- Title
- Their feed and what they eat: the extent, nature and impact of social media food marketing targeted to adolescents
- Creator
- van der Bend, Daphne
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2023
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- In recent decades, there has been a shift from traditional marketing (e.g., television, print, radio) towards digital marketing, with social media becoming an increasingly popular marketing channel. This has given marketers the opportunity to broaden their marketing communication techniques. As consumers can now share or interact with marketing or branded content on social media, the boundaries between entertainment and marketing are blurred, leading to more implicit persuasion through social networks and engagement of consumers in emotional, personalised, and entertaining experiences. Social media marketing is mainly expected to impact younger age groups, i.e., particularly adolescents, as they are one of the most digitally experienced segments of the population. However, research on traditional media (i.e., television) shows that most of children’s and adolescents’ food marketing exposure concerns energy-dense, nutrient-poor (EDNP) foods, positively influencing their attitudes towards, preferences for and consumption of these foods. This may predispose them to an increased risk for obesity and related chronic diseases, which is alarming as obesity rates are already on the rise. Yet, limited evidence is available about the extent, nature and impact of food marketing targeted to adolescents on social media platforms, as most research is carried out on traditional media channels and in younger children. Advancing the evidence base is crucial, as social media marketing is expected to surge, increasingly impacting adolescents’ exposure to EDNP foods and beverages, posing a risk to their health. The research presented in this thesis is an early contribution to the emerging field of social media food marketing (SMFM), with a specific focus on SMFM targeted to adolescents. Experts in Chapter 2 did not seem to reach full consensus on how to conceptualize SMFM and seemed to have particular difficulty defining (un)branded user-generated, entertaining content, as commercial intent is often not disclosed. They suggested that there are many presumed individual and external factors and processes that may determine adolescents’ vulnerability to SMFM. Adolescents’ independence, constant access through smartphones and hence extensive social media activity makes them important SMFM targets. Yet, their unique stage of cognitive development, with identity formation being key, makes them particularly vulnerable to the influence of influencers or peers on social media. Hence, as observed in Chapter 3, adolescents’ high exposure to entertaining and unhealthy SMFM, largely posted by entertainment channels, peers or popular influencers may be considered concerning. Whereas adolescents generally seemed to resist forms of marketing that are generated by brands and more clearly separated from the entertainment they want to watch (i.e., through pop-up ads), Chapter 3 and 4 showed that they enjoyed marketing content that is blurred by its entertaining context (i.e., in which products are highly integrated into the storyline of the content they are already watching). As they did not identify food content generated by entertainment channels, social media users or peers as marketing, they seemed highly receptive to most of the SMFM they are exposed to, without being aware of or critical towards its commercial intent. Chapter 5 showed that sponsorship disclosure can help adolescents recognize and understand persuasive intent of influencer marketing posts on TikTok, but alternative disclosure formats may be needed to develop their critical beliefs and help them resist such marketing forms. This thesis has a multi-disciplinary nature, and may potentially inform disciplines such as communication, psychology, nutrition, public health, and (social) marketing, but also policy makers who aim to protect adolescents from unhealthy influences in their food environment. Yet, to protect this age group against unhealthy food marketing, either by improving their ability and motivation to resist SMFM, or by implementing or strengthening effective policies that restrict their exposure, further advancing the evidence base is key. This should involve consistent, continuous monitoring of the nature, extent and impact of adolescent-targeted SMFM over time, on a worldwide scale.
- Subject
- feed; eat; social media; marketing
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1507281
- Identifier
- uon:55995
- Rights
- Copyright 2023 Daphne van der Bend
- Language
- eng
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| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 16 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |