Search

In the recent report The Impact of Influencers on Advertising and Consumer Protection in the Single Market the European Parliament mentions the use of nudity and sexual content and the role of perceptions and expectations towards body image and perfect images. What most moves consumers' attitudes and behavioral intentions is the credibility, attractiveness (both physical and in terms of familiarity and likability), expertise, trustworthiness, popularity, prestige and high power of the influencers. In Spain two White Papers on influencer marketing indicate that a common form of socialization, especially for girls and women, consists of showing a sexy or a perfect body and projecting an egocentric image. The aim of this research is to analyze the presence of self-objectification in top influencers in Spain and to identify its relationship with either social values of success and recognition or stereotypes. The methodology carried out has been a content analysis of 246 images of the first 14 top influencers that appear in the Report of the 500 most influential men and women influencers in Spain in 2022. From a previous literature review, the analysis has been conducted with a deductiveinductive research paradigm through coding with QSR Nvivo the following categories of selfobjectification: (1) sexy self-presentation; (2) appearance-centered attitude towards one's own perfect body - egocentric image; (3) stereotypical gender representation; and (4) success, social recognition, or popularity. The results show that self-objectification is more predominant in women than in men, and that it has an important correspondence with the self-perception of the professions they have as well as with age, being mainly belonging to the Z Generation. Both women and men who selfperceive themselves as having professions in which physical appearance is relevant (models or actors) tend to objectify themselves more. However, success and social recognition are more evident in those male influencers who emphasize their professional facet and do not resort to self-sexualization of their bodies (businessmen, advertisers or youtubers). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the evolution of the electoral use of Instagram in Spain, from its origins as a political communication channel to its current consolidation. A content analysis of eleven variables is applied to the formal, spatial, personal, thematic-discursive and interactive dimensions of the activity carried out on this social network by the candidates for the presidency of the Spanish Government of the parties that ran with the highest vote expectations in the General Elections of December 2015, June 2016 and April and November 2019 (571 posts). The results show the consolidation of Instagram as a political communication tool and the growing interest of the parties in it, as well as the increasing importance of short videos as a format. The electoral use of this social network is carried out with an increasingly mobilising intention, as evidenced both by the themes chosen and, above all, by the purpose of the publications, the spatial context represented and the hashtags used. The growing characterisation of candidates as leaders of the masses is also evidence of the personalisation of political leadership that occurs in this medium during electoral campaigns. Finally, the phenomenon of polarisation and the presence of populist stylistic traits are also beginning to be noticeable, as reflected in the increase in political issues and negative emotional appeals in the messages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]