# Effects of exposure to body-positive advertising on body image among young Chinese women

## TL;DR

This study shows that body-positive ads on social media improve young Chinese women's body image and mood compared to ideal beauty or neutral content.

## Contribution

The study reveals that commercialized body-positive content reduces self-objectification and supports positive body image theory in a social media context.

## Key findings

- Exposure to body-positive ads increased positive mood, body satisfaction, and body appreciation.
- BoPo ads reduced self-objectification levels compared to other groups.
- Commercialized body-positive content has a positive psychological impact in social media contexts.

## Abstract

The commercialization of the Body Positivity (BoPo) movement on social media platforms has sparked ongoing debate regarding its impact on audience body image.

This study employs a randomized controlled online experiment, recruiting 172 young Chinese women (aged 18–30) and randomly allocating them into three groups: a body-positive advertising group, ideal beauty (thin-ideal) advertising group, and an appearance-neutral post group featuring natural scenery.

The results indicate that exposure to brand-posted BoPo advertisements significantly increased participants’ positive mood, body satisfaction, and body appreciation compared to both the ideal beauty advertisement and the appearance-neutral post groups, further supporting core tenets of Positive Body Image theory. Notably, BoPo advertisements also resulted in a reduction in self-objectification levels. This finding contrasts with some existing literature and suggests that body-positive content may operate through a more complex and potentially more positive psychological mechanism within the context of social media commercialization.

Overall, this research demonstrates a significant positive influence of commercialized BoPo content on the body image of young women. It provides important theoretical and empirical evidence for further understanding and evaluating the evolving commercialization of the Body Positivity movement and contributes to the understanding of its psychological mechanisms in a commercial context.