The Effects of Food Marketing on Children's Preferences: Testing the Moderating Roles of Age and Gender

A large body of research suggests that food marketing affects children's food preferences, short- and long-term dietary consumption, and purchase requests directed to parents. It is frequently argued that younger children are more susceptible to marketers' messages than older children beca...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 2008-01, Vol.615 (1), p.102-118
Main Author: Chernin, Ariel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advertising
Advertising research
Age
Age Differences
Child development
Child health services
Children
Children & youth
Commercials
Comparative advertising
Consumerism
Consumption
Consumption patterns
Food
Food industries
Food marketing
Gender
Gender roles
Marketing
Mass Media Effects
Media and Culture
Obesity
Parents
Preferences
Representations of the body
Sex
Television commercials
Television viewing
U.S.A
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Summary:A large body of research suggests that food marketing affects children's food preferences, short- and long-term dietary consumption, and purchase requests directed to parents. It is frequently argued that younger children are more susceptible to marketers' messages than older children because they do not understand the persuasive nature of advertising; however, little direct evidence supports this claim. Employing an experimental design, this study examined the influence of food marketing on children's preferences and tested whether age (and gender) moderated the effects of ad exposure. The sample consisted of 133 children between the ages of five and eleven. Results indicated that exposure to food commercials increased children's preferences for the advertised products. Age did not moderate this effect; younger and older children were equally persuaded by the commercials. Boys were more influenced by the commercials than girls. Implications for the study of food marketing to children are discussed.
ISSN:0002-7162
1552-3349
DOI:10.1177/0002716207308952