Effects of Fitness Advertising on Weight and Body Shape Dissatisfaction, Social Physique Anxiety, and Exercise Motives in a Sample of Healthy‐Weight Females

The effects of exposure to fitness advertising on multiple dimensions of female body image were explored. Healthy weight females ( N = 185) were randomly assigned to a model‐focused, product‐focused, or control group and completed body image inventories during a pre‐test and following exposure to fitness advertising 1 week later. There were no significant main effects for group or time on any body image measures. A group by time interaction was observed for affective body image, F (1, 179) = 45.52, p < .001, η 2 = .32. Females exposed to model‐focused fitness advertising reported higher social physique anxiety compared with females in the other groups. These findings suggest that multidimensional body image perspectives are informative, especially when examining the effects of media advertising.