health’and’diet’industry’marketing:’’ an’analysisof’its’’impact’on ... ·...
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Health and Diet Industry Marketing: An Analysis of its’ Impact on
Professional Women
A thesis submitted to the Bucerius/WHU Master of Law and Business Program in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Master of Law and Business (“MLB”) Degree
Lindsay Doris Turner
July 25, 2014
14,935 words Supervisor 1: Professor Tillmann Wagner
Supervisor 2: Christian Troebs
I
Table of Contents
Table of Contents......................................................................................................................I Table of Figures .....................................................................................................................III Abstract ......................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1....................................................................................................................................2 Introduction..............................................................................................................................2 Theories Supporting that Marketing Influences Women..........................................5 Social Learning Theory.................................................................................................................. 5 Social Cognitive Theory ................................................................................................................. 6 Objectification Theory ................................................................................................................... 7 Diffusion Theory .............................................................................................................................. 7
Literature Review ...................................................................................................................9 Consumer Behavior – Decision Making Process .................................................................. 9 Marketing Strategy........................................................................................................................12 Motivation -‐ Leveraging Emotions.......................................................................................................15
Purchasing and Integration of Diets .......................................................................................18 Chapter 2................................................................................................................................. 21 Research Methodology....................................................................................................... 21 Respondents....................................................................................................................................21 Design of Study ...............................................................................................................................21 Demographics ...............................................................................................................................................21 Work Related Questions...........................................................................................................................21 Media.................................................................................................................................................................21 Dieting ..............................................................................................................................................................22 Physical Activity...........................................................................................................................................22 Other Health and Diet Related Topics ................................................................................................22 Ideal Body Image and level of Body Satisfaction ...........................................................................23
Procedure.........................................................................................................................................23 Chapter 3................................................................................................................................. 24 Study Results ......................................................................................................................... 24 Quantitative Analysis: ..................................................................................................................24 Demographics ...............................................................................................................................................24 Work Related Questions...........................................................................................................................25 Media.................................................................................................................................................................26 Dieting ..............................................................................................................................................................28 Physical Activity...........................................................................................................................................31 Other Health and Diet Related Topics ................................................................................................33 Level of Body Satisfaction and Ideal Body Image..........................................................................34
Discussion of the Results ................................................................................................... 37 Qualitative Analysis ......................................................................................................................37 Work Related Topics ....................................................................................................................37 Impact of Media..............................................................................................................................39 Dieting ...............................................................................................................................................41 Physical Activity.............................................................................................................................42 Other Health and Diet Related Topics ....................................................................................42
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Ideal Body Image and Level of Body Satisfaction ...............................................................44 Limitations of the study...............................................................................................................46
Chapter 4................................................................................................................................. 47 Solutions to this Negative Phenomenon ................................................................................47 Professional Women ..................................................................................................................................47 Health and Diet Industry ..........................................................................................................................48
New Era that is Gaining Momentum........................................................................................49 Chapter 5................................................................................................................................. 51 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................51
APPENDIX A............................................................................................................................ 53 Appendix B ............................................................................................................................. 54 Online Survey Questions .............................................................................................................54
Works Cited............................................................................................................................ 57
III
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Social Learning Theory .....................................................................................5 Figure 2: Social Cognitive Theory ....................................................................................6 Figure 3: Decision Making Process ..................................................................................9 Figure 4: External Sources of Consumer Behavior.......................................................11 Figure 5: Various Covers of Fitness and SHAPE Fitness Magazines ............................16 Figure 6: Facts and Figures of the Diet and Health Industry in 2012.........................19 Figure 8: Age range Percentage of Survey Respondents .............................................24 Figure 7: Percent of Education Level of Survey Participants ......................................24 Figure 9: Types of Magazines Purchased by Survey Respondents .............................27 Figure 10: Percentage of Survey Respondents who have been on a Diet ..................29 Figure 11: Percentage of Responses Indicating Healthy Calorie Intake for Women.29 Figure 12: Respondents Opinions on the Difference Between Dieting and Eating
Health .......................................................................................................................30 Figure 13: Percentage Survey Respondents Impression of the Health and Diet
Industry....................................................................................................................31 Figure 14: Survey Respondents Means of Motivation to Workout .............................32 Figure 15: Level of Body Satisfaction of Survey Respondents ....................................34 Figure 16: Desired Body Type of Survey Respondents................................................36
1
Abstract
Women are relentlessly bombarded with marketing, mainly by means of
media, advertisements, magazines and commercials, in the diet and health industry,
conveying influential messages to women. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze
the effects of marketing in the diet and health industry has on professional women.
Western professional participants (N=82) from the United States of America and
Germany voluntarily completed an online survey (“the survey”). Consistent with
previous research on the negative impact of body type ideals and mass marketing
influences, it is postulated that marketing messages received by professional
women in the health and diet industry have an overall negative impact in
professional women’s physical and mental well-‐being. By analyzing responses of
the online survey, a qualitative analysis was conducted; indicating that marketing in
the health and diet industry does have an overall negative impact on professional
women’s physical and psychological well-‐being, however, converse to previous
research, the negative effects are more prevalent in older professional women than
in younger professional women. Expanding on the fundamental analysis provides
for a secondary purpose of this study; examining the correlation and impact the
thin ideal in Western Society has on the diet and health industry, sequentially
impacting emotional and physical consciousness of the overwhelming gender-‐
specific marketing messages delivered to professional women. Fundamental and
relevant theories, literature reviews and concepts of marketing will be explained
and examined, and possible solutions to the negative affects as well as significant
limitations of the study will be indicated.
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Chapter 1
Introduction
While there have been comprehensive studies dedicated to the effects the
socialized western ideal of thinness represented in the mass media, has on young
women, there has been an inadequate amount of research analyzing the effects it
has on professional women, primarily in the diet and health industry. “Professional
Women” is defined in this thesis as women who have [or is obtaining] a higher
degree of education or specialized training and/or has a career relating to the
specialized education or training. The survey conveys a number of interesting
observations about the interplay of economic, social and cultural forces and their
influence on women's self-‐image, physical and psychological health. In general,
exposure of the diet and health industry through various means of marketing
strategies, schemes, and promotions has an effect on the professional consumers
reasonableness and behavior to purchase, their self-‐image satisfaction, and physical
and emotional stability. The significant association of the health industry together
with the diet industry creates an indistinguishable difference to the consumers
resulting in women misinterpreting information, while being misinformed by
companies through product misrepresentation.
Women constantly evaluate and compare themselves to the gender-‐specific
ideals conveyed to them by society (Thompson, 1999). The mass media has a
substantial effect on societies perception of the female body image ideal, using
objectification of women in advertisements to sell product solutions for those who
do not fit within the scope of the modern socialized thin ideal. Marketing experts in
the diet industry use their understanding of consumer decision-‐making and
behavior to convince women through advertisements to purchase product solutions
such as diets regimens, “health” routines, or pills to improve the "failed bodies" that
do not match the thin ideal. The quick fix products are attractive and appealing to
busy professional women who want products that will benefit their physical
appearance the most, with minimal effort and impact on their daily routine. The
powerful messages received through the media and advertisements in regards to
what beauty is and how to achieve it through physical appearance undermines true
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traits of a successful businesswoman and overall awareness of a healthy lifestyle.
Although women understand the difference between a healthy lifestyle and dieting,
women are willing to try unhealthy means of dieting to achieve the ideal thinness at
all costs due to the level of body dissatisfaction surfacing from marketed ideals and
diets. The affects of messages and objectification through marketing and a woman's
journey to thinness, result in negative consequences of physical and psychological
well-‐being.
The first postulation is that professional female consumers are influenced by
powerful messages received through different marketing schemes in the diet and
health industry, and that there is a significant relationship between health and diet
industry marketing and influences of consumer behavior, perception, motivation,
feelings and overall body-‐satisfaction. The second postulation expands the
framework of the negative impacts of Western ideal thinness in that as women age,
they become more dissatisfied with their body image due to the young and thin
models presented in various marketing schemes. Conducting a qualitative analysis
of the survey responses helped confirm the postulations mentioned above. Results
prove the first postulation to be true representing that there is a significant positive
correlation between various means of marketing such as shaming, and
misrepresenting product benefits to influence customers perception, subsequently
resulting in consumerism in the diet and health industry. Contrary to popular
research results, the second postulation was also proved to be true; indicating that
as women age, body dissatisfaction increases. The diet and health industry play a
key role in body-‐dissatisfaction by communicating diets to achieve the thin ideal for
profit maximization. Although younger professionals are faced with much pressure
to meet the standards of the western thin ideal, it is easier for younger women to
obtain thinness than it is for older women.
The findings of the study produced other noteworthy significant results. The
opinion of a successful woman in the eyes of professional women respondents
seems to mirror those of the western ideal portrayed in society. Results also
indicated that the majority of women believe the health and diet industry is
misinforms women in an unhealthy way. Nevertheless, even those who consider
themselves to be thin or average have been on diets before due to body
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dissatisfaction, particularly older women. Results represent a correlation between
advertisements and the desire to achieve self-‐image satisfaction by means of
dieting. Interestingly enough, instead of wanting to conform to the socialized thin-‐
deal, the majority of respondents indicated that they would like to have a ‘fit’ body
type rather than skinny. Additionally, many women felt depressed, guilty, fat and
shamed after being exposed to diet commercials, reading magazines, or being
exposed to diet adds, even those who consider themselves to be fit. Consequences
for fat shaming and negative advertisements through gender-‐specific marketing in
the diet and health industry are examined by the responses of professional
workingwomen in the survey. Solutions to a healthier lifestyle for professional
women consumers are indicated, and ways for evading misrepresentation and
misinformation about dieting and health are presented. Forecasting the new era of
fitness and health for marketers is introduced in order to create a competitive
advantage and a healthier diet and health industry environment.
Research conducted in this thesis through an online survey will enlarge the
previous studies and research on the effects of marketing and mass media have on
women, and will be used as a foundation for exploring a more specific market
segment of professional women seeking products in the health and diet industry.
The study will contribute to ‘marketing to women’ research based on significant
novelty, specifically in regards to older professional women. Gaining an
understanding of these results will elucidate the diet and health industries
psychological manipulation of educated professional women.
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Theories Supporting that Marketing Influences Women
Social Learning Theory
Albert Bandura suggested a developing and learning theory suggesting that
through means of observation of third persons, individuals can learn attitudes and
behaviors, Figure 3 (Bandura, 1977). The majority of behaviors that people exhibit
are learned intentionally or
unintentionally through the
engagement of examples (Bandura,
1977). Examples that influence
learning through modeling can include
behaviors being displayed in the
media, TV, movies, and magazines.
