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An Exploratory Content Analysis of the Use of Health Communication

Strategies and Presence of Objectification in Fitness Influencer Social Media
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DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2023.2190248

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ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hhth20

An Exploratory Content Analysis of the Use of

Health Communication Strategies and Presence of
Objectification in Fitness Influencer Social Media
Posts

Jessica Fitts Willoughby, Leticia Couto, Soojung Kang, Jordyn Randall, Alex W.
Kirkpatrick, Danielle Ka Lai Lee, Yan Su, Alicia M. Booth & Shawn Domgaard

To cite this article: Jessica Fitts Willoughby, Leticia Couto, Soojung Kang, Jordyn Randall, Alex
W. Kirkpatrick, Danielle Ka Lai Lee, Yan Su, Alicia M. Booth & Shawn Domgaard (2023): An
Exploratory Content Analysis of the Use of Health Communication Strategies and Presence
of Objectification in Fitness Influencer Social Media Posts, Health Communication, DOI:
10.1080/10410236.2023.2190248

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HEALTH COMMUNICATION
https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2190248

An Exploratory Content Analysis of the Use of Health Communication Strategies and

Presence of Objectification in Fitness Influencer Social Media Posts
Jessica Fitts Willoughby a, Leticia Coutoa, Soojung Kanga, Jordyn Randallb, Alex W. Kirkpatricka, Danielle Ka Lai Leea,
Yan Suc, Alicia M. Boothd, and Shawn Domgaarda
a
The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, Washington State University; bDepartment of Educational Psychology, University of North Texas;
c
School of Journalism and Communication, Peking University; dCommunication Department, Utah Tech University

ABSTRACT
Health and fitness content intended to inspire people to live healthy lives (e.g. “fitspiration”) has been
linked to negative body image among girls and young women. Fitness influencers purport wanting to
motivate healthy behaviors. This study seeks to examine the presence of strategies known to positively
influence health behaviors (e.g. attitudes, self-efficacy) as well as of content known to have a negative
influence (e.g. objectification) among fitness influencers. We conducted a content analysis (N = 441) of
a random sample of one year of posts from four Instagram fitness influencers popular with girls and
young women in the United States. The main analysis consisted of codes related to objectification, health
promotion strategies, health-related content, and social engagement (i.e., likes). We found that fitness
influencers included content that conveyed constructs previously found to positively influence health
behaviors (e.g., attitudes and self-efficacy), but objectification was frequently present, in more than half of
the posts. Additionally, we found that the presence of objectification in posts was negatively associated
with likes, a form of social endorsement. We suggest health communicators aim to work in tandem with
fitness influencers to include content that may motivate positive health behaviors and improve media
literacy and that influencers aim to reduce the amount of objectifying content included in their posts. Our
findings shed light on content being conveyed and possible insights into the negative effects associated
with viewing such content.

