Advertising of foods and beverages in social media aimed at children: high exposure and low control

Abstract

Background This work is aimed to describe the recent scientific literature developed in the food/beverage sector and social networks aimed at children and adolescents, as well as current regulations. Methods A rapid review of the studies on advertising and social media aimed at children, published from 2010 tp 2020 is carried out, following the established inclusion criteria. In addition, the regulations in the countries in which the studies were carried out were also reviewed. Results Of the 573 articles, 7 met these criteria. The great attraction of unhealthy foods for children is observed, who remembered and recognized a greater number of unhealthy food brands and, by extension, the ability to influence of communication in social networks. Each country has its own self-regulation, two (Ireland and USA) have legislation on children’s food advertising, and Australia has legislation that applies only to open television. However, none of the analyzed countries have specific regulations on food, children and media advertising. Conclusions Given the fact that there is evidence about the great attraction that social networks suppose for the child, that they are a stimulus for the consumption of food and that many of these foods are harmful to their health; we should work in two directions: 1) Promote public policies based on promoting healthy habits among minors; and 2) Monitor and implement regulations in commercial communication social media.

Healthy food and determinants of food choice on online food delivery applications

“…Advertisers on some social media platforms are now depending on interactive content; so, when consumers react to the advertised content a notification will appear on the consumers’ friends’ newsfeeds, timelines, and explorer, and by so spreading the advertising message to more people [ 36 ]. The majority of food marketing activities do not promote healthy food and are usually advocating mostly unhealthy foods [ 37 ]. Although all individuals are influenced by the power of marketing, adolescents and children are the most vulnerable groups because they may not successfully differentiate informative content from commercial content and are more sensitive to advertising materials [ 38 , 39 ].…”

Are advertising policies affirmative in restricting the marketing of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) in India?: evidence from SWOT Analysis

“… 8 , 10 , 18 With the advent of technology, children are hooked to social networking sites and are exposed to HFSS advertising. 19 Children must therefore be protected from the marketing of HFSS foods.…”

Their feed & what they eat : The extent, nature and impact of social media food marketing targeted to adolescents

“…Yet, influencers are hesitant to be transparent and do not disclose their commercial intent because they want to avoid irritation among their followers or they do not fully understand disclosure guidelines or regulations [70,71]. In most countries worldwide, sponsorship disclosure regulations are described in selfregulatory codes that largely focus on traditional media such as TV and not so much on digital or social media [1,38,72]. Influencer marketing typically blurs the boundaries between commercial and entertaining content, making it more difficult for social media users to recognise advertising.…”

“…Protecting adolescents against the negative influences of EDNP SMFM is key, and therefore the implementation of regulations that restrict adolescents' exposure to EDNP foods via social media is crucial. Concerningly, contemporary food marketing regulations do not include any restrictions on EDNP food marketing via social media platforms, and they are largely focused on marketing targeted at younger children (<12 years), as research on SMFM effects in adolescents is relatively scarce [38,72,123]. To put adolescent-targeted EDNP SMFM on the policy agenda, improving our understanding of its unique effects in adolescents through empirical research is essential.…”

“…It has been argued that it is particularly important to use sponsorship disclosures in social media posts involving an influencer or character, as posts by brand accounts would already automatically elicit a higher level of conceptual persuasion knowledge among consumers [209]. However, currently many sponsored influencer vlogs can be published without any disclosure of marketing intent, as in many countries, including the Netherlands, there are no legislative regulations on sponsorship disclosures that cover all social media influencer marketing content targeted to children and adolescents [72,230,243].…”