A truly idyllic lifestyle?
A qualitative study on readers’ motivations to follow healthy living
blogs (HLBs), their perception of HLBs’ credibility and HLBs’
possible influence on readers’ personal lives.
Master Thesis – Persuasive Communication Graduate School of Communication, UVA Student: Eva Amsterdam
Student number: 10834273 Supervisor: E.S. Smit Date: 25-06-2015
Abstract
Healthy living blogs (HLBs) have proven to be an increasingly popular genre of blogs. However, studies have shown that this type of blog entails elements of thin appearance ideals and disordered messages about food and nutrition. As only content analyses of HLBs have been performed, the current study contributes to the existing literature by focussing on the readers’ point of view. This is done by exploring university-aged female readers’ motivations to follow HLBs, their perception of HLBs’ credibility and the extent to which they internalise messages promoted on HLBs. Interviews with twelve female followers of HLBs pointed out that they are motivated to read HLBs for information, entertainment, inspiration and
identification. Furthermore, the interviewees indicated to perceive healthy living bloggers as quite credible, despite being aware of less credible elements of the blogs, like advertising. Readers expressed moderate levels of competence by stating that information on HLBs is generally easy to read and apply, but that they do not have as much time to act upon it as healthy living bloggers do. Readers felt related to the healthy living bloggers because of their shared lifestyle and to such an extent that they want to defend the blog when it is criticized. Additionally, readers showed high levels of autonomy by indicating that they do not feel any pressure from the blogger to apply the given information. Although these outcomes predict high levels of internalisation, readers indicated to only do things that suit them and that ‘finding a balance’ is very important. Therefore, it seems that the potentially unhealthy elements of HLBs found in previous studies will not be accepted and internalised without individual evaluation of the readers. High levels of internalisation concerning a healthy lifestyle might be something health care practitioners or health insurance companies would want to create for their clients. Some elements of HLBs could therefore be used as an addition to their current health promotion programs. Further quantitative research is needed however, to draw conclusions on the exact effects that the reading of HLBs has on readers.
Introduction
“I have just discovered your blog and your whole lifestyle is truly idyllic and inspirational. I’m going to spend the rest of the evening going through your wonderful site. Thank you so much!” (van Dornick, 2015)
“Again a clear and useful blog post! Gets me really excited again to try something new! Tomorrow my first breakfast with maca powder.” (Dekker, 2015)
These are just some of the many comments readers left on www.mynewroots.org and
www.ilovehealth.nl: examples of so-called healthy living blogs that use slogans, such as: “How
to make healthy choices every day” (mynewroots.org, 2015) and “It’s all about food, sport, health and more” (ilovehealth.nl, 2015). Judging by the amount of positive comments left on
these healthy living blogs, this increasingly popular blogging genre seems to inspire many readers to live up to its slogans.
Health and body weight appear to be of great importance to individuals nowadays (Leggatt‐Cook & Chamberlain, 2012; NOS, 2015). This growing importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle is noticeable in the emerging trend of staying fit and eating healthy (NOS, 2015). According to the Daily Mail an 'extreme healthy eating trend’ has started to arise (Victor, 2014). The Daily Beast also notices this trend and states that doctors and registered dieticians are increasingly seeing how people’s desire for "clean" eating - being vegan or avoiding food groups such as gluten, dairy and sugar - is becoming an obsession and can lead to health problems (Richards, 2014). The Wall Street Journal even talks about people suffering from “orthorexia nervosa”, which has them dangerously addicted to everything healthy, from sport and exercise to healthy eating (Reddy, 2014). Although these articles portray the extreme, they do illustrate that a trend of healthy living is emerging and that this increasing interest in health is not necessarily healthy.
A growing new type of medium that promotes the practice of exercising and clean eating in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle is the healthy living blog (HLB). HLBs are “personal
webpages devoted to sharing an individual’s healthy lifestyle, for the purpose of providing an example of "healthy living" to others” (Boepple & Thompson 2014, p. 363). The precise amount of HLBs is difficult to detect, because new blogs emerge very quickly and the identification of the blog topic is determined by how the information is tagged (Adams, 2010). HLBs are popular enough, however, to have food and health-related companies arrange sponsorships or pay for advertorials on HLBs (Boepple & Thompson, 2014; Lynch, 2010a).
Due partially to their popularity, the HLB could be an important source of information for people to find out what it means to maintain a healthy lifestyle (Boepple & Thompson, 2014).
However, previous studies that focused on HLBs, have questioned how healthy these self-proclaimed HLBs really are. Content analyses of this type of blog revealed that much of their content seems to provide thin-appearance ideals and disordered messages about food and nutrition, which might be problematic for individuals viewing and acting upon this content (Boepple & Thompson, 2014; Lynch 2010a, 2010b).
Furthermore, previous research found that exposure of appearance on the Internet and emphasis on an ideal body, which are prominent components of HLBs, were found to correlate with a greater chance of internalisation of weight dissatisfaction, appearance comparison and a drive for thinness for young women (Boepple & Thompson, 2014; Lynch 2010a; Tiggerman & Miller, 2010). Moreover, Lynch’s 2010 study reveals that HLBs in particular can show content concerning dietary restraint, the cognitive restriction of food intake (Carper, Fisher & Birch, 2000). Exposure to information about dietary restraint has proven to be related to a variety of negative outcomes including body dissatisfaction, low body-esteem, negative attitudes towards eating, and eating disorder symptomology (Johnson & Wardle, 2005; Stice, 2002). Lynch (2010b) therefore encourages further research on the
possible impact of HLBs as these blogs might lead readers to internalise or act upon these possibly unhealthy messages.
Although potentially harmful content is revealed by multiple studies of HLBs, these were all based on content analyses. No research yet has looked at this phenomenon from the viewpoint of the readers of these blogs. Final conclusions on how these possibly unhealthy messages could influence readers and be of potential harm can only be drawn when it is clear (1) what motivates readers to follow this type of blog, (2) to what extent they are critical of the content and (3) to what extent they internalise its messages. The current study therefore contributes to the existing literature by specifically focussing on these three aspects.
Previous studies have shown that because of the importance of the Internet as a source of health and nutritional information, learning about readers’ perceptions of what is being promoted online as healthy could be of importance to health care practitioners (Lynch, 2010b). Health care practitioners have raised concerns about the quality of Internet health information and the possibly unhelpful peer-to-peer interactions it facilitates (Eysenbach, Powell, Kuss & Sa, 2002). However, as Internet pages have been found to be perceived as a supplement to existing health services rather than as a replacement for it, deploying this medium in the right way might be a powerful contribution for health care practitioners to reach their audience (Powell, Inglis, Ronnie & Large, 2011). Insights in the way health information on the Internet is perceived and used might help health care practitioners to harness the potential benefits of health-related Internet use and discover what the challenges of it are. Furthermore, gaining insight into the way followers of blogs perceive the
information on HLBs might help to decide whether certain types of online health messages should come with disclosures.