Girls and young women are frequent users of social media
(Pew Research Center, 2021), and social media use has been
found to be associated with negative body image (Fardouly &
Vartanian, 2016). Despite the potential negative associations,
social media can also be used for health promotion. For exam­
ple, young women may turn to social media for fitness inspira­
tion, also known as “fitspiration.” Fitspiration messages are
media meant to inspire people to live a healthy lifestyle by
showcasing images and text designed to motivate healthy eat­
ing and exercise (Boepple et al., 2016).
Previous research has found that celebrities can influence
attitudes toward health topics, information seeking, and health
behaviors (Kresovich & Noar, 2020; Noar et al., 2014).
However, with the advent of social media, the idea of “celeb­
rity” has broadened to include influencers who are prominent
on social media platforms, such as Instagram and YouTube,
but who may not fall into the more traditional categories of
“celebrity,” such as actors, singers, and athletes. Indeed,
Schouten et al. (2020) found in their experiment that partici­
pants identified more with influencers than celebrities
(Schouten et al., 2020), and identification with public figures
has been shown to influence engagement in health intentions
and behaviors (Kresovich & Noar, 2020).
In a mixed methods analysis of the content posted by top
influencers on Instagram, Pilgrim and Bohnet-Joschko (2019)
found that influencers gained trust from their followers by
“designing body-shape focused visual content” and describing
how controlling diet and exercise can influence body perfec­
tion. Many fitness influencers popular on Instagram, a highly
visual social media platform popular among young women
(Auxier & Anderson, 2021), were personal trainers or amateur
athletes who then used social media to share information
related to health and fitness (Leskin, 2019).
Research has found mixed results from exposure to fitspira­
tion content on young women. For example, there is an asso­
ciation between viewing celebrity fitspiration posts and young
women’s body dissatisfaction and negative mood (Brown &
Tiggemann, 2016). Conversely, when the content concerns
body positivity – as in, the acceptance of one’s body as they
are and the celebration of this body as good (Sastre, 2014),
there is improvement in young women’s positive mood
(Cohen et al., 2019) and in discrete emotions including eleva­
tion and hope (Kraus & Myrick, 2018). However, exposure to
body positivity messaging was also found to be associated with
negative discrete emotions including guilt and pride (Kraus &
Myrick, 2018).
Other research has found a lack of behavioral motivation to
exercise after young women self-reported being exposed to
inspirational fitness messages (Robinson et al., 2017). Such
findings could be due, in part, to the content presented in

