Disclaimer labels on fashion magazine advertisements: Does timing of digital alteration information matter?

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate whether a message informing readers about digital alteration read before exposure to thin ideal advertisements would enhance the effectiveness of disclaimer labels. Participants were 280 female undergraduate students who viewed eleven thin ideal fashion magazine advertisements. Half viewed the advertisements in their original format, and half viewed the same advertisements with a digital alteration disclaimer label. Prior to viewing the advertisements, participants read either a brief message informing them that advertisements are commonly digitally altered, or a control message. Irrespective of experimental condition, exposure to the thin ideal advertisements led to increased body dissatisfaction, with social comparison predicting this increase. Neither the disclaimer label nor the pre-exposure message, nor their combination, led to reductions in perceived realism, social comparison, or body dissatisfaction. However, trait appearance comparison moderated the effect of pre-exposure message on perceived realism, such that women high on trait appearance comparison in the digital alteration pre-exposure message condition rated the models as relatively more realistic than did women low on this trait. It was concluded that more research is needed to identify brief and easy-to-implement universal prevention strategies that can reduce the negative effects of thin ideal media imagery on women's body image.

Social media is not real life: The effect of attaching disclaimer-type labels to idealized social media images on women’s body image and mood

“…The underlying rationale behind the use of disclaimers is that by informing viewers that the image is unrealistic, the models will be less of a relevant comparison target. By extension, viewers will engage in fewer upward comparisons, serving to diminish the negative body image outcomes that arise from exposure to such idealized images (Bury et al, 2017; Paraskeva et al, 2017).…”

Labelling fashion magazine advertisements: Effectiveness of different label formats on social comparison and body dissatisfaction

“…Experimental manipulation: Label type. Participants viewed a set of 15 fashion magazine advertisements that had been shown by Bury et al (2017) to evoke increased body dissatisfaction. All advertisements were for fashion related items, such as clothes, accessories, and perfume, and were initially sourced from locally available popular women's fashion magazines, such as Cleo, Marie Claire, and Vogue.…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, only two relatively small studies (Harmon & Rudd, 2016;Slater, Tiggemann, Firth, & Hawkins, 2012) have shown positive effects relative to a no label condition. In contrast, a growing number of studies have now found that disclaimers of digital alteration attached to fashion images confer no positive protective effect for body image (Ata, Thompson, & Small, 2013;Bury, Tiggemann, & Slater, 2016a,b, 2017Frederick, Sandhu, Scott, & Akbari, 2016;Tiggemann, Brown, Zaccardo, & Thomas, 2017;Tiggemann, Slater, Bury, Hawkins, & Firth, 2013).…”

The effect of exposure to thin models and digital modification disclaimers on women's body satisfaction

“…For example, Tiggemann and Brown () tested a range of disclaimer label types but found that none of them affected body dissatisfaction. This lack of effectiveness of disclaimer labels in reducing body dissatisfaction may be due to the finding that disclaimers may not reduce social comparison (Bury et al, ).…”

“…Several countries have begun to consider public health initiatives intended to reduce the effects of idealised thin images in advertising. For example, Israel, France and Australia have passed laws requiring advertisements to include disclaimers noting when images have been digitally altered (Bury, Tiggemann, & Slater, 2017;Krawitz, 2014). The objective of this social policy is to notify viewers that the model's appearance is unrealistic, thereby reducing the likelihood that the model will be seen as a target for social comparison, which can lead to reduced body satisfaction (Tiggemann, Slater, Bury, Hawkins, & Firth, 2013).…”