Food advertising has a strong impact on children’s food preferences and buying decisions. This can lead to obesity among children if they are exposed to a high quantity of foods with excessive calories, fat, and sugars.
Experiments suggest that food advertising influences consumption behavior without conscious influence. These effects can occur in both children and adults.
Behavioral Effects
The behavioral effects of advertising may be especially pronounced for children, who are often under a lot of pressure from their parents to consume calorie-dense, low-nutrient foods. They are also likely to be more susceptible to food advertising effects because they are prone to the goal conflict between short-term indulgence and long-term health considerations that contributes to unhealthy eating behaviors (Harris, 2009).
As Baumeister and colleagues have observed, cognitive resources are inherently limited, making self-regulatory tasks difficult. Thus, when they are drained, they can be less effective at subsequent self-regulatory tasks (Muraven & Baumeister, 2000).
To test this conjecture, we experimentally induced cognitive load by exposing a sample of adult participants to a series of television commercials during a free-choice eating session in the laboratory. Then, they tasted and evaluated a range of snack foods. Compared to the non-food-advertising arm, there were significantly more snack items chosen in the food-advertising arm, with proportionately large increases for soda and chips.
Effects on Children
Food advertising aims to shape and define children’s food environments (such as schools, retail outlets, and households), presenting foods high in sugar, fat and salt, which are not necessarily good for health. This may increase their appetite for foods and lead to obesity.
Research has shown that exposure to TV and advergame screen advertisements increases immediate dietary intake in children, particularly of unhealthy foods. It is also associated with increased BMI in children and adolescents, resulting in diet-related health problems such as overweight or obesity.
Although there are many complexities involved in this issue, it is important that children’s exposure to advertising is reduced both on television and via advergames. This would not only improve their dietary habits but also enhance their long-term health.
Effects on Adolescents
Advertising influences teenagers in a variety of ways. It encourages them to consume unhealthy food, engage in risky activities such as drug use and smoking, and to embrace unrealistic body image images.
Advertisements portray products such as alcohol, cigarettes, and prescription drugs as fun, trendy, and necessary for a happy life (Shimp & Andrews 2013). These products are associated with rebelliousness, risk taking, instant gratification, and independence, which appeal to teenagers who are developing a sense of rebellion against their parents.
Advertising also promotes the consumption of unhealthy food and beverages that cause disorders such as obesity. In fact, the rate of obesity among young people in the United States is 17.6 percent (Nicolas & Good 2004).
Effects on Adults
Several studies have found that exposure to food advertising has an impact on adult food choices. Experiments have shown that adults are prone to consume more unhealthy snacks and more total calories when exposed to food advertisements compared to when they are not.
Moreover, food advertisements that focus on the immediate sensory gratifications of consumption can be especially persuasive. They have been found to increase subjective desire and consumption even after individuals are satiated.
These effects are exacerbated when individuals are cognitively occupied with other tasks, such as watching television or performing other activities. These effects are also heightened among those with lower socioeconomic status, who often experience high levels of stress and ego-depletion in everyday life (e.g., Muraven & Baumeister, 2000; 47).
These findings suggest that food advertising can have a powerful effect on automatic eating behaviors. Further research is needed to understand the specific ways in which advertising influences consumption. In addition, further studies are required to examine contexts that might affect motivation and ability to defend against these priming effects.