Mediating science and nature: Representing and consuming infant formula advertising in China

Abstract

Abstract:This paper analyses the representation and consumption of infant formula advertising on Chinese television, following the baby milk scare in 2008. Drawing on the concepts of 'encoding/decoding' and 'circuit of culture', the paper investigates how the Chinese dairy industry encodes the messages of food safety and quality in their advertisements and how parents decode the messages as part of their risk management strategies. The paper focuses on two moments -representation and consumption -in the 'circuit of culture'. Combining a critical analysis of advertising imagery with focus group and interview regarding its consumption, the paper suggests that the dairy industry juxtaposed images of science and nature to mediate messages about the quality and safety of infant formula. Findings show that Chinese consumers decode these messages based on their previous experience and knowledge, exhibiting considerable ambivalence about the advertising of infant formula and reflecting significant anxiety about the product's quality and safety. Both the representation and consumption of the advertising messages should be understood within the wider social and political context including the prevalent medicalization of childcare which accompanied recent neoliberal reforms and the lax regulation of health product advertising in China. The paper concludes that, in the absence of independent medical advice, affordable medical treatment and adequate government regulation, infant formula companies can make illfounded health claims for their products and employ dubious promotional tactics.

The influence of grandmothers on breastfeeding rates: a systematic review

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Health and nutrition content claims on websites advertising infant formula available in Australia: A content analysis

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“…However, only India enforces their regulations. In China, however, the regulations are routinely ignored(Gong & Jackson, 2013). In China, however, the regulations are routinely ignored(Gong & Jackson, 2013).…”

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