Online marketing communications and childhood's intention to consume unhealthy food

• Investigates advertising on SNSs aiming at children's fast food consumption.
• 30 Australian children and their parents were interviewed.
• Ads on SNSs manipulated purchasing likelihood, perception of fast food, and eating habits.
• Advertising on SNSs can create a sense of socialization and increase peer pressure.
• Most parents did not fully notice the influence of advertising on SNSs.

This study investigates the impact of online advertising on social network sites on children's intention to consume fast food in Australia. The study adopted a qualitative, inductive approach to data collection using a sample of 30 Australian children who use social network sites and their parents. It was found that fast food advertisements on social networking sites could manipulate the young audience members in terms of their purchasing likelihood, views on fast food, and eating habits. The results from the interviews also indicated that peer pressure is an important element of online communications on social networking sites. By showing their advertisements to a group of young consumers, companies can create a sense of socialization and associate their product with a community. This study is one of the first to consider broad aspects of children's perception of marketing communications on social networking sites in the context of the fast food industry.

Chinese Abstract本研究调查了澳大利亚在线社交网站的广告对儿童摄取快餐意愿的影响。研究对数据收集采取了定性归纳法，采样样本为30名使用社交网站的澳大利亚儿童及他们的父母。研究发现，社交网站上的快餐广告能够操纵年幼受众对快餐及饮食习惯的购买可能性及观念。访谈结果显示，同伴压力也是在社交网站上在线交流的一个重要要素。快餐公司通过向年幼的消费者放映其广告，创造了一种社交感，并将其产品与一个群体联系起来。本研究在其领域中最先考虑到儿童在快餐行业的背景下对社交网站市场营销交流所持有的多方面观点。