Therefore, this study provides insight in the processes related to the reading and following of HLBs.
Theoretical Framework
The current study takes on a qualitative approach to explore how readers of HLBs perceive this type of blog. To answer this question, first the uses and gratification theory will be discussed to explore what motivates readers to follow HLBs. Subsequently, the source credibility theory and the parasocial interaction theory will be used to consider what the perspectives of readers could be concerning the credibility of HLBs. Finally, the self-determination theory will be taken into account to assess the possible perspectives of readers on HLBs as an influence on their personal lives.
Healthy Living Blogs
A blog or weblog has been defined as a type of interactive Internet platform that is regularly updated and exists out of dated entries arranged in reversed chronological order (Simunaniemi et al., 2011). Furthermore, blogs are maintained by one ormore contributors and can feature links as well as comments of readers (Hewitt, 2005). The rise of free weblog building tools and hosts, like Blogger and Wordpress, has made creating and maintaining a personal blog, in general, very easy and accessible (Leggatt‐Cook & Chamberlain, 2012).
The current research focusses on the specific blog type healthy living blogs (HLBs). Boepple and Thompson (2014) were the first to study this phenomenon and described HLBs as being “personal webpages devoted to sharing an individual’s healthy lifestyle, for the purpose of providing an example of "healthy living" to others” (p. 363). It is the bloggers themselves that state that they share healthy recipes or focus on promoting a healthy lifestyle (Boepple & Thompson, 2014). According to Lynch (2010b), this type of blog can be
distinguished from other types of blogs by the use of terms like ‘healthy’ and ‘fit’, as well as by the profiles of the bloggers, which describe, “a dedication to promoting healthy eating, balance in life, or the use of such phrases as ´healthy living`” (Lynch, 2010b, p. 320).
The Internet in general is a popular source of information on maintaining a healthy lifestyle (Boepple & Thompson, 2014). Blogs concerning a healthy lifestyle differ from traditional media on food and sport, like books, magazines or television, in that they can be kept up to date, can use hyperlinking between sections and have the possibility to add videos. The most important feature that distinguishes them from traditional channels is the possibility of interactivity that allows for a higher level of connectedness with followers (Singh, Veron-Jackson & Cullinane, 2008).
Motivations to Follow a Healthy Living Blog Uses and Gratification Theory
The uses and gratification (U&G) theory will be taken into account to assess what the motives of readers are to follow HLBs. The U&G framework is designed to reveal the motives that individuals have to make use of a particular medium and is based on the assumption that people actively search for and use media to attain specific goals (Katz & Blumler, 1974). This theory suits the current research´s focus on followers of HLBs, because contrary to effect orientated research, the U&G theory takes the perspective of the individual user instead of that of the communicator (Aitken et al. 2008). This means that instead of looking at what a medium does to people, the U&G theory is set out to explore how and why specific media types are used by their receivers (Katz, 1959), which is what this study aims to do for HLBs.
U&G theory is found to be a good way to investigate interactive media that encourage active participation, like blogs do, because of U&G theory’s assumption that people are selective as well as active in their media use (Muntinga, Moorman & Smit, 2011; Ruggiero 2000). Furthermore, U&G theory is said to be very suitable to examine people’s usage of new media and content types, like HLBs (Muntinga et al., 2011; Ruggiero, 2000). Particularly, because in the initial stages of a medium’s development, it is hard to make accurate
approach can act as vanguard of an eventual thorough quantitative and qualitative analysis of new media, which HLBs are, according to the definition of new media by Manovich (2003) (Ruggiero, 2000).
Because blogs differ from other types of media in the amount of interaction they allow, the motives for using blogs differ from those for using other online sources (Kaye, 2010). Kaye (2010) used the U&G theory to reveal nine motivational factors specific for the use of blogs: convenient information seeking, anti-traditional media sentiment,
expression/affiliation, guidance/opinion seeking, blog ambiance, personal fulfilment, political debate, variety of opinion, and specific inquiry. In this study, it will be explored which of these motivational factors account for the following of HLBs and whether certain motivations might be missing from Kaye’s classification when it comes to this specific type of blog. Perceived Credibility of Healthy Living Blogs
Source Credibility
Source credibility theory is taken into account to identify the perspectives of readers concerning the credibility of HLBs. This theory states that the persuasiveness of
communication as a general concept is heavily influenced by the perceived credibility of the source of the communication (Hovland & Weiss, 1951). So far, research conducted on
credibility has indeed suggested that source credibility is an important predictor of persuasion (Colliander & Dahlen, 2001; van Noort, Antheunis & van Reijmersdal, 2012).
Perceived blogger credibility relies mainly on the bloggers' expertise, trustworthiness, co-orientation and attraction (Cho, Kwon & Park, 2009).The amount of expertise is determined by the perceived capability of a source to provide accurate information (Cho et al., 2009). Trustworthiness relates to the extent to which a source is thought to share only information that mirrors the actual opinions or feelings of the source (Cho et al., 2009).Co-orientation concerns the point to which a source and the target audience are alike and lastly, attraction
relates to the degree to which an audience expresses a desire to be like the source (Cho et al., 2009).
Regarding the receiver's attitude and behavioural responses, source credibility has been found to lead to a positive attitude and to induce behavioural compliance (Ohanian, 1990). This suggests that the more credible blog followers find particular bloggers, the more likely they are to follow up on the information these bloggers provide. In the case of HLBs, this could mean incorporating a healthier lifestyle for example through a change of diet or the adoption of a new fitness routine according to the information on a blog.
Not much is known however, about the importance of credibility in the context of HLBs. To be able to identify ways in which HLBs might influence readers’ personal lives, it is necessary to map the credibility of this type of blog and the bloggers behind it.
Parasocial Interaction on Blogs
Horton and Wohl (1956) were the first to detect the phenomenon of parasocial interaction (PSI), which has been described as the, “illusion of a face-to-face relationship with a media performer” (Colliander & Dahlén, 2011, p. 314) that deepens over time and with repeated exposure (Horton & Wohl, 1982). Previous research has shown that personal blogs offer a possibility for PSI to arise between reader and blogger (Colliander & Dahlén, 2011). When reading a personal blog, users are offered a look into the blogger’s life. Moreover, readers are able to see the bloggers’ interaction with other readers through the comment feature provided on blogs. These opportunities allow for a relationship between blogger and reader to be established. Moreover, because personal bloggers, by being open about their personal lives, create a perceived sense of intimacy, readers might think of a blogger as a true friend, thus creating a high level of PSI (Colliander & Dahlén, 2011). An effect of PSI is that readers expect bloggers to be truthful and only to discuss things that they truly personally favour, because of their friendship with the reader (Colliander & Dahlén, 2011).
