Frequency of promotional strategies and attention elements in children's food commercials during children's programming blocks on US broadcast networks

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of the current study is to identify the extent to which promotional strategies and attention elements appear in a sample of children's food commercials.Design/methodology/approachThe research was a content analysis study of 147 commercials that examined 20 separate promotional strategies and 20 different attention elements. The sample of commercials included those appearing on five US broadcast networks during children's programming blocks.FindingsFindings show that the most frequently used promotional strategies were the use of jingles/slogans, showing children with the food, and the use of product identification characters. The use of animation, “real children,” and animal characters were the most used attention elements in the commercials.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample of commercials used in this analysis was obtained from broadcast networks and did not include cable network programming; however, the commercials represent commercials from a wide variety of food products and food product categories. Although not determined empirically, the same commercials appeared to air on the broadcast and cable networks.Practical implicationsHealth and nutrition educators can draw on this study's findings by applying this information in creating more effective nutrition and health promotion messages designed to counter promotional strategies and attention elements in advertising messages that are addressed in this study.Originality/valueAlthough specific promotional strategies and attention elements found in children's food commercials have been identified, there have been no studies addressing the frequency of these strategies/elements among a sample of commercials.