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This study aims to explore the influence of appearance comparison on fitness intention. Specifically, it analyzes the mediating effect of appearance-based exercise motivation and perceived behavioral control between appearance comparison and fitness intention.

434 samples were obtained by the network survey in China. Hierarchical regression analysis and the Hayes' SPSS PROCESS macro were used to verify the hypotheses.

Appearance comparison has a positive influence on fitness intention. Appearance-based exercise motivation mediates appearance comparison and fitness intention. Appearance comparison can produce a positive effect on fitness intention via appearance-based exercise motivation and perceived behavioral control in sequence.

The findings have some practical implications for both individuals and fitness center managers. First, people can view appearance comparison rationally, understand the process of its transformation into fitness intention and enhance fitness intention. Second, fitness center managers can make some reasonable marketing plans according to this study.

This study explores the positive effects of appearance comparison combining social comparison theory, social cognitive theory and the theory of planned behavior. It contributes to extant literatures about appearance comparison and fitness intention by promoting the understanding of the influence mechanism of fitness intention.

As technology increasingly integrates into the restaurant industry, avatar servers present a promising avenue for promoting healthier dining habits. Grounded in the halo effect theory and social comparison theory, this study aims to delve into the influence of avatars' appearance, humor and persuasion on healthier choices and customer satisfaction.

This paper comprises three experimental studies. Study 1 manipulates avatar appearance (supermodel-looking vs normal-looking) to examine its effects on perceived attractiveness, warmth and relatability. These factors influence customer satisfaction and healthy food choices through the psychological mechanisms of social comparison and aspirational appeal. Studies 2 and 3 further refine this theoretical model by assessing the interplay of appearance with humor (presence vs absence) and persuasion (health-oriented vs beauty-oriented), respectively.

Results suggest that avatars resembling supermodels evoke stronger aspirational appeal and positive social comparison due to their attractiveness, thus bolstering healthier choices and customer satisfaction. Moreover, humor moderates the relationship between appearance and attractiveness, while persuasion moderates the effects of appearance on social comparison and aspirational appeal.

This research bridges the halo effect theory and social comparison theory, offering insights enriching the academic discourse on technology’s role in hospitality.

The findings provide actionable insights for managers, tech developers and health advocates.

Despite its significance, avatar design research in the hospitality sector has been overlooked. This study addresses this gap, offering a guideline for crafting attractive and persuasive avatars.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the negative impact of social media influencers (SMIs) (human vs virtual) on customer well-being. Additionally, it aims to explore how the fear of missing out (FOMO) mediates and regulatory focus moderates this relationship from the social comparison theory lens.

In the first study, text mining and machine learning were employed to measure the level of followers' well-being in response to 40 SMIs (human vs virtual) posts on Instagram. In the second study, a randomized between-subjects experiment was conducted with three groups (human vs virtual vs control) and a sample size of 412 participants to confirm the results of the first study and investigate how FOMO mediates and regulatory focus moderates the relationship between SMI beauty product endorsement and consumer well-being.

The findings from text mining indicate that SMIs have a greater impact on consumers well-being, which is higher for virtual than human influencer. Additionally, the result of the experimental study shows the mediating role of FOMO in their relationship between SMIs and well-being. The moderator analysis reveals that there is a moderating effect of regulatory focus in the model.

The findings inform marketing managers about the differences between virtual than human influencer in their impact on customer well-being in endorsing beauty product, especially among the younger generation.

This paper is among the first research studies that examine the dark side of SMIs, which diminishes their follower's well-being through social comparison theory lenses.

Introduction: As a type of poverty, relative poverty can be defined as being below the average welfare of society. Basic needs can be afforded, but individuals can’t take advantage of the welfare created by society. Today coding the reflection of welfare, sharing experiences has new meanings by new social media means. Instagram is especially preferred in visual sharing because of its filter options, live feed, or story mode. These features help the message sender to increase the effect of the message and the receiver to understand the reality with its different dimensions. It is not shocking that the images of welfare and its indicators are shared increasingly in social networks because storytelling in this media is fed. The visual strengthening is underlining the possession of the owner and the deficiency of the non-owner from their perspectives.