Many factors emphasize the Western
cultures’ concentrated fixation with
body image. A key component in
portraying the ideal body image is through mass media and marketing. Such aspects
of social significance of attractiveness represent a strong association between
attractiveness and apparent fitness, the linkage between physical appearances,
positive body perception, body satisfaction, self-‐worth and the association of
societal pressure to be successful and achieving the ideal appearance society values
(Rodin, 1993).
When models or celebrities who fit the thin ideal promote skinniness, like
internationally acknowledged model Kate Moss, who lives by the motto, “nothing
tastes as good as skinny feels” promotes skinniness at all costs (Selby, 2014),
instead of overall health, making it arduous for observers to learn proper behaviors
and attitudes about health and a balanced diet. The fervent importance of
appearance and thinness from society has rendered a concentrated obsession and
motivation to try nearly every weigh-‐loss method in order to achieve the socially
accepted thin ideal. These weight-‐loss methods are marketed through gender-‐
specific promotional mixes. Dieting materializes through all weight classes in
Figure 1: Social Learning Theory Source: Join ReCAPP Notes
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response to the influential socialized motivators (Rodin, 1993). The claim that
dieting materializes in all weight categories is confirmed by the results of the
survey.
Social Cognitive Theory
Social cognitive theory is a psychological model of behavior proposed by
Albert Bandura emphasizing that the human affects and actions are learned in
social contexts such as observation
of figurative principles and
communication, Figure 2 (Bandura,
2001). The socialized thoughts and
actions, such as the western thin-‐
ideal, have an impact on shaping
perspectives and one’s association
to social networks within society,
their motivation and direction of
self-‐reflection, and satisfaction
(Bandura, 2001). Expectations and perceptions of gender from adults and society
on the way a woman should look and act plays an exclusively important role in
shaping a woman’s brain circuit (Brennan, 2009). Women view the world
differently than men by processing information mentally and emotionally on a
deeper level (Brennan, 2009). Marketers in the health and diet industry have
leveraged this understanding by creating marketing strategies to lure females with
attractive images, descriptions, and emotionally moving gender-‐specific messages
by means of various promotional mixes to invoke needs and wants (Brennan,
2009). Marketers of the health and diet industry are communicating to consumers
by creating emotional connections often through shared experiences or through
campaigning both head and heart because “it is not what you say, it is how you say
it” (Brennan, 2009). These deep connections and messages influence the thoughts
and actions of women through subtle or not so subtle messages of dieting and
health.
Figure 2: Social Cognitive Theory Source: Vickie Cox Edmondson 2009
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Objectification Theory
The objectification theory is the occurrence of being treated as an object or a
body, through exclusion of individuality; division of person (Fredrickson, 1997).
The body is observed as a depiction of the woman, not her traits; facilitating the
construction of comparing the physical self to others (Fredrickson, 1997). The
objectification of the female body has clearly saturated the Western cultural
environment (Fredrickson, 1997), and is particularly distinguishable in the health
and diet industry. Through socialized means of objectification, women are taught
self-‐objectification by means of comparison via objectifying their physical
characteristics with those of others around them including subordinates, peers and
supervisors, in addition to those portrayed in the various promotional mixes
(Fredrickson, 1997). The process of observation creates a culturally socialized ideal
of what a woman is expected to look like. Indicating to women that physical
appearance is important in our culture (Fredrickson, 1997). Since western society
places a higher value on physical appearance than ability, more women strive to
look like the ideal woman usually by means of dieting or even plastic surgery. One
of the most extensive studies of physical attractiveness was conducted by Berscheid
and Walster, coining the phrase “what is beautiful is good” to summarize the trend
in which people correlate a considerable amount of positive characteristics with
physical attractiveness (Berscheid & Walster 1994). “Accordingly, physically
attractive women were evaluated as more kind, sensitive, sexually attractive,
responsive, interesting, strong, modest, socially skilled, and exciting than were
unattractive women and men” (Fallon, 1994).
Diffusion Theory
Many marketing companies in the health and diet industry refer to data
collected from the Market Research Corporation of America’s Nutritional Marketing
Information Services, which collects psychological information to develop a better
understanding and reach of the potential target market (Heimendinger, 1995). The
diffusion theory analyzes new ideas, products and social practices that are
communicated and spread within a society and among societies, focusing on how
behaviors can change (Heimendinger, 1995). Applying this model to the diet and
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health industry suggests that whether or not professional women adopt new diets
or health fads, will depend on if it meets their needs and wants. The most significant
example, if the products can be easily integrated into their lifestyle with minimal
effort but maximal benefits, it will be accepted; because it meets the needs and
wants of consumer (Heimendinger, 1995).
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Literature Review
Consumer Behavior – Decision Making Process
Figure 3: Decision Making Process Source: Tillmann, Consumer Behavior, slide 5.
The decision making process of professional women and influences on
consumer behavior from marketers in the health and diet industry will be further
detailed under the ‘Marketing Strategy’ section.
Problem Recognition and Motivation
Figure 3 above represents the decision making process and psychological
mechanisms that are involved in decision-‐making. Problem recognition is
determined as the initial stage when a consumer perceives a need and becomes
motivated to solve that need (Tillmann, 5). This is the first step in the consumer
decision-‐making process, which involves invoking needs of customers. There are
three types of needs according to the General Need Theory, which are both social
and non-‐social (Tillmann, 1). These needs include, functional needs, non-‐social are
needs fulfilling order, physical well being, and the social needs are fulfilled through
support and modeling (Tillmann, 11). In the health and diet industry functional
needs are identified as means of losing weight to accomplish the western thin ideal,
and to improve self-‐confidence and overall health all while having a support
network in the process. (2) Symbolic needs, non-‐social are needs of self-‐
determination and individuality, and the social needs refer to the needs of status,
affiliation, belonging and achievement (Tillmann, 11). These needs are identified in
the health and diet industry as achieving thinness and health, becoming more
10
assertive by fitting the socialized norm, affiliating oneself with the elite group. (3)
Hedonic needs are those where a customer receives pleasure from a product by
emotions; the social needs include reinforcement, relationships and sex and the
non-‐social needs include sensory stimulation, cognitive stimulation and novelty
(Tillmann, 11). Some of these needs in the health and diet industry these needs are
indicated as the product producing results of weight loss or health, in-‐turn
developing a deep passion for the product, and creating relationships while on the
journey of weight loss or health.
Marketing experts identify needs that correspond to the target group and
provoke them through various marketing avenues (Tillmann, 15). The first step of
achieving this is by triggering the psychological mechanism of motivation.
Motivation is an activated need, where cognition and emotion are involved
(Tillmann, 15). Elements of motivation are fundamental drivers, such as affect and
physiological drivers and the cognitive process that is a thought based rationality of
goal orientation and alternative actions (Tillman, 15). When a marketer successfully
triggers the consumers’ need, they produce high effort behavior, information
processing and decision-‐making (Tillmann, 16). However, in the diet and health
industry, motivation to purchase is normally triggered by the professional women
experiencing negative affects.
Information Search and Perception
The next step in the decision making process is the process of information
search and perception development. Women search for information internally or
externally (external sources illustrated in Figure 4) through personal sources and
experiences, networks, word-‐of-‐mouth, and marketing controlled sources such as
Internet, advertisements, articles and mass media (Tillmann, 21). Along with this
decision making step is the psychological mechanism of perception, where
consumers make sense of what they are being exposed to and creating emotions by
means of cognition (Tillmann, 22). The consumer will develop an attitude and
opinion about the product, which is imperative for companies, as this will
determine if the product will be purchased. Word-‐of-‐mouth is an important aspect
of this phase, as many women trust opinions of those in their networks or opinions
they read online. Many marketing strategies have taken advantage of social media
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as a form of sharing brand
information and spreading word of
mouth. Those who share
information by posts on Facebook,
for example, may receive product
incentives for sharing, which
improve perception.
Alternative Evaluation/attitude formation
Brand consideration is another important phase in the purchasing process
for companies because women are known to research and shop around before
making a purchasing decision. Marketing experts in the health and diet industry
have keened in on product attributes that attract women (Popcorn, 2000), such as
functional aspects of what the product will do for them objectively, psychosocial
aspects of the product, meaning how the product makes the consumer feel, and
values of safety and reliability (Tillmann, 47). When a professional woman is
evaluating her options, changing her attitude about your product is imperative to
getting the sale. Marketers in the health and diet industry do so by increasing belief
ratings through testimonials and stress the importance of product attributes.
According to a study from Deen, testimonials are the best marketing tools for selling
a product or a service in the diet and health industry (Deen, 2011). He said, “as long
as the testimonials are plausible (true or not), people are more quick to buy” (Deen,
2011). A mixture of being inspired by success stories is a mechanism of motivation
and the importance of functionality of the product highlight the benefits of the
product or service in comparison to their competitors (Popcorn, 2000).
When purchasing products, there are always risks involved, particularly in
the diet and health industry. These risks include, functional risk (if the product will
work), financial risk (expensive surgeries or dieting regimes), temporal risk (time
wasting), physical risk (risk of getting hurt or harmed), psychological risk,
(becoming addicted or obsessed), and social risk (risk of unpleasant consequences
arising from social things) (Tillmann, 55). Causes of risk may be from lack of
Figure 4: External Sources of Consumer Behavior Source: Tillman, Consumer Behavior, slide 82.
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information or misinformation, newness, and social norms and conventions
(Tillmann 56). The psychological risk in the health and diet industry is notably
significant for women consumers because “women secret less of the brain chemical
serotonin than men do, making them more vulnerable to depression, mood
disorders, and overeating” (Peek, 2005). Since food is closely tied to emotions, these
risk are high and evident in the diet and health industry, and will be illustrated in
the survey result discussion.
Purchase Decision and Integration
After evaluating and researching, the fourth step in the decision making
process is the purchasing decision and integrating the product into the consumers
life (Tillmann 5). This decision is based on the information gained in the previous
steps in the decision making process. Once the product is purchased and integrated,
the consumer can then evaluate it.
Post Purchase Evaluation and Learning
This is the last step in the consumer decision-‐making process where the
performance of the purchased products meets or exceeds the consumer’s
expectations. If performance and expectations are met, customer satisfaction is
created by conformation of perceptions and expectations (Tillmann 62). In general,
if a consumer is satisfied, the end result will be repurchasing intent,
recommendation, word-‐of-‐mouth and loyalty (Tillmann 63). Consequences
socialized satisfaction more prevalent with women consumers as social networks
are imperative to the lifestyle of professional women (Popcorn, 2000).
