Appearance management behaviors as the consequences of the beauty standards enforced by advertising a study of Turkish and Lebanese female university students

Several studies have examined the effects of the "beauty myth" that the media- in general and advertising in specific- has established and enforced in the international audiences' minds. Although here in my thesis study I do not disregard those effects, I focus more on the consequences of those effects, which are called AMBs (appearance management behaviors). Young women undergo a lot of AMBs to reach the proclaimed beauty myth. Some of these behaviors are considered daily acts such as using make-up products every morning to school or to work, or occasional such as dressing up for a date or a wedding party, and/or attending the gym on certain days of the week. On the other hand, other behaviors can lead to drastic changes on one's appearance such as eating disorders and cosmetic surgeries. Via this thesis research, an attempt is directed to study the AMBs in two countries; Turkey and Lebanon. Specifically, the study will be examining four of the AMBs; the use of makeup products, exercise as a way of losing weight, adapting to disordered eating behaviors and the forth aspect is undergoing cosmetic surgeries. Participants are female university students' with the age range of 18-28 years. I try through a survey questionnaire to study the extent of young females (in Turkey and Lebanon) realization of the beauty concept, and whether it is influenced by the beauty standards that advertising has been enforcing. In other words, the researcher will be studying the beauty definition(s) of the Turkish young females and in the Lebanese young females and whether the definition they have in mind is limited to the one presented by advertising. Female body image and social comparison theory and other interrelated aspects are also to be investigated in this thesis work. That is to add more clarification and avoid ambiguity to the study. Keywords: AMB, Advertising enforcement, Body-image, Social comparison, Makeup, exercise, Eating disorders, Cosmetic surgeries.