What Do Adolescents See on Social Media? A Diary Study of Food Marketing Images on Social Media

Abstract

Food marketing influences eating preferences and choices, especially among adolescents, contributing to the rise of overweight, obesity, and other chronic health disorders. Recent social media advancements have provided food marketers with platforms to reach out to many in more personal and authentic ways as compared to classical media advertising. Such personalized and borderless social media platforms allow marketers to easily use owned, paid, and earned (word-of –mouth) marketing strategies, including paid and non-paid influencers to reach younger target audiences. This study therefore aims to explore food messages adolescents (12–18 years old) encounter on social media, and assess these messages for their sources, the presence of core and non-core food, and the marketing strategies employed. To attain an in-depth understanding of the food messages that adolescents are continuously exposed to, we carried out a diary study with 21 Flemish adolescents who took screenshots of food images they encountered on their social media platforms for the duration of one week. A quantitative and qualitative content analysis of 611 images revealed that adolescents are mostly exposed to messages of non-core (67% of images) and branded (49% of images) food, often (49% of images) presented in association with a social context such as hanging around with friends, eating at restaurants and celebrating with food. Adolescents often encounter branded food images through peers and social media influencers, the majority of which are part of earned (49% of branded images) or paid (40% of branded images) media food marketing. This research provides an in-depth understanding of the social media messages that adolescents encounter on a daily basis and sheds light on food norms typically communicated on social media by marketers, peers, and influencers. Study findings highlight prominent social media food messages that should be tested for their persuasiveness, providing insights for future research that aims to assess the effects of social media food marketing on adolescents. Based on the study findings, we call for relevant policy actions that address current social media marketing strategies targeted at adolescents.

See, Like, Share, Remember: Adolescents’ Responses to Unhealthy-, Healthy- and Non-Food Advertising in Social Media

“…Advertisers have extensive digital media presence including on social and media-sharing platforms where they promote products and brands as exciting and interactive [6,10,11]. In digital media (as in traditional media), most food and beverage advertising is for unhealthy items: reports indicate 65%-80% of food advertising online is for HFSS products or brands associated with these foods [12][13][14]. Furthermore, as food and beverage companies have extensive followings online, including among teens, their activities reach large audiences [15]; the food brands with the greatest potential reach amongst teens are almost all brands with many or mostly unhealthy products in their portfolios [16].…”

“…Adolescents are at risk of exposure to unhealthy food advertising because of their very high levels of Internet and social media usage. Diary, screen-recording and avatar studies indicate high levels of exposure [12,14,17]. However, evidence for how young people engage with and respond to food advertising in digital media remains limited [4,6].…”

Food Marketing as a Special Ingredient in Consumer Choices: The Main Insights from Existing Literature

“…Cancers and cardiovascular diseases are examples of civilizational diseases related to population lifestyles and social contexts. The media could better support these healthier campaigns [ 145 ], considering its influence on adolescents [ 146 ], for example, in terms of food choices [ 147 ].…”

The Digital Media Environment and Cardiovascular Risk in Children

“…In one small study, 21 Belgian adolescents age 12-18 years were instructed to take screenshots of foodrelated images they encountered on social media. 49 They reported that 67% of the images exclusively depicted unhealthy food such as soft drinks, fried foods, and sweets, and almost half of the images depicted branded food products. Of the branded food images, half appeared as unpaid word-ofmouth marketing but were suspected to be paid marketing efforts.…”