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See, Like, Share, Remember: Adolescents’ Responses to Unhealthy-, Healthy- and Non-Food Advertising in Social Media

Author

Listed:
  • Gráinne Murphy

    (Media and Entertainment Lab, School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Belfield, 4 Dublin, Ireland
    Co-first authors who contributed equally to the work.)

  • Ciara Corcoran

    (Media and Entertainment Lab, School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Belfield, 4 Dublin, Ireland
    Co-first authors who contributed equally to the work.)

  • Mimi Tatlow-Golden

    (Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK)

  • Emma Boyland

    (Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZA, UK)

  • Brendan Rooney

    (Media and Entertainment Lab, School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Belfield, 4 Dublin, Ireland)

Abstract

Media-saturated digital environments seek to influence social media users’ behaviour, including through marketing. The World Health Organization has identified food marketing, including advertising for unhealthy items, as detrimental to health, and in many countries, regulation restricts such marketing and advertising to younger children. Yet regulation rarely addresses adolescents and few studies have examined their responses to social media advertising. In two studies, we examined adolescents’ attention, memory and social responses to advertising posts, including interactions between product types and source of posts. We hypothesized adolescents would respond more positively to unhealthy food advertising compared to healthy food or non-food advertising, and more positively to ads shared by peers or celebrities than to ads shared by a brand. Outcomes measured were (1a) social responses (likelihood to ‘share’, attitude to peer); (1b) brand memory (recall, recognition) and (2) attention (eye-tracking fixation duration and count). Participants were 151 adolescent social media users (Study 1: n = 72; 13–14 years; M = 13.56 years, SD = 0.5; Study 2: n = 79, 13–17 years, M = 15.37 years, SD = 1.351). They viewed 36 fictitious Facebook profile feeds created to show age-typical content. In a 3 × 3 factorial design, each contained an advertising post that varied by content (healthy/unhealthy/non-food) and source (peer/celebrity/company). Generalised linear mixed models showed that advertisements for unhealthy food evoked significantly more positive responses, compared to non-food and healthy food, on 5 of 6 measures: adolescents were more likely to wish to ‘share’ unhealthy posts; rated peers more positively when they had unhealthy posts in their feeds; recalled and recognised a greater number of unhealthy food brands; and viewed unhealthy advertising posts for longer. Interactions with sources (peers, celebrities and companies) were more complex but also favoured unhealthy food advertising. Implications are that regulation of unhealthy food advertising should address adolescents and digital media.

Suggested Citation

  • Gráinne Murphy & Ciara Corcoran & Mimi Tatlow-Golden & Emma Boyland & Brendan Rooney, 2020. "See, Like, Share, Remember: Adolescents’ Responses to Unhealthy-, Healthy- and Non-Food Advertising in Social Media," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-25, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:7:p:2181-:d:336908
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Eva Winzer & Brigitte Naderer & Simeon Klein & Leah Lercher & Maria Wakolbinger, 2022. "Promotion of Food and Beverages by German-Speaking Influencers Popular with Adolescents on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-13, September.
    3. Juliana de Paula Matos & Michele Bittencourt Rodrigues & Camila Kümmel Duarte & Paula Martins Horta, 2023. "A Scoping Review of Observational Studies on Food and Beverage Advertising on Social Media: A Public Health Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-22, February.
    4. Elena Bozzola & Giulia Spina & Rino Agostiniani & Sarah Barni & Rocco Russo & Elena Scarpato & Antonio Di Mauro & Antonella Vita Di Stefano & Cinthia Caruso & Giovanni Corsello & Annamaria Staiano, 2022. "The Use of Social Media in Children and Adolescents: Scoping Review on the Potential Risks," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-33, August.
    5. Gary Sacks & Evelyn Suk Yi Looi, 2020. "The Advertising Policies of Major Social Media Platforms Overlook the Imperative to Restrict the Exposure of Children and Adolescents to the Promotion of Unhealthy Foods and Beverages," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-10, June.
    6. Engel, Elena & Gell, Sascha & Heiss, Raffael & Karsay, Kathrin, 2024. "Social media influencers and adolescents’ health: A scoping review of the research field," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    7. Mimi Tatlow-Golden & Daniel Parker, 2020. "The Devil Is in the Detail: Challenging the UK Government’s 2019 Impact Assessment of the Extent of Online Marketing of Unhealthy Foods to Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-20, October.

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