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Advertising and Marketing to Children and Adolescents: its influence on

their Food Preferences and Eating Behaviour.

A Review of the literature

By
Ogunbanwo Saheed Adebayo

Food Business and Development Department,

University College Cork,

Cork,

Ireland.

Muhsaeed07@yahoo.com

May 2010
ABSTRACT
This literature review assessed the influence of food advertising and marketing to children
and adolescents. The food and beverage industry in the recent years have intensify
advertising and marketing of their products to children and adolescents. They viewed them as
a major market force that has the potential to increase their own purchase and influence the
purchase of their parents. Therefore, they target these young consumers using multiple
advertising and marketing techniques or channels beginning from their early ages in life, so
as to foster their brand in their mind and influence their food products purchase behaviour.
Such advertising and marketing channels includes: television advertising; the internet; in-
school marketing; toys and youth targeted promotions. However, these intense advertising
and marketing of food products to children and adolescents have been argue to influence their
food preferences, their purchasing power, eating behaviour and even causing various diseases
such as; obesity and diabetes. Also these food products have been shown to be energy-dense,
high in fat, sugar and salt content. Therefore, researchers and nutritionists have argue that
these foods are unhealthy, lacking the required nutrients by children and adolescents. Hence,
are not consistent with the national dietary recommendations. This review found out that
majority of the children and adolescents are eating unhealthy foods and also have been
affected by various food related diseases while there are few or no regulations on the
advertising and marketing of unhealthy food products been advertised and marketed to these
future leaders.

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Table of Contents
Title page ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..i
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………ii
Table Of Contents……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......iii
List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..vi
List of Figures.. ....................................................................................................................... ...……..vii
CHAPTER 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………. ……. page
1.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………1
1.2 Background to the Literature Review………………………………………………………………………………………….2
1.3 Justification for the Literature Review…………………………………………………………………………………………3
1.4 Review questions………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..5
1.5 Review Objectives……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….6
1.6 Framework………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….6
1.7 Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….7

Chapter 2: Advertising and Marketing Concepts and Issues

2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..8

2.2 Definitions and Concepts of Advertising and Marketing………………………………………………………………8

2.3 Costs of Media Advertising and Marketing on Food to Children and Adolescents ……………………..10

2.4 The Types of Food been Advertised and Marketed to Children and Adolescents……………………….13

2.5 The Challenges of Advertising and Marketing to Children and Adolescents……………………………….14

2.6 Social Responsibility and Ethical Issues related to Advertising and Marketing……………………………15

2.7 Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...16

CHAPTER 3: Food Advertising and Marketing Channels

3.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….17

3.2 Television Advertising………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..17

3.3 The Internet……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….20

3.4 In-School Marketing /Advertising……………………………………………………………………………………………….21

3.5 Toys and Products with Brand logos………………………………………………………………..…………………………22

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3.6 Product Placements……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………23

3.7 Promotion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….23

3.7.1 Favorite Character/Celebrity………………………………………………………………………………….24

3.7.2 Movie tie- ins………………………………………………………………………………………....................25

3.7.3 Competition/Sporting Activities……………………………………………………………………..........25

3.7.4 Give away……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….26

3.8 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………27

Chapter: 4 Children and Adolescents Comprehension of Food Advertising and Marketing

4.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….28

4.2 Cognitive Development of Children and Adolescents on Advertisements and Marketing…………28

4.3 Children and Adolescents Viewing Habits…………………………………………………………………………………..29

4.4 Children and Adolescents Perception of Food Advertising and Marketing…………………………………30

4.5 Regulations on Food Advertising and Marketing to Children and Adolescents…………………………. 30

4.6 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………32

Chapter 5 Effects of Food Advertising and Marketed on Children and Adolescents

5.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………33

5.2 Nutritional Contents of Food Advertised and Marketed to Children and Adolescents………………33

5.3 Health Risks and Diseases associated with Food Advertising and Marketing…………………………….37

5.4 Influences of Advertising and Marketing on Food Preferences and Eating Behavior…………………38

5.5 Children and Adolescents Influences on their Parental Purchases…………………………………………….39

5.6 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………........40

CHAPTER 6: Conclusion and Recommendations

6.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………............41

6.2 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….41

6.3 Major Findings………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......... 41

6.3.1 Channels of Advertising and Marketing………………………………………………………………….41

6.3.2 Viewing Habits and Advertisements Knowledge…………………………………………………….42

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6.3.3 Nutritional Contents of Foods Advertised and Marketed to Children and
Adolescents……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..42

6.3.4Children and Adolescents Eating Pattern and Food Preferences …………………………….42

6.3.5 Recommendations………………………………………………………………………………………………….43

6.4 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………43

Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...44

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List of Tables
Pages

Table 2.1: The AIDA Model.........................................................................10


Table 2.2: Food and Beverage Industries Spending on Food adverts in the UK
2003........................................................................................................ .......12
Table 5.1: Food standards Agency Nutritional Content classification
(per100ml/100g)........................................................................................ 35

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List of Figures
Pages
Figure 3.1: The power of television advertising to children and Adolescents 19
Figure 5.1: The National Health and Medical Research Council‟s dietary
guidelines for children and adolescents in Australia. 36

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Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Introduction
This literature review deals with the subject of the influence of food advertising and
marketing to children and adolescents on their food preferences and eating behaviour. There
are many definitions of children and adolescents, for the purpose of this review; children are
considered to be between the ages of 2 and 11 while adolescents are considered to be between
the ages of 12 and 19. The review examine and focus on the cognitive development of the
children and adolescents in relation to their ability to assess, understand, recognise and make
informed decisions on the content of food been advertised and marketed to them.

Advertising and marketing has been identified as a key tool by which food and beverage
industry promotes and showcases their products. The world today has been saturated with
different media ranging from television, radio, newspaper to the internet and these have
allowed the food and beverage industry to reach all their costumers in a very attractive and
enticing way, while their products are now ubiquitous. Consequently, the food and beverage
industry through these mass media has focussed more on advertising and marketing foods to
children and adolescents and these in turn; as generated issues on the content of these foods,
the influence these foods have on their eating behaviour and its impacts on their health.

Since, children and adolescents are exposed to massive amounts of marketing that promotes
consumption of calorie-dense and nutrient-poor foods. Therefore, advertising and marketing
of food to them has been argued not to have been done in an ethical way and these have now
come under scrutiny becoming the focus of many researchers, as they have been proved to be
one of the contributing factors to the prevalence of different diseases associated with food
such as: obesity, diabetes and cardio-vascular diseases. Currently, children and adolescents
obesity is one of the major global health challenges of the twenty- first century. However,
while there are many regulations and codes of practice been enacted with regards to
advertising and marketing ethics at various individuals and governmental levels; issues on the
influence of the food advertised and marketed to children and adolescents have just been
recently raised and particular attention has also been paid to the nutritional content of these
foods.

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1.2 Background to the Literature Review
Many studies have demonstrated that children and adolescents have not only been recognised
as a significant segment of the food market alone (McCarthy, 2009; Kelly et al., 2008; Reed,
2008; Kopelman et al., 2007), but also as a potential consumer that spends money and have
an important contribution to make in determining the foods that are purchased and consumed
by their family (Consumers International, 2008; Stitt and kunkel, 2008; Warren et al., 2008;
Powell et al., 2007; CI, 2004). Consequently, advertising and marketing industries have now
realised that children and adolescents are in fact, one of the most profitable segments of the
market (Reed, 2008; Swinburn et al., 2008,). Since, it is evident that if children and
adolescents are attracted to their products, the industries reap huge profits (Radley, 2007;
Robinson et al., 2007).

Many researchers have described children as „Young Customer‟ when explaining their
purchasing power and consuming patterns (Schlosser, 2002). Children and adolescents will
influence their parents and elders by pestering and nagging until they get the product they
desire irrespective of the content of it (Radley, 2007; Robinson et al., 2007). Even, some
older children have enough money to purchase what they want at the time they want it
(Rebecca and Adrian, 2009; Powell et al., 2007), this is in line with Consumers International
(2008:1) claims that: „what they see is what they want‟. Furthermore, older children and
adolescents have opportunities of purchasing foods of their choice such as: snacks, chocolate,
ice cream and other high fat, sugar and salt food each day without their parents or adults
supervision (Bogue, 2009; Stitt and Kunkel, 2008; Powell et al., 2007; Robinson et al., 2007;
Radley, 2007; Kopelman et al., 2007; CI, 2004).

In addition, several studies have shown that many of these purchases by children and
adolescents are based on what they have either seen on television advertisement, the internet,
billboard and all other media of information (Warren et al., 2008; CI, 2008; Story and
French, 2004). However, Powell et al. (2007) asserted that these foods have very poor
nutritional content and may be harmful to their health, due to the high fat, salt and sugar
content. The children and adolescents of today could become the obese adults and youths of
tomorrow if they continue to purchase these foods, and as a result they may suffer from many
obesity related illnesses and diseases particularly; cardio-vascular diseases, hypertension and
diabetes (Story et al., 2009; Radley, 2007; WHO, 2006; CI, 2004). They may even be more
susceptible to different forms of cancer (Lavizzo, 2009; Robinson et al., 2007). The likely

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consequence of these problems with these future leaders and pecuniary implications for the
economy, employers and employees include increased malingering, reduced productivity and
increased health care costs (Harris et al., 2009; Radley, 2007). While many criticisms have
been levied against food and beverage industries producing, advertising and marketing these
so-called “junk foods” for their lackadaisical attitude and insufficient response to concerns
regarding these health issues (WHO, 2006; CI, 2008; CFAC, 2007), still many food and
beverages industry are yet to yield on to these calls (CI, 2008).