Marketing Strategy
Since women have been increasingly entering the workforce in the past
decade, professional women now have their own dispensable income, and they like
to spend it (Brennan, 2009). Women have large purchasing power, as they are the
purchaser 80% of the time, and many decisions a woman makes on a daily basis are
based off of marketing (Popcorn, 2000). To a large extent, much of marketing to
women is about understanding and meeting wants and needs, understanding their
behavior and creating strategies and campaigns based on what women value
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(Meyers, 1994). On a broader scope, women want to be successful and happy in life
and a culturally socialized element of achieving success and happiness is fitting the
Western socialized ideal female, which is a woman who is skinny, beautiful and
successful. The role of marketers in the diet and health industry is to leverage the
desire and motivation to fulfill needs of the most powerful consumer, professional
women (Wiseman, 2010).
When a woman has the motivation to purchase something, it is more than
likely that she saw the product or service by means of a promotional mix, or from
her network of friends and family (Meyer, 1994). Leveraging the wants and needs
of the professional women by invoking them through problem recognition and
instilling motivation to purchase a product or service that fulfills the invoked needs
is imperative for a successful marketing strategy. “Women want a brand to extend
into their lives in as many ways as possible. They want a brand to speak to their
heads and their hearts. To understand them. To recognize their needs, values,
standards, and dreams” (Popcorn, 2000). The health, fitness and diet revolution
provide opportunities for marketers to capitalize on making the customer recognize
clear benefits of change, such as improving the customer’s physical appearance
through dieting (Brennan, Bridget 2009).
Needs Invoked by Problem Recognition and Motivation
Western society and the diet industry have influenced the expectations of
professional women and created a multibillion-‐dollar diet and health industry by
creating products and services that help them reach these expectations. Women
who are working, married and have families are expected to be superwoman. This
includes organizing everything for the family before work, going to work, picking
up the kids after work, working again at home doing laundry, cooking dinner and
ensuring the kids are taken care of.
Jamie, a 40 year old wife and mother of two kids working as a Manager at a
commercial real estate firm sums up her life as such:
I feel like I’ve had a full day of work before I even get to work. As a working mom, I almost feel like an athlete in training. During the Olympics, the reporters always talk about how the athletes trained every day for 10 years starting at four o’ clock in the morning, and
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everyone wonders how they did it […] I’m like a professional athlete, just without the perfect body (Brennan, 2009).
Jamie is a representation of many professional women in Western society.
She is whom companies and marketers of diet industries are imagining; Jamie as
the consumer, a woman who barley has time for herself (Brennan, 2009). Food
manufactures like Luna energy bars, Activia yogurt, Lean Cuisine, and Yoplait 100
calorie yogurt accommodate the busy schedules of working women (single and
married) through easy diet supplements, on-‐the-‐go shakes, and pre-‐packed foods
such as 100-‐calorie packs and healthy choice microwavable meals (Brennan, 2009).
Most Americans say they find it complicated to find time to exercise and eat right;
helping women solve their time conundrum is the key to get them to buy your
product (Brennan, 2009). Stouffer’s Lean Cuisine revolutionized the market for
frozen foods, meeting the needs of women seeking quick and easy meals that are
low in calories, but still with great taste (Martin, 1990). These companies have
embraced the different roles women play in their every day life. What the product
or service can do to improve every aspect of their life and in what way is most
important. These products and other diet programs and services recognized the
needs of women and created products with practical benefits that make a woman’s
life easier, and have a large impact on everyday life without having to give up things
in return (Brennan, 2009). “If what you are offering does not enhance her life, her
work, or her family’s life, then you are wasting her time” (Brennan, 2009).
Needs of Older Women
According to a study of the North American Association for the Study of
Obesity, women tend to gain weight between ages of 40-‐60 (Peeke, 2005). For this
reason, many older professionals look to the diet and health industry to lose the
extra pounds. Results from the survey show surprising results in regards to the
marketing effects of the diet and health industry on older women in comparison to
younger women. A positive and successful fitness company targeting consumers
over the age of forty is Curves. They use encouraging positive messages of health
and wellness (Brennan, 2009). Curves has created a successful brand where women
can connect and empower each other in a positive environment. Bonding over the
15
brand, finding friends within it, forming clubs and communities around the brand
(Popcorn, 2000).
In 2006, Unilever’s Dove brand did a study on aging and perceptions of
beauty, concluding that 91 percent of women ages fifty to sixty-‐four wanted to see
average and realistic women in the media and in advertisements over the ages of
fifty (Brennan, 2009). The participants mentioned that they are so seasoned to look
at unrealistic touched up pictures of already beautiful young models, people fail to
remember it does not represent reality (Brennan, 2009). Consumers want to look
at images that make them feel beautiful not guilty or ashamed of their body.
Nonetheless, flawless images are the norm of how the majority of the media
manipulates and influences women consumers to purchase, by means of guilt
instead of encouragement.
Motivation - Leveraging Emotions
“Advertising has always positioned stereotypes in the context of cultural
trends” (Meyers, 1994). Since the fading out of size 12 pop culture icon, Marilyn
Monroe in 1950, size 0 Twiggy in the 1960’s, has been and currently still is society’s
ideal body type of a beautiful woman; though less than 5 percent of the female
population can achieve this weight (Low, 2003). Skinniness is beauty, and beauty is
physical attraction.
Figure 5 represents various covers of SHAPE Magazine and Fitness Magazine,
both health and fitness magazines for women. On every cover, there is a young,
physically attractive, fit white female with various headlines such as, “drop a jeans
size”, “4 Weeks to Your Best Beach Body”, “Drop 10 Lbs. Fast!”. When women see
more attractive women, or ads that generate desires, emotional feelings of needs
are triggered. The formula for traditional media in the women’s health, diet and
fitness industry is simple: Great headlines + attractive picture of a half naked
woman + great ad company = Profit (Deen, 2011).
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Motivation through Positive Advertisement Campaigns
Research shows that if a woman receives a positive experience or a positive
emotional appeal from an ad, the consumer is more inclined to purchase it
(Brennan, 2009). “Women respond to messages about improving, as they consider
themselves a work in progress” (Brennan, 2009). Women are on a continuous
quest to be happier and healthier. Some marketing strategies, like Gold’s Gym
campaign, “Know Your Own Strength,” triggers a sense of motivation and
connection both mentally and emotionally. This message encourages women to
improve themselves internally and externally. This is a positive marketing
campaign showing women that the only reason to workout is not just to lose weight
and achieve the ideal thinness, rather to feel strong psychologically and physically
(Brennan, 2009).
When Weight Watchers first started, it turned dieting into a positive
experience for women through groups of passionate women meeting and sharing
their journeys and stories, becoming each other’s motivation, acting parallel as a
support group (Popcorn, 2000). However, the company switched focuses when
Heinz bought the company, turning it into more of a food provider than a service
provider (Popcorn, 2000). This altered the culture of Weight Watchers, where sales
Figure 4: Various Covers of Fitness and SHAPE Fitness Magazines Source: Google Image Search
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of the diet food products were more important than the service (Popcorn, 2000).
Even still, many loyal customers stuck with the brand during its’ phase of focusing
on the weight number instead of the support mechanism.
“In the end, it is about building and supporting a community of women—a
healthy place where your brand is a prominent helpful, active, fully contributing
member” (Popcorn, 2000). The company must also ensure that value and
functionality are unbroken.
Motivation through Negative Advertisement Campaigns
Companies in the diet and health industry such as Yoplait convince women
that their 100-‐calorie yoghurt is a healthier alternative by triggering emotions via
manipulation, guilting and shaming. Yoplait Yoghurts’ marketing campaign in the
USA for 100-‐calorie yoghurt convinces women that it is the perfect healthy
snack/meal replacement for professional women on the run (Stampler, 2011). In
2011, Yoplait aired a commercial for its’ 100 calorie yoghurt with a thin woman
standing in front of a fridge containing cake and a 100 calorie yoghurt,
contemplating with herself if she earned eating desert. Instead of feeling guilty
about eating a slice of cake, she chose to eat the 100-‐calorie desert. This marketing
campaign sends a message to women that they should be conscious and guilty
about what she eats, rather than making them feel confident in their choices, they
are shaming them (Gilman, 2008). This commercial was pulled from the air when
the National Eating Disorder Association said that the ad promoted eating disorder
behavior (Stampler, 2011). According to a study in Australia, 19 percent of
surveyor’s observed that Yoplait used fear and guilt as marketing techniques in
their advertisements (Jones, 2008).
Information Search and Perception by Connecting and Network Channels
Relationships with other females play a significant role in a woman’s life.
When women connect, there is a positive physiological reaction women experience,
which means positive emotions are awakened (Brennan, 2009). For example,
women trust and feel emotionally connected to celebrity Oprah Winfrey, “she is a
woman that relates to women of every demographic through affirmation, self-‐
disclosure, and through compliments”(Brennan, 2009). In 1988 Oprah endorsed a
18
liquid protein diet she used to drop extreme amounts of weight, becoming “Oprah,
the diet buddy”, leveraging the trust and connection so women will purchase
(Popcorn, 2000). Her trusted opinion helps women justify their purchasing
decision. Companies like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig have realized that
leveraging third-‐party endorsements from trusted sources like singer Jordan
Sparks, and actress Kristie Alley, and Queen Latifah is more valuable than regular
advertising because women trust celebrity sources (Brennan, 2009).
According to a study in early 2000, “women are three times as likely as men
to learn about a product from another woman” (Popcorn, 2000). Women talk about
products throughout their private networks such as family, friends and coworkers
and it eventually spreads to more public networks like social media such as
Facebook and Instagram. Blogging and other forms of social media is a way for
women to connect and share information and opinions with people from around
the world, and it has become a source for women to learn about new diets and
trends from women alike. Diet companies are “leveraging the word-‐of mouth power
that women consumers have, because if women are happy with your business, they
are delighted to tell people they know”(Brennan, 2009). Results from the survey
show the importance of word-‐of-‐mouth for the diet and health industry, as many of
the women who have been on diets indicated that they learned about it through
their network.
