2 research outputs found
The lifecycle of a social media beauty trend: a case study of the Instagram body.
Get PDFThe study pursued the creation of a functional model of the typical lifecycle of a social media beauty trend. Within the fashion and consumer goods industries, lifecycle models already exist that explain the typical manifestations of products and trends, chronicling their interactions with consumers from their introduction to their exit from the market. In the last decade especially, social media has established itself as both a breeding ground for beauty trends and a cultural meeting point for interactions with these trends, which drive billions of dollars in consumer spending. This is exemplified by the Instagram body, a body type characterised by a small waist, thick thighs, and large buttocks. Despite the popularity of this social media-driven body type in the last decade, no model currently exists to explain its lifecycle. As such, the study sought to close the existing research gap by creating a model using the Instagram body as a case study. To achieve this, interviews were conducted with groups identified as stakeholders in both the social media landscape and offline beauty endeavours. These were social media content creators, fitness professionals and a cosmetic surgeon. Additionally, an analysis was conducted of the song lyrics on the U.K. Offical year-end charts from 2010 to 2019, to map out references to the Instagram body. Finally, an analysis was undertaken of YouTube video titles with the search term "big butt" from 2010 to 2019, to map out content changes during this period. The study produced a six-stage social media beauty trend lifecycle, which consists of: the emergence phase; the mainstreaming phase; the normalisation/peak phase; the criticism/fatigue phase; the discard phase; and the retrospective phase. The study also identified several stakeholders who influence the lifecycle, such as social media content creators and traditional celebrities, as well as several factors such as the social media algorithm and content fatigue. Finally, the study identified gender as a factor in the manifestation of these trends, in that they disproportionately affect women and its treatment could lead to instances of misogyny
The lifecycle of a social media beauty trend: a case study of the Instagram body. [Article]
Get PDFThis article explores the evolution of the Instagram body as an example of a social media beauty trend and theorises an updated lifecycle model to convey this phenomenon. The advent and evolution of social media has led to an online beauty culture and ecosystem, with new influential creators, and consumers driving trends and standards in online spaces. Lifecycle models exist across a range of contexts, with the fashion lifecycle being the most relevant to the current study. However, these models have not been adapted to reflect the phenomenon of social media and the current study aims to address that gap. The current research consists of a qualitative case study of the Instagram body as an example of a social media beauty trend. Interviews were carried out with influential stakeholders (fitness professionals, content creators and a cosmetic surgeon) who could observe and provide insights into changing behaviour and beauty ideals. Archival data were collected through an analysis of song lyrics and music videos to underpin the timing of specific stages in the lifecycle. A six-stage life-cycle model is proposed, consisting of emergence, mainstreaming, normalisation/peak, criticism/fatigue, discard and retrospective phases. Themes around gender disparity in the production and consumption of contemporary beauty trends were uncovered, providing direction for future research in this area. This research has implications for future research in body image, fashion, media and cultural studies