Furthermore, the type of food purchased, prepared and consumed by members of some
families especially among the developed world has change due to the economic boom of the
early 1990‟s (Harris et al., 2009; Radley, 2007; CI, 2004), among the changes that occur is
the environmental influences which has in turn affect eating behaviours of many individuals
due to the changing nature of the food supply; increased reliance on foods supplied,
consumed away from home, food advertising, marketing, promotion and food prices (Harris
et al., 2009; Folta et al., 2008). The food industry responded to these changes by increasing
the number of convenience foods and prepares meals available (CI, 2008; Ofcom, 2007).
Similarly, they also increased the portion sizes of their product as more families now engages
in buying prepared or cooked food which comes with the term “on the go food” for
consumption due to the work and time limitations where by the two parents are working
(Bogue, 2009; CI, 2008; CFAC, 2007).

1.3 Justification for the Literature Review


Recently, some significant researches and studies have been carried out on the implication
and influence of food advertising and marketing on the society and particular emphasis has
been placed on the effects that advertising and marketing has had on children and adolescents
(Story et al., 2009; Dorey and McCool, 2009;; Buijzen et al., 2008; Robinson et al., 2007;
Powell et al., 2007; Story and French, 2004; Hastings et al., 2003). This area of study has
been under the inspection of many researchers and also in the media spotlight since the
inception of this century when it was revealed that the world levels of obesity and other food
related diseases were increasing at an alarming rate (Stitt and Kunkel, 2008; Radley, 2007;
Powell et al., 2007; WHO, 2006; Story and French, 2004; CI, 2004). The World Health
Organisation (WHO) in its 2006 report estimating the rapid increase in obesity and other food
related diseases concludes that:

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Obesity and other food related diseases that were once considered to be a problem
in high –income countries, are now dramatically on the rise in low-and middle –
income countries, particularly urban settings. (WHO, 2006: 1)

The report further points out that the fundamental causes of obesity and overweight are an
energy imbalance between calories consumed on one hand and calories expended on the
other hand. Furthermore, childhood obesity is associated with a higher chance of premature
death and disability in adulthood (Lavizzo, 2009; Story et al., 2009).

According to World Health Organisation (WHO) 2006, at least 20 million children under the
age of 5 years are overweight globally in 2005, approximately 1.6 billion adults (15 years and
above) were overweight; at least 400 million adults were obese. WHO further projects that by
2015, approximately 2.3 billion adults will be overweight and more than 700 million will be
obese. In addition, cardiovascular diseases were reported to have been the world‟s number
one cause of death killing 17 million people each year, while diabetes deaths were projected
to increase by more than 50% worldwide in the next 10 years. Similarly, in the previous study
conducted by Consumer International (CI) in 2004, it was revealed that in Malaysia obesity
has increased from 1% in 1990 to 6% in 1997 among 13-17 years old children. However, in
Japan the prevalence of obesity among 9 year old boys increased from 2.9% in 1970 to 9.7%
in 1997, while rates for girls increased from 3.4% to 8% over the same time period. In Ireland
on the other hand there has been a two-to-fourfold increase in obesity in children aged 8-12
years since 1990; one in five boys and one in four girls are overweight or obese. In addition,
two-thirds of men (67%) and over half of women (54%) are overweight or obese (McCarthy,
2009a). Consequently, The Coalition on Food Advertising to Children (CFAC) in its 2007
briefing paper has estimated that reducing the prevalence of obesity in Australia alone by
20% would yield an annual saving of AU$59 million and a saving of 2300 years of life.

These statistics are not only astonishing but also calls for an urgent attention as matters will
degenerate even further if action is not taken immediately. The rise in levels of childhood
obesity and other food related diseases is of great concern, particularly as this lead to
increasing number of illnesses and deaths from; cardio-vascular related illnesses, strokes,
hypertension, fatty liver, asthma, some types of cancer, musculoskeletal disorders and gall
bladder disease (Story et al., 2009; WHO, 2006; IOM, 2006). Many researchers believe that
if food advertising and marketing to children and adolescents is banned, then children and

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adolescents will not be influenced by the attractive advertisements and marketing
encouraging them to purchase foods with high fat, sugar and salt content (Radley, 2007;
Story and French, 2004; Hastings et al., 2003; CSPI, 2003). If healthy eating patterns are
developed and encouraged in childhood, this will make for adults with better eating habits
and thus reduce the prevalence of obesity and other related diseases both in childhood and
adulthood (Roberts and Pettigrew, 2007; Amat, 2006). However, food and beverage industry
do not think in this direction as they take the contrary viewpoint. They believe that the
proceeds generated by advertising and marketing are essential in order to regain the money
spent on producing the product and in order to develop novel and exciting products (Folta et
al., 2008; Radley, 2007). Consequently, Consumers International (2004) declares that:
For every US$1 the World Health organisation (WHO) spent on trying to improve
the nutrition of the World’s population, US$500 is spent by the food industry on
promoting processed foods. (Consumers International, 2004: 9)

While some food and beverage industries have banned advertising and marketing to certain
categories within the children and adolescents segment e.g. Coca-Cola, General Mills and
Cadbury (Harris et al., 2009; Stitt and Kunkel, 2008; Powell et al., 2007), none will actually
commit to an outright ban on advertising and marketing to people under nineteen years old of
age (Robinson et al., 2007).

1.4 Review Questions


The main question of this review is:
What are the influences that food advertising and marketing to children and adolescents have
on their food preferences and eating behaviour? While the sub-questions are as follows:
(a) What advertising and marketing channels are used to advertise and market foods to
children and adolescents?
(b) Does children and adolescents purchase foods based on advertising and marketing
targeted at them?
(c) What are the food products and the nutritional contents of the foods marketers advertised
to children and adolescents?

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1.5 Review Objectives
The broad objective of this review is to assess the influence of food advertised and marketed
to children and adolescents on their food preferences and eating behaviours.
The specific research objectives of this review are to:
(i) Identify the channels and techniques use to advertise and market food to children and
adolescents.
(ii) Examine awareness of children and adolescents on the food been advertised and marketed
to them.
(iii) Identify children and adolescents purchasing pattern of the advertised and marketed food
targeted at them.
(iv) Examine the types and nutritional content of foods been purchased by children and
adolescents.

1.6 Framework
Chapter 1: Introduction to Review
Chapter 2: Literature Review -Advertising and Marketing Concepts and Issues
Chapter two seeks to define and give various concepts of advertising and marketing, outline
the costs on foods advertising and marketing to children and adolescents by marketers and
challenges of various advertising and marketing aimed at children and adolescents. It will
also describe the types of food been advertised and marketed to children and adolescents
specifically the packaging of the foods. Ethical considerations and the social responsibilities
of advertising and marketing will also be considered.
Chapter 3: Literature Review -Food Advertising and Marketing Channels
Chapter three examines all the advertising and marketing channels or techniques that food
and beverage industries are using to target the children and adolescents. These channels range
from the internet, television, magazines and mobile phones to the products placement.
Specifically all the alternative way and methods of using promotions to target children will be
mentioned.
Chapter 4: Literature Review-Children and Adolescents Comprehension of Food
Advertising and Marketing
Chapter four seeks to explore children‟s and adolescents understanding and perception of
advertising and marketing. An outline of children‟s and adolescent‟s cognitive development
and understanding is included. Also the viewing habits of children and adolescents will be
examined to show the effects of advertising on the programmes they watch in the media and

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the amount of time used in watching these advertisements. Existing regulations on food
advertising and marketing to children and adolescents will also be examined.
Chapter 5: Literature Review-Effects of Food Advertising and Marketing on Children
and Adolescents
Chapter five discusses the nutritional content of the food been advertised and marketed to
children and adolescents, the health risk and diseases associated with these foods. The
changes in eating and nutritional patterns of children and adolescents will be explored, the
consequences of poor nutrition will be outlined and the influences of the children on their
parental purchases will also be investigated.
Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendation
Conclusion will be drawn from the review and recommendations made.

1.7 Summary
This chapter briefly introduced the literature review topic of influence of food advertising and
marketing to children and adolescents, it also mentioned the health implications of children
and adolescents food choices and consumption, presents the review questions and objectives
and finally a brief outline is given of the contents of each subsequent chapters.

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Chapter 2: Advertising and Marketing Concepts and Issues

2.1 Introduction
This chapter will shed light on the concepts of advertising and marketing with regards to
spending on the foods advertised and marketed to children and adolescents. The expenditures
of most of the food and beverages industries on food advertisements targeted at the children
and adolescents are to be highlighted. The challenges of advertising and marketing as well as
the types of food been advertised and marketed to children and adolescents will be examined.
While the social responsibility and ethical issues on food advertising and marketing targeted
at children and adolescents will be considered.

2.2 Definitions and Concepts of Advertising and Marketing


The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) defined Advertising as a way of presenting
the most persuasive possible selling message to the right prospects for the product or services
at the lowest possible cost. Similarly, Advertising has been defined by Hill and O‟Sullivan
(2004) as any form of paid-for media communication design to inform and influence existing
or potential customers. However, Jefkins (1994) claims that advertising is considered to be
one of the stages of marketing. He further stated that marketing is more than just distribution
of goods from manufacturer to the final customer, but also comprises all the stages between
creation of the product and the after -market which follows the eventual sales.

Advertising is therefore as important as every other stage or link and each depends on the
other for success, the naming, packaging, pricing and distribution of goods are all reflected
in advertising, which has been called the „lifeblood‟ of an organisation (Wells et al., 1998).
Lury (2001) concurred that without advertising the products or services cannot flow to the
distributors or sellers and on to the consumers or users. Thus the modern world depends on
advertising. Without it, producers and distributors would be unable to sell; buyers would not
know about and continue to remember products or services and the modern industrial world
would collapse. Jefkins (1994: 2) notes that: “If factory output is to be maintained profitably,
advertising must be powerful and continuous”. However, Hill and O‟Sullivan (2004)
commented that although advertising has been regarded as a major marketing expense, but in

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spite of the amount of money that is invested in it, there is relative little scientific consensus
about how advertising works.