Purchasing and Integration of Diets
Dieting has become an activity the greater part of women in Western society
has partaken in at many points in their lifetime. According to a study done in 1996,
50 percent of American women are currently dieting at any given time (Schneider,
1996). Figure 6 below represent key facts and figures of the diet industry. 45
percent of women are currently using diets in order to lose weight, and 35 percent
of men and women are trying to maintain their weight with diets,, and the average
person tries dieting 4-‐6 times in a year; proving that diets do not produce lasting
results (Gillespie, 2012). Respectively, a massive health and dieting industry has
developed to meet the wants and demands of consumers wishing to lose weight or
maintain their current weight.
19
There is a 98 percent failure rate when attempting to lose weight with diets
such as; low-‐calorie, low-‐fat, low-‐carbohydrate, and even surgical operations
(Gilman, 2008). Singer Nina Bennet, claimed that the diet industry did not help her,
as she battled cycles of dieting, losing weight and then regaining weight, then
dieting again (Atherton, 2012). She said, “I think for women your appearance is so
much sewn up in your worth; if you're not conforming to the thin ideal then the diet
industry is just lurking in the background waiting to prey on that insecurity"
(Atherton, 2012). The industry relies on this failure, causing consumers to attempt
another diet. If diets produced long-‐term effects, the industry would no longer exist
(Atherton, 2012).
Figure: Fact:
$20 Billion The annual revenue of the U.S. weight-‐loss industry,
including diet books, diet drugs and weight loss surgeries
108 Million The number of people on diets in the US. Dieters average 4-‐5
attempts per year
85% Of customers consuming weight-‐loss products and services
are female
$500,000-‐$3 Million Average salary paid to celebrity endorsers of major weight
loss programs (Oprah, Jennifer Hudson, Jessica Simpson)
Figure 5: Facts and Figures of the Diet and Health Industry in 2012 Source: ABC News Network, 8 May 2012
David Gillespie, a Lawyer who wrote Big Fat Lies: How the Diet Industry Is Making
You Sick, Fat and Poor stated:
The sad truth is that people like you and me are uniquely vulnerable in a world of chronic disease caused by ‘improvements’ to our food supply. A choice between cooperate profit today and your health in three decades is no choice to a drug or food company […] Vitamins and minerals are a waste of money and dangerous. Sugar makes us fat and sick […] The evidence for all of these statements is abundant and unequivocal, but you won’t hear anyone in the food and diet industry tell you so. If they did, it would have an immediate impact on their sales (Gillespie, 2012).
20
Objectification of physical appearance allocates value on women according
to socialized physical standards. Eventually, women become obsessed about trying
to transform themselves through various diet fads, beauty products, cosmetics,
plastic surgery or even self-‐destructive unhealthy habits. In 1991 alone, $33 billion
were spent in the diet industry, and $300 million on cosmetic surgery (Wolf, 1991).
Women want to look like the ideal woman society tells them they should look like,
and the images presented in the health and diet industry. The economy would
suffer a large profit decrease in the health and diet industry if marketing such
products was no longer effective (Wolf, 1991).
21
Chapter 2
Research Methodology
Respondents
A total of 82 professional females completed the survey. The level of
education within the respondents and age were roughly uniformly dispersed. The
“main segment” is represented by those professionals aged 18-‐44 and the “sub-‐
segment” is represented by those professionals aged 45-‐74.
Design of Study The objective of the survey was to represent the effect of the health and diet
industry marketing has on professional women, and to examining their overall
opinion of self and the role marketing plays in the lives of professional women
respondents. The survey was broken down into seven different sections: (1)
Demographics, (2) Work related questions, (3) media, (4) dieting, (5) Physical
Activity, (6) other health and diet related topics, and (7) ideal body image and level
of body satisfaction.
Demographics
Respondents were required to provide demographics such as ethnicity,
country of residence, gender, age, height, and education level.
Work Related Questions
In order to conclude that the female respondent is considered a professional
female, questions related to work were asked. In addition, the respondents were
asked about physical appearance in the workplace to infer a correlation between
marketing exposure and opinion of physical appearance in the workplace.
Media
Respondents were asked to provide information on magazines they
read/purchase, what health or fitness mobile phone apps they use, if the media
influences their perception of the appearance of a successful woman, and their
22
overall impression of the health and diet industry for women. Information provided
in regards to media facilitates the capacity to analyze impacts the media has on
professional women.
Dieting
Respondents were required to provide information on dieting. If the
respondent had been on a diet(s) before, and if so, what diets, the reason they
selected these diets, and where they learned about them. Results from these
questions provide data to analyze how many times the respondents have tried a
diet, and their information search to create perception. Moreover, respondents
provided information on calories, feedback on their opinion of the amount of
calories a woman should eat on a daily basis to stay healthy. Lastly, respondents
were asked to provide their opinion on the difference between dieting and eating
healthy in their opinion. The results of these questions provide detailed information
of the information the health and diet industry markets to women and their
perception of healthy eating habits and overall health.
Physical Activity
To measure the respondents level of physical activity and motivation, they
were asked if they workout on a monthly basis, how often, and what types of
physical activity, and what motivated them to workout. Analyzing responses to this
section will provide feedback to the underlining motivation of physical activities
related to diet, exercise and health.
Other Health and Diet Related Topics
Respondents were ask if they felt motivated to workout or start a diet after
being exposed to marketing schemes such as health/diet magazines, saw a diet or
advertising commercial, or if they feel obligated to workout or limit food intake
after eating a lot of junk food/unhealthy things. The evaluation is a good indication
of how (or if) exposure to various marketing strategies impact purchasing decisions
and overall affect. Respondents provided their opinion about the research
indicating that young, beautiful and skinny women are professionally more
23
successful, to describe their ideal “picture perfect successful woman” and to
describe how the media describes the “picture perfect woman”.
Based off of responses from this section, it can be identified how the Western
socialized thin ideal has shaped and morphed the mentality, motivation, emotions
and opinion of professional women, the motivation to workout and overall roles in
society.
Ideal Body Image and level of Body Satisfaction
In order to calculate levels of body satisfaction, respondents provided their
ideal body, opinion of their current body, and level of satisfaction of their current
body. From the responses, an analysis can be conducted to see if there is a
correlation between perceived physical appearance of oneself, body dissatisfaction,
ideal body image and observing the distance from the ideal body to that of their
stated body shape. One can also conclude if there is an age gap between perception
of the ideal body image and body satisfaction.
Procedure
Respondents of the study voluntarily responded to an online survey via
Survey Monkey (refer to Appendix B to view survey questions). The survey was
posted and shared via a link on the social media platform, Facebook. Respondents
were informed before starting the survey about the nature of the survey. The
survey comprised of 36 questions in total, some respondents did not have to
answer all questions depending on how the previous question was answered. The
responses were analyzed using the tools, graphs, and calculations provided by
Survey Monkey, in addition to filtering a master data collection in Microsoft Excel.
24
Chapter 3
Study Results
Quantitative Analysis:
Demographics
82 females participated in the online survey provided by Survey Monkey.
The ages of the respondents can be
seen in Figure 8. 15.9 percent were
aged 18-‐24, 25.6 percent aged 25-‐34,
14.6 percent aged 35-‐44, 17 percent
aged 45-‐54, 17 percent aged 55-‐64
and 9.8 percent aged 65-‐74. The
samples are 86.6 percent
White/Caucasian, 3.7 percent
Asian/Pacific Islander, 3.7 percent
Hispanic, and 4.88 percent chose “other” or
are of multiple ethnicities. Figure 7 represents the level of education of the
participants. 28 percent have had some college, 32.9 percent completed
undergraduate school, 9.8 percent have had some graduate school, and 23.2 percent
have completed graduate school.
The respondents are classified as
college students, employed, or
retired.
Just over half (N=45) have
graduated with a Bachelor Degree
and a Master Degree. 35 of the 44
respondents that graduated with a
Bachelor degree or a Master
Degree are between the ages of 18-‐
34. 75.3 percent of respondents are employed and 24.7 percent are not employed.
Of those not employed, 2 are students, 12 are retired and 5 are homemakers.
Figure 6: Age range Percentage of Survey Respondents Source: The Survey
Figure 7: Percent of Education Level of Survey Participants Source: The Survey
25
Work Related Questions
Overall:
12 respondents stated that they have been in their current profession for
more than 10 years, 9 for more than 5 years, and 22 for less than 5 years. Exactly 50
percent of the respondents reported that they have been promoted in the last 5
years.
An astonishing 68.7 percent of the respondents believe that their physical
appearance plays a role in the work place. 92.6% of the respondents that claimed
their physical appearance at work have been promoted in the last 5 years. 9
respondents who have been in their current employment position for over 5 years
have not received a promotion. Of those respondents, 6 believe their physical
appearance plays a role at work, and 3 believe it does not. 5 of the 9 respondents
that have not been promoted are from the Business and Administrative occupation,
of which 2 believed appearance does not play a role at work. The other 4
respondents who did not receive a promotion are in healthcare and education, of
which only 1 believes their physical appearance does not play a role at work.
Main Segment:
27 out of the 40 respondents indicated their physical appearance plays a role
in the work place. 17 of the respondents that claimed their physical appearance
plays a role do not read or purchase magazines illustrated in Figure 9 and 14 of the
respondents read magazines such as Cosmopolitan, SHAPE, Fitness, and Women’s
Health. 13 respondents claim to have average, fit or muscular body types
Sub-Segment:
14 respondents have not been promoted in the last 5 years. 13 said their
physical appearance plays a role at work. 8 of those claim to have a body shape of
curvy or overweight, and only 3 read health and fitness magazines. 7 respondents
said their physical appearance does not play a role in the work place, but rather
their intelligence and personality.
Physical Appearance
The professional women classified as educators stated that when they are
“put together” i.e. dressed professionally, care about their physical appearance and
26
look clean they receive more respect from students and their parents and can
command the attention of students and strangers to a better degree, as opposed to
when they do not dress professionally. It is a reflection and realization of someone
taking pride in themselves and their job, thus earning more respect from
subordinates, peers and supervisors.
At least 7 different respondents who described their employment role in
sales indicated that when they look clean cut, and once again, “put together” it gives
them authority with the customer, and gives customers a great “first impression”.
Dressing professionally provides the woman with an advantage, as many perceive
looking professional as a distinguishing factor of the knowledge one contains about
the product or service they are selling. Some respondents indicated they are
contractually obligated to look clean and dress professionally.
The respondents who are owners mentioned they like to hire professional
looking people because they are both a representation and a reflection of the
company.
Media
Overall 58.9 percent of the respondents claimed that the media influences their
perception of what society thinks a successful woman “should” look like.
