Body and diet as sales pitches: Spanish teenagers´ perceptions about influencers´ impact on ideal physical appearance
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2022.jul.12Keywords:
Influencer marketing, Medios sociales, Minors, Adolescents, Teenagers, Generation Z, Physical appearance, Food, Body, Social networks, Social media, Media literacy, Critical thinking, Perceptions, YoutubersAbstract
This project sits at the intersection of three axes: (a) influencers as the increasing focus of minors´ attention and trust online, (b) sponsored content about eating habits and physical appearance produced by these influencers, and (c) minors´ ability to discern and identify the persuasive intent of said content. The usefulness of analyzing the interplay of these three axes lies in the impact that consumption of this content has on minors´ self-esteem and on the adoption of certain habits that can directly impact their personal well-being. For this reason, this project seeks to provide insight into the social imaginary that influencers´ sponsored speech creates in minors regarding their physical appearance. To this end, a qualitative study with 12 focus groups of minors aged 11-17 years of age who reside in Spain was proposed. Notable among the key results was that the interviewees recognize that they primarily receive commercial messages about food and products related to physical appearance, such as makeup or clothing, from influencers; likewise, they are aware of persuasive tactics used on social networks, such as the construction of a perfect, aspirational world, which minors absorb and accept as part of the digital environment and end up incorporating into their behavior on social networks. This research aims to help demonstrate that teaching critical thinking is a long-term cultural investment that would make the citizens of tomorrow aware, engaged, and active.
Downloads
References
Adams, Britt; Schellens, Tammy; Valcke, Martin (2017). "Promoting adolescents´ moral advertising literacy in Secondary Education". [Fomentando la alfabetización ética de los adolescentes en publicidad en Educación Secundaria]. Comunicar, v. 25, n. 52, pp. 93-103. https://doi.org/10.3916/C52-2017-09
Alruwaily, Amaal; Mangold, Chelsea; Greene, Tenay; Arshonsky, Josh; Cassidy, Omni, Pomeranz, Jennifer L.; Bragg, Marie (2020). "Child social media influencers and unhealthy food product placement". Pediatrics, v. 146, n. 5, pp. 2-10. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-4057
Andrino, Borja; Grasso, Daniele; Llaneras, Kiko (2019). "¿Escuela de ricos, escuela de pobres? Cómo la concertada y la pública segregan por clase social". El país, 4 octubre. https://elpais.com/sociedad/2019/09/30/actualidad/1569832939_154094.html
Andrino, Borja; Llaneras, Kiko; Grasso, Daniele (2021). "El mapa de la renta de los españoles, calle a calle". El país, 29 abril. https://elpais.com/economia/2021-04-29/el-mapa-de-la-renta-de-los-espanoles-calle-a-calle.html
Audrezet, Alice; De-Kerviler, Gwarlann; Moulard, Julie-Guidry (2020). "Authenticity under threat: when social media influencers need to go beyond self-presentation". Journal of business research, v. 117, pp. 557-569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.07.008
Bandura, Albert (2001). "Social cognitive theory of mass communication". Media psychology, v. 3, n. 3, pp. 265-299. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532785XMEP0303_03
Barbieri, Alberto (2020). "En Finlandia enseñan cómo defenderse de la desinformación desde la escuela primaria". NobÂbot, tecnología para las personas, 20 abril. https://www.nobbot.com/educacion/finlandia-ensenan-defenderse-desinformacion-escuela
Bernal, César-Augusto (2010). Metodología de la investigación. Colombia: Pearson Educación. ISBN: 978 958 699 128 5
Brown, Zoe; Tiggemann, Marika (2016). "Attractive celebrity and peer images on Instagram: Effect on women´s mood and body image". Body image, v. 19, pp. 37-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.08.007
Boyatzis, Richard (1995). Transforming qualitative information: Analysis and code development. Case Western Reserve University, USA. SAGE. ISBN: 978 0 761909613
Castelló-Martínez, Araceli; Tur-Viñes, Victoria (2020). "Obesity and food-related content aimed at children on YouTube". Clinical obesity, v. 10, n. 44, e12389. https://doi.org/10.1111/cob.12389
