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

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