Respondents provided, in their opinion, a description of how the media represents
the ‘picture perfect successful woman’. The key descriptive words presented below
were used by more than 90% of the respondents:
• Skinny/thin • Beautiful/attractive/sexy/flawless skin • Able to balance work and home life • Young • Well dressed/ “put together” • Tall
The respondents then described their personal ideal of a “picture perfect successful
woman.” Below are the key words stated in more than 88% of the answers:
• Happy • Healthy • Passionate about her job
27
• Motivated/dedicated/confident • Educated/smart • Professional • Balance work and home life • Thin • Beautiful • Fashionable
Figure 8: Types of Magazines Purchased by Survey Respondents Source: The Survey
Figure 9 represents the magazines respondents’ read/purchase. Among the
magazines purchased, Cosmopolitan is read by 18.3 percent of the respondents,
Women’s Health by 14 percent, People Magazine by 12.7 percent, Time Magazine by
11.3 percent and both Fitness and SHAPE magazine by 8.5%.
Of the readers and purchasers of these magazines, approximately 61%
indicated that the media influences their perception of what society thinks a
“successful woman” should look like. The majority of the respondents claimed that
the health and diet industry is negative, unhealthy, doesn’t focus on overall health,
and sends women the wrong message, focuses on unrealistic expectations and
“quick fixes” that are unhealthy and not practical for busy women. Only 2
respondents who read the magazines claimed it was informative, nevertheless, they
stated that a quantifiable amount of skepticism should be exercised when reading
information provided by the health and diet industry.
38 percent of the respondents do not purchase or read the magazines in
Figure 9. Despite this fact, 65 percent indicated that the media influences their
28
perception of society’s ideal of a “successful woman”. Stating the media creates false
expectations for women, and emphasizes thinness, attractiveness and dressing well
defines a successful woman.
Interestingly, 25 percent of the respondents who do not purchase or read the
magazines indicated that their overall impression of the health and diet industry
can be informative and have a positive impact, this number is much higher than the
0 (zero) percent of the respondents that read and purchase magazines shown in
Figure 9.
Respondents stated that most marketing strategies in the diet and health
industry are not intending to advise women on balanced diet and exercise for an
overall healthy lifestyle, but rather to promote an ultimate goal of becoming skinny.
Main Segment
16 Respondents claimed the media has an influence on what a successful
woman should look like, and all 16 of them have been on a diet before. 6
Respondents claimed the media did not influence their opinion on what a successful
woman should look like; nonetheless all of them have been on a diet before.
Sub-Segment
11 out of 27 respondents that have not purchased magazines in Figure 9, half
of which say the media influences their perception of what society things a
successful woman should look like. 7 participants read diet and health magazine
such as Fitness, Runners, Yoga and Women’s Health, and of those, 4 claimed the
media influenced their perception. All 7 of these women have been on a diet before.
Dieting
Overall
Figure 10 illustrates 76.6 percent of respondents that have been on a diet
before, all of whom indicated that they have tried more than 3 diets. 81.8 percent of
the respondents who read the magazines in Figure 9, and those who are influenced
by the media have been on a diet before.
29
An astonishing 100% of the respondents that do not purchase or read the
magazines in Figure 10 claimed to
have been on a diet. The diets
indicated are; dietary supplements,
Advocare, Slimfast, Atkins, Jenny
Craig, Weight Watchers, South
Beach Diet, NutriSystem starvation,
Herbalife, juicing, Hydroxycut, and
low/no-‐carb diets.
Respondents indicated that
they learned about the diets through
various avenues. 69.8 percent of the respondents stated that they learned about the
diets from friends, family, and word-‐of-‐mouth. 41.9 percent stated they heard about
the diets through means of media, advertisements, television, magazines, online,
social media, and personal research.
Main Segment
100 percent have been on a diet before. Even those who consider themselves
to be average or fit have dieted. Of them, only 9 participants do not read the
magazines indicated in Figure 9.
Perceptions
When asked about
healthy calorie intake for women
(Figure 11) 36 percent of
respondents said between 1000-‐
1500, 31 percent between 1500-‐
2000, and 8 percent between
2000-‐2500. 8 respondents that
chose “other”, indicated that it
depends on the individuals needs
and physical activity. The
majority of those respondents
Figure 9: Percentage of Survey Respondents who have been on a Diet Source: The Survey
Figure 10: Percentage of Responses Indicating Healthy Calorie Intake for Women Source: The Survey
30
reported to read fitness magazines such as Fitness and Women’s Health.
Just above 23 percent of the participants count calories and have a daily calorie
limit between 1200-‐1600. 77 percent of women stated that they do not count
calories. Some of the respondents’ comments about counting calories were:
• I set myself up to starve if I do • I feel deprived if I do • Too much work • Made me paranoid and made me feel bad about myself • If you watch what you eat, you don’t have to count calories • It becomes an obsession
Respondents provided their opinion on the difference between dieting and
eating healthy. Only three respondents said it is one in the same. The other
respondents provided accurate differences in Figure 12 below.
Dieting: Healthy Eating:
Temporary A life style
Restriction Making the right choices
Privation No privation
Cuts out certain food groups Eating balanced meals
Eating certain things Eating a certain way
Denying what we want Eating what we want, in moderation
Short-‐term fix Life time goal
Achieving a level of thinness without concern for health
Feeding the body a variety of nutrients to nourish it
Following a specific set of rules Less processed food
Figure 11: Respondents Opinions on the Difference Between Dieting and Eating Health Source: The Survey
Main Segment
About half of the respondents indicated a healthy amount is between 1000-‐
1500, and only 4 of them indicated that they do not read magazines in Figure 9.
Approximately 15 percent said between 1500-‐2000, half of whom do not read
magazines in Figure 9.
31
Sub-Segment
The other half of respondents indicated between 1000-‐1500, and also
indicated they do not read the magazines in Figure 9.
Figure 13
below shows the
respondents overall
impression of the
health and diet
industry for women.
45.2 percent of
respondents believe
the health and diet
industry for women
send women the wrong message and 41.1 percent believe it does not focus on
overall nutrition. Only 4.1 percent find the diet and health industry for women to be
positive and 12.3 percent find it informative.
Main Segment
Respondents who think the health and diet industry is positive and
informative (but parallel negative) are overweight and have been on diets before.
Sub-Segment
Only 3 women think the health and diet industry is informative; these women also
consider themselves to be overweight, and have been on diets before. The other 28
respondents claimed that the health and diet industry is unhealthy, sends women the
wrong message and does not focus on overall nutrition.
Physical Activity 77.6 percent of the respondents stated that they workout on a monthly basis.
29.4 percent work out 6-‐11 times a month, 29.4 percent 12-‐17 times, and 27.5
percent workout more than 17 times a month. The majority of respondents that
workout more than 12 times a month are interestingly those who indicated to be
overweight (11) and curvy (6).
Figure 12: Percentage Survey Respondents Impression of the Health and Diet Industry Source: The Survey
32
Main Segment
5 of the 15 respondents who do not workout on a monthly basis are between
the ages of 25-‐44, 3 of which are satisfied with their bodies, 2 of which claim they
have an average body type, and the other fit. 1 respondent is content with her body
and claims to be skinny, and the other claims to be overweight and dissatisfied with
her body type.
Sub-Segment
10 of the respondents that do not workout are between the ages of 45-‐74, 5
of which claim to be overweight and dissatisfied with their body type, 4 claim to
have an average body type and are content with their bodies, and one 1 respondent
claims to be underweight and satisfied with her body.
Figure 14 above represents motivation to workout. The majority of
respondents indicated various motivational reasons to workout. In addition,
alternative reasons for working out were provided: keeping diabetes under control,
relieving stress, being a positive example, and ultimately to be healthy.
26.9 percent of respondent’s sole motivation is to feel good. Only 3
respondents work out to solely look good and lose weight; these respondents have
also tried dieting before and believe that the overall impression of the health and
diet industry for women is negative and unhealthy. 2 of these respondents claim to
Figure 13: Survey Respondents Means of Motivation to Workout Source: The Survey
33
be overweight, one of which is very dissatisfied with her body and the other
content.
Other Health and Diet Related Topics
The majority of respondents indicated that although unfortunate and
disheartening, it is believable in certain sectors of the work environment women
who are young, beautiful and skinny are more successful. It is learned that looks
make the first impression, judging by objectification, not skill level, ability or
intelligence.
After eating a lot of junk food, or having eaten extremely unhealthy, 64.5
percent of respondents claim to have the urge to workout or limit food intake the
following day in order to counterbalance the effects, i.e. “getting back on track”. A
total of 27 of the respondents that have the urge to workout or limit their food
intake the next day, also claim that the media influences their perception of the
ideal successful woman. 16 of the respondents are between the ages of 18-‐34, 10
between the ages of 35-‐54, and 13 between the ages of 55-‐74.
After reading a lifestyle, health, or diet magazine, watching sports, or other
health and diet related topics, 51.6 percent of respondents said they feel motivated
to workout or start a diet, depending on how the product is being presented. Most
respondents indicated, however, that the motivation was not positively provoked.
They experienced feelings/opinions of:
• Self-‐dissatisfaction • Shame • Guilt • Depression • Defeat • The desire to try a new quick fix fad diet • Fatness • Not being good enough • Gimmicks • Motivated to change a routine or add a new exercise
Main Segment
13 out of 21 respondents who have been on diets said they feel the need to
workout or diet after reading or viewing topics related to dieting or health.
Indicating that the motivation is mostly negative, making them feel bad about
34
themselves. 46.9 percent of the women that said it motivates them are between the
ages of 18-‐34 and 28 percent between the ages of 35-‐54.
33.3 percent of respondents that indicated they are not motivated by such
exposure are between the ages of 18-‐34, and 36.7 percent between the ages of 35-‐
54.
Sub-Segment
All of the respondents who have been on a diet stated they feel motivated to
workout or diet after being exposed to diet or heath related topics. 21.9 percent are
between the ages of 55-‐74. Overall. 26.7 percent of respondents that indicated they
are not motivated by such exposure are between the ages of 55-‐74.
Level of Body Satisfaction and Ideal Body Image
Overall Body Satisfaction
Figure 15 shows the overall body satisfaction of the respondents. 40.3
percent stated they are content (at
ease) with their bodies, 29 percent
dissatisfied, 19 percent satisfied, 7
percent very satisfied, and 5
percent are very dissatisfied.
Appendix B illustrates the gradual
increase of body dissatisfaction as
female’s age. Of the respondents
that are dissatisfied with their
bodies, 72 percent consider
themselves to be overweight.
36 percent of the respondents who are content with their bodies consider
their body type to be curvy, 28 percent average, and 24 percent claim to be
overweight. Though these women claim to be content with their bodies, more than
82 percent of them have been on a diet before.