Blogs in general account for a larger effect on attitudes and intentions, because of the higher PSI on blogs compared to traditional media (Colliander & Dahlén, 2011). In the case of HLBs, this could mean followers would more easily act upon the information posted on the blogs than they would upon information on healthy living from other sources. Because research on PSI has so far not stretched to blogs about healthy living yet, it is of interest to find out what the perspectives of readers are on the credibility of HLBs and how they would describe their connection to the healthy living blogger.
Healthy Living Blogs as Influencer of Personal Lives Self Determination Theory
Lastly, to assess the perspectives of readers on HLBs as an influence on their personal lives, Self-Determination Theory (SDT) will be taken into account. SDT focuses on social–
contextual conditions that enable self-motivation and psychological development (Ryan & Deci, 2000). SDT is concerned with the degree of one’s ability and willingness to internalise regulations and values, and views internalisation as the process of transforming external regulations into internal regulations (Deci, Eghrari, Patrick & Leone, 1994). Internalisation refers to people's "taking in" a value or regulation and, consequently, to the additional transformation of that value or regulation to become part of people’s sense of self (Sanli, Patterson, Bray & Lee, 2012). According to SDT, the process of internalising a motivation moves along a continuum from external and controlling motivations to ones that are more autonomous (Katartzi & Vlachopoulos,2011).
Research has revealed multiple advantages of greater internalisation and integration of motivations. These include greater volitional determination, more effective behaviour, improved subjective well-being and enhanced integration of the individual within his or her social group (Ryan & Deci, 2000).Given the significance of internalisation and integration for personal experience and behavioural outcomes, it is of interest to explore to what extent
followers of HLBs internalise or integrate the messages on these blogs. A higher degree of internalisation would mean a greater chance of readers acting upon the content of a HLB and of them integrating the ideals on these blogs into their own values. This could mean more exercising and healthy eating, however, when the findings of dietary restraint related content by Lynch (2010) are taken into account, integration of these ideals could in addition cause a more disturbed self-image.Previous research has, for example, pointed out that eating problems and concerns with physical appearance after reading magazines were mediated by the degree of internalisation of the information by the readers (Morry & Staska, 2001).
The degree of internalisation of certain information is determined by feelings of
competence, autonomy, and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Feelings of competence exist when an individual feels efficacious regarding a certain activity; feelings of autonomy entail the idea of choice and of freedom from external pressure concerning specific types of behaviour or thoughts (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Lastly, feelings of relatedness exist when
individuals feel like they belong to and are connected with other people or types of behaviour (Ryan & Deci, 2000). This means that readers (1) who feel capable of implementing the information found on the blog in daily life, (2) who believe they can choose themselves whether they want to do this or not and (3) who feel related to the blogger, would be more likely than people who do not, to internalise the information obtained from HLBs and deploy it in their daily routine.
Method
Sample
Twelve interviews with Dutch university-aged (18-28) female followers of HLBs were conducted to collect data on the perceptions readers have of HLBs. These gender and age criteria were chosen as previous studies have found that women are significantly more likely
than men to use the Internet as a health information resource with 83.5 per cent of women versus 72.4 per cent of men in Burst Media’s study (N= 3749) using the Internet for this purpose (Burst Media, 2007). Furthermore, university-aged adults are more probable to search for information on nutrition and dieting on the Internet than people in other age groups
(Banas, 2008).
The interviewees were recruited through the network of the researcher by posting an invitation on social networking site Facebook. The Facebook post provided the age and gender criteria and it was explained that the interviews would be used for writing a Master thesis. The participants had to visit a HLB at least once a month and had to have been doing so for at least four consecutive months to make sure they had sufficient experience with reading this type of blog. Purposeful sampling (Coyne, 1997) was implemented to guarantee sample variation. This was done by interviewing both very frequent (read a blog multiple times a week) and less frequent (read a blog twice a month) HLB readers as well as HLB readers from different levels of education.
Interview Method
In order to reveal readers’ motivations to follow HLBs, their perception of HLBs’ credibility and HLBs’ possible influence on readers’ personal lives, in-depth, semi-structured individual interviews were conducted. In-depth interviews have been proven to be useful in obtaining thorough information regarding an interviewee’s thought process and behaviour as well as for the in-depth exploration of new issues (Boyce & Neale, 2006). Furthermore, individual interviews were used for this research because Kaplowitz (2000) found that people are up to eighteen times more likely to bring up sensitive subjects, like personal health related issues, when interviews are conducted on an individual level instead of in a focus group.
An initial analysis sample of twelve interviews was conducted for this study as Guest, Bunce and Johnson (2006) found that this amount is sufficient for data saturation within
qualitative interview studies. The interviews were conducted between the 23rd and 30th of April 2015 and lasted around 35 minutes.
The interviews were held via Skype, an Internet application that allows for two or more people to meet in a video chat through the use of one’s own webcam or camera (Skype,
2015). Skype has been said to combine the advantages of face-to-face interviews with those of telephone interviews (Hanna, 2012). First of all, because Skype makes use of a camera that allows for the interviewee and interviewer to see each other, the levels of interaction and authenticity of a Skype interview are comparable to those of a face-to-face interview as it matches its amount of nonverbal and social cues (Sullivan,2012). Furthermore, Skype has been said to account for interviews to occur in more convenient conditions for participants (Janghorban, Roudsari & Taghipour, 2014) and could even increase self-presentation and authenticity in comparison to face-to-face interviews because of the relative anonymity of online interactions (Bargh, McKenna, & Fitzsimons,2002). Lastly, the flexibility of Skype has been said to resolve researchers’ possible concerns of reaching participants that are geographically spread (Janghorban et al., 2014). In this study Skype was used to be able to reach a sample of participants from different parts of The Netherlands.
The interviews were recorded and subsequently transcribed verbatim. The interviewees were told that the study concerned HLBs and that the interview was recorded. It is vital to protect respondents’ privacy within ethically approved research (Thompson, Locander & Pollio, 1989). For this reason, the interviewees were assured of anonymity by explaining that their names would not be used in any publications on this study. Lastly, interviewees were told that participation in the study was voluntary and that they were able to terminate the interview at any point. All interviewees orally agreed to the proposed informed consent before the start of the interviews. The current research was approved by the ethical board of ASCoR before conducting the interviews. For Skype interviews ethical considerations have been
considered to be the same as in face-to-face and online interviews (Janghorban, Roudsari & Taghipour, 2014).
Interview structure
Interviewees were first asked about their personal information and issue-involvement
followed by some questions about for how long and how often they had been reading HLBs. Next, open-ended questions based on the four theories discussed in the theoretical framework were asked.
