Exploring Livestreams: The Influence of Digital Food Marketing on Adolescent Behavior and Attitudes
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Maksi, Sara
- Graduate Program:
- Nutritional Sciences (PHD)
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- February 20, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Kristina Petersen, Professor in Charge/Director of Graduate Studies
Frank Dardis, Outside Field Member
Kathleen Keller, Major Field Member
Travis Masterson, Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Jason Freeman, Special Member
Martina Vecchi, Outside Unit Member - Keywords:
- Food marketing
Digital media
Adolescents
Eating behavior
Social media
Livestreaming - Abstract:
- Digital media use is ubiquitous in the lives of adolescents and these platforms contain pervasive food and beverage marketing for energy dense products. Despite the established high exposures rates in adolescents there remains a gap in the literature addressing the direct effects of food and beverage marketing exposure within digital media on eating behaviors and attitudes. To begin to investigate the unique digital media ecosystem, a theoretical model was developed that includes concepts from marketing theory and nutrition research. The Food and Beverage Cues in Digital Marketing Model (FBCDM) combines and extends existing food marketing models to better understand the mechanisms influencing children's responses to food marketing. Drawing from the REFCAM model and the Hierarchy of Unhealthy Food Promotion Effects model, the FBCDM incorporates concepts of integration, individual susceptibility, and the broader array of techniques used in digital media. The FBCDM is tailored to the context of digital media, describing how various marketing techniques are integrated into digital platforms, impacting factors influencing responses to marketing. From the FBCDM several lines of research questions can be drawn. First, study 1 aimed to explore adolescent vulnerability to influencer marketing within a livestreaming context. This study used a pseudo streamer and a popular livestream platform. Contrary to the main hypothesis, snack food intake was not significantly affected by marketing exposure condition. However, individuals with lower cognitive restraint related to eating behavior and younger age consumed more chips in the food marketing condition compared to the non-food marketing condition, supporting the idea that individual factors modulate responses to food marketing. Emotional eating related to less responsiveness to the food marketing condition, which may be due to different emotional response to the livestream marketing exposures. Next, study 2 expanded the outcomes to include craving, brand recall, attitudes, and purchase intention, testing the impact of increasing saturation on adolescents' responses. Methodological improvements addressed limitations from Study 1. No main effect of food marketing exposure was found for craving, attitudes, or purchase intention. However, recall of the promoted product was higher for the fast-food brand in the food marketing conditions compared to clothing brand in the non-food marketing condition. Similar to study 1, there were individual differences that impacted response to food marketing exposure and the degree of saturation of the marketing. Craving for fries was impacted by food cue reactivity and streamer familiarity, highlighting the nuanced effects of food marketing saturation. Persuasion knowledge influenced brand attitude and purchase intention, challenging the assumption that increased awareness of marketing intent protects viewers from influence. These studies explore the nuanced impacts of digital food marketing on various outcomes, shedding light on the need for individualized considerations in understanding and addressing the influence food marketing has on adolescents in the digital age.