18 percent of respondents stated that they are satisfied with their bodies. 50
percent of whom claimed to have an average body type, 30 percent fit, 10 percent
Figure 14: Level of Body Satisfaction of Survey Respondents Source: The Survey
35
underweight, and 10 percent curvy. Despite the fact that these women are satisfied
with their bodies, 50 percent of them have been on a diet before, even the
respondents who claim to be underweight.
As few as 7 percent of respondents claim to be very satisfied with their bodies; of
those, 33 percent consider themselves to be fit, muscular, or average and none of them
have been on a diet before. These women stated that they workout to feel good and
have a feeling of accomplishment.
Main Segment – (NOTE: Refer to Appendix A for pie charts) 15 respondents reported to be content with their bodies. Of those, 5
respondents said they were curvy, 4 overweight, 4 average, 1 skinny, and 1
muscular. 12 respondents are either satisfied or very satisfied with their body type.
Of those, 6 claim to be fit/muscular, 5 average, and 1 curvy. 7 Respondents are
dissatisfied with their body type. Of those, 5 claim to be overweight, 1 curvy, and
the other average.
Body contentment is most significant in respondents between the ages of 18-‐
24 at 63 percent, but dissatisfaction is still significant at 25 percent. Level of
contentment and dissatisfaction then decreases between the ages of 25-‐34, while
satisfaction increases. Although contentment decreased, it still represents 50% of
those ages 25-‐34.
Sub-Segment – (NOTE: Refer to Appendix A for pie charts) 14 Respondents aged 45-‐74 reported to be either dissatisfied or very
dissatisfied with their body type. Of those, 12 claim to be overweight, 1 average and
1 curvy. 9 Respondents reported to be content with their bodies. Of those, 4 claimed
to be curvy, 3 average, and 2 overweight. Only 3 respondents said they were
satisfied with their bodies, 1 claimed to be over weight, 1 underweight, and the
other average.
It appears that the greatest amount of body dissatisfaction is between the
ages of 45-‐54. Respondents ages 55-‐64 also represented a large amount of body
dissatisfaction, only 6 percent lower than those aged 45-‐54. Although the
dissatisfaction is high, women over 54 significantly increased the level of body
contentment jumping from 18% of women aged 45-‐54 to 40% between the ages of
36
55-‐64.
Although the percentage of body dissatisfaction is high among those aged
65-‐74, the same pattern occurs for body contentment, increasing from 40% at ages
55-‐64 to 50% between the ages of 65-‐74. Satisfaction also increases to 17% as
opposed to the zero percent between the ages of 55-‐64.
Ideal Body Type
Figure 15: Desired Body Type of Survey Respondents Source: The Survey
Figure 16 represents respondents’ ideal body type. The statistics show 61.7
percent of women would prefer to have a fit body. Of those, 40.5 percent consider
themselves to be overweight, 29.7 percent average, and 18.9 percent curvy. 66.7
percent of the women that indicated they would like to “stay the same” consider
their body type to be fit, 16.7 percent curvy, and 16.6 percent average.
37
Discussion of the Results
Qualitative Analysis
Work Related Topics
From the survey results, it can be concluded that the majority of professional
women think their physical appearance plays a role in the work place, indicating
that objectification, social cognition and social learning influence women’s roles in
Western society. Moreover, the women in professional roles such as management,
sales, and education indicated that dressing professional indicates that they take
their job seriously and command of attention and engagement is increase. 92.6
percent of the respondents that claimed their physical appearance at work have
been promoted in the last 5 years. It can be implied that the women who were
promoted correlate physical appearance at work with promotions. However,
further studies must be done to confirm this statement.
Main Segment:
There is a correlation between age and the perception of physical
appearance playing a role in the workplace. 27 out of 40 respondents indicated it
plays a role. In addition, more than half of these women purchase magazines such
as Cosmopolitan, SHAPE, Fitness, and Women’s Health. This represents a significant
linkage between young professionals opinions oh physical appearance in the
workplace and their exposure to magazines. Almost half of the women have
Average, fit or muscular body types, which does not indicate a significant
correlation between weight and physical appearance in the workplace.
Sub-Segment:
Correlations in the sub-‐segment are similar to those of younger
professionals. However, there is a significant correlation between body type and
their opinion of physical appearance at work. About half of the respondents that
claimed physical appearance plays a role at work have a curvy or overweight body
type. Those who consider themselves to be overweight may see it as a hindrance in
the workplace, as many believe being thin is an advantage because they fir the
social ideal.
38
The respondent data implies that the personified professional appearance
affect authority in settings such as school or sales transactions. As women age, they
think their physical appearance plays a more important role in the work
environment which is contradictory to previous research conducted on
undergraduate females. There is a correlation between age and ability to sell
products to different generations. The survey indicates that women tend to
purchase products or services from women who are close to there age group,
linking to the emotional connection women experience when forming perceptions
in the decision making process. Women in the same age range are more inclined to
share stories and sympathies with one another.
Pressures from Western society, especially those marketed and represented
in the health and diet industry, to achieve the desired thin ideal is interrelated to
the importance of appearance for women’s success in Western society (Stice, Eric,
and Heather Shaw, 1994). Such impacts on social learning and diffusion cause
mentalities of educated women to be morphed in regards to what defines a
successful woman. The Majority of respondents’ linked traits of successful women
to physical attributes; none indicating a woman’s work ethic, professional
attributes, or educational background. Although several responses were related to a
woman’s work ethic, professional attributes, personality, mannerism, and
education, it is clear that the marketed ideal of a ‘picture perfect successful woman’
influences the opinion of professional women, which conforms to the socially
learned ideal. Beauty is a relative concept, an attribute that does not reflect a
woman’s professional ability, nor does it attribute to successfulness. As seen in the
survey results, the objectivity and exposure to beautiful women in gender-‐specific
media impacts a woman’s affect, overall body satisfaction, and view of success as
physical characteristic as opposed to ability. The physical appearance of women
often undermines women’s professional identities as most people are more
naturally and instinctively receptive to beautiful women, as this is what is marketed
to them and aesthetically pleasing.
39
Impact of Media
In today’s society, time is money. Women don’t have time to prepare meals,
nor do they have patience to wait for results when dieting. Conforming of the health
and diet industry to meet the needs of time restraints for busy professional women
caused a negative backlash on women wanting things with immediate results. This
not-‐so-‐subtle message of women required to look beautiful is borne out of
magazines, advertisements, TV, and virtually every other medium, visual or not
(Brennan, 2009). Emphasis on attaining unrealistic standards of skinniness and
beauty for women creates a drive for consumption of beauty products, health
products, plastic surgery and fad diet plans or pills (Hamburg, 1998).
Respondents indicated that advertising, marketing and objectification
burdens women with unwarranted pressure to focus on their physical appearance.
Women tend to feel shamed when the mass media instills a specific body image if
thinness, consequently having negative effects on women and society at large.
Findings from the survey represent the correlation between women reading and
purchasing women’s magazines and the influence media and marketing has on
them. Although the majority of the respondents claim that the health and diet
industry is overall negative, despite their better judgment, they still buy into fad
diets being marketed to them, risking overall health in order to achieve the images
portrayed as standard body images in the media.
Professional women are reading less magazines and watching less television
and are now finding more diet and health information online or within their
network. However, purchasing magazines still has a noteworthy impact on
professional women; as more than half of respondents indicated that the media
influences their perception as more than 88 percent of the respondents were
influenced by medias perception of a successful woman. Only 25 percent of the
respondents who do not purchase or read the magazines indicated that their overall
impression of the health and diet industry can be informative and have a positive
impact, while respondents that read magazines indicated in Figure 9 have an
overall negative image and impression of the diet and health industry.
40
According to the study, there is a positive correlation between media
exposure and body dissatisfaction for professional women, and is strongest in older
professional women contrary to previous research indicating that younger women
are most impacted by media exposure. The media is dreadfully concentrated on fat
shaming; it is a way to increase insecurities in women in order to promote
consumerism of industries such as the health and diet industry. Most insecurities
tend to correlate with what society learned and believes a woman should be, if they
are not, then they are less adequate. Such ideals, that lead to guilt and insecurities
are the forefront of the desire to diet, in order to achieve the ideal body image that
has been portrayed and marketed to women for decades. Most professional women
believe that if they are a size two, hopefully they can feel more confident, more
successful, professionally and in-‐turn increase their self worth. It is evident from
the survey that advertisements impact professional women in more ways than
insecurities, increasing the desire to be thin and more attractive, marketing also
impacts women’s information on overall health.
The results regarding calorie intake depicts that the majority of respondents
are exceedingly misinformed about the proper calorie intake for women. The
“magic marketing number” is 1200 calories a day for a woman to lose weight, while
according to research, 1200 calories is actually the bare minimum the body
required before it goes into starvation mode (Herbst, 2014). The majority of
respondents thought that the proper amount of calories for a woman is between
1000-‐1500. Closely following, 31 percent said between 1500-‐2000, and only 8
percent of participants chose between 2000-‐2500. The only participants who chose
the adequate number of 2000-‐2500 classified themselves as fit, indicating that the
women considering themselves to be overweight, average or curvy are not properly
informed on sufficient calorie intake. The majority of the women who indicated that
it depends on the individual reported to read fitness magazines such as Fitness and
Women’s Health, which is contrary to finding of negative impacts of magazines, even
still, the diet and health industry is not held accountable for misconceptions of
information, and improper diet because professional women believe they are the
cause of diet failure.
41
Dieting
“Fad diets deprive a woman’s body of the food and nutrients it needs, and
women themselves of the pure, primal pleasure of eating. When these diets fail—
which they inevitably do—women despair. They feel helpless, hopeless, defeated”
(Peeke, 2005). As mentioned before, fad diets and marketed diets do not focus on a
healthy balanced lifestyle of diet and exercise. Few diets quantify and justify overall
nutrition and macronutrients, depriving the body and heightening emotional
attachment to food. Instead of eating healthy, giving the body the nutrients and
exercise it needs, the average woman will instead spend countless amounts of
money on the next new diet, or the one that showed short term results in the past,
but did not produce long lasting results. Recipients mentioned they have tried just
about every diet known to man and if it was popular, she bought it. This vicious
cycle can cause depression, feelings of failure; self doubt and once again impact the
self-‐image and confidence. Such experiences can effect personal and professional
life.