Purpose: This study examines the emotional effects of ideal life images shared on Instagram on other individuals. The aim is to reveal and define the meaning ascribed to such fractions of life with a visual appeal by people who cannot lead this kind of life.

Methodology: In accordance with the Social Learning Theory, the study assumes that people with relative poverty take notice of their own poverty through social media. The study investigates the emotions manifested by individuals who take notice of the things that they lack through social media. Thus, a qualitative study was designed and conducted using a phenomenological approach. The phenomenon of this study is failing to have. The objective of the study is to understand and determine what the individuals who do social comparisons feel they lack. For this purpose, the fundamental research questions of this study are as follows: RQ1: What are the main categories of Instagram posts that evoke a sense of deprivation in individuals?; RQ2: What do glamorous Instagram posts mean to individuals who are above the relative poverty threshold? The data gathered via the in-depth interview technique were analyzed using the computer-assisted qualitative analysis program (MaxqDa 2020). Qualitative content analysis and descriptive analysis were the forms of analysis used in the study.

Findings: The fact that there are negative links between passively consuming information on social media and well-being is supported by previous studies. This study exposes the experiences of “failing to have” due to upward social comparison in individuals who are above the relative poverty threshold in Turkey. The categories of shared content that evoke the feeling of deficiency in the participants are as follows: Travel/vacation, participation in social life, physical attractiveness, material possessions, and professional/academic career. The participants of the study are individuals who are above the relative poverty threshold for Turkey. The participants want to have “more than what they already have.” For this reason, it can be suggested that the main keyword summarizing the findings of the study is “more.” The study demonstrates that failing to travel and participate in social life deeply affects the participants and causes them to experience negative emotions.

Mounting empirical evidence shows that engagement in social network sites (SNSs) could have a negative impact on users’ personal well-being. However, studies of the undesirable effects of SNS use have not examined SNSs as a channel for users to share consumption information and experiences. To extend prior research, this study aims to examine the impact of consumption-oriented engagement (COE) in SNSs on young adult consumers’ personal well-being in terms of anxiety and self-esteem, as well as excessive spending.

Surveys were the primary means of data collection from a sample of young college students (N = 900). Moderated hierarchical regression was used to test the hypotheses.

COE is positively associated with anxiety and excessive spending and negatively associated with self-esteem. Social comparison mediates these relationships, and individuals’ materialistic values moderate the mediation.

This study demonstrates the psychological and behavioral outcomes of consumer socialization via digital media among young adult consumers. It introduces and empirically validates social comparison as a theoretical explanation for the effects of COE. In addition, it validates materialistic values as a personal trait that moderates the effects of COE.

The study validates COE as a key precursor to the well-being of young adult users of SNSs and social comparison as the mediator. With this understanding, public policies can be designed to mitigate the root cause of the negative impact of SNS use.

Findings shed light on the negative repercussions of engagement in SNSs in the consumption domain and provide an impetus for educators, researchers and policymakers to make further efforts to gain a thorough understanding of the pitfalls of social media use.

Purpose – The present research seeks insights into the consumer socialization process of both children and adults in a developing country, Peru. The role played by two socialization agents, media and church, has been explored in terms of how each is related to an important facet of consumer attitudes, level of materialism.

Methodology/approach – Male students attending a faith-based high school in Peru, as well as one of their parents, completed a survey in Spanish seeking information on their television viewing, their faith, and their views regarding possessions.

Findings – The more traditional socialization institution, church, appears to be less important to younger consumers than to their parents; but it has a greater influence on materialism for youth than their parents. The power of media as a socialization agent for both groups is seen not only via television advertising, but also through television programming.

