JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Fitspiration is online content that shows idealized bodies as desirable and achievable through exercise, accompanied by text that often implies that exercise is hard work but needed to achieve an appearance ideal. In contrast, the bopo social media trend is related to body positivity and was created in part as a reaction to the limited representations of beauty portrayed by fitspiration. There are questions regarding the mechanisms through which fitspiration or bopo may influence consumers. It is also possible that the images and text contained in these social may have different effects. Therefore, this research was designed to investigate both fitspiration and bopo images and text. Also, because the purported purpose of fitspiration and some bopo are to inspire people to exercise, this research investigated their effects on intentions to exercise.

Objective:

This research tested the effects of fitspiration images, fitspiration text, fitspiration images with text, bopo images, bopo text, and bopo images with text on implicit body image, explicit attitudes, and believability, and examined relationships to exercise intentions. Fitspiration-related cognitive errors were examined as a possible moderator of the relationships.

Methods:

Women aged 18 – 30 years (N = 460) completed a questionnaire measure of fitspiration-related cognitive errors and then viewed condition-specific stimuli, and rated them on likeability (explicit attitudes). After viewing the stimuli, participants completed measures of implicit body image, believability, intentions, and demographics.

Results:

The fitspiration images with text were rated lower on explicit attitudes and believability compared to every other condition, all ps < .001; Cohen’s d range: .69 - 1.55. The bopo images were rated as more believable than stimuli from every other condition all ps < .001; Cohen’s d range: .66 - 1.55. Participants with low (effect = -.28 [SE = .13], lower level confidence interval = -.56, upper level confidence interval = -.04) and mean levels of ) fitspiration-related cognitive errors (effect = -.18 [SE = .09], lower level confidence interval = -.38, upper level confidence interval = -.02, who reported disliking the fitspiration images with text, had greater intention to exercise. Conversely, participants with the lowest fitspiration-related cognitive errors who reported liking the bopo images more, reported greater intention to exercise, (effect = .15 [SE = .08], lower level confidence interval = .02, upper level confidence interval = .33).

Conclusions:

Interventions to reduce the negative impacts of Fitspiration among women prone to making fitspiration-related cognitive errors are needed. By contrast, the bopo images alone were the most positively received, thus supporting previous research indicating that the text included in bopo may still have negative effects. Clinical Trial: Not applicable