Turning users into 'unofficial brand ambassadors': marketing of unhealthy food and non-alcoholic beverages on TikTok.


Journal

BMJ global health
ISSN: 2059-7908
Titre abrégé: BMJ Glob Health
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101685275

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
06 2022
Historique:
received: 18 03 2022
accepted: 02 05 2022
entrez: 25 7 2022
pubmed: 26 7 2022
medline: 28 7 2022
Statut: ppublish

Résumé

TikTok has over one billion monthly users and is particularly popular among children. We examined the (1) use of owned media by major unhealthy food and non-alcoholic beverage brands on TikTok and (2) nature of branded hashtag challenges instigated by such brands and the user-generated content created in response. We assessed the (1) content of all videos posted on the accounts of 16 top food and non-alcoholic beverage brands (based on global brand share) as at 30 June 2021, and (2) content and sentiment of a sample of brand-relevant user-generated content created in response to branded hashtag challenges instigated by these brands. Of 539 videos posted by brands, 60% were posted in the first half of 2021. The most common marketing strategies were branding (87% of videos), product images (85%), engagement (31%) and celebrities/influencers (25%). Engagement included instigation of branded hashtag challenges that encouraged creation of user-generated content featuring brands' products, brands' videos and/or branded effects. The total collective views of user-generated content from single challenges ranged from 12.7 million to 107.9 billion. Of a sample of 626 brand-relevant videos generated in response to these challenges, 96% featured branding, 68% product images and 41% branded effects. Most portrayed a positive (73%) or neutral/unclear (25%) sentiment, with few negative (3%). Unhealthy food and non-alcoholic beverage brands are using TikTok to market brands and products via their own accounts and to encourage users to create and share their own content that features branding and product images. Given TikTok's popularity among children, this study supports the need for policies that protect children from the harmful impact of food marketing on social networking platforms.

Identifiants

pubmed: 35879104
pii: bmjgh-2022-009112
doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2022-009112
pmc: PMC9240823
pii:
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Informations de copyright

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Competing interests: None declared.

Références

J Med Internet Res. 2021 Jul 12;23(7):e28144
pubmed: 34255675
BMJ Glob Health. 2021 Nov;6(11):
pubmed: 34819326
Nutr Rev. 2019 Nov 1;77(11):787-816
pubmed: 31329232
JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2018 Jun 05;4(2):e54
pubmed: 29871854
Pediatrics. 2019 Apr;143(4):
pubmed: 30833297
Digit Health. 2017 May 23;3:2055207617710802
pubmed: 29942600
Front Nutr. 2021 Mar 05;8:645349
pubmed: 33748177
J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2021 Sep;82(5):615-622
pubmed: 34546908
Appetite. 2013 Mar;62:209-15
pubmed: 22561190
JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2021 Mar 12;7(3):e25202
pubmed: 33709935
Tob Control. 2021 Jul 26;:
pubmed: 34312317

Auteurs

Ruby Brooks (R)

Global Obesity Centre, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.

Rebecca Christidis (R)

Global Obesity Centre, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.

Nicholas Carah (N)

School of Communication and Arts, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Bridget Kelly (B)

Early Start, School of Health and Society, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.

Florentine Martino (F)

Global Obesity Centre, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.

Kathryn Backholer (K)

Global Obesity Centre, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia kathryn.backholer@deakin.edu.au.

Articles similaires

[Redispensing of expensive oral anticancer medicines: a practical application].

Lisanne N van Merendonk, Kübra Akgöl, Bastiaan Nuijen
1.00
Humans Antineoplastic Agents Administration, Oral Drug Costs Counterfeit Drugs

Smoking Cessation and Incident Cardiovascular Disease.

Jun Hwan Cho, Seung Yong Shin, Hoseob Kim et al.
1.00
Humans Male Smoking Cessation Cardiovascular Diseases Female
Humans United States Aged Cross-Sectional Studies Medicare Part C
1.00
Humans Yoga Low Back Pain Female Male

Classifications MeSH