Marketing on the other hand has been defined by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as the
management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer
requirements profitably. Similarly, American Marketing Association (AMA) defined
marketing more elaborately as a process of planning and executing the conception, pricing,
promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy
individual and organisational goals. Therefore, advertising is central to the marketing of the
food supply and it is one type of marketing activities (Jobber, 2007). The issues and concerns
on advertising and marketing to children have started since the 1970s. For instance in 1977
experts in the US estimated that the average child watched more than 1,300 hours of
television annually, which resulted in exposure to over 20,000 commercials (Wells et al.,
1998). In addition, studies have shown that marketing has also included all forms of
promotion in which television advertisements is one (Bogue, 2009; Hawkes, 2007; Wells et
al., 1998). However, in recent years there has been a growth in other types of marketing
directed at children. These other types of marketing include the internet, sponsorship,
competitions, loyalty schemes, products placement, packaging and point of sale promotions
(CI, 2008; CFAC, 2007).

Advertising and marketing are considered to have a direct and powerful impact on the
purchase and eating behaviour of children (Harris et al., 2009; Radley, 2007; Amat, 2006).
They have also been identified as the important tools which the food and beverage industry
used in selling their product to the children and adolescents (Bogue, 2009; CSPI, 2003). Food
and beverage industry are using advertisement, through various media always as an important
tool to promote their products to children and adults as they have seen them as an important
market force with spending power, purchase influence, and adults customer (Veerman et al.,
2009; Harris et al., 2009; Bridget et al., 2008). Jobber and Fahy (2006) and Lury (2001) notes
that the marketer can be seeking a cognitive, affective or behavioural response from their
target audience. They further suggested that the marketer might want to put something into
the consumer‟s mind, change the consumer‟s mind or get the consumer to act. Consequently,
four different models were developed by E.K Strong in his book entitled “Psychology of
Selling” published in 1925 as cited in Lury (2001) and the basis of these models is
summarised in table 2.1 below:

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Table 2.1: THE AIDA MODEL

Stages AIDA

Cognitive – gaining recognition Attention

Affective- affecting perceptions Interest

Desire

Behavioural- affecting behaviour Action

Source: Lury (2001: 31)

Food advertisements were found to be the single largest category of products advertised,
accounting for 50% of the total advertisements and used significantly more animation
stories, humour, and the promotion of fun, happiness and mood alteration (Sixmith and
Furnham, 2009). In a thematic content analysis by Roberts and Pettigrew (2007) four
major themes were identified in the advertisements of food to children as: the prevalence
of grazing; the denigration of core foods; exaggerated health claims; the implied ability of
certain foods to enhance popularity and performance and mood. The US Institute of
Medicine (IOM), in its 2006 comprehensive report on food marketing to children and
youth concludes that:
Children and youth represent a primary focus of food and beverage marketing
initiatives. Between 1994 and 2004, the rate of increase in the introduction of new
food and beverage products targeted to children and youth substantially outpaced the
rate for those targeting the total market. (IOM, 2006: 3)

2.3 Costs of Media Advertising and Marketing on Food to Children and Adolescents
Food and beverage industry spend hundreds of millions of dollars on marketing and
advertising, in order to maintain and increase market share (Robinson et al., 2007).
Advertising is a large and growing industry that is very much realised as an integral part
of UK advertising is a STG£9 billion business that employs thousands of people (Lury,
2001). Similarly, in the US food advertisers and marketers are estimated to have spent
US$10 billion annually to promote products to children and adolescents (Robinson et al.,

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2007; CFAC, 2007). Gantz et al. (2007) concurred that recent decades have seen a
marked increase in spending on food marketing. They further reported that food and
beverage industry reach children under the age of 12 with over 500 food advertisements
and to attract these young customers, each year they spend over US$10 billion.
Furthermore, the food industry is highly skilled in using diverse media to present itself in
a favourable light, as studies have shown that they now move from producing educational
materials for schools to providing charities (Lang and Heasman, 2004).

In the US total spend on food advertising and marketing to children in 2002 was estimated
to be US$15 billion, this was recognised to be over twice the amount spent in 1992
(McCarthy, 2009b). However, Brownell et al. (2009) reported that in 2006 alone the food
marketers spent more (US$1.05 billion) marketing to adolescents (12-17) than to children
age (2-11) (US$4870 million). Similarly, the cereal companies spent US$229 million to
target children and adolescents (Harris et al., 2009). Furthermore, McDonalds expenditure
on media advertising in Australia increased from AU$6 million in 1983-84 to AU$50-55
million in 2005. In 2005 Kellogg (Australia) invested 74% of its media dollars in
television advertisements (CFAC, 2007). In addition, Nestle and Unilever spent AU$7.3
million and AU$3.7 million respectively in 2004 on magazine advertising and marketing
to children equating to 16-18% of total markets spent (Kelly and Chapman, 2007).
According to Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity press release in February 2010,
the Food Industry in the US spends over US$1.6 billion per year to market their product
directly to young people. Consequently, over 75% of US Food Manufacturer‟s advertising
budgets and 45% of US Fast-food restaurant budget are allocated to television (Story and
French, 2004). Furthermore, advertising expenditure in 2005 for fast-food chain restaurant
and cafes in New Zealand was estimated to be NZ$67.4 million with McDonalds alone
contributing, NZ$21.42 million. In comparison only NZ$6.2 million was spent in 2005 on
advertising for fruits and vegetables (Dorey and McCool, 2009).

In the UK on the other hand, around half a billion pounds a year continues to be spent on
food advertising, most of it for sugary, fatty, ‟fun‟ foods with the healthier foods-fruit and
vegetables receiving negligible advertising support (Lang and Heasman, 2004). Recent
studies gives the total UK advertising spending per annum in the categories of food, soft
drinks and chain restaurants as STG£743 million, with STG£522 million spent on
television advertising and STG£32 million spent in children‟s airtime (Livingstone and

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Helsper, 2006). Consequently, Consumers International (2004) identifies ten food and
beverages industries to have spent most on television advertising to children and
adolescent in the UK in 2003 as: Nestle, Kellogg, Coca-Cola, Master foods, Unilever,
Wrigley, Walkers, Procter and Gamble and Ferrero. The amount of spending in pounds
sterling and the food products advertised to children and adolescents are represented in
the table 2.2 below:

Table 2.2: Food and Beverages Industries Spending on Food Adverts in the UK 2003.

Company Product Amount Spent in Pounds


Sterling (£GBP)

1. Nestle Cereals, chocolate £43million

2. Kellogg Cereals £30million

3. Coca –Cola Drinks £26million

4. Masterfoods Chocolate £25million

5. Unilever Bestfoods Snacks, ready meals £23million

6. Unilever Ice-Cream and Frozen £23million


foods

7. Wrigley Chewing gum, mouth £16million


fresheners

8. Walkers Crisps £16million

9. Procter and Gamble Coffee, snacks £11million

10. Ferrero Chocolate £11million

Source: Consumers International, (2004: 9)

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2.4 The Types of Food been Advertised and Marketed to Children and Adolescents
Although the exact frequency of different categories of food advertised and marketed to
children varies from study to study (Harrison and Marske, 2005). However, the majority of
foods marketed to children tend to consist of the so-called „Big four‟ of pre-sugared breakfast
cereals, soft drinks, confectionary and savoury snacks (Story and French, 2004; Hastings et
al., 2003). However, the rapid increase in advertising for fast food outlets in the last decades
has turn the „Big four‟ into the „Big five‟ ( 1ACCM, 2009; Powell et al., 2007; CI, 2008), and
of all the food been advertised and marketed to children and adolescents “Ready to Eat”
(RTE) cereals are the largest categories of packaged food marketed to them directly (Harris et
al., 2009). However, recent studies have shown that food advertised and marketed to children
and adolescents are now wide in scope due to the increase in purchasing and consumption
rate of children and adolescents (Brown et al., 2009; Folta et al., 2008). Consequently,
Chapman et al. (2006) in a study carried out on the amount of food advertising present on
Australia Television categorised food been advertised to children and adolescents on
television programme into three and described them to be; (1) non-food advertisements; (2)
healthy/core food advertisements and (3) unhealthy/non -core food advertisements. They
further outlined the types of food in all the categories to be: breads and cereals; fruits and
vegetable; dairy and dairy products; meat and meat alternative; chocolate; confectionery; fast
food and take away foods; cakes; snack foods, high sugar drinks, fruit juice, fats, frozen/ fried
potato products desserts and alcohol. However, advertisements for fruits and vegetables are
consistently least common in most of the advertisements to children and adolescents (Powell
et al., 2007; Hickman, 2005).

In an investigation carried out in the UK on the food sold to the children and adolescents by
the “Big 4”; McDonald‟s, Burger King, KFC and Pizza Hut. It was found out that 17 out of
20 products were high in salt or saturated fat or both, of those 5 out of 8 of the salads used as
evidence of their embrace of healthy eating had high salt or fat content (Hickman, 2005).
Similarly, Powell et al. (2007) found that the overwhelming majority of the food product
advertisements seen on television by US children and adolescents were of the poor nutritional
content: 97.8% and 89.4% of all food products advertisements viewed by children of ages 2-
11 years old and adolescents 12-17 years old respectively were high in fat, sugar or salt.
1
The Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM): is incorporated with Young Media Australia (YMA)
a unique national community organisation established in 1957. The organisation is promoting healthy choices
and stronger voices on Children’s Media in Australia.

13
However, CFAC (2007) vehemently stated that though the high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS)
foods are prevalent among the food advertisements the prepaid convenience foods such as;
sauces; soups and ready meals and alcoholic beverages appear to dominate the food been
advertised and marketed to target children recently.

2.5 The Challenges of Advertising and Marketing to Children and Adolescents


There are many issues on the challenges of advertising and marketing of food to children and
adolescents. Story et al. (2009) stated that the issue of children and adolescents advertising
and marketing demands crucial attention in today‟s environment especially with the growth
of advertising and marketing to children in interactive, media and web based formats. The
problem of advertising to children and adolescents does not however, just lie within the
programmes specifically designed for them (ACCM, 2009; Radley, 2007; CI, 2004; YMA,
2003b).

