{"title":"Analysing celebrity and influencer marketing of food and beverages to adolescents on Instagram.","authors":"Rida Khan, Afifa Tanweer, L Suzanne Suggs","doi":"10.1017/S1368980025101006","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To assess the nutritional quality of foods and beverages (F&B) advertised to adolescents and analyse marketing techniques and persuasive appeals used by celebrities and influencers on Instagram.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>A content analysis study was conducted using the WHO's CLICK Monitoring Framework and Nutrient Profile Model.</p><p><strong>Setting: </strong>Instagram, a popular social media platform among adolescents with frequent F&B advertisements by celebrities and influencers.</p><p><strong>Participants: </strong>The top forty-eight Instagram accounts of celebrities and influencers posting F&B advertisements were selected based on follower count and engagement metrics. Nutrient profiling of advertised F&B (<i>n</i> 344) and content analysis of posts featuring F&B (<i>n</i> 326) between January 2021 and May 2023 were performed. Data collected included characteristics of celebrities and influencers, marketing techniques, online engagement and persuasive appeals in the posts.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Carbonated beverages and flavored waters (28·5 %), energy drinks (20·6 %) and ready-made foods (15·4 %) were most frequently advertised, with the majority (89·2 %) of products not permitted for advertisement to adolescents, according to WHO. Common marketing techniques included tagging brand (96·9 %) and using brand logo (94·2 %). The most frequently used persuasive appeals were taste (20·9 %), energy (10·7 %), link to sports events (10·7 %), new product (9·5 %) and fun (7·4 %).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Most F&B advertised on Instagram by celebrities and influencers are prohibited from being advertised to adolescents by the WHO. This highlights the need for stricter regulation of user-generated content and for users and parents to be better educated about persuasive techniques used on social media to make them less vulnerable to the influence of marketing.</p>","PeriodicalId":20951,"journal":{"name":"Public Health Nutrition","volume":" ","pages":"e144"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Public Health Nutrition","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980025101006","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"NUTRITION & DIETETICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: To assess the nutritional quality of foods and beverages (F&B) advertised to adolescents and analyse marketing techniques and persuasive appeals used by celebrities and influencers on Instagram.
Design: A content analysis study was conducted using the WHO's CLICK Monitoring Framework and Nutrient Profile Model.
Setting: Instagram, a popular social media platform among adolescents with frequent F&B advertisements by celebrities and influencers.
Participants: The top forty-eight Instagram accounts of celebrities and influencers posting F&B advertisements were selected based on follower count and engagement metrics. Nutrient profiling of advertised F&B (n 344) and content analysis of posts featuring F&B (n 326) between January 2021 and May 2023 were performed. Data collected included characteristics of celebrities and influencers, marketing techniques, online engagement and persuasive appeals in the posts.
Results: Carbonated beverages and flavored waters (28·5 %), energy drinks (20·6 %) and ready-made foods (15·4 %) were most frequently advertised, with the majority (89·2 %) of products not permitted for advertisement to adolescents, according to WHO. Common marketing techniques included tagging brand (96·9 %) and using brand logo (94·2 %). The most frequently used persuasive appeals were taste (20·9 %), energy (10·7 %), link to sports events (10·7 %), new product (9·5 %) and fun (7·4 %).
Conclusion: Most F&B advertised on Instagram by celebrities and influencers are prohibited from being advertised to adolescents by the WHO. This highlights the need for stricter regulation of user-generated content and for users and parents to be better educated about persuasive techniques used on social media to make them less vulnerable to the influence of marketing.
期刊介绍:
Public Health Nutrition provides an international peer-reviewed forum for the publication and dissemination of research and scholarship aimed at understanding the causes of, and approaches and solutions to nutrition-related public health achievements, situations and problems around the world. The journal publishes original and commissioned articles, commentaries and discussion papers for debate. The journal is of interest to epidemiologists and health promotion specialists interested in the role of nutrition in disease prevention; academics and those involved in fieldwork and the application of research to identify practical solutions to important public health problems.