Advertising of fast food to children on Australian television: the impact of industry self‐regulation

Abstract

Objective: To assess the impact of the quick‐service restaurant industry (QSRI) self‐regulatory initiative on fast‐food advertising to children on Australian commercial television. Design and setting: Analysis of advertisements for foods on the three main free‐to‐air commercial television channels (channels 7, 9 and 10) in Sydney, Australia, over 4 days in both May 2009 and April 2010 in terms of: number of advertisements; types of food (coded core [healthy] foods, non‐core [unhealthy] foods, miscellaneous foods; or fast foods); whether advertised meals were intended for children; whether advertisements were broadcast during children's peak viewing times; and whether the company in question was a signatory to the QSRI initiative. Main outcome measures: Change in the mean frequency and rate of food advertisements per hour from 2009 to 2010; change in the types of fast‐food meals (healthier alternatives [at least one nutrient‐dense, low‐energy food considered part of a healthy diet for children], non‐core [high in undesirable nutrients and not considered part of a healthy diet for children], and other) being advertised; and proportion of children's energy requirements provided by fast‐food meals. Results: From 2009 to 2010, the mean frequency of fast‐food advertisements increased from 1.1 to 1.5 per hour. While non‐core fast foods comprised a lesser share of fast‐food advertising in 2010 than 2009, the mean frequency at which they were advertised during times when the largest numbers of children were watching television remained the same (1.3 per hour in both 2009 and 2010). Family meals advertised for children's consumption in 2010 provided energy far in excess of children's requirements. Conclusions: Children's exposure to unhealthy fast‐food advertising has not changed following the introduction of self‐regulation, and some fast foods advertised for children's consumption contain excessive energy. The limited impact of self‐regulation suggests that governments should define the policy framework for regulating fast‐food advertising to children.

Industry self‐regulation and TV advertising of foods to Australian children

“…Table 1 provides a summary of the included studies. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Where three articles were published using different data from the same study, 14,17,18 the primary analysis was undertaken on the most recent paper that utilised all available data. 17 Five studies reported non-core food advertising on free-to-air (FTA) television in major cities, one in a regional area and two involved subscription television (PayTV).…”

“…Advertising data were manually recorded 17 and/or sourced from media monitoring agencies. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Children's PVT was defined differently between studies but was commonly determined from audience viewing data or, for PayTV, from the channels most popular with children. The number of viewing days in each study ranged from 4 to 92.…”

“…10 Other publications that report weaker pre-versus post-RCMI/QSRI analyses (level IV evidence) are not presented here. 14,18…”

“…In contrast, studies with fewer data points found that RCMI signatories advertised non-core foods during children's PVT at a lower rate than non-signatories (1.5 vs. 2.0/h in 2009). 14 Hebden et al suggest that non-signatories to the QSRI had a larger reduction in fast food advertising from 2009 to 2010 than signatories, 18 although additional data supplied by the authors indicate that this may be because of an increase in healthier fast food advertising from 0/h in 2009 to 0.3/h in 2010. Generally, a higher percentage of all food advertisements by RCMI/QSRI signatories than non-signatories occur during children's PVT 16,17 and children's programmes.…”

Perceived informative intention in advertising and its attenuating effect on persuasion attribution among children

“…The aspects that have been overlooked relate to the tactics that marketers use in advertisements to achieve certain purposes. In the case of food advertising to children, for example, the most frequently used techniques include characters, which aim to capture attention or induce an emotional influence (Campbell, ; Jenkin, Madhvani, Signal, & Bowers, ; Page & Brewster, ), as well as novelty themes, which aim to provide information about a product (Castonguay, Kunkel, Wright, & Duff, ; Hebden, King, Kelly, & Chapman, ; B. Kelly, Kathy, King, & Hebden, ). The ability of an advertisement to capture consumers’ attention is critical for information processing (Young, ) and engagement with commercial content.…”