Effect of Television Advertisements on Body Image and Self-Esteem of Young Adults

Abstract

For many years, we have been aware of the media’s portrayal of the ‘ideal’ body of young male and female genders. The controversy over the relationship between body image, self-esteem and media influence is neither new nor much closer to being resolved. While there seems to be a general consensus that the mass media does tend to influence one’s perception of body image and self-esteem, effect of specific subtypes of mass media platform remain unexplored with regard to qualitative literature. This study examines one such vast domain of media i.e., television advertisements with the objective to know its effect on body image and self-esteem of young adults. For this purpose, a semi-structured interview was employed and conducted with 50 participants: 25 females and 25 males, ranging in the age of 18-25 years. The interviews were analyzed using Braun and Clarke (2006) thematic analysis method. Three highlighting themes were elicited: Issues with Television Advertisements; Deteriorating Body Image and Self-Doubt and Newer Perspective. These findings suggest that television advertisements have negatively impacted body image perception and self-esteem of young adults. With respect to television advertisements, the findings of this study also throw light on what modifications brands could bring about to increase their reach, expectations and acceptability by young adult viewers. Limitations of these finding and implications are discussed at the end.