The survey represents the successful marketing strategy of the diet and
health industry, as the majority of the respondents have been on diets, several
times. Making women think and believe through diffusion that they need the
newest, and best diet, the next one that will be better than the last, the next one that
will work. "The media markets desire. And by reproducing ideals that are absurdly
out of line with what real bodies really do look like […] the media perpetuates a
market for frustration and disappointment. Its customers will never disappear”
(Hamburg, 1998).
Many of the respondents claimed that they heard about the diet from their
network, or different promotional mixes, which confirms that word-‐of-‐mouth and
promotions play a large part in the consumer decision-‐making process in the health
and diet industry. Marketers leverage such avenues in the health and diet industry
to achieve their goal of consumerism like a game of cat and mouse.
42
Physical Activity
Interestingly, as mentioned in the results section, the professional women
who work the most are those who indicated an overweight body type, then curvy,
fit, and lastly average. This means one of two things. The appearance of looking
healthy may not necessarily mean one lives a healthy lifestyle. There are perfectly
healthy women who seem to be overweight, and there are many skinny women
who are not healthy. This finding misrepresents the cultural correlation of working
out related to improving the outside of the body, by maintaining weight or changing
weight through exercise. Society has learned to identify skinny women as healthy
women, do not receive their recommended daily amount of physical activity. This is
also due to larger women feeling the need to workout more than in order to lose
weight or maintain it.
Women do not get the proper amount of exercise they should get on a daily
basis. This is mainly due to their busy schedules of trying to balance their lives
personally and professionally. Those who do not find time to workout see or feel
the consequences of actions or lack thereof. Thus turning to quick fix diets that
require minimal effort.
Other Health and Diet Related Topics
Diet and Health Industry Misconceptions and Misinformation
There is a large potential for the target market to misconstrue or
misunderstand the nutritional information provided in the health and diet industry.
There is a gap between what women should actually do to get healthy, and what is
being marketed to them. The general public often receives inconsistent messages
through multiple promotional mixes from the diet industry, health industry, and
manufacturers, even nutritionists recommend diets. The majority of the women
using and consuming health and diet services and products are those who are less
informed about health and nutrition, who want to lose weight, improve their
physical appearance, or simply maintain their current weight. From the survey
results, it is seen that consumers often educate themselves on issues such as diet
and health through means of marketing messages they have encountered, word-‐of-‐
43
mouth, social media vehicles such as blogs, networks, Instagram, and discussion
forums. Most of the respondents understood the difference between dieting and a
healthy lifestyle, and against their better judgment bought into diet regimens.
Many statistics, testimonials or facts that are used to get women to buy can
be manipulated in order to make a product or service look more attractive and
better than the competitor. Constant marketing exposure by these means lure
female consumers to purchase their product through physical attraction and
functional benefits. Educating oneself properly on nutrition and health is vital to
obtain reliable information instead of relying on marketing strategies that simply
aim to sell a product, albeit misinforming customers for the sake of profit.
According to author, physique competitor and eating disorder consultant, Dani
Shugart:
TV weight loss plans and "pretend" health foods keep women in the dark about sustainable healthy eating habits […] Most women diet by using methods that slow their metabolisms. Instead they need to train and eat to support muscle retention and growth…Women sometimes go to extremes with carbohydrates and dietary fats, often avoiding one like the plague while overcompensating with the other…Women often attach much more meaning to food choices than men. They need to realize this, then lighten up on the self-judgment to take back control of their eating habits (Shugart, 2014).
Research indicated that marketing and nutritionist experts recognize that
there are significant possibilities for food advertising to mislead consumers and
when a health claim is made, consumers believe the claim and tend to purchase the
product (Jones, 2008). Though many women are interested in nutritional
information, they lack the knowledge and education to assess information properly
(Jones, 2008). Many advertisements in magazines use informational knowledge to
influencing purchasing decisions because the message is seen as informative (Jones,
2008).
This is evident in the results of this study. Most all respondents understood
and comprehend that the health and diet industry focuses solely on the bottom line
of profit, not the well being of customers. Even though the respondents claimed the
diet and health industry is negative, sends women the wrong message and doesn’t
44
focus on nutrition, they nevertheless participated in diets they heard about or were
marketed to.
False exposure and marketing messages that these consumers believe in
does not empower women to be “a better you”, buy guilt them into feeling bad
about themselves and their failure of previous diets by not living a healthy life style.
This vicious cycle affects the female both physically and emotionally. Negatively
impacting their feeling of self worth, impacting their impression of their physical
appearance, and impacting their decision making rational.
Ideal Body Image and Level of Body Satisfaction
Body Satisfaction
Comparison to others or objectification tends to develop a desire in women
to change themselves. As mentioned before, 33.96 percent of the respondents are
dissatisfied with their bodies, 37.74 percent are content, 15.9 percent satisfied, and
only 7.55% are very satisfied. Though these women claim to be content with their
bodies, more than 82 percent of them have been on a diet before. This proves that
women are constantly trying to improve their health and physical appearance, or
achieve the socially learned and marketed thin ideal.
As few as 7 percent of respondents claim to be very satisfied with their
bodies. Of those women, 33.33 percent consider themselves to be fit, muscular, or
average and none of them have been on a diet before. These women stated that they
workout just to feel good, not to look good or lose weight, but to have a feeling of
accomplishment, indicating that when a woman is seen or is more fit than those
who are not, have different motives for working out than others.
Of the respondents that are dissatisfied with their bodies, 72 percent
consider themselves to be overweight. This demonstrates that that there is a
positive correlation between body satisfaction and the perception of a woman’s
self-‐image of being overweight. Results suggest that that it is relatively common for
females to begin a diet at some point in their life, even if they are underweight,
skinny or average. According to the survey, and contrary to previous research, there
is higher self-‐image dissatisfaction as a woman ages (see appendix A), but then
45
decreases again at 65. Older women are rarely represented in marketing schemes,
making them feel older than the youthful messages they are being exposed to.
As mentioned above, approximately 40 percent of respondents are content
with their bodies. 36 percent of the respondents that are content with their bodies
consider themselves to be curvy, 28 percent consider themselves to look like the
average female, and 24 percent claim to be overweight. Though these women claim
to be content with their bodies, more than 82 percent of them have been on a diet
before. 18 percent of respondents stated that they are satisfied with their bodies.
50 percent indicating an average body-‐type are satisfied with their bodies, 30
percent consider themselves to be fit, 10 percent are underweight, and 10 percent
are curvy. Despite the fact that these women are satisfied with their bodies, 50
percent of them have been on a diet before, even the respondents who claim to be
underweight. This correlation confirms that women who believe to look like the
average female or fit are more satisfied with their bodies than those women who
consider themselves to be fat or curvy. What would influence women who are
satisfied with their bodies to go on a diet? Marketing strategies targeted at women
to meet societies norms and curiosity.
Time and time again it is seen that no mater what body type group a female
is in, she has normally tried some type of diet. As seen in the results section and
Appendix A, the numbers of significant dissatisfaction is significantly higher in older
women. Survey results demonstrate that there is a correlation between body
satisfaction and the perception of a woman’s self-‐image of being overweight.
Decreasing their happiness and satisfaction with their physical attractiveness and
the exposure to gender-‐specific marketing messages.
62 percent of the respondents said their ideal body type is a fit one, and only
two respondents indicated they do not want to change. These figures are awe
striking and demonstrate that a number of women truly are not pleased with their
self body image. However, it also indicated that professional women do not want to
conform to the thin ideal, but would rather be healthy and fit.
Survey respondents indicated that they felt motivated to workout or start a
diet after reading or seeing several different types of marketing strategies on diet
46
and health related topics, but indicated it was influenced negatively, usually “make
me feel depressed, guilty or shamed”, and “make me feel fatter or that I am not good
enough”. This shows that most marketing strategies promote negative motivation
by shaming, creating a negative emotional and psycholigical impact on women, such
as the yoplait joghurt commercial mentioned earlier in the thesis. Advertisements
should; (1) not make women feel inadequate after being exposed to an
advertisement, and (2) should portray real women (Meyer, 1994).
Limitations of the study
There are a few significant limitations of the study including that the
majority of respondents are Caucasians, from the United States of American and a
few from Germany, which does not accurately depict the professional women
working force in Western society. The survey was posted through a social media,
Facebook, where not every professional women is active, limiting the results to only
those professionals who have Facebook. The group was a small focus group, which
does not allow for several different analyses and opinions of various types of
professional women across the globe, but rather only the volunteers that took the
survey. Volunteers who are most likely passionate about the positive or negative
influence the health and diet industry has impacted their life.
Participants stated their opinion of their body image, and indicated their
height, but not their weight. This does not allow for accurate examination of actual
height and weight comparison to the average female. Though the lack of height and
weight examination is a limitation of the study, accurate information provided by
respondents regarding body type could also result in incorrect information, based
upon self-‐reporting procedures of true weight reporting, causing inaccurate
analyses.
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Chapter 4
Solutions to this Negative Phenomenon
Professional Women
Becoming fit and healthy, as most of the respondents want takes time,
commitment, and hard work. By setting realistic goals, this can be achieved. Women
need to understand working on their body, and health is an ongoing process. There
is no quick fix. A “Woman’s biggest obstacle: own lack of faith in herself” (Peeke,
2005). Working on every aspect of the person, not just physical appearance is they
key to body satisfaction and acceptance. Devotion and responsibility for making
time to invest in the body and mentality contribute to a healthy lifestyle and healthy
attitude. Getting properly educated on proper nutrition is essential, because
continuing to rely on fad diets, diet pills, or surgery does not produce long-‐term
health benefits but rather short-‐term fixes. The responsibility of educating
consumers and tools to better educate professional women on healthy choices and
lifestyles should rest in the hands of the health and diet industry.
Cindy Crawford mentioned the following in the book Body for Life For Women,
Despite barrage of wonder diets, that guarantee quick weight loss by luring us to believe that if we eliminate this, control that, stop eating, or take a pill that we’ll miraculously achieve our dream body, I pretty much maintain the health and fitness regimen that’s worked for me since I was 22 (Peeke, 2005).
Be honest and truthful to yourself. Look at what you are eating and how
often your working out. A combination of eating right and physical activity will
allow your body to build muscle; muscle burns more calories than fat (Peeke,
2005). Therefore the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn.
Expecting to have results with no effort is a deception. Believing or wanting to
believe the models seen in magazines only do the 20-‐minute workout they are
marketing in order to get the body you see on the cover of SHAPE Magazine or
Fitness Magazine, is unreasonable.
Women go through mood fluctuations energy withdraw and sometimes
resort to emotional eating and feelings of dissatisfied body image (Peeke, 2005).
