Female Viewers

Abstract

This paper presents findings of an experiment conducted with female college students to assess the effects of TV commercials and movie entertainment segments that feature stereotypical ( pro-thin) and realistic-looking (pro esteem) models of feminine beauty on viewers’ body esteem. The study was guided by the Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion, the Sociometer Theory of self-esteem, and by Social-Comparison Theory. The experiment demonstrated that female viewers’ scrutiny of personally-relevant or non-relevant message cues was central in affecting their sensibility about their personal beauty. To a lesser extent, it also demonstrated that female viewers who scrutinized media messages intensely compared themselves with socially valued an norms of feminine beauty. In particular, this experiment demonstrated that viewers’ positive thinking about the content of experimental test messages enhanced female participants’ body esteem. However, viewers’ negative thinking exerted no significant impact. This paper discusses research limitations and suggestions ways of improving future experiments.