Online marketing of food products to children: the effects of national consumer policies in high-income countries

Purpose - The marketing of food products to children through online media has grown rapidly in recent years, particularly in high-income countries, where children spend considerable amounts of time on computers. Most food products marketed to children online are obesity-causing, and childhood obesity has grown to epidemic proportions, with harmful effects on society. Marketers use creative methods to engage children online, entertaining them, offering rewards and promoting products through interactive activities. Online media is monitored much less than conventional media and little is known about online marketing of food to children. This study seeks to examine policies related to food marketing in three high-income countries, France, Spain, and the USA, and their impact on the methods marketers use to engage children. Design/methodology/approach - The paper presents a conceptual framework linking several aspects of the policies and the socio-cultural environments in these countries with the design of the food companies' web sites. Six hypotheses are advanced based on this framework and tested using content analysis. Findings - The findings of this study indicate that there are significant differences in online marketing of food products to children in the three countries studied in the authors' research, France, Spain, and the USA, and these differences are largely attributable to these countries' policies. The web sites of French food companies placed greater emphasis on nutrition-related and interactions-related features compared to the web sites of US and Spanish food companies. On the other hand, the web sites of US and Spanish food companies placed greater emphasis on games-related, rewards-related, attributes-related, and brand-related features compared to the web sites of French food companies. These differences in the web sites were conceptualized to result from the differences in the socio-cultural and policy/regulatory environments of the three countries. Originality/value - The study provides several useful insights related to understanding of consumer behavior,consumer policy, and design of food companies' web sites in the three countries. The design of food companies' web sites in terms of their emphasis on different categories of features reflects the companies' understanding of consumers in the respective country and government policy and enforcement of online communications. The article provides a conceptual framework that identifies six factors hypothesized to influence the design of food companies' web sites, three related to the socio-cultural environment, namely attitudes toward health and nutrition, food and nutrition communication, and brand building, and three related to the policy/regulatory environment, namely, government regulatory agencies, self-regulation by companies, and enforcement and compliance.