Food and Beverage Cues Featured in YouTube Videos of Social Media Influencers Popular With Children: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Food and beverage cues (visual displays of food or beverage products/brands) featured in traditional broadcast and digital marketing are predominantly for products high in fat, sugar and/or salt (HFSS). YouTube is hugely popular with children, and cues featured in content uploaded by YouTube video bloggers (influencers) has been shown to affect children’s eating behavior. However, little is known about the prevalence of such cues, the contexts in which they appear, and the frequency with which they are featured as part of explicit marketing campaigns. The objective of this study was to explore the extent and nature of food and beverage cues featured in YouTube videos of influencers popular with children. All videos uploaded by two influencers (one female, one male) over a year (2017) were analyzed. Based on previous content analyses of broadcast marketing, cues were categorized by product type and classified as “healthy” or “less healthy” according to the UK Nutrient Profiling Model. Cues were also coded for branding status, and other factors related to their display (e.g., description). In total, the sample comprised 380 YouTube videos (119.5 h) and, of these, only 27 videos (7.4%) did not feature any food or beverage cues. Cakes (9.4%) and fast foods (8.9%) were the most frequently featured product types, less frequent were healthier products such as fruits (6.5%) and vegetables (5.8%). Overall, cues were more frequently classified as less healthy (49.4%) than healthy (34.5%) and were presented in different contexts according to nutritional profile. Less healthy foods (compared with healthy foods) were more often; branded, presented in the context of eating out, described positively, not consumed, and featured as part of an explicit marketing campaign. These data provide the first empirical assessment of the extent and nature of food and beverage cue presentation in YouTube videos by influencers popular with children. Given the emerging evidence of the effects of influencer marketing of food and beverages on children’s eating behavior, this exploratory study offers a novel methodological platform for digital food marketing assessment and delivers important contextual information that could inform policy deliberations in this area.

“It’s Just Addictive People That Make Addictive Videos”: Children’s Understanding of and Attitudes towards Influencer Marketing of Food and Beverages by YouTube Video Bloggers

“…The male YouTuber had a subscriber count of approximately 11 million across his three YouTube channels, and the female YouTuber a total of 16 million subscribers across her two YouTube channels. The YouTubers' viewer demographics are not publicly available but they are known to be popular with children (5-15 years) in the UK [73] and are consistent with those used in previous experimental studies investigating the extent, nature and impact of influencer food marketing [14,22,23]. Notably, the influencer marketing campaign shown was featured in content likely to be viewed by children, and not in content specifically targeted at them (e.g., YouTube Kids app), where self-regulation should prohibit exposure [74].…”

“…Children's beliefs about the likely effects of influencer marketing are consistent with advertisers' increased spend in this area [17,18] and as result of this fast-growing industry children are frequently exposed to influencer marketing of HFSS food and beverage products [14,[19][20][21].…”

“…Children are frequent viewers of YouTube video bloggers (YouTubers), individuals who create and share videos on YouTube [11], and view this content as a source of entertainment [7,12]. YouTubers can organically feature food and beverage products in their videos [13,14] but often also receive payments or gifts from brands for doing so [15][16][17]. Collaborations between brands and YouTubers (also referred to as 'influencers') is a fast-growing marketing technique referred to as 'influencer marketing' [17].…”

“…Collaborations between brands and YouTubers (also referred to as 'influencers') is a fast-growing marketing technique referred to as 'influencer marketing' [17]. Industry spend on this form of marketing is predicted to increase from $500 million per year in 2018 to $5-$10 billion per year in 2023 [18].Children are frequently exposed to influencer marketing of HFSS food and beverage products and brands on social media [14,[19][20][21]. This is a concern given that evidence suggests that exposure, via Instagram [22] and YouTube [23], increases children's (9-11 years) immediate consumption of HFSS products, compared with exposure to equivalent marketing of non-food products.…”

“…Children are frequently exposed to influencer marketing of HFSS food and beverage products and brands on social media [14,[19][20][21]. This is a concern given that evidence suggests that exposure, via Instagram [22] and YouTube [23], increases children's (9-11 years) immediate consumption of HFSS products, compared with exposure to equivalent marketing of non-food products.…”