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Korean Journal of Journalism & Communication Studies - Vol. 66, No. 3, pp. 139-182
Abbreviation: KSJCS
ISSN: 2586-7369 (Online)
Print publication date 30 Jun 2022
Received 08 Apr 2022 Revised 01 Jun 2022 Accepted 12 Jun 2022
https://doi.org/10.20879/kjjcs.2022.66.3.004
20대 여대생 다이어트 경험의 내러티브 분석 : SNS와 인플루언서가 감량 경험에 미치는 영향 및 다이어트 동기의 역할
김경보*
*명지대학교 디지털미디어학과 강의전담교수 (kbkim@mju.ac.kr)
A Narrative Approach to the Diet History of Female College Students : Focusing on the Role of SNS and Social Media Influencers and Individuals’ Motivation for Dieting
Kyungbo Kim*
*Teaching Professor, Department of Digital Media, Myongji University (kbkim@mju.ac.kr)

본 논문은 다이어트 경험이 있고 SNS에서 신체 관리에 관련된 계정(채널)을 구독하고 있는 대학생들을 대상으로, 다이어트 행위와 SNS, 인플루언서의 존재가 어떻게 연결되어 있는지 살펴보았다. 외부적 동기(사회적 압력)에 의해 타의로 다이어트를 실시하는 대부분의 참여자에게 다이어트는 욕구의 억제라는 부정적인 경험과 함께 좌절감, 불안 등을 경험하게 한다. 이들은 탈억제의 환상을 보여주는 SNS 인플루언서의 삶과 현실의 욕망 충족을 동경한다. 욕구를 충족하고 인내를 회피하려는 욕구는 SNS를 통해 노출된 상품 구매, 특히 다이어트 약품 구매로 이어지기 쉬웠다. 이때 인플루언서는 직접적인 구매 중개 역할을 하기보다는 약품에 대한 불안감이나 경계심을 낮추는 시각적 검증자료로 활용되었다. 참여자들은 약품에 의존하는 다이어트를 시도한다는 부분을 불편해하고 타인과의 공유도 부담스러워했는데, 이런 불편함은 인지부조화와 관련되어 효능 위주의 후기 검색을 통한 정보의 왜곡과 축소를 일으키고 있었다. 부정적 가능성은 회피하며, 긍정적 가능성은 과장하고, 부작용 등의 문제를 개인화하게 만든다. 참여자들은 후기를 통해 과학적 효과에 대한 검증이나 부작용에 대한 검증을 하는 대신, 효과에 관련된 후기만 선택적으로 검증하고 부정적 경험은 축소하는 왜곡된 결론에 도달하고 있었다. 한편, 내부적 동기(자신의 건강 개선)을 위해 다이어트를 하는 소수 참여자들의 경우 SNS를 통해 운동과 식이 정보를 학습하고 이를 실천하며 만족스러움을 표현했다. 이들의 경우 인지부조화를 일으키는 소비가 거의 드러나지 않았으며, 인플루언서와의 신뢰 관계를 바탕으로 구매를 이어 나간다는 차이점이 있었다.

This paper investigated how female college students, who subscribe to multiple SNS beauty and diet influencers, interpret the relationship among their behaviors for weight-loss, social media use, and the role of SNS influencers by interviewing 11 participants. Narrative analysis revealed that the participants were vulnerable to the thin-ideal internalization from the media and the social pressure to be thin that exists throughout our society. The majority of participants held external motivations for dieting, and their main reason for weight-loss was based on perceived external pressure to maintain a thin body. Their past weight-loss experiences built strong connections between weight-loss and painful self-regulation. Especially, repeated failure in self-control for dieting not only generated strong negative emotions, such as frustration and anxiety, but led to the adoration of SNS influencers and their lives, mainly because of their behavioral disinhibition for food and alcohol intake. Their intrinsic needs to avoid painful regulation seemed to activate intentions for highly risky health behaviors, such as purchasing of weight-loss products, extreme exercise, or super-low calorie food intake without considering nutritional balance. Interestingly, in the decision process for purchasing of weight-loss products, participants actively searched for online consumer reviews and indicated higher trust in information from the anonymous public than from SNS influencers. Distrust and keeping distance from influencers would be intertwined with reducing cognitive dissonance, which exists between their expectation for weight-loss and emotional discomfort from engaging in unhealthy, risky health behaviors. It seems that participants intentionally focused on the positive effects of weight-loss products, which can encourage them to rationalize their behaviors and minimize their emotional disturbance. The problem is that participants were less likely to search for information about the negative effects and potential risks of taking diet pills, which resulted in acceptance of biased and incorrect conclusions about unhealthy weight-loss behaviors. The minority of participants with internal motivations for dieting also experienced strong social pressure to be thin. However, these participants decided to lose weight to maintain their positive physical conditions through the improvement of their lifestyles. In contrast to the external-motivation group, they proactively chose helpful information from SNS and learned how to exercise and what to eat, instead of adoring influencers’ lifestyles. In accordance with past studies, these participants, consistently found SNS content to be helpful and became loyal consumers based on their accumulated trust and intimacy toward influencers. They were relatively free from accepting unhealthy behaviors, such as diet-pill intake, and from experiencing strong emotional disturbance due to cognitive dissonance. The paper further discusses what academia should focus on to reduce potential risks and harm in women’s health due to unhealthy weight-loss.