Since, it has been stated that there is no market that is uniform therefore the issue and the idea
of advertising and marketing to children is given much concern (Radley, 2007; Hawkes,
2007). Buijzen et al. (2008) points out that for infants and young children, getting the age
correct is central to advertising and marketing success. Different studies show that children
begin to comprehend and respond to advertising between ages three and five (ACCM, 2009;
CFAC, 2007). From the age of five at the latest they start to articulate their brand and product
preferences strongly. The marketers therefore, must make its brands and products striking to
these different age groups (CI, 2008). However, marketers are aware that very few products
are bought by children themselves (YMA, 2003a), as concurred by Consumers international
(2008) that until they are well into their teens, children have minimal buying power. This
means that the advertisements must be satisfactory to the parents and the custodian of the
children‟s buying power. Advertising and marketing must simultaneously excite and appeal
to children, while being comforting and engaging to adults (Swinburn et al., 2008). However,
Brownell et al. (2009) argued that the anticipated banning of food advertising and marketing
to youth by the Government, some organisations, advertisers, self-regulatory individuals only
attempt to reduce the amount of unhealthy food marketed to only children under the age of
12. They further warned that exposure to food advertising and marketing may also
significantly influence adolescents and do so at the time they are establishing life-long
consumer and eating behaviour pattern.

14
2.6 Social Responsibility and Ethical Issues related to Advertising and Marketing
According to Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM, 2009) young children
are particularly vulnerable to advertising as they are often unable to distinguish advertising
from programs. Furthermore, children under the age of five or six could not distinguish
effectively between advertisements and the programme they are watching (YMA, 2003a).
Radley (2007) found that children of seven years and over have developed an understanding
of the symbolic nature of brand meaning and notes that children over the age of seven appear
to have been equipped to deal with advertising; children are no more inexperienced about
advertising and marketing and are actually quite sceptical about its truthfulness. Young
Media Australia (YMA, 2003c) concurred with this and points out that these children under
the age of seven are unlikely to understand selling intent, to understand selling intent; the
child has to be able to take the perspective of another and to understand that the seller will
engage in puffery, trickery, exaggeration in order to sell. Children are not developmentally
capable of this until the age of seven or eight.

Brownell et al. (2008) asserted that children under the age eight are subjugated by advertising
and Hawkes (2007) notes that younger children are not as capable of protecting themselves
from pressure advertising and marketing exerts upon their exciting and rational drives.
Consequently, Radley (2007) warned that if younger children‟s behaviours are being
influenced by advertising and yet, children are not entirely clear on what advertising is all
about, then advertisers should be linked with the ethics of social responsibility, as a
susceptible section of society is targeted when it can be strongly argued that they should not.
However, to achieve their sales and market share goals, more and more companies are now
resorting to exploitative and unethical marketing practices (Sheth and Sisodia, 2006).

Food and beverages companies take advantage of vulnerable customers such as children, the
elderly and the indigent. They convey a false sense of objectivity in their advertising, engage
in opportunistic pricing or price gouging, push harmful or unnecessary products, pressurise
customers into making swift decisions, or unduly influence trusted advisors to give customers
poor advices (Sheth and Sisodia, 2006). Further research shows that children who are
exposed to advertisements at an early age are more vulnerable to them than those who have
less exposure. However, some researchers have pointed that it is difficult to envision of an
argument in favour of advertising directly to very young children (YMA, 2003a).

15
ACCM (2009) vehemently commented that majority of food and beverage purchases have
been reported by parents and guardians of these young consumers as „nagging driven‟.
Parents feel that they are being pressurised by advertisers through the means of their children,
and very often experience this as an attack upon their finances and patience. Over half of the
advertisements shown during children‟s television programmes are for food related products
not to mention at other times. The consumers International (2008) claims that parents find
that advertising of food stuffs makes it difficult for them to provide a healthy diet for their
children. Similarly, Radley (2007) concludes that ethical issues typically arise because of
conflicts between individual‟s personal moral philosophies and the marketing strategies,
policies and organisational environment in which they work. It has been observed that while,
advertisers and marketers face extensive regulations (Sheth and Sisodia, 2006), every issue is
not covered by an apparent, written rule, therefore, advertising and marketing related issues
area are left to the prudence of the advertiser and marketers (Hawkes, 2007: Powell et al.,
2007).

2.7 Summary
This chapter outlined the basic advertising and marketing concepts and dealt with both the
costs and types of food been advertised and marketed to children and adolescents. The
different social and ethical considerations were dealt with in depth and various challenges of
the food advertising and marketing were discussed. It is clear that food advertisers and
marketers aimed at children and adolescents as shown by the various spending on the foods
advertised and marketed to them. The effectiveness of this will be shown in the following
chapter on advertising and marketing channels and techniques used in advertising and
marketing of foods to children and adolescents.

16
Chapter 3: Food Advertising and Marketing Channels

3.1 Introduction
The previous chapter discussed the concepts, types, costs of advertising and marketing as
well as types of food been advertised and marketed to children and adolescents. This chapter
will discuss all the various techniques and channels used by food and beverages industry in
advertising and marketing their products to children and adolescents. Also each technique
will be examined and its effects on the children and adolescents will be highlighted. The
various alternative methods used under the promotions techniques in food advertising and
marketing to children and adolescents will also be investigated.

3.2 Television Advertising


Advertising and marketing media consist of any means by which sales messages can be
conveyed to potential buyers. There are many forms of advertising and marketing media in
the industrialised countries and they are sometimes limited in the developing countries
(Jefkins, 1994). However, recent studies have identified multiple channels and techniques
used by the food companies to foster brand-building and influence the food and purchasing
behaviour of children as: television advertising, in-school marketing, product placements,
kids clubs, the internet, toys and products with brand logos, and youth -targeted promotions
(CI, 2008; Powel et al., 2007; Story and French, 2004). However, of all the channels use to
market foods to children; the television advertising is the most effective method of reaching
the young children and it is also recognised to be the largest single source of media messages
about food to children and adolescents (Hawkes, 2007; CFAC, 2007; Story and French, 2004;
CSPI, 2003). Lury (2001) quoted Anne Shooter in an article entitled „Pre-school children
have Bedroom TVs‟ in the Daily Mail of 7th of May 1999 as:
They are not even old enough to go to school but an alarming number of young children
are being allowed to choose what they watch on television by parents who let them have a
set in their bedroom. (Lury, 2001: 49)

It was further stated by the Independent Television Commission in their survey of Nations
viewing habits that in the UK one in five children aged four and under have their own
television. CFAC (2007) outlined three reasons for this as: (i) television is the easiest and

17
most effective vehicle for reaching large numbers of children nationwide; (ii) it gives
marketing access to children at much earlier ages than print media; and (iii) much is known
about how children understand and are influenced by television. Consequently, Jefkins
(1994) stated that television has been the major advertising and marketing medium in Britain
since the 1950s.

Furthermore, Roberts and Pettigrew (2007) notes that while many homes are having more
than one television set very few homes are without a television set, therefore television is an
attractive medium of advertising and marketing as it takes the advertisements right into the
home where it will be seen by the prospective buyer such as; children in the household who
influence purchase. However, it has been argued that food and beverage companies have
been using television advertisement to communicate other forms of advertising media to their
potential buyers recently (CI, 2008; CI, 2004). Kelly et al. (2008) and CFAC (2007)
concurred that recent studies have shown that the use of persuasive marketing techniques,
including premium offers, such as; competitions and give- away and promotional or favourite
characters, such as; celebrities and cartoons are significantly higher during children television
programs compare with other viewing times. Consequently, children have been estimated to
watch an average of 17 hrs of television every week, majority of which is commercial;
(Ofcom, 2007; Ofcom, 2004). Consumers International points out that almost all categories
of youth are been targeted by television advertisements. The effective power of television
advertising to children and adolescents can be understood with the figure 3.1 below:

18
Figure3.1: The power of Television Advertising to children and
adolescents

Source: Consumers International, (2004: 10)

19
3.3 The Internet
The internet has become another powerful tool for assembling data about children in the
recent years as it has consolidated itself as a platform for worldwide communication and
marketing for all ages (Montgomery and Chester, 2009; Lenhart et al., 2007). Following the
launch of the World Wide Web in the mid of 1990s. The advertising and marketing industry
has paid particular attention to the special relationship that exists between the adolescents and
the internet (Montgomery and Chester, 2009). Consequently, in the UK advertisers spend
more on internet advertising than on television advertising. For instance, STG£1.75 billion
was estimated to have been spent on internet food advertising to children in the first six
months of 2009 (Sweney, 2009). Similarly, it was reported that in 1998 a federal
investigation of web sites aimed at children in the US found that 89% requested personal
information from kids; only 1% required that children obtain parental approval before
supplying the information (Schlosser, 2002).

In addition, studies shows that in 2001-2002 the number of children‟s website with no
advertisements dropped drastically from 10% to just 2% with the boundaries between the
commercial and non commercial been blurred or absent. However, 55% of all children‟s web
advertising was in the form of high-energy foods and graphic rich games (CFAC, 2007).
Similarly, in a survey carried out by the Pew internet and American Life Project in 2007, it
was revealed that 93% of teens use the internet and more of them than ever are treating it as a
venue for social interaction a place where they can share creations, tell stories and interact
with others. The survey further revealed that 55% of youth between the ages of 12 and 17
have created a profile on a social networking site such as Facebook and MySpace.
Consequently, Montgomery and Chester (2009) points out that a growing number of
advertising agencies, market research firms and trend analysis companies have been
monitoring how “cyberteens” are incorporating digital media into their daily lives and are
therefore developing marketing strategies tailored to key psychosocial needs of adolescent.
In a similar study conducted in 2002-2003, it was found out that; 72% of household with
children under the age of 15 in Australia have internet, 61% of children accessed the internet
at home on a weekly basis, while 14% access the internet from home every day. The majority
of brands that are advertised and marketed directly to children and adolescents on the
television are also been maintained extensively on children and adolescents targeted
marketing on the internet (Roberts and Pettigrew, 2007)

20
Similarly, Harris et al. (2009) points out that Millsbery.com and Postopia.com are among the
largest youth -targeted websites on the internet with content devoted to promoting their child
brands. They further revealed that on average of 767,000 young children spend 66 minutes
per month on the Millsbery.com website; 265,000 young children spend more than 30
minutes each month on the Postopia.com website, while Frosted Flakes and Cookie crisp also
attract up to 80,000 young children each month with entertaining brand content. However,
Consumer International (2008) argues that while children have been identified as an ideal
target group for internet-based advertisers and as marketing on the internet is relatively new;
its regulation is still at the developmental stage in most countries. Therefore, the main
difficulty lies in the fact that while many existing regulations in theory also apply to online
advertising, in practice it is not always feasible to transfer the existing rules to internet
marketing owning to the complex and interactive nature of the technologies involved
(Hawkes, 2007).

