Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Obesity Volume 2012, Article ID 354721, 19 pages doi:10.1155/2012/354721 Research Article Physical Activity Advertisements That Feature Daily Well-Being Improve Autonomy and Body Image in Overweight Women but Not Men Michelle L. Segar, 1, 2 John A. Updegraff, 3 Brian J. Zikmund-Fisher, 4, 5, 6 and Caroline R. Richardson 7, 8 1 The Sport, Health, Activity Research and Policy (SHARP) Center for Women and Girls, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1290, USA 2 Institute for Research on Women and Gender, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1290, USA 3 Department of Psychology, Kent State University, 321 Kent Hall, Kent, OH 44242, USA 4 Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, 3834 SPH I, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA 5 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA 6 Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5429, USA 7 Department of Family Medicine, University of Michigan, 1018 Fuller Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1213, USA 8 VA Center for Clinical Management Research, VA HSR&D Center of Excellence, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Michelle L. Segar, fitness@umich.edu Received 4 November 2011; Revised 31 January 2012; Accepted 26 March 2012 Academic Editor: Pedro J. Teixeira Copyright © 2012 Michelle L. Segar et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The reasons for exercising that are featured in health communications brand exercise and socialize individuals about why they should be physically active. Discovering which reasons for exercising are associated with high-quality motivation and behavioral regulation is essential to promoting physical activity and weight control that can be sustained over time. This study investigates whether framing physical activity in advertisements featuring distinct types of goals differentially influences body image and behavioral regulations based on self-determination theory among overweight and obese individuals. Using a three- arm randomized trial, overweight and obese women and men (aged 40–60 yr, n = 1690) read one of three ads framing physical activity as a way to achieve (1) better health, (2) weight loss, or (3) daily well-being. Framing effects were estimated in an ANOVA model with pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction. This study showed that there are immediate framing effects on physical activity behavioral regulations and body image from reading a one-page advertisement about physical activity and that gender and BMI moderate these effects. Framing physical activity as a way to enhance daily well-being positively influenced participants’ perceptions about the experience of being physically active and enhanced body image among overweight women, but not men. The experiment had less impact among the obese study participants compared to those who were overweight. These findings support a growing body of research suggesting that, compared to weight loss, framing physical activity for daily well-being is a better gain-frame message for overweight women in midlife. 1. Introduction Sixty-eight percent of the US adult population is overweight or obese [1] and thus at increased risk of developing debili- tating and costly illnesses, including, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and depression. While modest weight loss improves health [2], the vast majority of individuals who lose weight eventually gain it back [3, 4]. Understanding how to best promote weight loss and weight control that can be sustained is a top public health priority. Sustained physical activity par- ticipation is a critical component of weight loss maintenance [5]. In addition, regular physical activity reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and some cancers and improves quality of life [6–11]. Despite