Appearance Framing versus Health Framing of Health Advice: Assessing the Effects of a YouTube Channel for Adolescent Girls

Health Commun. 2020 Mar;35(3):384-394. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2018.1564955. Epub 2019 Jan 16.

Abstract

The present experimental study tested the effects of appearance framing of health advice on adolescent girls' state self-objectification, appearance anxiety, and preference for appearance-enhancing products. The stimuli consisted of informative YouTube-style videos about doing yoga, drinking water, or using sunscreen, and these videos were either appearance-framed (experimental condition) or health-framed (control condition). In total, 154 adolescent girls (Mage = 15.67, SD = 1.07) participated in the experiment. The effect of appearance-framed videos on state self-objectification scores was moderated by age, such that the effect of viewing the appearance-framed videos positively predicted state self-objectification among the younger adolescents. In addition, self-objectification mediated the effect of condition on appearance anxiety and on their appearance-enhancing product preferences, again with the predicted effects supported for the younger adolescents in the sample.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Anxiety
  • Body Image
  • Consumer Behavior
  • Female
  • Health Promotion / methods*
  • Humans
  • Self Concept
  • Social Media*