposed to a neutral movie, interrupted by two commercial breaks. The commercial breaks contained real commercials using either less thin (n=32) or thin models (n=39), or neutral commercials (n=39). During watching television, participants could freely eat snack food. Further, their mood and body focused anxiety was assessed. ANOVAs revealed no effects on body focused anxiety, but women reported a more negative mood and ate less after exposure to commercials using less thin models than after exposure to commercials using thin models. These results imply that using less thin models in commercials explicitly referring to the thin ideal does not make women feel better.
ISSN:1740-1445
1873-6807
DOI:10.1016/j.bodyim.2009.07.007