Sociology of Food Systems and Advertising

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Table of Contents

Brief History
General Concepts of Food Marketing
Economic Aspects
Influence on Food Choices and Health
Discussion and Recommendations
Conclusion
References

In capitalism and consumer-driven society seeking instant gratification of needs, marketing plays a powerful role. When the topic comes to food, advertisements are one of the most influential tools to drive consumers to purchase. A significant bulk of close to 50% of advertisements in any media space is directly about food or a place or service associated with food. Food advertising uses a set of concepts and marketing tools to appeal to consumers’ tastes and manipulate perceptions which lead to direct economic spending but often result in unhealthy food choices that can cause population health problems.

Brief History

Food-related advertising in the United States can be divided into three evolutionary stages: fragmentation, unification, and segmentation. Fragmentation was the period prior to the 1900s where most foods were local, and there was little long-term transport resulting in regional brands dominating the market, advertising in local media such as gazettes. As industrialization occurred, canned and products appeared along with mass manufacturing resulting in brands such as Heinz, Campbell Soup, and Pillsbury appearing. Food could not be distributed safely and efficiently over long distances. At this point, national food advertising unified and expanded, taking over visibility from local products and establishing brand identities such as the iconic Campbell can or Morton Salt’s umbrella girl. Towards the latter end of the 20th-century, food production was in abundance, and there were many competing brands, leading to the segmentation stage of advertising. Brands and products sought to differentiate and appeal to various marking segments. Advertising became creative, appealing, and sought to be more than just information for the consumer, but a primary method to incite a purchase (Edds, 1980).

General Concepts of Food Marketing

Advertising is critical to marketing in the U.S. food system, being the second largest in the national economy. Advertising is a key aspect in the food market because at least 12.5% of consumer spending is based on food, it is a repeat-purchase item leading to the continuous flow of profits, and food is one of the most branded items. At the same time, the food market is highly competitive and volatile due to changing trends and consumer views, resulting in a need for consistent relevancy for food companies and their products. Heavy marketing towards specific audiences, particularly children, serves the purpose of building brand awareness, preference, and loyalty that would lead to a lifetime of spending due to the relationship that a person would have associated with a specific brand of product. Audiences of the advertisements, especially at a young age, are driven by the persuasive intentions and emotional appeal that advertisements offer in their messaging, which often plays into aspects of appearance, self-identity, or social belonging (Story & French, 2004).

The food industry utilizes a wide variety of techniques in advertising to appeal to various audiences. One of the primary methods is promotional tie-ins, using a product through a connection to a popular franchise, also offering some sort of small gift or a chance to win a prize. Similarly, marketing material may use characters, either unique (such Ronald McDonald) or also branded characters from cartoons or films, to advertise a product. Another common method is utilizing personalities such as sports figures, actors, or celebrities to promote a product. A less rare method since it is subject to regulation (to some extent) is using health claims or the presence of nutrition along with corroboration from health professionals about the benefits of a product (León-Flández et al., 2018). These socially driven techniques are meant to attract consumers through the appeal of association and credibility, as people are more likely to purchase endorsed products (even if indirectly by fictional characters) due to the experience of eating the same foods as their favorite role models applicable especially to children.

Even in the modern age of food abundance, it remains a motivational aspect psychologically. Fast food commercials activate reward centers of the brain, and subconsciously an individual begins to seek out food. Without the time or patience to cook healthy foods, most people resort to ultra-processed fast foods. Seeing a food advertisement triggers a biological response that is difficult to control. When consistently bombarded with such advertisements, there is an overstimulation of the brain, and impulsive unhealthy behavior begins to emerge both in regard to instant satisfaction hyper-reward oriented psychological state and obesity at the physical level (Pirnia, 2019).

Economic Aspects

Approximately $11 billion was spent on food advertising by companies in 2017, with $8.8 billion (80%) focused on unhealthy choices such as sugary and fast foods. In comparison, only approximately $6.5 million was spent on nutritional health promotion advertising, primarily by the government. Studies for over a decade also found that these food advertisements are demographically targeted. For example, African American and Hispanic teens are up to 50% more likely to be targeted by a fast-food advertisement than white teens (Dewey, 2016). These disparities are evident socially as more than half of African American adults and a quarter of the underage population are obese and spend significant amounts of money on fast food. Racially disparate and youth-centered food advertising is effective, and companies continue to ramp up advertising expenditures as it is effective. At least 84% of families and parents admit eating at a fast-food restaurant at least once per week, often because children harangue them daily (Philpott, 2010). Meanwhile, both fast food and the snack industry are experiencing tremendous growth and profits, with the U.S. quick-service restaurant industry reporting $256 billion in profits in 2018 alone, a significant return-on-investment on its advertisement budgets.