Research implications – As one considers how consumers learn to be consumers, both from a purely theoretical standpoint as well as from a strategic marketing perspective, one should take into account both avenues for information transmission. The role played by both seems to change people's lives, both in terms of perceived importance, as well as actual consumer decision making.

The purpose of this paper is to test the effects of two types of celebrities (Instagram celebrity vs traditional celebrity) on source trustworthiness, brand attitude, envy and social presence. The proposed theoretical model consists of the celebrity type as the independent variable, social presence as the mediator and self-discrepancy as the moderator.

A randomized two-group comparison (Instagram celebrity vs traditional celebrity) between-subjects experiment (n=104) was conducted.

The results indicate that consumers exposed to Instagram celebrity’s brand posts perceive the source to be more trustworthy, show more positive attitude toward the endorsed brand, feel stronger social presence and feel more envious of the source than those consumers exposed to traditional celebrity’s brand posts. Structural equation modeling (Mplus 8.0) and bootstrap confidence intervals indicate that social presence mediates the causal effects of celebrity type on trustworthiness, brand attitude and envy. Multiple regression analyses reveal the moderating effects of appearance-related actual–ideal self-discrepancy.

Ultimately, managerial implications for social media marketing and Instagram influencer-based branding are provided. From the perspective of marketing planning, the findings speak to the power of influencer marketing as an effective branding strategy.

The paper discusses theoretical implications for the marketing literature on celebrity endorsements.

This paper aims to investigate the role of body size on female consumers’ fashion brand image perceptions.

An experimental design was used whereby the model’s body size in a fictitious advert was digitally manipulated to create four advertising images with an underweight, slender, average and obese model size (all other factors remained constant). Through an intercept survey of German female consumers, respondents were exposed to one of the four images, and asked questions pertaining to their brand image perceptions.

The findings suggest that for older consumers, model body size has no significant impact on their brand image perceptions. For younger consumers (18-25), there was some limited evidence of how a positive brand image affects when a slender model size is used, but there was no evidence that underweight models have a more positive impact on brand image.

The sample was restricted to a single German city (Berlin) with a relatively small sample and, therefore, the generalisability of the findings may be limited. It would be interesting to repeat the study in different cultural contexts. Whilst this paper focussed on potential differences in perceptions between different age groups, future studies could consider other factors, such as fashion involvement or consumer personality on the impact of body size on brand image.

Given the potential link to low self-esteem and eating disorders, it is recommended that fashion brands cease using clinically underweight models. Brands targeting older consumers may benefit from using larger models.

There is limited research to date that looks at the role of body size on brand image, and this is one of the first studies to consider all non-product-related brand image associations, and how perceptions may differ between different age groups, with many previous studies relying on student samples.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the cultural differences in female consumers’ motivation to purchase appearance-enhancing products, particularly anti-aging creams.

This study uses a qualitative research design to collect the data. Focus group discussions were used. The participants were selected from Thai and Australian females, 25-45 years old in Melbourne representing the most frequent users of anti-aging products.

The results indicated variations among participants in their motivation to seek a better appearance. The motivation ranged from a combination of striving to achieve an ideal self and a high level of social acceptability through maintaining youthful appearance and improving on the perceived declining youthful appearance. Using anti-aging products turned out to be a means for taking care of oneself, achieving better social acceptability and improving self-image. These key motivations are inspired by the individual’s social condition and from the reactions they receive from others. These motivations are shared by all participants, but within different cultural perspectives.

The main limitation is in relation to the true expression of attitudes by respondents, particularly in regard to the discussion of privately held beliefs about self-image, social acceptability and personal appearance. Additionally, the variations between cultural perceptions are only indicative of real differences between collectivist and individualistic cultures.

Managers can adopt a cultural framework for understanding their consumers’ motivations to enhance their appearance, formulate more accurately their marketing strategy and activate and satisfy their consumers’ demand and better inform their new product developments.

The analysis explains and compares the differences and similarities in female consumers’ motivations for anti-aging product consumption of two fundamentally different cultural value systems.