It’s a Thin World After All: The Influence of Media on Body Image and Its Cross Cultural Implications on International Marketing

The influence of media on body image is an area of much social controversy. Eating disordersand depression have often been linked to body image dissatisfaction. Research from Australia,The Netherlands and Singapore showed that the cognitive and affective evaluations of mediaand advertising are far more important than the amount of exposure. Although it appears thatreactions to internet media are most salient. Research suggested three models of the developmentof body image. In Australia this was demographics, media and personality based model, while inThe Netherlands this was a largely media driven model. The Singapore results suggested a moretraditional model of demographics and personality. The results also show a similarity in the levelof body image satisfaction amongst two countries in the study (Australia and Singapore) eventhough they had differing different average body mass indices. This supports contentions in theliterature that concern over physical self-concepts are becoming prevalent in Asia as the result offurther globalisation. Suggestions for future research, particularly using an experimental designare also outlined.