TV food advertising aimed at children: qualitative study of Pakistani fathers’ views

Abstract

Purpose – There is plethora of advertising research that has highlighted the mothers’ perspective to TV food advertising. However, the fathers’ perspective on children food advertising in societies that score high on masculinity is important but absent from literature. The purpose of this paper is to present opinions of respondents as fathers, concerning the impact of TV food advertisements on children buying and consumption habits. Design/methodology/approach – The qualitative data through semi-structured interviews has been collected from 32 males having at least one child between the ages of seven and 14 years. The respondents were purposefully selected from a private sector university located in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. The collected data have been analysed through thematic analysis. Findings – Thematic analysis revealed six themes; quantity of ads, negative impact of TV food ads, changing buying patterns, positive/productive impact on children, father's perceptions of TV advertising, and advertising changes to be incorporated. The findings have some social, cultural, and managerial implications for core advertising stakeholders. Practical implications – This study is useful for marketing managers whose job is to persuade children and their families into buying their products. They can benefit from the findings of this study to customize the brand communication strategies as per the expectations of respondents as fathers. Furthermore, the study proposes useful insights that will help in devising consumer-led advertising policies in Pakistan. Originality/value – The gender role of males while influencing family decision making with regards to food products marketing has been a new area of research. The study is pioneer in the field of consumer socialization in that it focuses upon the fathers’ perspective on TV advertising to children.

I’m loving it but hating US

“…. In an Asian culture, where people are low risk takers (Hofstede, 2001) and do not trust on the quality of food brands (Kashif et al, 2014a), , the CoO effect can bring positive results for brands by establishing high brand credibility among consumers. These researchers also believe that CoO signals product quality and can help brands to establish emotional connection with customers.…”

“….The proliferation of food brands across the globe , , an increase in consumer sensitivity with regards to food marketing (Kashif et al, 2014a) and higher levels of consumer involvement during service production and delivery even in low involvement service categories such as fast foods have made it imperative important to understand and respect consumer emotions while formulating food marketing plans. Rising concerns about quality of food offered by national and Multinational brands operating in developing world have made it imperativevital to extend knowledge on food service quality.…”

“…The country also has some special implications for service marketers as people in Pakistan are low risk takers, collectivists, and polychronic in terms of time-orientation ) (Rajpoot, 2004 that is contrary to the West (in general). In addition to that, food marketers in this part of the world have merely focused on brand selection criteria and consumer perceptions of food advertising (Kashif et al, 2014a). .…”

Escala de medición de la responsabilidad social del marketing

“…Los consumidores acusan al marketing de reducir el bienestar de la sociedad debido a prácticas manipuladoras, promover el materialismo, ofrecer información sesgada sobre las marcas y publicidad que contribuye negativamente a dar forma a los valores culturales de una sociedad (Kashif et al, 2018). Si bien se reconoce el valor que el marketing crea para la sociedad, esta imagen positiva se ve opacada porque se le acusa de enfocarse únicamente en los resultados económicos para la empresa (Kachersky and Lerman, 2013), de generar conflictos entre padres e hijos, destruyendo así los roles sociales, de promover el materialismo, ser "irritantemente intrusivo" y agresivo y recurrir a prácticas injustas y faltas de ética (Kashif et al, 2014;, entre otras críticas. Cuando los consumidores perciben incoherencias entre lo que las empresas comunican y lo que realmente hacen, consideran que estas son hipócritas y que apelan a la responsabilidad social solo para beneficio propio, como puede ser vender más productos, mejorar su imagen y reforzar la identificación de sus empleados con la compañía (Marín et al, 2016).…”

Re-imagining marketing as societing

“…Marketing as a discipline has benefited policymakers, marketing academics, society and consumers. However, the role of marketing has been criticized of spreading hedonic values among individuals and focusing merely on earning profit for the firm (Kachersky and Lerman, 2013), marketing to under-age audience (Yu, 2012;Calvert, 2008), causing a parent to child conflict and destructing social roles (Kashif et al, 2014). The older consumers also seem to be affected by unethical marketing practices as researchers believe that some sales tactics are inappropriate and deceptive (Ramsey et al, 2007).…”