Influence on Food Choices and Health

Advertising can be highly misleading in its content regarding food and its relation to health. A package or commercial can label a product as a source of calcium or saturated fat, necessary elements in an individual’s healthy diet. However, it does not indicate that the percentage of these elements is very small in comparison to other food groups, and it has other highly unhealthy components. Consumers are more attracted to flashy advertising and slogans rather than actually reading nutritional labels. Even in the context of a growing demand for healthier foods as obesity rates climb, society has shifted its understanding about foods as either bad or good, known as nutritionism. However, it is a form of scientific reductionism, which attempts to simplify relatively complex aspects of nutrition. Corporations exploit this consumer in their marketing campaigns by getting a seal of approval from a health organization (often through licensing royalties) or simply advertise a product as “healthy” based on a sole component such as low calories or sodium without considerations of numerous other aspects that affect food quality (Koç, Sumner, & Winston, 2017).

In a depersonalized industrial food system, this type of manipulation of consumer perspectives can be highly valuable. Advertisements can significantly impact food choices, particularly for children and adolescents, that have lower cognitive defenses. Therefore, taste, social appeal, and low nutritional knowledge result in impulsive decision-making in regard to food and consumption of less healthy foods. A cluster of individuals, both children, and adults that are less knowledgeable about nutrition and hedonism-oriented are more likely to experience higher obesity rates (Tarabashkina, Quester, & Crouch, 2016).

Advertisements have a powerful effect on children, even when parents attempt to maintain a healthy lifestyle influence. Since advertisements seen on television or digitally are commonly seen during favorite content (such as cartoons, for example) and demonstrate unhealthy foods in a similar socially popular manner, it forms an emotional association that is triggered the next time the child has a choice of food products. In turn, this pattern persists into adolescence and adulthood, eventually creating nutritional problems and various co-morbidities.

Discussion and Recommendations

Food advertising in its nature is highly manipulative and predatory. Using psychological instincts and manipulation of social and economic factors, food advertisements target consumers to overwhelming spending on an abundance of usually unhealthy foods. Furthermore, food is portrayed in a sense which differs from its meaning or purpose. For example, food images are manipulated to visually look more appetizing and colorful than in reality, and fast food consumption is portrayed as a healthy and highly social event. It is both manipulative and unethical, with many health organizations and governments criticizing this approach as population health effects become evident from this type of nutritional consumption. Some governments are beginning to implement regulations not only on food production but food advertising itself, limiting child-targeted ads and promoting greater self-regulation in the industry (Kunkel, Castonguay, & Filer, 2015). It is recommended that this approach is adopted in the United States as well.

Conclusion

Food advertising in modern culture has been crafted to capitalize on consumer trends and use psychological manipulation with the purpose of driving sales. This is commonly done without proper consideration of public health or the importance of ethical decisions on influences that advertising can have. Going forward, it is critical to consider the long-lasting impacts of this unsustainable model in society which is focused on growing sales and fast food, and reevaluate regulations and approaches to food marketing.

References

Dewey, C. (2016). Study: Black children are exposed to junk-food ads way more than white kids are. The Washington Post. Web.

Edds, L. E. (1980). The food industry: Lifeline of America. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University.

Koç, M., Sumner, J., & Winston, A. (2017). Critical perspectives in food studies (2nd ed.). Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.

Kunkel, D. L., Castonguay, J. S., & Filer, C. R. (2015). Evaluating industry self-regulation of food marketing to children. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 49(2), 181-187. Web.

León-Flández, K., Royo-Bordonada, M. Á., Moya-Geromini, M. Á., Bosqued-Estefanía, M. J., López-Jurado, L., & Damián, J. (2018). Marketing techniques in television advertisements of food and drinks directed at children in Spain, 2012. International Journal of Public Health, 63(6), 733-742. Web.

Philpott, T. (2010). The fast-food industry’s $4.2 billion marketing blitz.Grist. Web.

Pirnia, G. (2019). How fast food advertisements get under your skin, whether you realize it or not.Huffington Post. Web.

The story, M., & French, S. (2004). Food advertising and marketing directed at children and adolescents in the U.S. TheInternational Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 1(1), 1-17. Web.

Tarabashkina, L., Quester, P., & Crouch, R. (2015). Food advertising, children’s food choices and obesity: Interplay of cognitive defenses and product evaluation: an experimental study. International Journal of Obesity, 40(4), 581–586. Web.

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