The impact of food marketing via videogame livestreaming on snack intake in adolescents: A randomised controlled trial.

Abstract

Objective: The marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages (hereafter: food) high in fat, salt, and/or sugar (HFSS) is implicated in the development of poor dietary habits, overweight, and obesity. Digital media, including videogame livestreaming platforms (VGLSPs), are an increasingly prominent source of food marketing exposure, particularly for young people. This study aimed to experimentally examine the impact of food marketing via VGLSPs on eating behaviour in young people.

Design: A between-subjects randomised controlled trial (RCT) design was used to explore the impact of exposure to HFSS food marketing in a videogame livestream (a static food banner advert present throughout the footage) on immediate consumption of the marketed snack and an "alternative brand" of the same snack in a sample of adolescents (N = 91, M_age = 17.8, 69% female). Relationships with food-advertising-related attentional bias and inhibitory control in relation to branded food cues were also examined.

Setting: University Psychology laboratory.

Results: Exposure to HFSS food marketing, compared with non-food marketing, did not significantly impact immediate marketed or overall snack intake. Additionally, no significant effects for attentional bias or inhibitory control were found. However, although the overall model was non-significant, greater weekly use of VGLSPs was significantly associated with greater marketed snack intake.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that while acute exposure to food marketing in VGLSPs did not impact snack intake, perhaps more sustained exposure is impactful. Further exploration of this effect is needed, as well as studies investigating the potential impacts of other food marketing formats within VGLSPs.