3.4 In -School Marketing/Advertising


It has been revealed that for the past decades, the use of public schools as advertising and
marketing venues has grown drastically (Story and French, 2004), thus food and beverages
industries are taking the advantage in marketing their products to children and adolescents in
schools, either through promotional gimmicks that offered students the chance to win gadgets
such as mobile phones or through organised games and activities with the special
participation of company mascots (CI, 2008). However, Hawkes, (2007) argued that the
marketing of food products to children in the school environment in form of direct
advertising or indirect advertising is second only to television in terms of the amount of
controversy generated recently.

Story and French (2004) identify the reasons for this as: the desire to increase sales and
generate product loyalty among the children; the ability to reach large numbers of children
and adolescents in a contained setting; and the financial vulnerability of schools due to
chronic funding shortages. They further outlined four activities in which food and beverage
industry use in in-school marketing to be: (i) product sales; (ii) direct advertising; (iii)
indirect advertising; and (iv) market research with students. However, these have been
observed to involved direct promotion to children of unhealthy products, which are high in
fat, sugar and/or salt (Harris et al., 2009). Furthermore, recent studies have shown that KFC
in Malaysia has a programme called “Chicky goes to School”, whereby children and teachers

21
are encouraged to invite Chicky and his friends over to their schools to organise games and
activities, KFC also organises the Chicky Carnival, a theme-based annual event featuring
contests, musical shows, games, and rides. Similarly, in the Philippines, in order to appeal to
school children; Nestlé conducted a promotional gimmick called “COOL Scratch-Cards
Promos” that offered students the chance to win various gadgets, such as mobile phones ,
game boys, Discmans, and Nestlé branded items, such as Koko Krunch. However, these
promotions have been launched by the company in hundreds of schools nationwide (CI,
2008).

3.5 Toys and Product with Brand logos


Majority of the food and beverage industries now partner with the toy manufacturers to create
and design toys that advertise their foods to the kids and young children thereby, promoting
brand awareness and preferences among the children as these will create an early and positive
relationship with the children and their product (Robinson et al., 2007; Story and French,
2004; CI, 2004). However, these toys are aggressively marketed to children to coincide with
movie releases, often for „M‟ rated movies that are not even suitable for children under the
age of fifteen. Consequently, these younger children who have been exposed to these
merchandising campaigns, or had the toys bought for them, are more likely to put pressure on
their parents to see these movies and these are often done with disturbing results (YMA,
2003a). Consumers International (2004) claims that one of the most effective ways of
reaching children and adolescents consumers is by offering free toys with their meals. The
study further revealed that in 1999 alone, Burger King endorsed a Telletubbies Burger King
promotion which featured fifty Million (50,000,000) Telletubbies doll, this promotion has
doubled the sales of Burger Kings Kids Club in the US.

Australian Council on Children and the media (ACCM, 2009) notes that toy advertisements
has the following effects on children and adolescents: limit creative play among children and
adolescents; encourage violent play; are linked to violent movies which are unsuitable for
children and adolescent, but nonetheless marketed to them; encourage girls to focus on their
appearance; including a range of highly sexualised dolls with skimpy clothing; unrealistic
body proportion; and provocative expressions. Similarly, Robinson et al, (2007) notes that
during McDonalds television advertisements food are not even mentioned at all only toy that
are available in the latest collecting offer are shown. They further revealed that many toys
that will aid children‟s development and imaginative play are not those advertised on

22
television. Consequently, Dibb and Harris (1996) found that up to 20% of fast food adverts
mention a free toy in their advertisement. The classic example of Food Company exploiting
this to their advantage is McDonald‟s Happy Meals which offer free toys that tie-in with the
latest film release. They generally offer a collectible set, and run the promotion over a limited
time, this ensures that in order for the child to collect the whole set he/she must purchase the
meal over a number of weeks. This strategy creates almost a frenzy of purchasing (Hastings
et al., 2003).

3.6 Product Placement


This is also one of the channels of advertising and marketing foods to children. Due to the
effectiveness of product placement in advertising and marketing of food targeted at children,
CFAC (2007) referred to it as an „embedded marketing strategy‟. Product placements has
been gaining more popularity and acceptance since 1982 when it was first reported in US to
have been effective in increasing the sales of the peanut butter candy by 65% (Story and
French, 2004). However, it involves paying some amount of money to integrate a commercial
product into a programme, film, event and incorporation of brands in movies in return for
money or promotional support, such fees or money are variable depending on the prominence
of the placement (CFAC, 2007; Story and French, 2004). Consequently, in the US the fee for
product placement ranges from US$50,000 to US$100,000 (Story and French, 2004).
Similarly, in Australia Coca-Cola are appearing in the popular children‟s movie called
„Madagascar‟; Burger king; Kellogg‟s Cornflakes; and Pepsi appearing in the Movie
„Fantastic Four‟. However, it was reported that in the US from 1974-2004 all product
placement on television skyrocketed from US$71 million to US$1.88 billion (CFAC, 2007).
These amounts exclude product placements in films, games, the internet, books or music.

3.7 Promotion
Promotion can be defined as: “A planned and implemented marketing activity that both
enhances product or services appeal and changes customer behaviour positively in return for
an additional benefit for purchase or participation” (Yeshin, 2006: 7). Similarly, Lury (2001)
points out that promotion involves a range of tactical marketing techniques that fit within a
strategy and are intended to add value as part of the process of achieving specific marketing
objectives. These techniques may include; free samples coupons, free gifts, collection
schemes, competition and the notable „BOGOF‟ (Buy one get one free).

23
Consequently, many food and beverage industries has found promotion as a commonly used
advertising and marketing method that reach vast majority of the children and adolescents
they are targeting (Dorey and McCool, 2009). Promotion used in advertising and marketing
to children and adolescents includes the use of many other strategies such as; movie tie in,
cross-selling premium, sweepstakes prizes, competition and the use of celebrities (CI, 2008;
Story and French, 2004). However, CFAC (2007) identifies five types of promotions been
used by food and beverage industry to market to children and adolescents as: the use of
favourite characters; movie tie –in; competition; give -away and the use of sporting activities.

Further study conducted on product placement directed at children in Australian


supermarkets by CFAC (2007) revealed that over 70 different food products carry promotion
for children and 82% of these product placements were used on unhealthy food compared
with only 18% of promotions on healthy food products. Similarly, in Malaysia, Nestlé ran a
promotion that offered a free Koko Krunch cereal bowl in three designs to include: “Koko”,
the brand-owned cartoon character, with every purchase of a standard pack of cereal (CI,
2008). The alternative techniques or types of promotions used by food and beverages
industries have been proved to be effective in targeting the children and adolescents as
outlined by CFAC (2007). Therefore, these alternative techniques will be examined in details
in the subsequent section.

3.7.1 Favourite Character/ Celebrity


Studies have shown that in understanding the persuasive intent of advertising (Valkenburg,
2000), food and beverage industries and the fast food company come together and focus on
their attention on the teenage market by linking up with the most attractive and popular
movie stars, pop singers, sports celebrities, pop idols and cartoon characters (CFAC, 2007;
CI, 2004). However, one technique of using this to their advantage involves using children‟s
and adolescent‟s loyalty to a well known and loved character and using that character in the
advertisements (Robinson et al., 2007; CI, 2004). Powell et al. (2007) concurred that
advertisers understand that children want what others, especially what those they look up to
have, so to influence purchases they use real life heroes/role models to endorse the product.
For instance, in the US Pepsi has teamed up with Beyonce Knowles, Pink and Britney Spears
while McDonald‟s with Justin Timberlake came up with “I‟m lovin it” campaign and more
recently with Yao Ming pro–basketball star (CI, 2004). Marketers use more complex
concepts in influencing this segment‟s purchases (Kopelman, et al., 2007).

24
Similarly, Consumers International (2008) found out that celebrities are popular with children
and considered to be role model for them, therefore both classic Pepsi Cola and Lays are
advertised on India Television using celebrities such as; Bollywood actors Shahrukh Khan,
Saif Ali Khan and John Abraham to advertised Pepsi, along with the Indian Cricket team.
The study further revealed that new young stars such as Deepika Padukone and Ranbir
Kapoor starred in Pepsi advertisements showing the image of a young new India called
„Youngistan‟ with a packet of Lays below carrying the message “Chala Change Ka Chakkar
(Change your life)”. Sportsperson Mahinder Singh Dhoni (Indian Cricket Team Captain) is
shown and a chance to exchange one‟s life with him and/or other film stars, for one day, has
been promoted as a prize by these companies.

3.7.2 Movie -tie –in.


This is one of the aggressive ways of marketing food to children and adolescents through
promotional techniques (CFAC, 2007). In a study conducted by Consumers International
(2008) it was revealed that in May, 2008, Kellogg‟s in Hong Kong and India offered a fun
pack with a free toy, such as glow-in-the -dark adventure spoon to coincide with the release
of the Film entitled “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”. Similarly, in
Malaysia it was found out that each of KFC‟s Chicky Meals comes with a toy with the type
and design of the toys varying in accordance to KFC‟s current marketing tie-ins with movies,
cartoon characters, or popular toy figures. The X-Meal for teens often comes with collectible
merchandise, such as key chains. The study further revealed that in the Philippines KFC has
used film tie-ins such as: Superman, Spiderman, and Scooby Doo to market its meals. These
film icons appear on packaging, tumblers, or as toys.