CONTACT Jessica Fitts Willoughby Jessica.willoughby@wsu.edu The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, Washington State University, PO
Box 642520, 208 Goertzen Hall, Pullman, WA 99164-2520
© 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
2 J. F. WILLOUGHBY ET AL.
such messages. For example, a content analysis of a sample of
female fitness influencers’ posts found that content may be
sexualized and portray a more fit ideal than posts by fitness
brands (Ahrens et al., 2022). Exposure to sexualized images on
Instagram has been found to lead to greater body dissatisfac­
tion (Guizzo et al., 2021). However, it is possible that other
content that could be present in posts could positively influ­
ence viewers. As Sumter et al. (2018) concluded, the effects
between fitspiration content and body image are complex and
interact based on consumer characteristics and the specific
content being viewed.
Previous health communication research has found theo­
retically relevant constructs (e.g., perceived efficacy) may
influence audiences around health attitudes and behaviors.
For example, self-efficacy, or confidence in one’s ability to
accomplish a goal, may be influential in motivating behavior
change (Bandura, 1977), and portrayals presented in media
can model behaviors in which people may want to engage
based on perceived rewards and punishments (Bandura,
2001). However, it is unclear whether such content is shared
by health and fitness influencers. Previous research that
looked more generally at fitspiration content on Pinterest
found that messages more often encouraged engaging in
exercise for appearance motivations than for health reasons
(Simpson & Mazzeo, 2017). Although appearance can be
a theoretical construct relevant for behavioral change (e.g.,
Lamarche & Gammage, 2012), it is one that can also lead to
unintended effects detrimental to the audience (e.g., Schuster
et al., 2013). An examination of the content that fitspiration
influencers post through the lens of theoretical constructs
potentially beneficial for positive health behavior change
(e.g., attitudes, efficacy) as well as that could lead to negative
outcomes (e.g., objectification) could help in further under­
standing the sometimes-conflicting outcomes of viewing
such content.
Content analyses have often focused on fitspiration con­
tent curated through hashtag searching (e.g., Carrotte et al.,
2017), rather than specifically investigating the role of con­
tent produced by influencers, individuals who have millions
of followers. Although the use of hashtags is appropriate for
the curation of content, we posit that one possible influence
of fitspiration content comes not only from the topic rele­
vance to viewers’ interests though the use of hashtags, but
also from the influencer posting them. In a review of research
that examined the impact of message and source credibility
and authenticity on social media communication about
nutrition, Jenkins et al. (2020) noted that credibility and
authenticity were important concepts that needed further
research in a health context, as they may impact outcomes
but were not well assessed. Additionally, as people often
follow feeds to stay connected to people they follow as well
as people they are curious about, such as celebrities (Lee et al.,
2015), there is a need to examine influencer-specific content
for inclusions of elements that may both positively and nega­
tively affect viewers. Nandagiri and Philip (2018) showed in
their mixed-method study that YouTube and Instagram
influencers were able to positively affect their followers on
perceptions of products. Therefore, the focus on influencers
provides an important addition to the literature. Here, we
expand upon previous research and examine the content of
popular Instagram fitness influencers’ posts to see what
appeals they used and how such content propagates body
image, theoretically relevant health message strategies, and
objectification, and how it is associated with social
endorsement.
Social media and objectification
“Fitspiration” or “fitspo,” a synthesized term of “fitness” and
“inspiration,” originally started intending to alter preexisting
distorted body image and related health risks as it promoted
a healthier lifestyle including regular exercise and a nutritious
diet (Tiggemann & Zaccardo, 2015). However, studies have
suggested fitspiration might backfire in its intended effect.
Exposure to fitspiration content has consistently been asso­
ciated with the same negative psychological concerns (e.g., low
body satisfaction or self-esteem) found with the preexisting
thin-idealizing body images (Fardouly et al., 2017; Robinson
et al., 2017; Simpson & Mazzeo, 2017; Tiggemann & Zaccardo,
2015).
Objectification is defined as one’s value being determined
by how others perceive them instead of one’s self-perception
(Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Objectification has been linked
to body dissatisfaction (Knauss et al., 2008) and objectifying
content has been found to be prevalent in fitspiration posts
(Tiggemann & Zaccardo, 2018). Exposure to sexually objecti­
fied portrayals of women in media is associated with higher
body dissatisfaction, increased self-objectification, and other
negative outcomes (Ward, 2016). In their examination of the
presence of objectification and comments in popular
Instagram accounts, Murashka et al. (2021) found that images
of females were significantly more likely to include sexual
posing and less likely to show the person’s head than images
of men. The authors concluded that “objectified fitspiration
may distract users from health goals” but recommended addi­
tional study to further understand how fitspiration can pro­
mote positive health behaviors while reducing the negative
effects of objectification. Therefore, it is necessary to investi­
gate not only the potential detrimental aspects of posts by
influencers, but also the possible beneficial strategies influen­
cers may use when crafting content.
Theoretically relevant health message strategies
A number of best practices have been found to be associated
with more successful health communication efforts (Noar,
2006; Willoughby & Noar, 2022) including the use of theory
to guide message development. Although a number of theories
exist that could guide messages, we focus on key constructs
prevalent across multiple theories that have been found to be
associated with attitudes and behaviors related to physical
activity (Chevance et al., 2019; Johns et al., 2017) and nutrition
(Chau et al., 2018; Hsu et al., 2018), specifically including the
constructs self-efficacy, response efficacy, threat information,
and attitudes toward the health topic.
According to Bandura (1982), self-efficacy is one’s belief
about whether they can influence events that impact their lives.
Response-efficacy (i.e., one’s belief that taking action can result