48
Choosing any type of change will be turmoil, and stressful, in the beginning but as
professional businesswomen, it’s nothing one cannot handle. Working out mitigates
more stress than reaching for a pint of Ben and Jerry’s, which consequently results
is feelings of despair. Shugart said, “If women stopped attaching their self-‐worth to
their eating habits and dealt with emotion in productive ways other than comfort
food, they would be more inclined to eat appropriately” (Shugart, 2014).
“The most successful plan for today’s women would factor in the realities of
a woman’s whole life. The full time job, endless giving, and stress” that comes with
trying to be superwoman (Peeke, 2005). “Not having time” is a common issue for
professional women. Thus, wanting the quick fix fads, or going to fast food
restaurants becomes the norm because she cannot find time to eat healthy or make
a lunch, however, are fruits and vegetables not fast food?
Health and Diet Industry The health and diet industry can still make profit by transitioning strategies
to emphasizing proper nutrition and health for consumers Ensuring nutritionists
are involved in the advertisement strategy is important so that the consumer is not
misinformed or mislead by the advertised message being conveyed. Using real,
average women who are healthy and confident, not skinny with flawless beauty is
desired by women of all ages, particularly older professional women.
Prevention and intervention programs have sought to minimize the effects of
the media on body dissatisfaction by, for example, providing education on the
airbrushing techniques used to enhance the thinness of models depicted in
advertisements (Ata, 2012). More recent efforts in Britain and France include the
proposal of legislation that would require advertisements featuring hyper-‐thin
models to include a disclaimer (Ata, 2012). Imposing legislation throughout the rest
of the Western civilization would prove prolific change in the industry. The health
and diet industry can still make a profit, buy ensuring proper nutrition and health
for consumers. Leverage professional women’s networks to encourage them to lead
and live a healthy lifestyle together, and it will catch like fire. Companies in the diet
and health industry can still be profitable if and when the market shifts to a focus of
overall health, it will only result in a more positive impression of the industry when
it positively impacts women. Pre-‐marketing future wants of women that they don’t
49
even know they want yet can be a major competitive advantage in the changing
environment of health and dieting.
New Era that is Gaining Momentum
There has been a huge spike in interest in the fitness industry in the past
decade. This wave is ever increasing. According to the Survey, approximately 62
percent of women would change their body type to being fit and an astonishing 78
percent of the respondents indicated their motivation to work out is to “feel good”.
These results indicate that there is strong market potential for a new slogan and a
new era such as; “strong is the new skinny” (Kane, 2013). The slogan describes a
prolific and forward looking healthy way of living and possibly another
generational novelty change to come for women. The concept is becoming
increasingly popular with women consumers because it is something attainable and
healthy.
The quality of health and long-‐term benefits is based on several factors,
including sound, scientifically proven evidence of health promoting activity by
receiving accurate consumer information through proactive marketing strategies.
As the transition and transformation occurs from channel to channel, societal
norms will begin to transform. Education on proper diets and fitness can help
diminish the thin ideology, stressing levels of health and fitness, not just being thin
and attractive. A greater presence of women focusing on fitness and health rather
than dieting and thinness will promote others to do the same, i.e. social learning.
In recent years the “fitfam” has become increasingly popular on social
media. It is a group of people both men and women trying to lead a healthy life style
through clean eating and working out regularly. This could be the new fad in 2020
for the younger professional woman. But what does this mean for the older
generation of professional woman? Slimming World can leverage this sub-‐segment,
just like Curves marketing to the older generation of women seeking a healthy
lifestyle. Marketers and the diet and health industry should be capitalizing on the
new trend, as it will affect marketing and advertising. Professional women’s
lifestyles are every changing, and the industry is seeing change now.
“Advertisements must reflect their current status” (Meyer, 1994).
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Guided by purchasing decision influences, behavior change theories, the
diffusion theory, social learning theory and marketers understanding changing
wants and needs of consumers can create new marketing strategies to influence the
consumer. As seen in the survey results, women are receptive to messages, as
Western society is attracted to what is perceived as new (Heimendinger, 1995).
As seen from the survey, women are have caught onto the misrepresentation
of the diet and health industry. Faith Popcorn, a recognized forecaster of consumer
trends states that, “Today, a fifth “P” needs to be added to the marketing mix: Policy.
Because things that you never would have though to focus on ten years ago matter.
Marketing to women today isn’t just about value. It’s about values” (Popcorn, 2000).
51
Chapter 5
Conclusion
In a society where obesity is prevalent and being thin or merely looking
healthy is admired, signifying wealth and success, it is difficult not to conform
because of various marketed messaged through dieting. The health and diet
industry that has evolved around the socially learned and objectified prevalence of
thinness through gender-‐specific marketing are contributing factors to the
construction of the socially learned successful woman. Instead of being judged on
attributes such as work ethic and education, the standard of quantifying value is
through appearance. Encouraging through this gender-‐specific marketing to be
faultless in such a manner is invaluable. There is a connection between society,
psychology and food. Women are more emotionally attached to food than men due
to pressure from society of linking guilt to what they consume. Social and
psychological repercussions have been exposed due the promotion of diets and
health through marketing strategies. Many professional women are affected by the
everyday marketing of the thin ideal and shaming causing physiological issues,
body anxiety and insecurities. Marketers in the diet and health industry use power
of manipulation and knowledge of decision-‐making behavior to improve profit
margins at the expense of the consumer. Words have a significant amount of control
and influence, specifically the words in the diet and health industry sending women
a message of what they should look like in order to be successful in Western society.
Youth will fade, but character is ever lasting. What your appearance looks like
today, does not define how successful professional women are now or will be in the
future. A key predictor of personal and professional success is not that of physical
appearance but rather the impact a professional woman has in her professional and
personal environment.
The results from the survey are significant as it signifies that the majority of
the respondents recognize the difference between dieting and eating healthy.
Nonetheless, they partake in unhealthy diets marketed to them by the health and
diet industry; illustrating the power of influence it has. In addition, the survey
shows, contrary to previous research that older women are those most impacted by
52
the agelessness of the diet and health industry and marketing messages. From the
survey, it is indistinguishable that magazines have such a significant impact on
women in regards to body satisfaction and the desire to go on a diet or become
healthy as they once did.
Going to extremes with diets is not healthy, nor is it the solution to a long-‐
term healthy lifestyle; instead, the diet and health routines marketing to the busy
working professional are merely short-‐term fixes the consumer will buy that
postpone long-‐term effects. The trade-‐offs are more likely to be short lived with
diets (Martin, 1990). According to Berman, countless women diet to improve their
attractiveness and enhance their physical appearance instead of their overall health
(Berman, 1975). Evidence to support this claim is illustrated in the survey, in which
some women participate in physical activities solely to look good.
Striving for the ideal unattainable thinness through dieting and negative self-‐
rumination is an endless vicious cycle of shame and guilt. Instead, energy of
professional women and the diet and health industry should be focused on
becoming an overall better healthy person living a healthy lifestyle. Brands in the
health and diet industry should start focusing on becoming a fundamental center
point of overall health and nutrition, sending empowering messages to women. In
order to accomplish this successfully, the industry needs to have commitment and
involvement in focusing on the overall woman, aspects such as their attitude,
profession, learning, friendships, family, beauty of age and other attributes that
define a woman, not just appearance. Focusing on the overall professional woman
will produce more profit margins, as they will be more inclined to invest in
themselves. This will create a positive cycle of building self-‐confidence and
acceptance, influencing the lives of professional women personally and
professionally.
53
APPENDIX A
54
Appendix B
Online Survey Questions Demographics:
1. What is your Gender? 2. What is your age? (range) 3. What is your height? (exact) 4. Which race/ethnicity best describes you? (Please choose only one) 5. What is the highest level of education you have completed? 6. What country and state do you currently live in?
Work Related Questions: 1. What is your current occupation? 2. Are you employed? (yes/no)
a. What industry do you work in? b. What is your current position? c. About how long have you been in your current position? d. Have you been promoted in the last 5 years? (yes/no)
3. Do you think your physical appearance plays a role at your work? If so, why? Media:
1. What magazines do you purchase and read? 2. Do you use any type of health or fitness app?
a. If so, please list 3. Does the media influence your perception of what society thinks a successful
woman “should” look like? a. If so, in what ways?
4. What is your overall impression of the health and diet industry for women? (You can choose more than one)
a. Informative b. positive c. negative d. Sends women the wrong message e. Unhealthy f. Doesn’t focus on overall nutrition g. Other: (please state)
Dieting: 1. Have you been on a diet before (including dietary pills)?
a. Please list the diets you have tried and provide a brief reasoning as to why you selected these diets
b. Where did you hear/learn about the diets? 2. Do you count calories?
a. why or why not? b. What is your daily limit? c. Where did you get the daily limit from?
3. How many calories do you think a woman should eat a day in order to stay healthy?
4. In your opinion, what is the difference between dieting and eating healthy?
55
Physical Activity: 1. Do you workout (this includes various types of physical activity) on a
monthly basis? a. If yes, how many time a month do you workout?
i. 1-‐5 ii. 6-‐11 iii. 12-‐17 iv. >17
b. What physical activities do you do? c. What motivates you to work out? (can select more than one)
i. To look good ii. To feel good iii. To lose weight iv. To keep your current weight v. Other: (please state)
Other Health and Diet Related Topics: 1. After you’ve (1) read a lifestyle, health or diet magazine, (2) watches sports)
(3) saw a diet commercial (4) other health and diet related topics, do you then feel motivated to workout or start a diet?
a. Why or why not? 2. After you’ve eaten a lot of junk food, or have eaten extremely unhealthy, do
you feel obligated to workout or limit your food intake the following day? a. Why or why not?
3. Research shows that women who are young, beautiful and skinny are professionally more successful than those who are not. What is your opinion about this research?
4. Briefly describe your idea of a “picture perfect successful woman”. 5. In your opinion, briefly describe how media paints the “picture perfect
successful woman”.
Ideal Body Image and Level of Body Satisfaction 1. Do you think you are:
a. Underweight b. Skinny c. Average d. Fit e. Muscular f. Curvy g. Overweight h. Other: (please indicate)
2. If you could change your body type, what would you want it to look like? a. Underweight b. Skinny c. Average d. Fit e. Muscular f. Curvy g. Over Weight h. Other: (please indicate)
56
3. On a scale of 1-‐5, how satisfied are you with your body? a. Very dissatisfied b. Dissatisfied c. Content d. Satisfied e. Very satisfied
57
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