3.7.3 Competition/ Sporting Activities


Food and beverages industries have been noticed nowadays to engage in deliberate
association of their brands and unhealthy products with sports activities, both in terms of
sponsoring Sports-themed competition where sports-related prizes can be won and in
sponsoring schools sport event (CI, 2008; CFAC, 2007; Story and French, 2004). These have
been argued to give contradictory message to children and adolescents about what constitutes
healthy lifestyles (Robinson et al., 2007). Harris et al. (2009) and Consumers International
(2008) claims that „Energy products‟ add to this confusion, such as; MILO, which is
marketed as providing energy plus vitamins and minerals and yet is high in fat and sugar.

25
According to the study of the effects of food advertising and marketing to children conducted
by Consumers International (2008) in the Asia pacific. it was found out that in 2008 alone,
Coca-Cola and Sprite brands in Malaysia were promoting a lucky draw, offering a grand
prize of two tickets to watch the EURO 2008 final in Europe and they also offered other
prizes such as; a 32-inch LCD TV; sports bags and football shirts. The study further revealed
that children between the age of 12 years old and above were allowed to enter the
competition. Furthermore, it was reported that, McDonald‟s in conjunction with the 2008
Beijing Olympics, ran the “McDonald‟s Champion Kids Challenge” for children below the
age of 14 in many parts of Asia, including Thailand and Malaysia. It was stated that three of
the Contestants that compete in the challenge will be selected to represent their country at the
2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Consequently, Consumers International (2004) argue that food and beverage companies
sponsor some event through widespread branding of their high sugar „classic‟ with a
particular reference to Coca-Cola brand. In a related study it was revealed that Coca-Cola has
been the main sponsor of an athletic competition for about 120 secondary schools in Fiji
called the “Coke Games” for the last 25 years which has also been argue to give children
contradictory messages about what constitutes a healthy lifestyle (Harris et al., 2009; CI,
2008). Furthermore, McDonald‟s Malaysia has been reported to have a programme for young
children called “Fitness Fun” with Ronald McDonald, which is aimed to encourage young
Malaysian children to live a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Ronald McDonald is the central
character in the programme, teaching children about good nutrition and fitness. The "Fitness
Fun" show is performed free for lower primary schools and kindergarten premises.

3.7.4 Give- away


This has been recognised as a method of giving away free samples of products to introduce
what a company is selling to people or their customers (Jefkin, 1994). However, this allows
new and potential customers to sample before they purchase (Yeshin, 2006). Furthermore, a
give-away can be simple samples given to introduce customer to a product a company have,
or can be costly event that introduces everyone to all of their services for free (Wells et al.,
1998). Therefore, this is one of the promotion methods used by food and beverage industries
to gives numerous gift and novelties to people especially children and adolescents to
persuade them (CFAC, 2007). Although some of the gifts may have genuine usefulness and
may last long, such gifts and novelties include; pens, key-rings, wallets, bottle openers,

26
calculators, and drinking mugs (Jefkins, 1994). However, nowadays stickers, magnets and
DVDs were given as take away to children and adolescents in a collectible set so as to attract
them to the products (CFAC, 2007).

3.8 Summary
This chapter examined the various channels and techniques used by food and beverage
industry in advertising and marketing their products to the children and adolescents. The
television advertisement and the internet have been discovered to be the most powerful
techniques used by these industries in selling their products to the young consumers. Also the
alternative methods used in promotion have been outlined and they were found to be very
effective in targeting the children and adolescents both in school and at home e.g. the use of
favourite characters and competitions.

27
Chapter 4: Children and Adolescents Comprehension of Food Advertising
and Marketing.

4.1 Introduction
The previous chapter has shown the advertising and marketing channels or techniques used
by Food and beverage industries in targeting the children and adolescents but there are still
series of questions to be asked while talking about children understanding and comprehension
of all these food advertisements and marketing. The main questions surrounding the idea of
ethics in advertising and marketing to children and adolescents are: (i) how much do they
actually recognize and (ii) at what age do they begin to comprehend what advertisements and
marketing are trying to do? These questions have raised many differing viewpoints from
researchers, parents, academics and even among the food advertisers. This chapter seeks to
shed light on and discuss some conflicting viewpoints relating to this responsive issue.

4.2 Cognitive Development of Children and Adolescents


According to Warren et al. (2008) when talking about the children and adolescents cognitive
development the basic theory of it is the Piaget‟s (1970) cognitive development theory. This
theory holds that children and adolescents development starts with the acquisition of sensory-
motor skills and is driven by direct experience. As children grow into adults and interact with
their environment, they gradually acquire logical and abstract reasoning skills. Cognitive
development is then driven by children‟s failures to understand and act on their environment.
Adapting to such failures is a matter of learning to think abstractly about matters beyond a
Childs direct experience.

Similarly, Radley (2007) proposed that to understand the needs of the child it is necessary to
look at the eight individual areas of development, which constitute the whole child. However,
these areas are inter related and must not be thought of solely in isolation from each other. To
understand the content of food advertising and marketing in young children and adolescents
two important cognitive processing concepts have been outlined as: (i) children and
adolescents propensity for sensory- based processing and (ii) notion of centration (warren et
al., 2008). They further explain the first concepts as; children below the age of 7 years are
able to adopt cognitive processing strategies that enter on their immediate sensory

28
environment. Thus, young children are more attractive to salient perceptual cues such as
animation, lively music and auditory changes. The uses of these Audio/Visual cues are
especially helpful to recognition memory of products and brand names.

The second concept highlights that young children and adolescents processing skills only
focus on their attention on Audio/Visual cues but exclude verbal content. Hence, a child can
be distracted by perceptual cues presenting simultaneously with pertinent product
information. However, the cognitive development of young children involves the
development of perception, memory, language and the ability to differentiate and make sense
of the world which surrounds them (Radley, 2007). Consequently, marketers segment
children by the various levels of their cognitive development at different ages. Using this to
their advantage, they create adverts with different creative strategies to appeal to each age
group (Hastings et al., 2003), enabling them to address children in „their own world‟ (Dibb
and Harris, 1996). In general, advertisers use simple techniques for children advertising, like
saturating the advertisement with animation, fast-pace, action, music, catchy jingles, and
humour. However, Brownell et al. (2008) notes that food and beverage industry are not only
targeting the children with these techniques alone but also targeting the adolescents as they
now use various techniques that are specifically design based on their cognitive development.

4.3 Children and Adolescents Viewing Habits


It has been stated that through television advertisers can reach a whole spectrum of
consumers‟ especially young children and adolescents (CI, 2004). Therefore, many studies
have been carried out on the relationship between viewing food advertisements and food
choices and consumption in children and adolescents (Department of Health, 2008; Ofcom,
2007; Hastings et al., 2003). Furthermore, studies have shown that children are exposed to an
overwhelming amounts of advertisements (CFAC, 2007) and these advertisements regularly
breach regulations on premium offer by devoting over 95% of the total advertisement time to
the premium offer (CI, 2004). Hence, product preferences always occur with as little as a
single commercial exposure and to strengthen with repeated exposures (CFAC, 2007;
Robinson et al., 2007; CI, 2004). Consequently, Powell et al. (2007) reported that in 2005
alone, both the children and the teens watched on average of 3 hours and 19 minutes of food
television advertising per day in the US, yielding a cumulative exposure of more than 1,000
hours annually. Consequently, this makes television one of the most effective vehicles to
deliver food marketing messages to children and adolescents (Stitt and Kunkel, 2008). In

29
Australia on the other hand children and adolescents on the average watch 2 hours 30 minutes
of television per day. But in terms of advertising, children watching commercial television
are likely to see 30 commercials per hour, 75 commercials per day and 23,000 commercials
per year (ACCM, 2009). Furthermore, recent study conducted in 6 countries by Consumers
International revealed that 30% of Malaysian children, 16% of Indonesia children, 10% of
India children, 18% of Philippines children and 10% of South Korean children respectively
watch over eight hours of television a day during holidays and are exposed to over two and
half hours of advertisements a day. Similarly, 73% of Pakistani children claim to love
television advertisements as compared to 68% of their Filipino counterpart (CI, 2004).

4.4 Children and Adolescent Perception of Food Advertising and Marketing


According to Rudd center for Food Policy and Obesity young children perceived the
unhealthy foods products advertisements shown to them to be cool, fun and exciting therefore
they follow the messages in these advertisements and pester their parents to buy the these
food products, consume the food products anytime and anywhere. Hastings et al. (2003)
stated that children‟s perceptions of what foods are good and bad to eat, comprehension of
what constitutes as a well balanced diet, perceptions and knowledge of the nutritional value
of different food products, ability to understand the composition of processed foods, and
understanding of nutritional contents can be corrupted by food advertisements as children are
bombarded by enjoyable and memorable adverts for foods that are low in nutrition, with little
or no exposure to adverts promoting healthy, nutritious foods such as fruit or vegetables.
Similarly, branding of foods and beverages influences young children perception, since
branding is one of the goals of marketing to encourage children to recognise and differentiate
particular products and logos (Stitt and Kunkel, 2008). However, by 2 years of age children
may belief in specific brands and 2-6 years olds may be able to recognise familiar brand
names packaging, logos and characters and they should be able to associate them with
products (Robinson et al., 2007).

4.5 Regulations on Food Advertising and Marketing Targeted at Children.


Despite the recognition of the growing obesity problem, levels of unhealthy/non-core food
advertising and marketing on all the media have remained critically high and deliberately
targeted at children and adolescents (CI, 2008; Hawkes, 2007; Dibbs and Harris, 1996). The
lack of healthy food promotion to challenge the excessive advertising of unhealthy foods
provides children with a distorted perspective on healthy and „normal‟ food choices,

30
encouraging the selection of unhealthy options (Radley, 2007; CI, 2004). Since, many studies
have shown that the food advertised and marketed to children has influence on their health,
food consumption and food choice (DH, 2008; CI, 2008; Ofcom, 2007; CI, 2004).
Consequently, many countries have raised the issue about the need for imposing stricter
regulations and controls on food advertising and marketing to children and adolescents
(Hawkes, 2007; Ofcom, 2007; CI, 2004). However, there is wide disparity between countries
in their approach to the marketing and advertising to children and adolescents (CFAC, 2007).
while some have limited restrictions on advertising unhealthy food to children and
adolescents others have no statutory protection on any form of advertising and marketing at
all (CI, 2008). Hawkes (2007) notes that the regulation on non-traditional forms of marketing,
sponsorship, product placement and sales promotions can be described as patchy with regards
to children and adolescents. He further argued that while regulations on sponsorship and sales
promotions are fairly common, very few countries have regulations on these forms of
marketing that are specific to children, adolescents and /or food.