in a specific outcome) can influence how audiences respond to
certain stimuli, especially if the stimuli are perceived as threats
(Bandura, 1982). This is similar to threat efficacy; however,
response efficacy can also be applied to nearly every stimulus,
not specifically threats. These two concepts can influence how
people use, interpret, and respond on social media. The cur­
rent study examines how fitness influencers on Instagram may
portray self-efficacy, response efficacy, and threat information
in their posts. Furthermore, the display of a positive attitude
toward the health behavior on the post might lead to behavior
change, as suggested by theory (e.g., Ajzen, 1991; Fishbein,
1979). Also relevant to attitudes are messages that promote
body appreciation, which is the favorable attitude toward one’s
body with respect and acceptance, and an aspect of positive
body image (Avalos et al., 2005; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow,
2015).
Social endorsement
Influencers build their brand not only via content generation,
but also by showing advertisers that their brand is strong
enough to be endorsed, which can be demonstrated via
engagement of the followers with the content influencers pub­
lish (Swani & Labrecque, 2020). One way of showing engage­
ment on Instagram is via likes, which here we operationalize as
social endorsement. Likes represent popularity of content and
serve as a form of user vote or appreciation of content (Khan,
2017). A recent study that endeavored to develop a social
media influence index across social media found that the
number of likes appeared to have maximum impact when
measuring social influence on Instagram (Arora et al., 2019).
Research questions
Based on the discussed literature, we posed the following
research questions:
RQ1: What is the frequency of objectifying content in fitness
influencers’ Instagram posts?
RQ2: What is the frequency of content related to theoreti­
cally relevant constructs that are thought to positively impact
health behavior (i.e., body appreciation, threat efficacy,
response efficacy, attitudes and self-efficacy) in fitness influ­
encers’ Instagram posts?
RQ3: How likely it is that theoretically relevant constructs
are present more often in posts containing health-related
messages?
RQ4: Does social endorsement of fitness influencer posts
vary based on inclusion of objectifying content?
RQ5: Does social endorsement of fitness influencer posts
vary based on inclusion of content related to theoretically
relevant constructs thought to positively impact health
behavior?
HEALTH COMMUNICATION 3
Methods
Sample selection
We selected four Instagram fitness influencers based on high
number of followers and promotion of their content in media
popular with girls and young women (e.g., Cooper, 2018;
Narins, 2018) in 2018 (the year from which we selected our
sample). As we were interested in the posts at the aggregate
level, we have not named the influencers here, but data and
additional information can be obtained from the first author
upon reasonable request. Number of followers on Instagram
ranged from 2.5 million to 14 million.
In determining the influencers to select, all authors
reviewed popular media and created a list of influencers pro­
moted across multiple magazines or webpages that described
top influencers for health and fitness among young women.
For an influencer to be considered, they needed to have been
listed in at least three popular media articles describing fitness
influencers to follow. Influencers were excluded if their con­
tent may have differed from their typical content based on life
events (e.g., pregnant or postpartum).
The sample was collected in February and March of 2019,
and we aimed to randomly sample from a full year of posting
by the influencers selected. For each influencer, all posts in
the year 2018 (n = 1,152) were collected and we randomly
selected 450 posts for analysis. We ended up with a sample of
441, as through the random selection, three of the same posts
were identified twice for coding, two pairs were coded twice,
and four posts were in Spanish-only. Previous content analyses
of fitspiration on Instagram have used a similar sample size
(e.g., Carrotte et al., 2017). Additionally, based on the potential
probability for some of the specific constructs of interest to be
less prevalent, a sample size of approximately 450 was expected
to lead to an adequate level of significance (i.e., .01) with
a possibility that less than 10% of posts contained certain
content (Krippendorff, 2004). In work that looked at sampling
for content analyses from Twitter, researchers found a simple
random sample to be more efficient than a constructed week
sample (Kim et al., 2018). As we were interested in what
a person may see if they follow multiple health and fitness
influencers, we chose to sample from the posts overall instead
of within each influencers’ posts. This gave us a sample size
that varied slightly by influencer (e.g., Influencer 1, n = 85,
19.3%, Influencer 2, n = 86, 19.5%, Influencer 3, n = 123,
27.9% and Influencer 4, n = 147, 33.3%).
Unit of analysis
The Instagram posts were coded in terms of visuals and text
present. Both picture posts and video posts were included. The
video posts were only analyzed for initial image. If the post had
multiple pictures or videos, only the first was analyzed. Each
individual post was the unit of analysis.
Intercoder reliability
Three coders independently coded 10% (n = 45) of the sample
to establish intercoder reliability, selected randomly, per con­
tent analysis recommendations (Lacy et al., 2015; Riffe et al.,
4 J. F. WILLOUGHBY ET AL.

