High School Girls' Attitudes toward Apparel Advertisement in Magazines according to Their Physical Self-Concept

The present study attempted to analyze the behavioral patterns and attitudes of high school girls toward apparel ads in magazines in relation to their physical self-concept. The study used a self-administered questionnaire. The sample consisted of 419 students at 3 girl's high schools located in Seoul. Likert scales were used for most measures with 1=never or very unimportant and 5=always or very important. Physical self-concept was measured on the basis of W S. Jung's Standardized Self-concept Test and Tennessee Self-concept Scale. Percentage, t-test, and Chi-square were used for the analysis of the data. Results are as follows: (1) Those with a high sense of physical self-concept read more magazines. (2) Those with higher sense of physical self-concept showed greater interest in magazine ads, consulted magazines for fashion trends, found ads more useful, and more often expressed satisfaction with the ads, than the lower self-concept group. (3) Advertisers should attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the socio-psychological characteristics of their readership as self-concept appeared to be related to several magazine readership attitudes and behaviors. Apparel ads targeting high school girls should consider the importance of company ads.