Castelló-Martínez, Araceli; Tur-Viñes, Victoria (2021). "Una combinación de alto riesgo: obesidad, marcas de alimentación, menores y retos en YouTube". Gaceta sanitaria, v. 35, n. 4, pp. 352-354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2020.06.018
Chae, Jiyoung (2018). "Explaining females´ envy toward social media influencers". Media psychology, v. 21, n. 2, pp. 246-262. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2017.1328312
Coates, Anna-Elizabeth; Hardman, Charlotte-Alice; Grovenor-Halford, Jason-Christian; Christiansen, Paul; Boyland, Emma-Jane (2019). "The effect of influencer marketing of food and a "˜protective´ advertising disclosure on children´s food intake". Pediatric obesity, v. 14, n. 10, e12540. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.12540
Coates, Anna-Elizabeth; Hardman, Charlotte-Alice; Grovenor-Halford, Jason-Christian; Christiansen, Paul; Boyland, Emma-Jane (2020). ""˜It´s just addictive people that make addictive videos´: children´s understanding of and attitudes towards influencer marketing of food and beverages by YouTube video bloggers". International journal of environmental research and public health, v. 17, n. 2, 449. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020449
De-Jans, Steffi; Hudders, Liselot (2020). "Disclosure of vlog advertising targeted to children". Journal of interactive marketing, v. 52, n. 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2020.03.003
De-Jans, Steffi; Spielvogel, Ines; Naderer, Brigitte; Hudders, Liselot (2021). "Digital food marketing to children: How an influencer´s lifestyle can stimulate healthy food choices among children". Appetite, v. 162, 105182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2021.105182
Djafarova, Elmira; Rushworth, Chloe (2017). "Exploring the credibility of online celebrities´ Instagram profiles in influencing the purchase decisions of young female users". Computers in human behavior, v. 68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.11.009
Fanjul-Peyró, Carlos; López-Font, Lorena; González-Oñate, Cristina (2019). "Adolescentes y culto al cuerpo: influencia de la publicidad y de internet en la búsqueda del cuerpo masculino idealizado". Doxa comunicación, n. 29, pp. 61-74. https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n29a3
Feijoo, Beatriz; Bugueño, Simón; SaÌdaba, Charo; GarciÌa-GonzaÌlez, Aurora (2021). "Parents´ and children´s perception on social media advertising. [La percepción de padres e hijos sobre la publicidad en redes sociales]". Comunicar, v. 29, n. 67, pp. 99-109. https://doi.org/10.3916/C67-2021-08
Feijoo, Beatriz; FernaÌndez-GoÌmez, Erika (2021). "Niños y niñas influyentes en YouTube e Instagram: contenidos y presencia de marcas durante el confinamiento". Cuadernos.info, n. 49, pp. 302-330. https://doi.org/10.7764/cdi.49.27309
Feijoo, Beatriz; Pavez, Isabel (2019). "Audiovisual content with advertising intention in children´s videos on YouTube: the case of the Soy Luna series". Communication & society, v. 32, n. 1, pp. 313-331. https://doi.org/10.15581/003.32.1.313-331
Feijoo, Beatriz; SaÌdaba, Charo; Bugueño, Simón (2020). "Anuncios entre vídeos, juegos y fotos. Impacto publicitario que recibe el menor a través del teléfono móvil". Profesional de la informacioÌn, v. 29, n. 6, e290630. https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2020.nov.30
Fernández-Gómez, Erika; Díaz-Campo, Jesús (2014). "La publicidad de alimentos en la televisión infantil en España: promoción de hábitos de vida saludables". Observatorio journal, v. 8, n. 4, pp. 133-150. http://obs.obercom.pt/index.php/obs/article/view/802
González-Oñate, Cristina; Martínez-Sánchez, Adela (2020). "Estrategia y comunicación en redes sociales: Un estudio sobre la influencia del movimiento realfooding". Ámbitos. Revista internacional de comunicación, n. 48, pp. 79-101. https://doi.org/10.12795/Ambitos.2020.i48.05
Hudders, Liselot; Cauberghe, Veroline; Panic, Katarina; Adams, Britt; Daems, Kristien; De-Pauw, Pieter; De-Pelsmacker, Patrick; Hellemans, Liesbeth; Lievens, Eva; Zarouali, Brahim (2015). "Children´s advertising literacy in a new media environment: an introduction to the AdLit research project". In: Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap, proceedings. http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-5811593
Hudders, Liselot; De-Pauw, Pieter; Cauberghe, Veroline; Panic, Katarina; Zarouali, Brahim; Rozendaal, Esther (2017). "Shedding new light on how advertising literacy can affect children´s processing of embedded advertising formats: A future research agenda". Journal of advertising, v. 46, n. 2, pp. 333-349. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2016.1269303