Table 1. Coding categories.

Category Definition Example5 α
Body appreciation1 Presence of body appreciation images and messages. “Everyone is beautiful! Appreciate yourself.” .75
Threat information2 Presence of discussion of health threats. “If you don’t enough water, your skin will dry up!” .71
Self-Efficacy2 Presence of information that would inspire confidence in engaging “You can do this, too!” .80
in healthy behavior.
Response Efficacy2 Presence of information showing benefits of engaging in healthy Before-after comparison of person. .72
behavior.
Attitude3 Information that stimulates a positive attitude toward healthy “I always feel better after working out!” .93
behaviors.
Objectification: focus on specific Images being depicted with focus on specific body part. Only Close-up of influencer’s chest. .91
body part4 pictures with people were coded for objectification.
Objectification: posing in a sensual Subjects in the images being depicted as posing in a sensual Sultry gaze, arching back. .71
manner4 manner. Only pictures with people were coded for
objectification.
Objectification: subject’s head and/ Pictures where the subject’s head and/or face is not clearly visible. Body shot where the face is not part of the picture. .79
or face that is not clearly visible4 Only pictures with people were coded for objectification.
Health content Presence of health promotion messages. The values of exercising, good nutrition habits. .82
1
Based on Avalos et al.’s (2005) definition of body appreciation.
2
Based on Hart and Feldman’s (2014) work in a different topic area.
3
Based on the definition of attitudes as a precursor to health behavior change prominent in a number of theories (e.g., Theory of Planned Behavior, Ajzen, 1991).
4
Based on Tiggemann and Zaccardo’s (2018) work on Instagram and fitness.
5
All examples are illustrative and used for coder training, not necessarily material that was coded.

2019). The codebook included instructions and examples for
all categories analyzed. Neuendorf (2002) mentions that an
alpha of .70 is ideal. Our alphas ranged between .71 and 1.
Alphas are presented in Table 1.
Coding procedure
We developed categories to analyze the posts in terms of
demographics, social media engagement, body image issues,
and health message strategies. After establishing intercoder
reliability, three coders independently coded the remaining
posts. Some of the posts contained messages in a language in
addition to English, but only text provided in English was
coded. Four posts were excluded from the final sample due
to the lack of English language text. Posts with other languages
in addition to English were kept in the sample.
A similar procedure was used for the objectification variables
to create an overall presence of objectification variable.
Social engagement
To examine social engagement, we recorded the z-scores of the
likes in the “likes” category by influencer (therefore, there were
four values for zeroes, four values for standard deviations, etc.)
because we were concerned with levels of social engagement
within what is expected of each influencer. After, we consid­
ered the posts that were above 1 in the z-score as being
particularly engaged, as they received more likes than approxi­
mately 84% of the sample. We chose to use z-scores as that
allowed us to standardize across the various amount of likes
that influencers could receive. The use of a ratio number of
likes could have been inflated for individuals who had a higher
number of followers.

Coding categories Analysis

Background variables
We coded a variety of background variables including poster,
post type, social engagement, and image depictions (see results
for description).
Content variables
Three types of objectification were coded for based on pre­
vious research (Tiggemann & Zaccardo, 2018). These three
aspects were total or partial covering of their face, focus on
specific body part in the image, and the person in the post
posing in a sensual manner. Constructs thought to positively
impact health-outcomes related to physical activity and nutri­
tion were also coded. This included the presence of self-
efficacy, response efficacy, threat information, attitudes, and
body appreciation. Please see Table 1 for all constructs, oper­
ationalizations, and alphas.
Threat information, self-efficacy, response efficacy, atti­
tude, and body appreciation generated an overall variable
that comprised the presence of health promotion strategies.
To conduct the analysis, we used descriptive statistics, frequen­
cies, and crosstabulations using chi-square analysis to evaluate
the significance of the results, also accounting for Yates’ con­
tinuity correction. The data that support the findings of this
study are available from the corresponding author upon rea­
sonable request.
Results
Mean likes for all posts coded was 441,681.26 (SD =
623,664.09). Mean comments for all posts was 1,671.62 (SD
= 2,881.98). The posts had an average of 2.26 hashtags (SD =
4.61) and 2.02 emojis (SD = 2.13). The majority of posts were
still images (n = 291, 66%) and included women (n =
384, 87.1%).
RQ1 asked how often posts contain the presence of objecti­
fication and specific kinds of objectification. A total of 411
posts were coded for objectification, as only images that
included people were coded for objectification.

