Fit for Influence A quantitative study on fitness influencers’ impact on social media users’ state self-esteem

Purpose: This thesis aims to investigate the effect of fitness influencers on the social media platform Instagram on users’ state self-esteem. In particular, the effects on users’ appearance, social, and performance state self-esteem are examined for distinct body types of the fitness influencers. Furthermore, this study aims to test a moderation effect of users’ perceived physical condition on the relationship between exposure to fitness-related content and the three kinds of state self-esteem. Methodology: This study employed a quantitative method. An experiment with three conditions was conducted through an online survey. The final sample size amounted to n=171. To analyze the collected data, one-way and two-way ANOVAs were used. Findings: Exposure to fitness-related content showcasing the fit ideal body type, in contrast to body positive physiques, did not impact respondents’ appearance, social, and performance state self-esteem in a negative way. A moderating effect of respondents’ perceived physical condition was only partly found for the relationship between exposure to fitness-related content and performance state self-esteem. Research implications: This study contributes to theory by showing that exposure to idealized fitness content on social media does not impact users’ state self-esteem. It provides a contradiction to existing literature on the beneficial effects of body positivity on social media users, suggesting that previous findings may not be applicable to the context of fitness influencers. The major practical implication indicates that, when designing advertising campaigns, marketers’ focus should be on the aspects that resonate most with the target audience. In the case of the fitness domain, focus should be on performance aspects rather than social and appearance aspects. Originality/value: Although there is a significant amount of research on the impact of social media on body dissatisfaction, fitness influencers’ effect on social media users’