To discover readers’ motivations to follow HLBs, the U&G theory was taken into account by asking, “What are the different reasons for you to read healthy living blogs?”. The source credibility theory was used through incorporating the elements of expertise, attraction, co-operation and trustworthiness in the questions to assess readers’ perception of HLB’s
credibility. For example, this was done by asking, “To what extent do you feel the blogger is capable of providing correct information?” (Expertise) and, “To what extent do you feel the blogger is honest and sincere in the feelings and opinions he/she mentions on the blog?” (Trustworthiness) (Cho et al., 2009). Furthermore, the perceptions of HBL’s credibility were assessed by taking into account parasocial interaction. This was done by shaping several items used by Rubin and McHugh (1987) into open-ended questions and adjusting them to bloggers. Examples of questions are, "To what extent does your favourite healthy living blogger make you feel comfortable, like a friend?”. "To what extent do you think he (she) could be a friend of yours?" and, " To what extent do you miss your favourite healthy living blogger(s) when you are unable to read a blog?”. Lastly, the three aspects of self-determination theory: competence, autonomy and relatedness were taken into account to find out HLB’s possible influence on readers’ personal lives, by asking for example, “How confident do you feel that you can live up to the information given on the blog?”, to assess an interviewee’s feeling of competence (Williams, Ryan & Deci, 2004).
To extend the depth and quality of the answers and/or encourage interviewees to elaborate on their answers (Keats, 2001) questions were expanded through the use of probes like, “Please tell me more about that.”, “Can you give an example of that?” and, “How did that make you feel?” (Boyce & Neale, 2006). Furthermore, the interviewer made sure to use effective interview techniques like the avoidance of closed questions or suggestive questions and not letting a personal opinion intervene (Boyce & Neale, 2006; Pope, Ziebland & Mays, 2000). The complete interview guide can be found in Appendix A.
Analysis
Qualitative analysis is always partially influenced by the characteristics of the researcher. It therefore requires critical reflection and a sense of flexibility and openness of the researcher throughout the entire process (Gale, Heath, Cameron, Rashid & Redwood, 2013; Giangreco & Taylor, 2003). For this study, the researcher conducting the interviews and analysing the data read several HLBs to get acquainted with these blogs and its main components before
proceeding with the interviews.
For the analysis of the data the framework method was used (Gale et al., 2013). This method of analysis is commonly used to thematically analyse semi-structured interview transcripts and offers the opportunity to combine a deductive and an inductive approach. In addition, the framework method provides the possibility to map topics and themes identified in data across cases as well as within individual cases onto a matrix (Gale et al., 2013). For this purpose, a combined approach of deductive and inductive research was used which allowed for themes and codes to be selected on the bases of chosen literature as well as from the data through open and unrestricted coding (Gale et al., 2013). This combination suits the current study because this study is set out to discover also the unexpected aspects of the participants’ experience, aside from incorporating the previously named theories.
The procedure of analysis was deducted from Gale et al.’s (2013) description on how to use the framework method for the analysis of qualitative data. The first step was to transcribe verbatim all of the individual interviews conducted, because content is of primary interest in this approach. The transcription provided a chance for the researcher to become immersed in the data and familiarise oneself with the interviews, which is step two of Gale et al.’s (2013) procedure.
After transcription the process of coding, step three was initiated, which meant that labels or codes were added to the text to describe the researcher’s interpretation of the passages. In this stage of the analysis, the qualitative data analysis software Atlas.TI was used, which helps to expose phenomena or patterns in the data provided by the interviews (Atlasti.com, 2014). Open coding was applied by coding all parts that might possibly be relevant as seen from as many perspectives as possible. According to Gale et al. (2013), codes should always refer to substantive things, values and/or emotions mentioned or to methodological elements like an interviewee becoming emotional or having difficulty explaining certain things. This process was performed by one researcher, because it was not feasible to have multiple coders
independently code the transcripts. A second researcher, experienced in qualitative research, was consulted in case of uncertainty.
After the process of coding, step four was initiated, meaning that codes were grouped together into categories, which eventually formed the analytical framework (Gale et al., 2013). Next, as a fifth step, this analytical framework was applied by categorizing the interview data according to this framework of codes. The last step, step six, concerned managing and summarizing all of the collected information. For this purpose, the data was charted onto a matrix by summarizing the data from each transcript by category (Gale et al., 2013). From this information eventually, features of, and variations between, the data could be derived.
Results
Sample Characteristics
The twelve female participants in this study had an average age of 23,8 and their education level ranged from having obtained a degree from intermediate vocational education to having obtained a Master’s degree, with more than half (58 per cent) of the participants being a Master student or already holding a Master’s degree. Interviewees followed two to fifteen different HLBs, with an average of 6.8 blogs followed per interviewee. The amount of times followers visited a HLB ranged from once a day to two times a month. It was mentioned by a large majority of the interviewees, however, that they were confronted with the HLBs they followed on a daily basis through social media like Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Furthermore, this majority claimed they first got in touch with HLBs through social media by seeing what their peers had looked at or “liked”.
None of the participants had been following an HLB for more than three years, because a lot of HLBs were not in existence before that time. They also mentioned a hype concerning healthy living that they had witnessed arising in society during the last two years. All
participants claimed that in general a healthy lifestyle was very important to them and that it was something they were very involved with on a daily basis. In most cases this importance arose due to the fact that leading a healthy lifestyle made the participants feel better
“mentally, and physically too”. For a minority of the participants the importance of healthy living arose because of sickness that required participants to live a healthier lifestyle, because of ambitions to lose weight, or because of doing sport on a semi-professional level.
Motivations to Follow a Healthy Living Blog
A majority of the interviewees expressed multiple reasons for reading and following HLBs. First of all, multiple HLB readers mentioned looking at blogs as a source of inspiration and
the bloggers, but most readers expressed they admired healthy living bloggers’ determination and persistence regarding living a healthy lifestyle. This inspiration and motivation was said to arise when reading about and/or seeing the healthy living blogger do sport or eat healthy food. Interviewees indicated that this reminded them of a healthy lifestyle and motivated them to consider what they were planning on doing themselves in that area.
“Sometimes I really don’t feel like going to the gym and then I am scrolling through my Instagram feed and then I see all those bloggers who did their exercises and their six-packs and then I think: now you have to! And then I am on my bike and I go.” (26, Master’s degree)
Another frequently expressed reason for following HLBs was to obtain practical tips,
information and new ideas, which were said to give the interviewees support in applying a
healthy lifestyle on a daily basis. Interviewees mentioned, for example, getting new healthy food recipes, information on new healthy products, and new exercises. This motive for following HLBs was mostly named by girls that had a specific goal to achieve because of doing sport on a semi-professional level or losing weight.
“They give tips about what is nice to eat. Because you kind of run out of ideas and then you keep having the same things. And then they say for example that you can also put peanut butter with banana on rice cakes. That is a good variation tip.” (27, Vocational degree)
Furthermore, multiple interviewees indicated that they liked to read HLBs when they wanted to kill time and sought some form of entertainment. HLBs were compared to
magazines multiple times, in the sense that interviewees liked to read them when they had the time but could also decide to easily put it away. HLBs were often referred to as something the interviewees “just really liked”.
