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Cited by 12Impact of Technology on AdolescentsEating Disorders and BehaviorsBody Image and Dysmorphia Studies

Body perception and frequency of exposure to advertising on social networks among adolescents

Open access
Feijoo, Beatriz, Cambronero-Saiz, Belén, Miguel-San-Emeterio, Begoña·2023·El Profesional de la información
DOI 10.3145/epi.2023.may.18
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Abstract

The marketing actions of influencers promoting unhealthy targeted products can aggravate the problem of childhood obesity and thus generate self-esteem problems. The influence of exposure to this type of sponsored content can also have an effect on the emotional well-being of adolescents. This is the context of this study, which seeks to analyze the relationship between exposure to food or body care advertising on social networks (YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok) of adolescents and their perception of their physical appearance. Online surveys were distributed between April and June 2022 to 1,055 adolescents aged 11-17 years and residing in Spain. The main results show that 16- and 17-year-olds have a heavier figure as an ideal reference, but they are also the group that presents the thinnest evaluation of their current figure. Their level of satisfaction is the lowest compared with the rest of the age groups, and they attach greater importance to the social role of a good physical appearance. Thus, exposure to advertising by influencers on social networks is directly related to lower satisfaction with their bodies. This assessment is based not so much on individual reasons related to health or personal well-being, but rather on fundamentally social reasons, and considers that physical appearance is a determining factor for social success. Therefore, it is advisable to study in more detail the beliefs that directly affect adolescents’ self-esteem to improve their critical competence in the face of this idealized content.

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Crossref · 10.3145/epi.2023.may.18

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  • The analyzed effects of TikTok use included increased body image concerns and self-esteem issues.

    “The analyzed effects encompassed lower life satisfaction [79], increased depressive symptoms [68], higher levels of anger and loneliness [72], risk of PTU [69, 83, 84], increased body image concerns, and self-esteem issues [42, 70, 80], as well as the rapid spreading of functional tic-like behaviors [76, 77].”

    From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [80]

    Section 3.1.2 reports that exposure to advertising on TikTok was associated with lower body satisfaction among adolescents. The study examined advertising exposure, not TikTok use generally, and did not measure self-esteem; the Discussion describes self-esteem problems as a possible consequence identified in prior research. Page numbers were not provided in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • Most of the review's studies reported negative effects of food-, diet- or weight-related contents on body image, increasing in users the perceived importance of their physical appearance to others.

    “most of the review’s studies reported negative effects of food-, diet- or weight-related contents on body image [42, 71], increasing in users the perceived importance of their physical appearance to others [80].”

    From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [80]

    Section 3.1.2 reports that adolescents’ exposure to food and body-care advertising on social networks correlates positively with the importance they assign to how others perceive their appearance. The cited paper studied adolescents and reports an association, not that the content caused this perceived importance to increase among users generally. The citation [80] attaches to this latter point, not to the preceding claim about most studies in the review. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Four of the included studies assessed wellbeing indicators, like creativity, innovation, life satisfaction, and health habits, while sixteen assessed mental disorder indicators such as depression, anxiety, stress or body image issues.

    “Four of the studies [68, 75, 79, 80] assessed wellbeing indicators, like creativity, innovation, life satisfaction, and health habits, while sixteen assessed mental disorder indicators such as depression, anxiety, stress or body image issues [42, 67, 68, 70–73, 76–79, 81–85].”

    From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [80]

  • Eleven studies used self-developed questionnaires for outcome evaluation, of which only six paired it with standardized measures.

    “Eleven studies used self-developed questionnaires for outcome evaluation [42, 67–72, 74, 80–82], of which only six paired it with standardized measures [67–69, 71, 72, 80, 81].”

    From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [80]

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Authors
Feijoo, B., Cambronero-Saiz, B., & Miguel-San-Emeterio, B.
Affiliations
  • Universidad Internacional de La Rioja
  • Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (ES)
ORCID
Venue
El Profesional de la información
Publisher
Ediciones Profesionales de la Informacion SL
Published
2023-06-03
ISSN
  • 1386-6710 (ISSN-L)
  • 1699-2407
DOI
10.3145/epi.2023.may.18
OpenAlex
W4379206933
Cited by
12
References
50
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 3
FWCI
5.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • El Profesional de la Informacion (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Re-Unir (International University of La Rioja) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies
Keywords
body perception, body image, adolescents, social media advertising, influencer marketing, sponsored content, food advertising, self-esteem, childhood obesity, ideal body image, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok

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