Objectification in one of three forms (a focus on a specific
body part, posing in a sensual manner, and a lack of inclusion
of heads and/or faces), was present in more than half (n = 231,
56.2%) of fitness influencer posts, with 44.8% (n = 184) of posts
containing posing in a sensual manner in their images. See
Table 2 for prevalence of all types of objectification. A chi-
square goodness-of-fit test was conducted and all measures
were significantly distinct from their expected distribution (χ2
(1, N = 411) = 64.65, p < .001 for focus on specific body part; χ2
(1, N = 411) = 200.41, p < .001 for lack of inclusion of head
and/or face; χ2 (1, N = 411) = 4.50, p < .034 for posing in
a sensual manner, and χ2 (1, N = 411) = 6.33, p < .012 for all
objectification conditions).
RQ2 addressed the presence of constructs that are thought
to positively impact health behavior used by influencers. See
Table 3 for frequency information. Positive attitudes were the
most common element present in the posts (n = 105, 23.8%).
We also conducted a chi-square goodness-of-fit test, and all
measures were also significantly distinct from their expected
distribution where χ2 (1, N = 441) = 315.49, p < .001 for body
appreciation, χ2 (1, N = 441) = 401.91, p < .001 for threat, χ2 (1,
N = 441) = 273.04, p < .001 for response efficacy, χ2 (1, N =
441) = 142.86, p < .001 for self-efficacy, and χ2 (1, N = 441) =
121.00, p < .001 for positive attitudes.
RQ3 explored the relationship between posts that contained
health messages and posts that contained constructs thought to
positively influence health-related outcomes. The presence of
health promotion strategies was created using the data from
the presence of five different strategies we coded (i.e., present
or not present for health, exercise, nutrition, mediation, or
sports). To address this question, we both investigated the
relationship between health messages in general and health
promotion. The results of the chi-square analysis showed sig­
nificance in their association, where χ2 (1, N = 441) = 232.24, p
< .001, phi = .731. The crosstabulation indicated that, within
posts with health content, 79.6% used health promotion stra­
tegies. Additionally, we compared the presence of objectifica­
tion and the presence of health promotion strategies. The chi-
square analysis showed a significance in this relationship (χ2
(1, N = 411) = 48.56, p < .001, phi = −.322). Within posts that
contain objectification, 83.5% do not use the health promotion
strategies for which we coded.
Table 2. Presence of theoretical and applied elements related to health
promotion.
Construct n %
Positive attitudes 105
Self-efficacy 95
Response efficacy 47
Body appreciation 34
Threat information 10
Table 3. Presence of objectification.
Type of objectification
Any objectification
Objectification: focus on specific body part
Objectification: posing in a sensual manner
Objectification: subject’s head and/or face that is not clearly visible 62 15.1
N = 411 as objectification was coded only in posts that included people.
HEALTH COMMUNICATION 5
RQ4 investigated how the inclusion of objectification was
associated with social endorsement of the post. A chi-square
test indicated a significant association between engagement
and overall presence of objectification, χ2 (1, N = 411) = 4.36,
p = .037, phi = −.113. When objectification is present, 34.6% of
the posts have higher engagement levels, whereas 65.4% of
posts have higher levels of engagement if objectification was
not present.
Although the relationship between social engagement and
specifically objectification that included a focus on specific
body part and a subject’s head and/or face that was not clearly
visible were not significant, objectification that included posing
in a sensual manner, conversely, did have a significant associa­
tion with level of engagement, χ2 (1, N = 411) = 6.26, p = .012,
phi = −.133. When posing in a sensual manner was present,
19.2% of the posts had higher engagement levels, whereas
80.8% of posts have higher levels of engagement if this type
of objectification was not present.
RQ5 explored how the inclusion of theoretically relevant
constructs that are thought to positively influence health-
related outcomes was associated with social endorsement of
the post. A chi-square analysis was also conducted to investi­
gate the relationship between the presence of health promotion
strategies and engagement. The results for the chi-square ana­
lysis were not significant.
Discussion