”I like it. It is just like a magazine. When you have some free time you pick it up and you read it.” (22, Master student)
Lastly, what motivated readers to read HLBs, was the look they get offered into the healthy living blogger’s life. Identification was named multiple times as a factor that made the readers interested in personal, diary like blogs. Additionally, this was mentioned as one of the most important reasons for choosing a particular blog and to keep following that blog even if other blogs arose.
"You really get the feeling you are peeking into someone’s life. For example if I know there is a photo diary coming up, then I am like: ooh, is it there already? Because then I can pry." (23, Master student)
Perceived Credibility of Healthy Living Blogs Source Credibility
Trustworthiness
Multiple reasons were mentioned to doubt healthy living bloggers’ honesty. First of all, a majority of the interviewees mentioned that most healthy living bloggers only post positive
messages and photos and rarely talk about less positive things happening to them. Readers
expressed that this did not come across as realistic to them. In addition, readers could not relate to these “perfect” bloggers and it annoyed some of the interviewees that these bloggers seemed to “want to brag about their lives”.
“They are always happy and act like they have this amazing life. And then I think: Hello, of course they also sometimes have a day where they don’t eat that great or that they don’t exercise, but those things they do not put online. So in that regard they are not really honest. They make themselves look more like a hero than they are.” (27, Master’s degree)
Another reason to question HLB’s honesty is advertising. Readers noticed that the more followers a blog gets, the more sponsored posts and advertisements appear on that blog. A majority of the interviewees said they could recognize sponsored content and that this made them doubt this particular (sponsored) content more. However, it was said by most
interviewees that they understood that advertisements were necessary for the blogs to exist. Multiple interviewees mentioned that as long as the content inspired them and they knew they had to stay critical, advertising or sponsored messages were not a problem to them.
“I have read so many blogs and I can see very fast if something is an advertorial. You figure that out really fast. And then I just read past it. I think: Oh, interesting, but I don’t click on the link because I don’t need it. I don’t get angry about it or anything. Because they also have to earn their money, so I get they have things like that.” (22, Master student)
Even though almost all interviewees, to some extent, recognized these less credible elements on HLBs, a majority said that the bloggers they followed were indeed honest. A reason expressed to trust healthy living bloggers was the fact that they are real people: girls
“like you and me” that are “just very interested in the subject”. This, according to multiple interviewees, made them trust worthier than other media.
“What used to be photoshopt in magazines was done by companies, but these are real girls, these are just girls like you and me. And they also make these pictures, so their life really must be like this. That is what you think.” (22, Master student)
Expertise
Multiple interviewees mentioned that they thought bloggers with an educational background in sport and/or food, were more likely to provide correct information. Readers did indicate multiple reasons, however, for considering healthy living bloggers to come across as credible even when they did not obtain a degree regarding the subject of healthy living. First of all, multiple interviewees mentioned how they saw the bloggers’ physical appearance as
evidence that they were knowledgeable on the subject and that the information and tips the
healthy living bloggers give actually work. Readers explained this by stating that the bodies of healthy living bloggers usually look very healthy and in a lot of cases show weight loss by using before and after photos.
"They are so enthusiastic and fanatic and driven and you can just see, you have visual proof, that it works. That they do have that six-pack." (27, Master’s degree)
What made readers doubt the expertise of the healthy living bloggers was that a lot of bloggers have different opinions about what is healthy and what is not, which made it sometimes hard to judge if something was really correct. Multiple interviewees said to search for more information themselves if they were not sure of the correctness of a HLB.
Co-orientation
A majority of the interviewed blog readers said they identify themselves with the bloggers to a certain extent. For example, because they shared a similar interest in healthy living and were of the same gender and age. Although readers reported some similarities between themselves and the bloggers, a majority of them emphasized that bloggers are more `extreme´ in their execution of the lifestyle by using words like “body builders”, “health addicts” and “freaks”
“They take it to an extreme. Meal prepping for example. Preparing your food for the whole week.… And I definitely do not take it to that extreme. To that extent we are not alike and in that I cannot find any points of recognition. In my idea then you just don´t have a life.” (27, Vocational degree)
Attraction
Discipline and determination are most frequently mentioned when it comes to bloggers
being an inspiration and appear to be more important than physical factors.
“I really admire their lifestyle, it takes a lot of determination to live healthy and exercise that much and to say no to good food.”(23, Master student)
Admiration of the bloggers’ physical appearance seemed more prevalent for girls with less self-esteem. Readers mentioned that they were more susceptible to the information from healthy living bloggers when they were having a ‘weak moment’, which was explained as not feeling confident.
“Because they are all so happy, and then I think: Oh, if we do this than we will all be that happy. But I think those are my weak moments and that afterwards I can put it in perspective pretty well.”(23, Applied science student)
Furthermore, girls who claimed to feel no pressure at all to act like the healthy living bloggers said this was because they were happy with their body and thought they did not need to change.
Parasocial Interaction Feeling Like a Friend
Most interviewees reported that they did not consider healthy living bloggers to be their friends, because friendship to them meant more than following someone online. The majority of the readers said that the blogger would never know who they (the readers) were, especially bloggers with many followers. If they were to call it a friendship, it would merely be a
one-sided friendship.
“Friends are not someone I just know through social media. Friends are something that works both ways. And she does not know me, I only know her.”(27, Vocational degree)
A majority of the interviewees did state that they thought they could be friends with the blogger if they would meet them in real life. However, this friendship would, according to a
majority of the interviewees, solely be based on a shared interest regarding a healthy lifestyle and would constitute talking about this lifestyle and “going to the gym together”.
It was mentioned multiple times that if readers were to meet a blogger in the streets they would feel the urge to say hello or feel like they already knew them. Readers explained this to be because they got to see such a big part of the blogger’s life through photos and posts.
“You do have the idea that, because they share so much with you, that you already kind of know them. That if I would run into Ashely (healthy living blogger) on the streets, that I would for example say hi. Because you feel like you know them.” (28, Master’s degree)
Some interviewees also expresses that following healthy living blogs felt like being “part
of the community”, because all of the healthy living bloggers and their followers act on this
shared healthy lifestyle.
“It is like you have a group of friends who are all involved in it (healthy living). And look, I don’t want to be exactly like my friends. But, you do get support from each other, you identify with each other, you motivate each other.” (22, Master student)
Healthy Living Bloggers as Influencers of Personal Lives Feeling of Competence
A majority of the readers expressed feelings of competence regarding the execution of tips from bloggers in daily life, because “most of the tips they give are really easy to apply”. Multiple interviewees, in addition, said that they felt that, “if they can do it, I can do it”.
