An Advertisement and Article Analysis of Skin Products and Topics in Popular Women’s Magazines: Implications for Skin Cancer Prevention

Abstract

Background: In the United States, skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer, with an estimated 5 million people treated per year and annual medical treatment expenditures that exceed 8 billion dollars. The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) to enumerate the number of advertisements for skin products with and without Sun Protection Factor (SPF) and to further analyze the specific advertisements for sunblock to determine if models, when present, depict sun safe behaviors and 2) to enumerate the number of articles related to the skin for content. Both aims include an assessment for differences in age and in magazines targeting a Black or Latina population. Methods: The sample for this cross sectional study was comprised of 99 issues of 14 popular United States magazines marketed to women, four of which market to a Black or Latina audience. Results: There were 6,142 advertisements, of which 1,215 (19.8%, 95% CI: 18.8-20.8%) were related to skin products. Among the skin product advertisements, 1,145 (93.8%, 95% CI: 93.9-96.3%) depicted skin products without SPF. The majority of skin articles (91.2%, 95% CI: 91.7-100.0%), skin product advertisements (89.9%, 95% CI: 88.2-91.6%), and sunblock advertisements featuring models (were found in magazines aimed at the older (>24 yr) audience. Conclusion: Future research on this topic could focus on the extent to which images in these magazines translate into risky health behaviors, such as sun seeking, or excessive other harmful effects of UV radiation.

An analysis of electronic cigarette and cigarette advertising in US women′s magazines

“…Characteristics of the readership of each magazine were obtained from online media kits containing annual readership statistics and demographics, including median age and median household income, and are described in detail elsewhere. [ 8 ] Median age was grouped as ≤21, 22–30, 31–40, and ≥40 years to correspond with standardized age groupings for young adolescent, young adult, adult, and middle-aged adult, respectively. Using the national median for annual household income, median household income of the readership was dichotomized at or below and greater than the national median of $51,939.…”

“…Using a coding sheet adapted from the previous studies of magazine analysis,[ 8 ] the characteristics of advertisements in this sample of magazines were gathered. Magazines were purchased and advertisements were enumerated and categorized based on the product or service highlighted.…”

College Students’ Attitudes and Behaviors Related to Sun Safety and Appearance in Relation to Health Information-Seeking Behavior and Social Media Use: Cross-Sectional Study (Preprint)

“…Recent studies indicated that appearance dissatisfaction and tanning intentions strongly associated with social media use [18,21]. Current literature regarding social media [18,22] is consistent with research on traditional media in that images are often pro-tan and lack focus on skin cancer prevention [23][24][25][26][27].…”