However, in the US there are currently few policies or standard for advertising and marketing
aimed at children and adolescents (Story and French, 2004). They further stated that in the
US advertising industry maintains self-regulatory policies established by the children‟s
Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the National Council of Better Business Bureaus.
However, it was further argue that the guidelines that (CARU) has can only apply to all forms
of children and adolescents advertisements but it has no legal authority over advertisers and
can only seek for voluntary compliance (Story and French, 2004). Similarly, in Australia the
statutory regulation is the responsibility of the Australian Communication and Media
Authority (ACMA). It oversees the implementation of the Children‟s Television Standard
(CTS) (CFAC, 2007). In addition, several countries such as: Sweden, Norway, Belgium,
Denmark, Italy, Ireland and Canada (Quebec) has begun to take steps on reduction of food
promotion and advertising to children and adolescents through television programmes
(Hawkes, 2007; CFAC, 2007). In Sweden and Norway for instance, a ban has been put on
commercial advertising to children under 12 years of age (CFAC, 2007).

Furthermore, to ensure that children and adolescents are free from aggressive marketing and
advertising of unhealthy food products, the Consumers International (CI) and International
Obesity Task Force (IOTF) in their joint campaign of March 2008 against the marketing of
unhealthy foods to children and adolescents recommended that: there should be no promotion

31
of unhealthy foods in schools; there should be no inclusion of free gifts, toys or collectibles
items which appeal to children and adolescents to promote unhealthy foods; and there should
be a ban on radio or television adverts promoting unhealthy food between the children
viewing hours of 06.00 - 21.00. However, the UK advertising industry claims that:

it is only by exposing children to advertising in a responsible and sensible way that


they can learn how to make judgements in a commercial world, and that to prevent
children from seeing advertising is to deprive them of information to which they have
a legitimate right. (Hill and O‟Sullivan, 2004: 319)

4.6 Summary
This chapter dealt with children and adolescent cognitive development in an effort to
understanding the age at which they can fully understand the content and intent of advertising
and marketing. Children and adolescents viewing habits were also reviewed in some in depth.
The chapter also discussed children‟s and adolescent‟s perception of advertising and
marketing as well as the various regulations embarked upon by various countries and
organisations on banning the activities of food and beverage industry in marketing the
unhealthy food to children and adolescents through the media of advertising and marketing.

32
Chapter 5: Effects of Food Advertising and Marketing on Children and
Adolescents

5.1 Introduction
The previous three chapters have shown the serious impacts of food advertising and
marketing to children and adolescents. It is clear that the food and beverage industry are
spending more to target these young consumers through different persuasive and appealing
advertising and marketing techniques. Also the issues surrounding the unethical and
unregulated way the food and beverage industries advertised and marketed their food have
been discussed. The nutritional content of the food advertised and marketed to children and
adolescents, the health risks and diseases associated with the food marketed as well as its
influences on their food preferences, eating behaviour and parental purchases will be
discussed in this chapter.

5.2 Nutritional Content of Food Advertised and Marketed to Children and Adolescents
Most chronic diseases experienced by an individual in adulthood originate from nutritional
habits they form during childhood (Dietz, 2001). Therefore a healthy diet during childhood is
vital in preventing chronic diseases in adulthood (Story and French, 2004). CFAC (2007)
commented that children with unhealthy diets are also at greater risk of poor mental health,
and are more likely to suffer from behavioural problems. Despite this, children are currently
not eating in accordance with the healthy recommended dietary guidelines. Although The UK
Food Standards Agency (FSA) in January 2007, published standard criteria of nutritional
content of food and classified food as low, medium and high in fat, sugar and salt content (CI,
2008).

However, large majority of food products advertised and marketed to children and
adolescents (84.5%) are for items that are not appropriate as part of a regular diet and only a
very small fraction (3.1%) of them are healthy foods (Stitt and Kunkel, 2008). Dibb and
Harris (1996) found that 95% of all food advertised in the UK were foods high in calories,
saturated fat, refined sugar, and salt, and that 62% of food products advertised to children on
television were high fat, 61% high in salt, and 50% high in sugar. Similarly, in a study
conducted on the nutritional content of food advertised and marketed to children and
adolescents in the US by Powell et al. (2007), it was found that 97.8% and 89.4% of food

33
advertisements viewed by children between the ages of 2- 11 years and adolescent between
the ages of 12- 17 years respectively, were the food that is high in fat, sugar, or salt.
According to the study, almost all the beverages advertisements (99.5%) were for high-sugar
beverages while two third of advertised snacks were high in sugar with over one third being
high in fat and one quarter being high in saturated fat. In addition, sweets were found not to
be only high in sugar (88.6%), but almost one- half (47.4%) were high in saturated fat. The
study further revealed that on average, 46.1% and 47.1% of total calories among the products
advertised come from sugar in the advertisements seen by these respective age groups (2-11)
and (12-17). Similarly, it was noted that a total of 97.6% of cereal advertisements seen by
children between the ages of 2- 11 years were for high sugar cereals. Therefore, the study
concluded that majority of food advertisements seen on television by American children and
adolescents are of poor nutritional content. This is in line with previous studies of Story and
French (2004) which revealed that in the U.S, children now obtain over 50% of their calories
from fat or added sugar and that 65% of all cereal in take was for pre-sweetened cereals.
However, CSPI (2003) argues that only 2% of food advertising is for foods that should make
up the main part of a healthy diet, including fruit, vegetables and grains.

Similarly, in Australia the food advertised to children and adolescents were diametrically
opposed to foods recommended for children. For instance, of the total food advertised in
2007; 72.2 % were for food high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS), while only 1.5% and 1.7%
were for vegetables and fruits respectively (Roberts and Pettigrew, 2007). In general these
foods that are of low nutritional value and particularly high in sugar, fat, and salt, are heavily
promoted while the recommended healthy diet gets very little if any promotion (CFAC,
2007). Powell et al. (2007) concludes that children and adolescents consume excessive
dietary fat and sugar whereas, fruits, vegetables and various micronutrients intake among
them is lower than recommended. The recommended nutritional content of food for children
and adolescents as published by Food Standards Agency (FSA) in 2007 and The Australian
National Health and Medical Research Council‟s (NHMRC) dietary guidelines to children
and adolescents are shown in table 5.1 and figure 5.1 below respectively:

34
Table: 5.1: UK Food Standards Agency Nutritional Content Classification (per100ml/100g

Low Medium High

Fat(per100g) 3g and Between 3g and20g Over 20g


below

Fat(per100ml) 1.5g and Between1.5gandbel Over 10g


below ow

Saturates(per100g) 1.5g and Between1.5and 10g Over 5g


below

Saturates(per 0.75g and Between 0.75g and Over 2.5g


100ml) below 2.5g

Total 5g and Between 5g and Over 15g


sugars(per100g) below 15g

Total sugars(100ml) 2.5g and Between 2.5g and Over 7.5


below 7.5 g

Salt(100g/100ml) 0.3g and 0.3 g and1.5g Over 1.5g


below

Source: Consumers International, (2008: 12)

35
Figure 5.1: The National Health and Medical Research Council’s dietary guidelines
for Children and Adolescents in Australia.

(Source: Roberts and Pettigrew, 2007:3

36
5.3 Health Risks and Diseases associated with Food Advertising and Marketing.
Children and adolescents need good nutrition in order to grow and develop to their potential
and to be protected against chronic diseases (Dixon et al., 2006). However, few children and
adolescents eat the amount of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and calcium-rich foods as
recommended in the dietary guidelines for them (Story et al., 2009; CI, 2008). They are
enticed by the persuasive marketing of the unhealthy food advertised by food and beverage
industry to them and therefore consume excess calories, sugars, total and saturated fat with
sodium (DH, 2008). The intake of these high-calorie foods later increase their weight and
once they are overweight it causes adverse health, social, emotional outcomes and increases
their risk of disability and premature death as adults (Lavizo, 2009; Story et al., 2009; CI,
2004). Although overweight and obesity result from undesirable positive energy balances due
to increased energy intake, decrease physical activity or both. However, increased energy
intake has been shown to be the dominant driver of the increasing obesity levels among
children and adolescents (Story et al., 2009; CI, 2008; Hastings et al., 2003). Overweight
adolescents consumed an average of 700-1000 more calories per day which resulted in an
average weight gain of 58 extra pounds beyond that associated with normal growth, almost 6
pounds per year (Story et al., 2009).

Furthermore, aside from overweight and obesity there are other health impacts/risks of poor
nutritional contents of the food advertised and marketed to children and adolescents. CFAC
(2007) outlined other health impacts of poor nutrition as: (i) dental health- the frequency and
quantity of sugar intake is directly proportional to the development of dental caries and this
dental diseases cost AU$3.4 billion annually; (ii) bone health - soft drinks consumption in
place of milk may result in low bone density due to inadequate calcium intake and (iii)
psycho-social and mental health- children and adolescents with suboptimal nutrition are at
greater risk of poor mental health, have lower academic achievements and are more likely to
suffer from behavioural problems. Similarly, type two diabetes that were associated with
middle age people until the 1990s, are now been increasingly observed in children and
adolescents. Story et al. (2009) vehemently commented that of great concern is the increasing
prevalence of type 2 diabetes among children and adolescents, which is associated with
obesity and becomes more common after the age of 10. They further revealed that 2 million
adolescents (or one in six overweight adolescents) have pre-diabetes. However, over the

37
years, some critics have argued that television; movies and magazines have promoted
unrealistically thin body types as the model possibly encouraging teen girls, and increasingly
teen boys to engage in unhealthy dieting or eating disorders. Some advocates note that
television gives children and teen‟s contradictory messages about dietary habits and model
body type; for example be thin but eat fatty foods, sugary sweets, and salty snacks (Radley,
2007).

