ORCA General Poster Session (Virtual)
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Psychology
Minor
Spanish
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Dr. Alexandra Hendley
Presentation Format
Poster Presentation
Abstract/Description
With advertisements being all around us in the media and in magazines, messages flood into our everyday lives that can impact us both negatively and positively. Research prior to this involved how media has portrayed women and their weight loss as well as how they are looking at “skinniness” and body type. This as well as overall effects of the media in the food world were among many that have been studied. For my research, I wanted to look at the overall targeting of weight loss and health within magazines not as much as the idea of weight loss as described by society. In focusing on magazine advertisements, I wanted to observe the impact of these advertisements in portraying health and wellness as well as the gender targeting of these advertisements. I compared two different types of magazines and coded their advertisements within them. I looked at mainly the color scheme, the wording and literary devices used, the fonts, as well as if there was a plug within the advertisement that pointed towards health and wellness by using the said product. With many of them having no models and only products, this became an interesting take on the advertisements. In my findings, most of the advertisements could be labeled as more feminine and geared towards the female audience, even with some magazines not being under the category of “health magazines”, most of the advertisements were still geared towards weight loss and healthiness.
Keywords: magazine, advertisements, weight loss, healthiness, gender
Spring Scholars Week 2020 Event
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Weight Loss and Healthiness: How Advertisements Target this Phenomenon
With advertisements being all around us in the media and in magazines, messages flood into our everyday lives that can impact us both negatively and positively. Research prior to this involved how media has portrayed women and their weight loss as well as how they are looking at “skinniness” and body type. This as well as overall effects of the media in the food world were among many that have been studied. For my research, I wanted to look at the overall targeting of weight loss and health within magazines not as much as the idea of weight loss as described by society. In focusing on magazine advertisements, I wanted to observe the impact of these advertisements in portraying health and wellness as well as the gender targeting of these advertisements. I compared two different types of magazines and coded their advertisements within them. I looked at mainly the color scheme, the wording and literary devices used, the fonts, as well as if there was a plug within the advertisement that pointed towards health and wellness by using the said product. With many of them having no models and only products, this became an interesting take on the advertisements. In my findings, most of the advertisements could be labeled as more feminine and geared towards the female audience, even with some magazines not being under the category of “health magazines”, most of the advertisements were still geared towards weight loss and healthiness.
Keywords: magazine, advertisements, weight loss, healthiness, gender