IAB Spain (2021). Estudio de redes sociales 2021. https://iabspain.es/estudio/estudio-de-redes-sociales-2021
Infoadex (2021). Resumen estudio Infoadex de la inversión publicitaria en España 2021. https://www.infoadex.es/home/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Estudio-InfoAdex-2021-Resumen-1.pdf
Lim, Xin-Jean; Radzol, Aifa-Rozaini; Cheah, Jun-Hwa; Wong, Mun-Wai (2017). "The impact of social media influencers on purchase intention and the mediation effect of customer attitude". Asian journal of business research, v. 7, n. 2, pp. 19-36. https://doi.org/10.14707/ajbr.170035
Livingstone, Sonia; Blum-Ross, Alicia (2020). Parenting for a digital future: How hopes and fears about technology shape children´s lives. Nueva York: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 978 0 190874698
López-Bolás, Alba; Feijoo, Beatriz; Fernández-Gómez, Erika (2022). "Publicidad de alimentos ultra procesados en youtubers preescolares durante la Covid-19: estudio de caso". Fonseca, journal of communication, n. 24, pp. 7-18. https://doi.org/10.14201/fjc.28296
López-Villafranca, Paloma; Olmedo-Salar, Silvia (2019). "Menores en YouTube, ¿ocio o negocio? Análisis de casos en España y EUA". Profesional de la información, v. 28, n. 5, e280520. https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2019.sep.20
Lowe-Calverley, Emily; Grieve, Rachel (2021). "Do the metrics matter? An experimental investigation of Instagram influencer effects on mood and body dissatisfaction". Body image, v. 36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2020.10.003
McLean, Sií¢n A.; Paxton, Susan J.; Wertheim, Eleanor H. (2016). "Does media literacy mitigate risk for reduced body satisfaction following exposure to thin-ideal media?". Journal of youth and adolescence, v. 45, pp. 1678-1695. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0440-3
Meyers, Cynthia B. (2017). "Social media influencers: a lesson plan for teaching digital advertising media literacy". Advertising & society quarterly, v. 18, n. 2. https://doi.org/10.1353/asr.2017.0018
Milmo, Dan; Skopeliti, Clea (2021). "Teenage girls, body image and Instagram´s "˜perfect storm´". The guardian, 18 September. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/sep/18/teenage-girls-body-image-and-instagrams-perfect-storm
OMS (2020). Gestión de la infodemia sobre la Covid-19: Promover comportamientos saludables y mitigar los daños derivados de la información incorrecta y falsa. Organización Mundial de la Salud. https://www.who.int/es/news/item/23-09-2020-managing-the-covid-19-infodemic-promoting-healthy-behaviours-and-mitigating-the-harm-from-misinformation-and-disinformation
Powers, Devon; Greenwell, D. Michael (2016). "Branded fitness: exercise and promotional culture". Journal of consumer culture, v. 17, n. 3, pp. 523-541. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540515623606
Ramos-Serrano, Marina; Herrero-Diz, Paula (2016). "Unboxing and brands: youtubers phenomenon through the case study of EvanTubeHD". Prisma social: revista de ciencias sociales, n especial 1, pp. 90-120. https://revistaprismasocial.es/article/view/1315
Rozendaal, Esther; Lapierre, Matthew A.; Van-Reijmersdal, Eva A.; Buijzen, Moniek (2011). "Reconsidering advertising literacy as a defense against advertising effects". Media psychology, v. 14, n. 4, pp. 333-354. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2011.620540
Rozendaal, Esther; Slot, Noortje; Van-Reijmersdal, Eva A.; Buijzen, Moniek (2013). "Children´s responses to advertising in social games". Journal of advertising, v. 42, n. 2-3, pp. 142-154. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2013.774588
Silva, Marianny J. B.; Farias, Salomí£o A.; Grigg, Michelle H. K.; Barbosa, María-Lourdes A. (2021). "The body as a brand in social media: analyzing digital fitness influencers as product endorsers". Athenea digital, v. 21, n. 1. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/athenea.2614
Silverstone, Roger (2005). Media, technology and everyday life in Europe: from information to communication. Aldershot, England: Roger Silverstone. ISBN 978 03676043 7 0
Smahel, David; Machackova, Hana; Mascheroni, Giovanna; Dedkova, Lenka; Staksrud, Elizabeth; Olafsson, Kjartan; Livingstone, Sonia; Hasebrink, Uwe (2020). EU kids online 2020: Survey results from 19 countries. London: EU Kids Online. https://doi.org/10.21953/lse.47fdeqj01ofo
