Testing a conceptual Hierarchy of Effects model of food marketing exposure and associations with children and adolescents' diet-related outcomes.

Kelly, Bridget, Boyland, Emma ORCID: 0000-0001-8384-4994, Tatlow-Golden, Mimi and Christiansen, Paul (2023) Testing a conceptual Hierarchy of Effects model of food marketing exposure and associations with children and adolescents' diet-related outcomes. Public Health Nutrition, 27 (1). pp. 1-23.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1368980023002616

Abstract

<h4>Objective</h4>Children's exposure to unhealthy food marketing contributes to poor diets by influencing the foods that children like, request, buy and consume. This study aimed to use confirmatory mediational analyses to test a hypothetical model of marketing effects, to better understand the mechanisms behind food marketing's impacts on children.<h4>Design</h4>Children responded to a cross-sectional online survey about their attitudes towards, and purchase and consumption behaviours of, 10 frequently promoted food/beverage brands, and their media use. Structural equation modelling tested <i>a priori</i> potential pathways for the effects of food marketing exposure on children's diets.<h4>Participants</h4>10-16 year old children (<i>n</i>400).<h4>Setting</h4>Australia.<h4>Results</h4>There was a significant positive correlation between children's commercial screen media use and their attitudes towards brands (related to perceived social norms) and their brand purchasing behaviours, including their own purchases and requests to parents. The use of strategies to avoid advertising in commercial screen media reduced but did not remove the association between media use and brand purchases. Other brand exposures (on clothing, outdoor advertising, sponsorships) had a positive association with children's perceived social norms about brands and their brand purchases and requests. Non-commercial screen media use was not associated with any brand-related outcomes.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Commercial screen media use and other brand exposures were strongly positively associated with children's perceptions and purchasing behaviours of frequently marketed food/beverages. Regulations to restrict children's exposures to food marketing on-screen and through other media are required to reduce the effect of marketing exposure on children's food purchasing behaviours.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Humans, Diet, Cross-Sectional Studies, Food Preferences, Marketing, Food, Adolescent, Child
Divisions:	Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Population Health
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	19 Jan 2024 10:53
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2024 12:57
DOI:	10.1017/s1368980023002616
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3177905