The reported reasons for not being able to apply tips from HLBs were: recommended products being expensive or hard to obtain and/or having too little time to follow up on certain tips. The lack of time was said to stem from having different priorities than the healthy living bloggers. The readers indicated to be busy with school and work and, consequently, to have less time than the bloggers, for whom the healthy lifestyle is their number one priority and often also their job. “Finding the right balance” in applying a healthy lifestyle, by only sticking to the things that suited them, was therefore mentioned by many interviewees and expressed as something that was really important to them.
“Some blogs are really someone’s work. So they can be in the gym all day for example. Well, I could not do that of course.” (23, Master student)
Feeling of Autonomy
Almost all readers reported that they did not feel any pressure from the bloggers to perform the given tips. They mentioned that they tried a lot of the given tips, but that they only stuck to the things that made them feel good. Readers mentioned how they could easily select the pieces of information that they wanted to read and ignore what they did not want to read. This was possible, because blogs allow readers to choose themselves what to click on and on what not. Some interviewees mentioned that their way of dealing with the blogs had changed over the course of following them and that in the beginning they did feel more obliged to do exactly as the blog said. They mentioned that this change was motivated by trying to apply tips and finding out which ones did, and which ones did not suit them.
“I think that is the good thing about a blog. You can just use all these ideas and well, just by doing it you find out what suits you and what doesn’t suit you.” (22, Master student)
External pressure seemed to come from other sources than the blogger. Pressure often did not concern reading or following up on the blog content, but concerned leading a healthy lifestyle in general. Types of pressure ranged from the prospect of being on the beach with thin friends to people knowing you lead a healthy lifestyle and judging you if you were to let that go. Feeling of Relatedness
The majority of readers indicated that they felt somewhat connected to the healthy living bloggers they followed. This connectedness was, in the majority of cases, built on their
shared lifestyle. Multiple interviewees indicated that reading about the bloggers’ lives made
them feel connected, because it let them know they were “not the only one in the world who
does this (leading this lifestyle)”.
“It is just nice to know that you are not the only one thinking this way about nutrition and sport, or a healthy lifestyle.”(24, Bachelor of applied science degree)
Some interviewees admitted that not everyone in their environment understands their
lifestyle: the way they eat and the amount of times they exercise. They mentioned that HLBs
showed them that bloggers face those same problems and that the bloggers even give tips about how to deal with those moments. Also, interviewees said they felt like they were offended themselves when HLBs were criticized by others, because the criticism was on a lifestyle they also made their own.
“Sometimes you read blogs that criticize it (HLBs) for example: opponents. And then I feel like: I am doing this too, so actually it is also criticism on my way of life. So in that sense I feel connected to the bloggers. Like, this is something I do too”. (23, Master student)
Interviewees indicated that when a blogger was more open about negative experiences they could relate to the blogger to a greater extent, because most of the time the readers had faced
similar issues. This mostly concerned smaller problems like sport injuries, finding it hard to
refuse bad food or even being stressed about other elements of their life like their studies.
The concept-indicator model (Appendix B) visualizes the found dimensions and themes.
Conclusion & Discussion
Conclusion
The current study’s aim was to explore how readers of HLBs perceive this type of blog. This research question was divided into three themes: motivations to read HLBs, perceived
credibility of HLBs and internalisation of HLB content. During the course of interviewing and coding, emphasis shifted from being on the blogs to being on the bloggers. This shift was caused by interviewees continually mentioning the healthy living bloggers instead of the blogs; and talking about how these personalities behind the blogs reached them not only via the HLB, but also via other types of social media and even by organizing off line events for their followers.
In general, the interviewed HLB readers were motivated to read HLBs for information, entertainment, inspiration and identification. Although multiple reasons were named to doubt the bloggers´ honesty, readers perceived the particular bloggers they followed as trust
worthier than traditional media, because they are `real girls, like you and me`. Readers did not regard healthy living bloggers as friends, because their relationship is one sided and the bloggers have no idea who their readers are.
Most HLB readers were very clear on not feeling any pressure from the bloggers to apply the given information in their daily life. Furthermore, readers indicated that information on HLBs is generally easy to read and apply, which makes readers feel very capable of applying this information in daily life. However, they did emphasize the fact that they do not prioritize this as much as the healthy living bloggers do and that they are less `extreme` about the execution of it. The interviewed readers felt quite related to the healthy living bloggers, because of their shared lifestyle. They felt related to the HLBs to such an extent that when this type of blog was criticized they wanted to defend it as this critique felt like an insult to their own lifestyle as well.
Discussion
The current study is the first to offer an overview of the perceptions of HLBs from a reader’s perspective and therefore contributes to the existing literature on this type of blog, which has focussed solely on its content. An understanding of readers’ perceptions of HLBs gives health communication researchers a better idea of how this popular type of health medium is
perceived and used, where potential risks lie and which elements of HLBs might be useful for other types of health communication, such as communication by health care professionals or health insurance companies
The identification motivation found amongst reader of HLBs seems to be in line with the affiliation part of the expression/affiliation motivation found by Kaye (2010) which
concerns readers who access blogs to feel involved and to interact with like-minded
individuals. Furthermore the inspiration motivation seems to resemble Kaye’s (2010) specific inquiry motivation which acknowledges that many blogs are centred around an ideology, in this case healthy living, and explains how people use blogs to find support and inspiration for something they believe in (Kaye, 2010).
The most prevalent motivation to follow a HLB, expressed by HLB followers in the current study, was finding “information and tips”, which is concurrent with Kaye’s (2010) finding “learning something new” as one of the most important motivations for reading blogs in general. “Finding information and getting tips” was, furthermore, found as a motivation for readers in a different study that focussed specifically on one HLB: Fitgirlcode.com, a healthy living blog with 10.000 monthly visitors (Barendregt, 2014).
Lastly, the entertainment motivation, which entails an element of ´passing time´, found in the current study, has also been found in previous research on blogs in general by Huang, Chou and Lin in 2008. In addition, the two motivations of information search and
entertainment have been found to positively affect opinion acceptance as blog readers with these motivations view blogs as more trustworthy sources than readers with different motivations (Huang et al., 2008).
Indeed, although multiple elements were named that made readers doubt the bloggers´ honesty (sponsored messages, only positive messages), readers perceived the particular bloggers they followed as trust worthier than traditional media. The most important reason for this was that they perceived healthy living bloggers to be `real girls like you and me`. This is in line with previous research showing that bloggers are known to disclose features of their offline identity as a signal of trust in order to appeal readers (Rak, 2005) and by the fact that blogs in general are found to be the second trusted information source, after newspapers (Brown, Broderick & Lee, 2007).
