Three Decades of Research in Health and Food Marketing: A Systematic Review

Abstract

With multiple approaches, methodologies and theoretical traditions involved, the body of marketing research focused on health and food has grown particularly extensive, fragmented, and difficult to navigate. Driven by the goal of synthesizing three decades of research and reflecting on its development over time, this study provides a broad bibliographic, theoretical, methodological, and thematic assessment of a selection of 190 articles published between 1988 and 2015, using systematic review and content analysis methods. The results reveal that knowledge in the field is predominantly driven by US-authored, experiment-based studies with statistical scope that often fail to articulate a discernible theoretical anchor. Despite a plethora of themes, the concept of health is primarily operationalized in the context of isolated, often dichotomous, product evaluations rather than in the context of everyday consumption experiences. By looking into "what", "where", and "how" of food and health-related research, this study contributes to the debate about the current state and the future of this research domain.

Product‐harm science communication: The halo effect and its moderators

“…Over the last few decades, research on the relation between health and food has grown exponentially (Silchenko et al ., 2019). Even though food safety is higher today than ever before, the number of consumers experiencing anxiety, doubt, or even fear of food is growing constantly (De Jonge et al ., 2007; Kher et al ., 2013).…”

Consumer preferences for burgers and milk desserts: Evaluating the importance of health claim attributes

“…Some arguments promoting health attributes in meat products could be problematic due to contradictory nutritional advice or consumer beliefs (Silchenko, Askegaard, & Cedrola, 2019). Therefore, the type of product (meat‐based) may influence consumer preference for fiber.…”

The role of vending channels in marketing: A systematic review and taxonomy of studies

“…Specifically, the following online searchable databases were used: Emerald, EBSCOhost (i.e., Business Source Premier), ProQuest, SAGE journals, ScienceDirect, Springer link online library, Web of Science (i.e., Web of science core collection), and Wiley online library. These databases have been used widely in cognate studies (e.g., Grob, 2015; Silchenko et al ., 2020; Waqas et al ., 2020).…”

“…Similar to previous publications that rely on a systematic approach to synthesize the relevant literature from a marketing perspective (Grob, 2015; Silchenko et al ., 2020; Waqas et al ., 2020), this study endeavors to classify and organize the interdisciplinary knowledge of vending, dispersed in different journals and scientific fields (e.g., medicine, public health nutrition, industrial engineering, and logistics). However, a clear focus is required to generate actionable results.…”

“…(Ganetson and Mauser, cited in Risch, 1987, p. 60)However, these new consumption patterns associated with higher energy intake (Lachat et al ., 2012) often lead to undesirable anthropometric changes in society (Nago et al ., 2014) and require a higher level of responsibility from FAFH marketers and state authorities to ensure healthy education, nutrition, and well‐being of the population. Moreover, health‐related topics in food marketing have been rarely systematically reviewed though such reviews are useful to highlight successful marketing practices and relevant policy issues adopted globally and identify potential gaps or inconsistencies to be addressed in future studies (Silchenko et al ., 2020).…”