In this content analysis, we examined the Instagram posts of four
health/fitness Instagram influencers who reach millions of young
women worldwide with their posts. Although fitness influencers
may talk in interviews and on their pages about “loving oneself,”
we found that less than 10% of the posts included a reference
toward body appreciation. As body appreciation has been shown
to be a protective factor against negative body image concerns
from unrealistic body image portrayals in media among adoles­
cents and young women (Andrew et al., 2015; Halliwell, 2013),
additional focus on promoting body appreciation could be
beneficial.
We also focused on the theoretical elements present in posts,
as theory has been shown to be an important part of successful
health communication efforts (Noar, 2006; Willoughby & Noar,
2022). Although fitness influencers may not consider them­
selves “health communicators,” they are reinforcing some con­
structs known to influence health behavior from various
theories. Approximately one quarter of fitness influencers’
posts included messages that promoted positive attitudes
23.8 toward a health behavior. Theories have highlighted the role
21.5
10.7
of attitudes at influencing health behavior intentions and beha­
7.7 viors (e.g., Ajzen, 1991; Fishbein, 1979). The previously refer­
2.3 enced theories also highlight the role self-efficacy, or confidence
in one’s abilities, may play in motivating health behavior
change. We found that one-fifth of fitness influencers’ posts
included a message that promoted self-efficacy. An additional
n %
efficacy, response efficacy, or one’s belief that taking action will
231 56.2
124 30.2
produce a desired result, only appeared in 10.7% of posts. It can
184 44.8 be helpful to have both types of efficacy, as people then feel
confident they can enact the behavior and that taking steps
toward the behavior will produce the desired results.
6 J. F. WILLOUGHBY ET AL.
Our research also explored the presence of objectification
and the relationship between objectifying content and audi­
ence engagement (i.e., likes). We found that objectification was
present in more than half of posts by the fitness influencers in
our sample. Our findings supported research (Carrotte et al.,
2017) that found fitspiration images of women were likely to
be sexualized and research (Murashka et al., 2021; Tiggemann
& Zaccardo, 2018) that found fitspiration images were likely to
contain objectification. Specifically, we found the most preva­
lent type of objectification was posing in a sexy manner.
Interestingly, while objectification was present in many posts,
we found that the presence of objectification was associated
with less social endorsement (i.e., likes). As likes can be viewed
as a potential representation of appreciation for social media
content (Khan, 2017), it appears that viewers may not be as
appreciative of content that includes objectification in com­
parison to content that does not. As previous research has
found consistent negative impacts of viewing sexually objecti­
fying portrayals of women (e.g., Ward, 2016) and our findings
highlight that the presence of objectification does not lead to
more likes (and in fact is associated with less likes), we suggest
that fitness influencers and audience members may both ben­
efit from a reduction in objectifying content in fitspiration
posts. An argument could be made that audiences may still
enjoy such content but avoid using the like function due to the
public nature in which likes are shared, similar to research in
advertising that has suggested while women report negative
attitudes toward sexualized portrayals, some research using
fMRI has found responses to sexualized images that indicate
women may respond favorably (Vezich et al., 2017). However,
likes have been found to be primarily driven by brand relation­
ships and less impacted by self-presentation whereas com­
ments and shares are driven by self-presentation (Swani &
Labrecque, 2020). Additionally, the idea that sexualized por­
trayals may be less appealing and influential are supported in
other advertising research. Across four studies, Gramazio et al.
(2021) noted lower product attractiveness and purchase inten­
tions among women exposed to sexualized models than
women exposed to neutral ads. The authors concluded that
sex does not sell and given the potential negative effects of
exposure to sexualized content, limiting sexualized portrayals
in advertising would be beneficial. Relatedly, we suggest influ­
encers reduce the amount of objectifying content presented in
