The Media Effect: Implications for Manifesting Maintainable Body Image in the Context of Global Fashion Industry

Abstract

The media ‘effect’ on consumer behaviour has long been of interest to many researchers. In part, this has been related to how movies, magazines and television programmes portrayed thinness in the nineteenth and twentieth century, a concept which has been consistently emphasised and promoted to women, thus resulting in increased body dissatisfaction. Prior to the existence of media, a curvaceous body was considered as a sign of wealth and an ideal body image. More recently, with the emergence of the Internet, there has been increasing debate over portraying a healthier body image. However, no research to date has addressed the implications of manifesting a maintainable body image in the context of the global fashion industry. Thus, to fill this gap, qualitative ethnographic approach (netnography) of studying online behaviour and consumer perception was undertaken. The chapter briefly outlines the relevance of clothing and the evolution of the ideal body image over the last decade, indicating how the ideal body image has changed, but also shows how different media channels have had an effect using television and social media examples.