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Lifestyle changes have been increasing rapidly since the introduction of media. Media - films, television shows, magazines, and more recently, the Internet (i.e. self-written blogs and popular websites) are the main sources of lifestyle influence around the world. Lifestyle changes include how people eat, dress, communicate, etc. Celebrity endorsements are prevalent. Lifestyle trends have always been influenced by the rich and famous, whether they are spotted at leisure or in a paid advertisement. At the dawn of the media age, there was the humble newspaper, glossy magazines like "Life" (Life Magazine), and TV which allowed the general public to gaze into the window of lifestyles only imagined in books. Today, the Internet is arguably the most powerful medium for spotting and influencing trends, not just by celebrities but the average American. The computer era has changed the way we obtain our news, perspective, and the way we communicate. Magazines are still popular, but now advertisers supply a web address where consumers can visit for more information than a print ad can provide. The average American household has two personal computers, making the Internet easily accessible. Anyone can create a blog, an online journal, personal or commercial, which might detail someone's experience in a new restaurant, a purchased item of clothing or knick-knack, a review to a film, etc. With the advent of the android phone and its relative ease of uploading photos to social media sites such as Facebook, one can get an idea of how quickly an idea, pub review, coveted object can be shared. Advertisers have always been privy to the strength of word-of-mouth and have tapped into social mediums, including Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, etc. to make their wares known. Douglas Kellner writes, "Radio, television, film, and the other products of media culture provide materials out of which we forge our very identities; our sense of selfhood; our notion of what it means to be male or female; our sense of class, of ethnicity and race, of nationality, of sexuality; and of "us" and "them."" ==Celebrity endorsed beauty and health products== Media affects how people diet. Commercials advertise special pills, juice fasts, raw diets, and all-soy diets. Celebrities endorse food products and diets that promise dramatic results in little time. Audiences are impressionable depending on their age range. Salma Hayek, who has been using juice cleanses for 15 years promises health with her own line, Cooler Cleanse. Jennifer Aniston is famous for her yoga-body and has revealed her secret, which the public has taken as a big health influence. So Feminine provides health and lifestyle advice taken from celebrities and their personal assistants/trainers. Reality star Kim Kardashian endorsed QuickTrim, a weight-loss product designed to get rid of unwanted weight. Recent news articles claim that the product is unhealthy, and Kardashian is facing a lawsuit for her endorsement. Along with cleanses are celebrity beauty products. Salma Hayek has a CVS-exclusive line of hair care and cosmetic products, called Nuance. Admirers of Hayek who covet her beauty have hope that her products will make them look appealing. Websites such as Cosmopolitan and Celebrity Beauty Buzz list favorite skincare and makeup products of celebrities so readers can purchase the same products in hopes of achieving similar results. Health articles note that the meticulous science process is often forgotten in favor of the newer-is-better trend taking over mass media. Harvard School of Public Health states, "With (reports' ) emphasis on short, "newsworthy" pieces, the media often only report the results of single studies, and many stories are chosen simply because the results run contrary to current health recommendations." Popular magazines and websites often focus on what's new in the world of celebrity health and beauty routines and forgo substantial research in order to bring to the masses what the public are truly interested in; quick, easy-way-out health fixes such as these juice cleanses and detox diets. Celebrity endorsements are effective due to their high profile presence in the media. Their physical attractiveness is central to their ability to sell products to an impressionable audience. Celebrities are also effective because they are what many people aspire to be or look like. Celebrities act as symbols of personal desire. "In an attempt to communicate the merits of their product or brand," says Michael A. Kamins, Ph.D., New York University, "advertisers have often chosen to use endorsement as a promotional strategy." Additionally, "the use of celebrity spokespeople has always been a favorite strategy among agencies." Kamins informs that advertisers are well aware of how easily celebrities influence consumer habits; it is the combination of their physical appeal and their high status that draws in the public. He explains, "Indeed, a considerable amount of research exists both in the social sciences and in marketing supporting a strategy by showing that a physically attractive source facilitates attitude change toward issues, products, and ad-based evaluations." Research suggests that there is a link between the product itself and the image of the celebrity. The celebrity, in this case, indeed acts as a symbol of the product. The physical attractiveness of the celebrity endorser improves the appearance of the product, or rather, the advertisement. In simpler terms, it makes a bigger impact on the audience if, "the characteristics of the product 'match-up' with the image conveyed by the celebrity," as suggested by Kamins' research. He continues, "This 'match-up' hypothesis suggests that the visual imagery contained in the ad conveys information over and above that contained in explicit verbal arguments." A journal notes that the match up hypothesis "specifies that perceivers distinguish multiple types of good looks, and that in advertising, certain beauty ideals are more appropriately paired with specific products than with others." Another journal further explains, "In the match-up hypothesis, the message conveyed by the image of the celebrity and the message about the product ought to converge in effective advertisements." However, research also notes that physical attractiveness is the key detail when analyzing consumer behavior. If a celebrity is less than attractive according to society's standards, the advertising campaign may potentially be less effective. Still, advertisements starring celebrities are generally effective due to their popularity and presence in media. There are times when physical attractiveness of the celebrity is not relevant, and that is when the product showcased in the advertisement does not claim to enhance the consumer's appearance. Under this circumstance, the "match-up" hypothesis does not apply because the product is not particularly attractive. Attractive products include luxurious sports cars, designer clothing, anti-aging products, beauty products (i.e. foundation that smooths fine lines, blemishes, pigmentation, and promises a flawless canvas onto which the rest of a woman's makeup may be applied), hair care (i.e. shampoos, conditioners, and shine-enhancing serums that boast rare ingredients and professional results), modern-day technology products such as everything Apple produces (iPhone, Mac computers) and the brands that strive to mimic these products' sleek appearances, etc. "Unattractive" products include toilet paper, household cleaning items, groceries and food, personal hygiene products, music, movies, etc. Though, it can be debated that music and movies do not depend on the attractiveness of its performers; attractiveness vs. talent in the respected fields depends on many factors regarding the consumers, such as age and gender. B. Zafer Erdogan says, "Because of their fame, celebrities serve not only to create and maintain attention, but also to achieve high recall rates for marcoms messages (marketing communication) in today's highly cluttered environments." This serves as proof that advertising agencies use celebrities to cut through the clutter that is mass media. Having celebrities in their advertising campaigns helps them get their products out there in the sense that notable figures are what gets the attention of the public, rather than the product itself. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lifestyle trends and media」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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