Education and marital status of breastfeeding mothers as factors influencing the noticeability of advertisements related to infant feeding and perceived relative costs of breastfeeding

Abstract Introduction: Contemporary commercials of infant formulas and other marketing activities do not seem to support breast-feeding among mothers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of education and marital status of lactating women on the noticeability of commercials related to infant feeding and opinions on the cost of breastfeeding vs. infant formulas. Materials and methods: The participants of the retrospective research were 450 female respondents who gave birth to a child after a 38-week single pregnancy and had already finished breast-feeding. The survey was conducted among a group of mainly married women (69.6%) with secondary (25.6%) and university education (63.11%). It was carried out in 2016 and 2017 and its results were processed using qualitative and quantitive methods. Results: Married and well-educated women more frequently noticed advertisements promoting infant formulas. Moreover, in their opinion, breastfeeding was cheaper than using the formulas. Conclusions: Married and educated women more often noticed commercials of infant formulas.