fitspiration posts when possible, as it could help with social
endorsement for the influencer as well as to reduce the poten­
tial for negative outcomes of viewing such content.
Much of the research surrounding influencers suggests that
influencers can indeed shape the opinions and attitudes of
their followers, specifically where products are concerned
(e.g., Nandagiri & Philip, 2018). Health communication pro­
fessionals should consider approaching fitness influencers to
work with them on the development of messages that may be
more likely to lead to positive health effects. Such work has
been successful in other health domains. For example, a flu
vaccine campaign offered in partnership with micro influen­
cers (defined in the article as having 500 to 10,000 followers)
was found to lead to increases in positive beliefs about the flu
vaccine and decreases in negative community attitudes to flu
vaccines (Bonnevie et al., 2020). Influencers were compensated
for their participation, receiving an average of $85 per influ­
encer for their participation and were vetted prior to inclusion
in a review of three months of posts. Partnerships between
influencers and health communicators could improve the
health messaging of the content shared by fitness influencers,
as well as reach populations that may not be exposed to body
image campaigns. For example, health communication profes­
sionals could focus on media literacy efforts that specifically
address body image on social media and aim to distribute such
content via influencers. Media literacy efforts in relation to
body image concerns in media messages have been shown to
be successful (Irving & Berel, 2001; Watson & Vaughn, 2006),
with a more recent focus on social media and body image
specifically (Gordon et al., 2020).
Limitations and future directions
Our content analysis looked at a random sample of posts from
four fitness influencers popular with young women. We
included multiple influencers to try and mitigate specific influ­
encer effects, however, it is possible that specific posters may
differ from other influencers in the content displayed. A focus
on other metrics related to social endorsement would also be
beneficial, as our focus on likes alone may be limiting. As this
project was a content analysis, it cannot provide specific infor­
mation about the effects one may experience from viewing such
content. However, it does expand our understanding of the
content to which young women may be exposed by following
fitness influencers on Instagram – another form of fitspiration.
Future research could benefit by looking at additional fitness
influencers and comparing based on age and life-stage. Future
research also may want to further investigate additional theore­
tical elements that have been found to influence health attitudes
and behaviors (e.g., norms) and elements associated with objec­
tification as well as the specific effects of viewing such content.
Conclusions
Overall, our research highlights that while audiences may be
following fitness influencers to find “fitspiration” and be
encouraged in regard to increased fitness and a healthy life­
style, some of the content presented in posts may also
potentially negatively influence body image. While fitness
influencers may aim to increase people’s wellbeing, the lim­
ited inclusion of concepts shown to lead to successful beha­
vior change (e.g., attitudes, efficacy) in comparison to
significant amounts of content that has been shown to
potentially lead to negative health outcomes (e.g., objectifi­
cation and its influence on body image, disordered eating),
is concerning. Our research suggests that while messages
may promote attitudes and self-efficacy, constructs known
to have a potential positive impact on health behaviors,
objectification is also present, which could lead to negative
effects on body image for young women. Additionally,
images that included objectifying content, specifically
including images in which women were posing in a sexual
manner, were associated with less likes, highlighting that
such content may not offer benefit to the viewer or the
influencer posting such content.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work
featured in this article.
ORCID
Jessica Fitts Willoughby http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1118-9502
Data availability statement
Data for this manuscript are available from the corresponding author
upon reasonable request.
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