Does Influencers Popularity Actually Matter? An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Influencers on Body Satisfaction and Mood Among Young Chinese Females: The Case of RED (Xiaohongshu)

Many studies have linked idealized body image on social media to negative psychological well-being among young females. However, social media influencers’ imagery has not attracted much research attention in either the Western or the Asian context. This study aimed to experimentally investigate the...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Xiaoxiao Zhang, Wuchang Zhu, Shaojing Sun, Jingxi Chen
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	China idealized images body satisfaction mood social media influencer self-discrepancy Psychology BF1-990
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/c8d8087d8c0240608d9fe82c00bd3000
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:c8d8087d8c0240608d9fe82c00bd3000
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:c8d8087d8c0240608d9fe82c00bd30002021-12-01T08:15:31ZDoes Influencers Popularity Actually Matter? An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Influencers on Body Satisfaction and Mood Among Young Chinese Females: The Case of RED (Xiaohongshu)1664-107810.3389/fpsyg.2021.756010https://doaj.org/article/c8d8087d8c0240608d9fe82c00bd30002021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.756010/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/1664-1078Many studies have linked idealized body image on social media to negative psychological well-being among young females. However, social media influencers’ imagery has not attracted much research attention in either the Western or the Asian context. This study aimed to experimentally investigate the impact of high versus low popular social media influencer images on young Chinese females’ body satisfaction and mood. The participants were 420 female RED users (aged 18–35) who were randomly assigned to three groups: (1) the influencer-high group (idealized imagery alongside high engagement metrics); (2) the influencer-low group (the same idealized imagery adjusted for low engagement metrics); or (3) a control set of nature images. The results revealed that the groups exposed to influencer imagery had lower body satisfaction and more negative mood than the control group (nature images). Notably, this comparison showed no significant difference between the low-influencer and high-influencer groups in body satisfaction and mood. Additionally, this effect was moderated by individuals’ self-discrepancy between personal ideals and their own bodies. That is, exposure to idealized body images does not always produce harmful effects. For those with lower self-discrepancy, idealized body posts somewhat positively affected their body satisfaction. The current research contributes to the media effect literature by providing critical new insights into the study of body image in the context of China.Xiaoxiao ZhangWuchang ZhuShaojing SunJingxi ChenFrontiers Media S.A.articleChinaidealized imagesbody satisfactionmoodsocial media influencerself-discrepancyPsychologyBF1-990ENFrontiers in Psychology, Vol 12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	China idealized images body satisfaction mood social media influencer self-discrepancy Psychology BF1-990
spellingShingle	China idealized images body satisfaction mood social media influencer self-discrepancy Psychology BF1-990 Xiaoxiao Zhang Wuchang Zhu Shaojing Sun Jingxi Chen Does Influencers Popularity Actually Matter? An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Influencers on Body Satisfaction and Mood Among Young Chinese Females: The Case of RED (Xiaohongshu)
description	Many studies have linked idealized body image on social media to negative psychological well-being among young females. However, social media influencers’ imagery has not attracted much research attention in either the Western or the Asian context. This study aimed to experimentally investigate the impact of high versus low popular social media influencer images on young Chinese females’ body satisfaction and mood. The participants were 420 female RED users (aged 18–35) who were randomly assigned to three groups: (1) the influencer-high group (idealized imagery alongside high engagement metrics); (2) the influencer-low group (the same idealized imagery adjusted for low engagement metrics); or (3) a control set of nature images. The results revealed that the groups exposed to influencer imagery had lower body satisfaction and more negative mood than the control group (nature images). Notably, this comparison showed no significant difference between the low-influencer and high-influencer groups in body satisfaction and mood. Additionally, this effect was moderated by individuals’ self-discrepancy between personal ideals and their own bodies. That is, exposure to idealized body images does not always produce harmful effects. For those with lower self-discrepancy, idealized body posts somewhat positively affected their body satisfaction. The current research contributes to the media effect literature by providing critical new insights into the study of body image in the context of China.
format	article
author	Xiaoxiao Zhang Wuchang Zhu Shaojing Sun Jingxi Chen
author_facet	Xiaoxiao Zhang Wuchang Zhu Shaojing Sun Jingxi Chen
author_sort	Xiaoxiao Zhang
title	Does Influencers Popularity Actually Matter? An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Influencers on Body Satisfaction and Mood Among Young Chinese Females: The Case of RED (Xiaohongshu)
title_short	Does Influencers Popularity Actually Matter? An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Influencers on Body Satisfaction and Mood Among Young Chinese Females: The Case of RED (Xiaohongshu)
title_full	Does Influencers Popularity Actually Matter? An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Influencers on Body Satisfaction and Mood Among Young Chinese Females: The Case of RED (Xiaohongshu)
title_fullStr	Does Influencers Popularity Actually Matter? An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Influencers on Body Satisfaction and Mood Among Young Chinese Females: The Case of RED (Xiaohongshu)
title_full_unstemmed	Does Influencers Popularity Actually Matter? An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Influencers on Body Satisfaction and Mood Among Young Chinese Females: The Case of RED (Xiaohongshu)
title_sort	does influencers popularity actually matter? an experimental investigation of the effect of influencers on body satisfaction and mood among young chinese females: the case of red (xiaohongshu)
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/c8d8087d8c0240608d9fe82c00bd3000
work_keys_str_mv	AT xiaoxiaozhang doesinfluencerspopularityactuallymatteranexperimentalinvestigationoftheeffectofinfluencersonbodysatisfactionandmoodamongyoungchinesefemalesthecaseofredxiaohongshu AT wuchangzhu doesinfluencerspopularityactuallymatteranexperimentalinvestigationoftheeffectofinfluencersonbodysatisfactionandmoodamongyoungchinesefemalesthecaseofredxiaohongshu AT shaojingsun doesinfluencerspopularityactuallymatteranexperimentalinvestigationoftheeffectofinfluencersonbodysatisfactionandmoodamongyoungchinesefemalesthecaseofredxiaohongshu AT jingxichen doesinfluencerspopularityactuallymatteranexperimentalinvestigationoftheeffectofinfluencersonbodysatisfactionandmoodamongyoungchinesefemalesthecaseofredxiaohongshu
_version_	1718405443014885376

Does Influencers Popularity Actually Matter? An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Influencers on Body Satisfaction and Mood Among Young Chinese Females: The Case of RED (Xiaohongshu)

Ejemplares similares