Content analysis of targeted food and beverage advertisements in a Chinese-American neighbourhood

Abstract

Objectives The current descriptive study aimed to: (i) quantify the number and type of advertisements (ads) located in a Chinese-American neighbourhood in a large, urban city; and (ii) catalogue the targeted marketing themes used in the food/beverage ads. Design Ten pairs of trained research assistants photographed all outdoor ads in a 0.6 mile2 (1.6 km2) area where more than 60.0 % of residents identify as Chinese American. We used content analysis to assess the marketing themes of ads, including references to: Asian cultures; health; various languages; children; food or beverage type (e.g. sugar-sweetened soda). Setting Lower East Side, a neighbourhood located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, USA. Subjects Ads (n 1366) in the designated neighbourhood. Results Food/beverage ads were the largest ad category (29.7 %, n 407), followed by services (e.g. mobile phone services; 21.0 %, n 288). Sixty-seven per cent (66.9 %) of beverages featured were sugar-sweetened, and 50.8 % of food ads promoted fast food. Fifty-five per cent (54.9 %) of food/beverage ads targeted Asian Americans through language, ethnicity of person(s) in the ad or inclusion of culturally relevant images. Fifty per cent (50.2 %) of ads were associated with local/small brands. Conclusions Food/beverage marketing practices are known to promote unhealthy food and beverage products. Research shows that increased exposure leads to excessive short-term consumption among consumers and influences children’s food preferences and purchase requests. Given the frequency of racially targeted ads for unhealthy products in the current study and increasing rates of obesity-related diseases among Asian Americans, research and policies should address the implications of food and beverage ads on health.

A scoping review of outdoor food marketing: exposure, power and impacts on eating behaviour and health

“…Where a beverage was shown, 64.3% were for local fruit and vegetable drinks, the second most frequent seen were local SSBs (19.6%). Bragg et al (2017)b [ 54 ] 1) To quantify the number and type of ads located in a Chinese-American neighbourhood in a large, urban city. 2) Catalogue the targeted marketing themes used in the food/beverage ads.…”

“…Two studies investigated price promotions [ 55 , 56 ], two identified promotional characters and premium offers [ 75 , 78 ], one specifically assessed child-directed marketing [ 57 ]. Others examined a mix of strategies including sports or health references, cultural relevance and emotional, value or taste appeals [ 54 , 73 , 74 , 76 , 79 ].…”

“…Studies were conducted across twenty-one countries, the majority took place in the USA (n = 16) [53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68], and other high-income countries (n = 23) as categorised by the world bank [69] (Tables 1, 2 and 3).…”

Policies to restrict unhealthy food and beverage advertising in outdoor spaces and on publicly owned assets: A scoping review of the literature

“…Of the 36 included studies, 28 reported on the prevalence of unhealthy advertising in outdoor spaces or on publicly owned assets 33–60 ; two reported associations between outdoor marketing and consumption of unhealthy food 6,61 ; one reported associations between outdoor advertising and the school food environment 58 ; one reported outdoor advertising and neighborhood level obesity rates 62 ; two reported on policy options for regulating unhealthy food marketing in outdoor environments 63,64 ; two reported on public opinions towards marketing regulation 65,66 ; and one study reported an evaluation of Chile’s Law of Food Labeling and Advertising 67 . A detailed description of all included studies from the academic literature is reported in Table S1.…”

Trends and sociodemographic disparities in sugary drink consumption among adults in New York City, 2009–2017

“…Our findings are consistent with prior research in that Hispanics and Blacks were the biggest consumers of sugary drinks and AAPI consumed the least ( Elfassy et al, 2018 , Rosinger et al, 2017 ). With regards to AAPI, however, consumption may be underestimated due to a potential lack of culturally salient beverage examples within current survey questions ( Bragg et al, 2017 , Yu et al, 2016 , Min et al, 2017 ). One of the possible reasons for these racial/ethnic disparities is that marketing for unhealthy food is often targeted to Hispanic and Black communities ( Harris et al, 2019 , Harris et al, 2015 ).…”