Source credibility overall seems to be quite high for healthy living bloggers, because expertise, co-orientation and attraction were also mostly positively perceived. This contrasts studies of traditional media, which suggest that opinionated writing, as in HLBs, lowers perceived credibility (Metzger et al., 2003).However, it is in line with research that found blogs to be viewed by blog users as being more credible than traditional media sources (Johnson & Kaye, 2004). Overall, perceived source credibility has been proven to lead to a positive attitude and to induce behavioural compliance (Ohanian, 1990). Behavioural compliance indeed seemed common amongst interviewed readers as they stated to very frequently try out things they read.
Parasocial interaction (PSI) was not very prevalent in this study. Readers indicated that they did not regard healthy living bloggers as their friends, because their relationship was one sided; they knew the blogger, but the blogger did not know them. Absence of PSI might be caused due to a lack of feeling of interactivity by the readers. Research by Thorson and Rodgers (2006) claimed the formation of parasocial relationships is influenced heavily by perceptions of interactivity in such a way that less (perceived) interaction lowers feelings of parasocial interaction. Readers in this study indicated that they very rarely or never posted a reaction to blogs and were also not very involved in reading reactions from other readers. This disinterest in interaction on blogs was also found by Kaye (2010) who stated that interaction is amongst the least likely reasons for connecting to blogs.
In relation to internalisation interviewees indicated to feel competent and autonomous towards the information provided on HLBs as well as related to the healthy living blogger with regard to their lifestyle. According to the self-determination theory, presence of these three elements indicates an adequate level of internalisation (Ryan & Deci, 2000), which in turn predicts more stable behavioural changes (Puente & Anshel, 2010). This does seem prevalent amongst readers of HLBs, of whom a majority mentioned to be engaged with
healthy living on a daily basis and for a longer period of time. However, it cannot be said with certainty what the exact impact of blogs on the daily activity regarding healthy living is, because we do not know how readers behaved before they started to read HLBs. A future quantitative study is necessary to compare behaviour or behavioural intentions before and during/after frequent reading of HLBs to know the exact effects of HLBs on reader’s behaviour.
As stated in the introduction, previous research on HLBs pointed at elements within these blogs that provide social support for behaviours and attitudes associated with dietary restraint (Lynch, 2010b). Studies furthermore found that Internet appearance exposure, e.g. emphasis on an ideal body, a prominent component of healthy living blogs, correlates with a greater chance of internalisation of thin ideals, weight dissatisfaction, appearance comparison and drive for thinness for young woman (Boepple & Thompson, 2014; Lynch 2010a, Tiggeman & Miller, 2010). As readers show high levels of autonomy and regard ‘finding a balance’ in healthy living as very important, it seems that the potentially unhealthy elements of HLBs will not be accepted and internalised without individual evaluation of the readers. However, as stated before, quantitative research is needed to establish which exact effects the reading of healthy living blogs has on its readers. For example, by measuring levels of weight
dissatisfaction, appearance comparison and drive for thinness before and during/after reading HLBs or comparing HLB readers to a sample that does not read or follow this type of blog.
Limitations
A limitation of this study is that it was not feasible to work with multiple coders. Therefore, only in case of uncertainty a second reader, experienced in qualitative research, was
consulted. However, little doubt arose while coding, because selective coding was largely determined by the four main theories used in this study. It would be preferable in future
research, however, for at least two coders to independently code the data and to calculate the intercoder reliability to be able to proof reliability of the results (Kurasaki, 2000).
The use of Skype for interviews accounted for some minor limitations. First, when interviewees select a disruptive environment, this can affect their concentration and therefore the data gathering (Deakin & Wakefield,2013). Disruption occurred for one interviewee when her brother entered the room on two occasions. This presumably did not affect the results of this study, as the interruptions were very short and the researcher was able to remind the interviewee of what she was saying before the interruption. Nonetheless, in future research to the participants could be told even more specifically to find a space in which they are not to be disturbed.
Another known limitation of interviewing via Skype is that access to high-speed Internet and knowledge of online communication might affect the nature of an interview via Skype (Deakin & Wakefield,2013). Unstable Internet networks did occasionally create an unclear audio connection meaning the researcher had to ask interviewees to repeat their last sentence. Results were probably not influenced by these interruptions, because the
interviewees in all cases remembered what they were talking about before the connection was lost and could continue without hesitation. This type of interruption could be made less likely by asking participants to find an area with a good Internet connection or even to connect their computer device directly to the Internet cable.
Lastly, interviews for this study were conducted in Dutch, the mother tongue of the interviewees. It was decided not to conduct interviews in English as it has been said that subjects who speak and think in the context of another language can jeopardise the accuracy of interpretation of their answers (Headley, 1992). The transcripts were also coded in Dutch and only the illustrative quotes that were selected for this paper were translated into English by the researcher. During such translations a risk arises of losing the conceptual equivalence
of codes (Marshall & While, 1994), as it is challenging to choose translations that reflect how the words conceptually fit into the context of the data (Squires, 2009). However, the
researcher was in possession of certificates to prove her proficiency in English, which makes errors related to translation less likely (Squires, 2009).
Directions for future research
In addition to the implications for further research described above, one more implication arose out of the interviews. Multiple interviewees expressed worries about younger girls following HLBs. They believed younger girls might have less self-esteem and more insecurities about their body and that, therefore, it might be more tempting for them to do exactly as the bloggers say in order to become just like them. This feeling readers expressed is backed up by a longitudinal study form Brown and Gilligan (1993), who found that from the age of 14 girls to a great extent start to ignore their own thoughts and feelings to please others and avoid controversy. In this respect, another study has found that clinical and sub-clinical appearance-based disorders are most prevalent among girls between the age of 14 and 18 (Frost, 2005; Ransley, 1999). Future research on HLBs might therefore be conducted on a younger sample to identify if their motivations, perceived credibility and internalisation of blogs differ from those of the older sample in the current study. This is especially interesting in the light of the promotion of dietary restraint within healthy living blogs found by earlier content analyses (Boepple & Thompson, 2014; Lynch 2010a, 2010b. The current sample seemed to be well aware that they ought to stay critical and were clear on not doing anything that did not feel right to them. A younger sample, as they have been proven to be more insecure regarding their body, might be more susceptible to the elements within blogs that haven been said to possibly heighten weight dissatisfaction, appearance comparison and drive for thinness among readers. Therefore it is recommended to study how a sample in the age of 14 to 18 perceives HLBs.
