Health Promotion International Advance Access published online on November 20, 2009
Health Promotion International, doi:10.1093/heapro/dap045
Article |
A content analysis of British food advertisements aimed at children and adults
Department of Psychology, University College London, London, UK
* Corresponding author. E-mail: a.furnham{at}ucl.ac.uk
| Abstract |
|---|
This study explored the differences between 35 child-focused and 52 adult-focused food advertisements sampled from 45 hrs of British television. More child-focused advertisements contained claims of health benefits; scientific information; were shot in Leisure settings; with male characters; had cartoons; and were often fantasy-based. Conversely, significantly more adult-focused advertisements contained price/value information; were shot in Shop settings; with female characters; and starring celebrities. Child-focused advertisements were mainly for convenience foods and snacks which are of considerable interest to health promotion policy makers.
Key words: television; food; advertisement; children