5.4 Influence of Advertising and Marketing on Food Preferences and Eating Behaviour
Food preferences have been identified as one of the internal factors and a key predictor of
young children‟s eating habits. They are not the only choice that starts at an early age in
children but healthy habit patterns in general begin in childhood. Eating habits and behaviour
are established during childhood when children are most receptive to modifications. Also
children need to eat a variety of foods to obtain the nutrients and energy they require to grow.
Therefore, the acquisition of proper eating habits is important for health and disease
prevention both in the short term and later in life (Amat, 2006). Although Radley (2007)
notes that the main children‟s food influences came from the parents as most of the parent try
to improve their children‟s health through healthy eating. However, the food habits formed in
early childhood influences food choices as adolescents and later as adults (Robinson, et al.,
2007).

Modern societies have change eating habits to adjust to new patterns of living (Amat, 2006),
but the changes are not necessarily nutritionally appropriate (lavizo, 2009). However,
Rebecca and Adrian (2009) note that food choice and lifestyle are closely related. Exposure
to a food advertisement for 30 seconds, when embedded within a television programme,
altered food preferences in pre-school children, and exposure to food advertisements also
stimulate and promote food consumption also, the children that are exposed to the
advertisements were significantly more likely to then select the advertised food brands than a
constant group (Bridget et al., 2008; Kopelman et al., 2007). Furthermore, findings from food
purchase request studies based on surveys, dairies, experimental trials, and direct observation
of mother-child pairs shopping have consistently shown that children‟s exposure to food
television advertising increasing the number of attempts children make to influence food
purchases their parents buy (Harrison and Marske, 2005; Story and French, 2004).

38
Many studies have revealed that there is strong relationship between the food advertising and
marketing children are exposed to and their eating behaviours/food consumption patterns
(Story et al., 2009; Powell et al., 2007; IOM, 2006; Livingstone and Helsper, 2006; Hastings
et al., 2003). Powell et al. (2007) further added that exposure to food advertising significantly
influences children‟s food preferences/choices, food intake and product-specific food
purchases requests among young children and adolescents. However, Ashton (2004) and
Ambler (2004) in their studies points that the most studies in the Hastings review do not in
fact support the view that food promotion or television advertising are important in
determining the food consumption behaviour of children. Ashton (2004) further argue that
the influence of parental behaviour was fifteen times greater than that of television
advertising and subsequent studies have confirmed that this is the dominant influence on
children‟s eating habits. Furthermore, it has been argued that the cross-sectional studies
cannot determine whether people with different dietary habits watch different channels for
different periods of time and may therefore be susceptible to particular advertisements as
there are always confounding variables such as: the parent and children‟s social class, dietary
preferences and television watching habits when examining the effects of television watching
,which need to be examined before causal inferences can be made with confidence (Sixsmith
and Furnham, 2009).

5.5 Children and Adolescents Influence on their Parental Purchases


Food marketers recognise that children and adolescents are easily influenced, have strong
buying power, and have a strong influence on the purchasing habits of their parents and
household food decisions (pester power), marketers therefore count on children wearing their
parents down and parents giving in and purchasing low-nutrition foods for their children
(ACCM, 2009; Dixon, et al., 2006; CSPI, 2003). Children often pester their parent for
products they neither need nor understand the content (Harris et al., 2009; YMA, 2003a).
Sixsmith and Furnham (2009) concurred that children have been seen as an important
consumer that can not only influence the purchasing habit of their parents but also have
considerable spending power.

Young children are estimated to directly influenced US$330 billion of parental spending in
2005 (Powell et al., 2007), while adolescents were estimated to have spent US$159 billion in
the same year (Stitt and Kunkel, 2008). Furthermore, children and teens control an estimated
US$200 billion annually in direct food sales or perhaps made by parents and others (Stitt and

39
Kunkel, 2008). Similarly, in the US parents spend 60% more in supermarket when shopping
with their teenagers than when shopping alone (Brownell et al., 2008). However, adolescents
on their own represent an important consumer market given that they spend a significant
amount of their own money (Robinson et al., 2007). Further studies revealed that from a very
young age children influence their parent‟s consumer behaviour (Stitt and Kunkel, 2008;
Dixon, et al., 2006). For instance exposure to television advertising has been shown to
stimulate children‟s purchase influence attentions when shopping with parents at the
supermarket (Dixon et al., 2006). Parents always yield to their children‟s food products
purchase requests behaviours resulting in both children and their parent‟s food choices being
swayed by the television adverts they are regularly subjected to (CFAC, 2007).

According to the multi country- survey report by the Consumers International in 2004, more
than 50% of the parents of all the children of the countries surveyed agreed that their children
are important factor influencing their purchase decisions. Similarly, Stitt and Kunkel (2008)
claims that nowadays the food and beverages industries pay substantial amount of money to
some local supermarkets to place their child-oriented products such as; sugar cereals and
sweets on the lower store shelves where youngsters are more likely to see them and request
for them while shopping with their parents. Dixon et al. (2006) concurred that in Australia
foods displayed at supermarket are often promoted in a way that targets children and
encourages parents to impulse buying for their children. According to Australian Council on
Children and the Media (ACCM) recent studies reveals that 85% of British children between
the ages of 4-13 years old acknowledge that they had asked their parents to buy advertised
products while 66% claimed that their parents had met their request (ACCM, 2009).

5.6 Summary
This chapter examined the nutritional content of the food been advertised and marketed to
children and adolescents, outlined the various related health risks and diseases associated
with the food been advertised and market to children and adolescents. It also highlighted the
various influences the food advertising and marketing has on the children and adolescents as
well as on their parental purchases. The effects discussed significantly attest to both the
purchasing and detrimental effects the food advertising and marketing to children and
adolescents have on them.

40
Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendation

6.1 Introduction
In this final chapter of the review, conclusions will be drawn from the findings in the
previous chapters. Recommendations will be made, which is hope to be helpful to
Governments, parents, advertisers and marketers. This review sought to address the following
questions:
(a) What advertising and marketing channels are used to advertise and market foods to
children and adolescents?
(b) Does children and adolescents purchase foods based on advertising and marketing
targeted at them?
(c) What are the food products and the nutritional contents of the foods marketers advertised
to children and adolescents?

6.2 Conclusions
The conclusion will be drawn together under four main headings: food advertising and
marketing channels; children and adolescents viewing and knowledge of advertising and
marketing; nutritional content of foods advertised and marketed; children and adolescents
eating pattern and food preferences.

6.3 Major Findings


This review has shown that food advertising and marketing to children and adolescents have
drastically affected their food preferences and eating behaviour. Also the food and beverage
industry have been using different channels and media of advertising and marketing to
aggressively market their products to children and adolescents. Children and adolescents have
been seen to have a powerful influence on their parental and household purchases and as a
potential customer themselves. The above findings are summarised below:

6.3.1 Channels of Advertising and Marketing


The channel and techniques use in advertising and marketing food to children and
adolescents includes: television, the internet, in-school advertising, products placements, toys
with brand logos, the use of promotions and the promotions also have various techniques

41
such as: give away, movie-tie ins, competition, sporting activities and the use of celebrities. It
was shown that the use of all these techniques by the food and beverage industry has
generated more money to the industry while causing detrimental effects to the children and
adolescents as they purchased the unhealthy foods marketed to them through these media
which later makes them to become overweight or obese and these later lead to having all
other food related diseases.

6.3.2 Viewing Habits and Advertisements Knowledge


This review shows that children and adolescents spend more time on viewing unhealthy food
advertisements and programmes while paying little or no attention to the programmes that
can benefit and educate them. Also children and adolescents are quite aware of all the other
advertisements techniques programmes and watch their advertisements on the internet and
magazines. The review also revealed that advertisements of foods in children and adolescent
programmes are more shown during their holidays than when they are not on holiday and
they also view more during this period.

6.3.3 Nutritional Contents of Foods Advertised and Marketed to Children


This review shows that the types of foods advertised and marketed to children and
adolescents are the food that are high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) contents such as; snacks,
cereals, soft drinks, ice cream and sweets. These fatty, sugary, salty and fast foods have been
shown to be nutritionally poor and unhealthy as a result they undermine the good health of
the children and adolescents. Also due to their high-calorie content and been energy-dense
food the nutritionists and other health professionals see these as promoting poor eating
practices in children and adolescents thereby increases the risk of causing diseases associated
with foods and diets such as obesity and diabetes.

6.3.4 Children and Adolescents Eating Pattern and Food Preferences


It has been shown that food adverting and marketing the children and adolescents are exposed
to by persuasive appeals and techniques have changed their food consumption and eating
pattern. Children and adolescents want to purchase those foods or beverage they saw on the
advertisements irrespective of the nutritional content of these foods and beverages. Also they
are influenced by the celebrities or the favourite characters been used by this food and
beverage industries as they believed they are heroes and will like to eat what they eat and do
what they do as they consider all their actions as good and fantastic. Therefore they consume

42
what the advertisements show them to consume and prefers what the favourite characters
purchased.

6.3.5 Recommendations
Since the issue of obesity and other related diseases associated with the food intake by
children and adolescents has been a global issue. Therefore, it is recommended that:

 Governments at all levels should enact a law that will regulate or ban the advertising
and marketing of unhealthy foods to the children and adolescents.

 The use of celebrities, cartoons character, competitions or free gifts to market


unhealthy food product should be banned.
 The food and beverage company should either exclude young children in their
advertising and marketing of unhealthy foods or improve on the quality of foods been
advertised and marketed to them.

6.4 Summary
This chapter drew together the major points and findings of the review. Conclusions were
drawn which showed that the food advertising and marketing targeted at children and
adolescents has many significant influences on their food consumption, purchasing power,
viewing habits and also have an impacts on their health. Therefore the issue of advertising
and marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children and adolescents is a cause for
concern and needs a global solution.

43
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