Smit, Crystal R.; Buijs, Laura; Van-Woudenberg, Thabo J.; Bevelander, Kirsten E.; Buijzen, Moniek (2019). "The impact of social media influencers on children´s dietary behaviors". Frontiers in psychology, v. 10, 2975. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02975
Stewart, David W.; Shamdasani, Prem N.; Rook, Dennis W. (2007). Focus groups: theory and practice (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage. ISBN: 978 0 7619258 3 5
Su, Yiran; Kunkel, Thilo; Ye, Ning (2021). "When abs do not sell: the impact of male influencers conspicuously displaying a muscular body on female followers". Psychology & marketing, v. 38, n. 2, pp. 286-297. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21322
Tiggemann, Marika; Anderberg, Isabella (2020). "Muscles and bare chests on Instagram: The effect of influencers´ fashion and fitspiration images on men´s body image". Body image, v. 35, pp. 237-244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2020.10.001
Tur-Viñes, Victoria; Castelló-Martínez, Araceli (2021). "Food brands, YouTube and children: Media practices in the context of the PAOS self-regulation code". Communication & society, v. 34, n. 2, pp. 87-105. https://doi.org/10.15581/003.34.2.87-105
Tur-Viñes, Victoria; Núñez-Gómez, Patricia; González-Río, María-José (2018). "Menores influyentes en YouTube. Un espacio para la responsabilidad". Revista latina de comunicación social, n. 73, pp. 1211-1230. https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2018-1303
Unicef (2021). ¿Qué opinan los niños, niñas y adolescentes? Resultados de la segunda edición del Barómetro de opinión de infancia y adolescencia 2020-2021. https://www.unicef.es/sites/unicef.es/files/comunicacion/Barometro%20infancia%202021.pdf
Van-Dam, Sophia; Van-Reijmersdal, Eva A. (2019). "Insights in adolescents´ advertising literacy, perceptions and responses regarding sponsored influencer videos and disclosures". Cyberpsychology: journal of psychosocial research on cyberspace, v. 13, n. 2, article 2. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2019-2-2
Van-Reijmersdal, Eva A.; Rozendaal, Esther (2020). "Transparency of digital native and embedded advertising: opportunities and challenges for regulation and education". Communications, v. 45, n. 3, pp. 378-388. https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2019-0120
Van-Reijmersdal, Eva A.; Rozendaal, Esther; Buijzen, Moniek (2012). "Effects of prominence, involvement, and persuasion knowledge on children´s cognitive and affective responses to advergames". Journal of interactive marketing, v. 26, n. 1, pp. 33-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2011.04.005
Van-Reijmersdal, Eva A.; Rozendaal, Esther; Smink, Nadia; Van-Noort, Guda; Buijzen, Moniek (2017). "Processes and effects of targeted online advertising among children". International journal of advertising, v. 36, n. 3, pp. 396-414. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2016.1196904
Vanwesenbeeck, Ini; Walrave, Michel; Ponnet, Koen (2017). "Children and advergames: the role of product involvement, prior brand attitude, persuasion knowledge and game attitude in purchase intentions and changing attitudes". International journal of advertising, v. 36, n. 4, pp. 520-541. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2016.1176637
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Profesional de la información
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Dissemination conditions of the articles once they are published
Authors can freely disseminate their articles on websites, social networks and repositories
However, the following conditions must be respected:
- Only the editorial version should be made public. Please do not publish preprints, postprints or proofs.
- Along with this copy, a specific mention of the publication in which the text has appeared must be included, also adding a clickable link to the URL: http://www.profesionaldelainformacion.com
- Only the final editorial version should be made public. Please do not publish preprints, postprints or proofs.
- Along with that copy, a specific mention of the publication in which the text has appeared must be included, also adding a clickable link to the URL: http://revista.profesionaldelainformacion.com
Profesional de la información journal offers the articles in open access with a Creative Commons BY license.