Practical implications
Multiple interviewees expressed confusion about which information regarding healthy living they should believe to be correct, because different bloggers recommend different types of food and exercises. Trust in healthy living bloggers, however, seemed to be based on the personality and writing style of the girls instead of on expertise. Rubin and Liddy (2006) already noted the two-folded source of credibility within blogs: the blogger’s self-reported image (or profile) and the information posted in the entries (e.g., news digests, opinions, or reactions to other postings). Chu and Kamal (2008) state that when readers regard a blogger as trustworthy, as is the case for HLB readers, they are likely to accept messages without cautious weighing of the arguments (Chu & Kamal, 2008). Because, according to previous research on HLBs, it is possible that these messages contain element of dietary restraint and thin appearance ideals, it could be dangerous for readers to accept all information on a HLB without caution. Marking the level of health related expertise a blogger has, could help readers to choose blogs that spread credible and correct information. Nakajima et al. (2009) created and tested a blog ranking system based on bloggers’ knowledge level which could account for providing credible information. This system might help readers of HLBs to estimate the trustworthiness and credibility of blog content before starting to read a blog. Therefore, it could be of worth to test if this system, which is based on blogs in general, would also work for HLBs or if it needs to be adjusted to suit this specific type of blog.
Furthermore, the current study showed that readers of HLBs are very willing to try the tips given on the blogs. This seemed to stem mostly from feelings of autonomy in
combination with feelings of competence and relatedness, which, as previously stated, are said to lead to the internalisation of promoted messages. For this reason, it might be
interesting for health organizations (health care practitioners or health insurance companies) to create a similar type of blog, or use elements from HLBs, to communicate their messages
relatedness through a spokesperson/blogger similar to the audience, (b) giving information and tips that readers can easily apply themselves to make them feel competent and (c) giving readers a sense of autonomy by speaking not about what readers ought to do, but about what works for the spokesperson/blogger and what could possibly also work for the reader.
Feelings of autonomy are additionally stimulated through the fact that blogs facilitate internal pacing. Meaning that the receiver determines the speed and sequence of the
information transfer as opposed to the sender determining this (external pacing), thus, giving the audience a feeling of control and autonomy (Pieters and van Raaij, 1992). Furthermore, internal pacing is said to account for more elaborate information processing when considering a highly involved audience, like HLB readers (Bronner & Neijens, 2006). For this reason, the blog format with a personal blogger might be an interesting type of medium to use for health communication purposes.
For health care practitioners this might be of help in reaching their audience and getting them to internalise the health messages that are of importance to them. For health insurance companies it might help them to motivate their customers in internalising and adopting a healthier lifestyle. This might be financially attractive for this type of company as leading a healthy lifestyle could reduce health risks for their clients, and thus the companies expenses (Fries et al., 1993). For example, excessive body weight has been proven to be are associated with increased health care costs and illness-related absenteeism (Aldana, 2001). In such cases, internalising HLBs viewpoints on exercising and healthy eating could bring better health to the individual and lower medical cost. This also might help companies looking to reduce employee-related health care expenditures and absenteeism.
For all these types of organisations it might thus be of interest to integrate elements of HLBs into existing or new health promotion programs.
Bibliography
Adams, S. A. (2010). Blog-based applications and health information: two case studies that illustrate important questions for Consumer Health Informatics (CHI) research. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 79(6), 89-96
Aitken, R., Gray, B. & Lawson, R. (2008) Advertising effectiveness from a consumer perspective. International Journal of Advertising, 27(2), 279–297.
Aldana, S. G. (2001). Financial impact of health promotion programs: a comprehensive review of the literature. American Journal of Health Promotion,15(5), 296-320.
Atlas.ti. (2014). ATLAS.ti for Windows. Retrieved from http://atlasti.com/product/
Barendregt, S. (2014) “Thou shall do your squats” A Qualitative Study about the Popularity and Marketing Strategy of Online Community Fitgirlcode. Unpublished manuscript, Erasmus University, Rotterdam. Bargh, J. A., K. Y. McKenna, & G. M. Fitzsimons. (2002). Can you see the real me? Activation and expression
of the true self on the Internet. Journal of social issues. 58(1), 33-48.
Boepple, L., & Thompson, J. K. (2014). A content analysis of healthy living blogs: Evidence of content thematically consistent with dysfunctional eating attitudes and behaviors. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 47(4), 362-367.
Boyce, C., & Neale, P. (2006). Conducting in-depth interviews: A guide for designing and conducting in-depth interviews for evaluation input (3-7). Watertown, MA: Pathfinder International.
Pope, C., Ziebland, S., & Mays, N. (2000). Analysing qualitative data. BMJ : British Medical Journal, 320(7227), 114–116.
Bronner, F., & Neijens, P. (2006). Audience experiences of media context and embedded advertising - A comparison of eight media. International Journal of Market Research; Int.J.Market Res., 48(1), 81-100. Brown, J., Broderick, A. J., & Lee, N. (2007). Word of mouth communication within online communities:
Conceptualizing the online social network. Journal of interactive marketing, 21(3), 2-20 Brown, L. M., & Gilligan, C. (1993). Meeting at the crossroads: Women's psychology and girls'
development. Feminism & Psychology, 3(1), 11-35.
Carper, J. L., Fisher, J. O., & Birch, L. L. (2000). Young girls' emerging dietary restraint and disinhibition are related to parental control in child feeding. Appetite, 35(2), 121-129.
Cho, J., Kwon, K., & Park, Y. (2009). Q-rater: A collaborative reputation system based on source credibility theory. Expert Systems with Applications, 36(2), 3751-3760.
Chu, S. C., & Kamal, S. (2008). The effect of perceived blogger credibility and argument quality on message elaboration and brand attitudes: An exploratory study. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 8(2), 26-37. Colliander, J., & Dahlén, M. (2011). Following the fashionable friend: The power of social media-weighing
publicity effectiveness of blogs versus online magazines. Journal of Advertising Research, 51(1), 313-320 Deakin, H., & Wakefield, K. (2013). Skype interviewing: reflections of two PhD researchers. Qualitative
Research, 14(5), 603-616
Deci, E. L., Eghrari, H., Patrick, B. C., & Leone, D. R. (1994). Facilitating internalization: The self‐ determination theory perspective. Journal of personality, 62(1), 119-142.
Dekker, R. (2015, Februari 7). Re: Sporten en superfoods supplementen [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.ilovehealth.nl/sporten-superfoods-supplementen
Dornick, M. van (2014, October 6). Re: Blackberry hazelnut crumble bars [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.mynewroots.org/site/2014/09/blackberry-hazelnut-crumble-bars/
Eysenbach, G., Powell, J., Kuss, O., & Sa, E. R. (2002). Empirical studies assessing the quality of health information for consumers on the world wide web: a systematic review. Jama, 287(20), 2691-2700. Fries, J. F., Koop, C. E., Beadle, C. E., Cooper, P. P., England, M. J., Greaves, R. F., ... & Wright, D. (1993).
Reducing health care costs by reducing the need and demand for medical services. New England Journal of Medicine,329(5), 321-325.
Frost, L. (2005). Theorizing the young woman in the body. Body & Society,11(1), 63-85
Gale, N. K., Heath, G., Cameron, E., Rashid, S., & Redwood, S. (2013). Using the framework method for the analysis of qualitative data in multi-disciplinary health research. BMC medical research methodology, 13(1), 117.
