Marketing to children and teens on Australian food company web sites

Abstract

Purpose -Given the role that food marketing plays in influencing dietary patterns in children, the aim of this article is to explore the internet-based marketing tactics employed by eight leading Australian food companies that produce and distribute foods that are predominantly consumed by children.Design/methodology/approach -The marketing policies and child-targeted internet marketing practices of eight major Australian food companies were examined.Findings -Seven of the eight food companies have web sites or sections of sites that are devoted to children and/or teenagers; with downloadable materials and extensive direct marketing. Of most concern was the collection of detailed personal information from children and/or teenagers, which was evident on the web sites of five of the seven food companies that have such sites.Research limitations/implications -This study examined only eight Australia food companies, so the findings cannot be generalized to other companies, or companies in other countries. The study was conducted at a specific point in time and, given rapid changes in internet marketing, it is likely that new strategies and messages will have emerged since data collection.Originality/value -The article provides a unique snapshot of internet marketing practices of a sample of Australian food companies targeting children and adolescents, and raises important issues for discussion regarding the appropriateness and ethics of some of these practices.

Digital Gaming and Pediatric Obesity: At the Intersection of Science and Social Policy

“…Five of seven major Australian food companies collect detailed personal information on child- or teen-directed websites (Jones & Reid, 2010). Of the 40 sites most often visited by children in the United Kingdom, 3/4 collected personal information (Fielder et al, 2007).…”

Gaming attribute preferences in social marketing programmes

“…There is growing realisation that social marketing struggles to compete with commercial offerings and strategies (Schuster, 2015), particularly those which are promoted through digital channels, such as advergames (Dias and Agante, 2011;Jones and Reid, 2010).…”

Internet marketing directed at children on food and restaurant websites in two policy environments

“…These sites create “branded environments” for food and beverage products that incorporate various interactive components such as games, coloring pages, and videos that appeal to children (9). Advertising on the Internet is also appealing to companies because it is relatively inexpensive compared to other media channels such as television (10). Furthermore, the Internet enables marketers to track children's behavior to gain an understanding of the effectiveness of various marketing techniques they have featured on their websites (11).…”

“…In the United States, children between the ages of 8 and 18 years are spending, on average, 1 h and 29 min per day on the computer (12) and data from Canada shows that 30% of children in grades 6 to 12 are spending more than 2 h per day of their leisure time on computers (13). In the United States (8, 9, 14–16) and Australia (10, 17), it has been recently reported that food and beverage websites target children extensively through the use of advergames, spokes‐characters, contests, and tie‐ins with other products. Few have been found to promote healthful messages (16).…”