Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Visual communication to children in the supermarket context: Health protective or exploitive?

  • Published:
Agriculture and Human Values Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In light of growing concerns about obesity, Winson (2004, Agriculture and Human Values 21(4): 299–312) calls for more research into the supermarket foodscape as a point of connection between consumers and food choice. In this study, we systematically examine the marketing of ready-to-eat breakfast cereals to children in Toronto, Ontario supermarkets. The supermarket cereal aisle is a relatively unstudied visual collage of competing brands, colors, spokes-characters, and incentives aimed at influencing consumer choice. We found that breakfast cereal products with higher-than-average levels of sugar, refined grains, and trans-fats are more likely to feature child-oriented marketing in the form of spokes-characters, themed cereal shapes/colors, and child incentives on cereal boxes. These forms of visual communication are consistent with a “health exploitive” pattern of targeted marketing to children in the supermarket setting. Only one aspect of visual communication is consistent with a “health protective” pattern of marketing to children—cereals shelved within reach of children aged 4–8 had less sugar per serving and were less likely to contain trans-fats than less reachable products. We discuss the implications of our findings for the measurement and regulation of marketing to children in North American supermarkets.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. A child’s first request for a product occurs at about 24 months, and 75% of the time this request occurs in a supermarket. McNeal (1999) found that the most common first in-store request is ready-to-eat breakfast cereal (47%). Breakfast cereals are among the top four items that children age 8–12 report they can select without parental permission (Chaplin 1999).

  2. “Visual economy” aptly describes this setting because cereal aisles are contested spaces with multiple competitors vying for a consumer’s attention.

  3. The visual information of marketing in supermarket breakfast cereal aisles fits neither the definition of measured nor unmeasured media. Public health advocates and regulators generally must rely on measured media, which are categories that are tracked by media research companies such as Nielsen, TNSMI/CMR, and Forrester. Measured media include television, radio, magazines, newspapers, outdoor billboards, the Yellow Pages, and the Internet (Brown et al. 2005). Unmeasured media are not systematically tracked by organizations outside the manufacturer. They include in-store promotions, product placement, character licensing, videogames, and “advergames” (Brown et al. 2005). Conceptually, the breakfast cereal aisle has elements of both measured and unmeasured media. In one sense, it functions like a billboard where all competing brands are presented in one setting, but the elements of visual marketing and placement of products in this setting are not systematically tracked. Some elements presented on boxes mirror the measured elements presented on television (e.g., a spokes-character or color associated with the brand). Other elements reflected in the cereal aisle, such as the placement of boxes relative to one another, reflect unmeasured media in the form of slotting fees and in-store promotion strategies (Institute of Medicine 2006, ES-3).

  4. Ten grams of sugar or more per 100 g serving was considered “a lot” of sugar; 2 g of sugar or less per 100 g serving was considered “a little.” The American Dietetic Association recommends limiting added sugar to no more than 8 g per serving of cereal, the equivalent of two teaspoons.

  5. Moreover, other studies have shown the even without “pester-power,” children who co-shop with parents at the very least tend to take part in the decision-making process, particularly in the cereal aisle (Pettersson et al. 2004).

  6. Of course, color-oriented marketing may be designed to appeal to consumers of all ages, rather than simply children. However, colors are a more important part of the overall marketing message to children than adults because children, especially younger ones, are less able to evaluate a product based on its ingredients and other nutritional information. Further research is needed to discern whether manufacturers are attempting to market specifically to children with the use of colors, rather than consumers of all ages.

  7. Shelf location and position of cereals are classified as trade promotion, which is a broad category of marketing that targets grocery stores and other food retail outlets (Institute of Medicine 2006, 4). Trade promotion strategies include the provision of in-store displays, agreements on shelf space and positioning, free merchandise, buyback allowances, and merchandise allowances, as well as sales contests to encourage wholesalers or retailers to give unusual attention to selling more of a specific product (Boone and Kurtz 1998). Manufacturers spend more of their marketing budgets on trade promotion than on advertising and all other forms of consumer sales promotion, combined (Boone and Kurtz 1998).

  8. We used a wide-angle 5 mega pixel digital camera mounted to a 48-inch pole to ensure consistent and stationary photos.

  9. Fruit sugar is not separated from other sugars on the food label.

  10. Fat outside of what is normally found in nuts and whole grains is often added to keep the cereal from getting soggy in milk.

  11. Subjective appraisals of box colors were supplemented with the following objective approach: Each photographed box cover was pixilated into approximately 100 basic color elements using an automatic resolving tool in Adobe PhotoShop®. Researchers then counted the relative number of enlarged pixels to help assess the key color elements for each box.

  12. The age varies when children stop regularly using shopping cart seats and begin to walk with their parents. Rehrig United International, North America’s largest maker of shopping carts, recommends that children stop riding in shopping cart seats when they reach 40 pounds, the average weight of a 4 year old (Rehrig United International Safe Use Guide for Shopping Carts, 2006: available online: http://www.rehrig.com/SafeUseMaintGuide.pdf).

  13. To get the visual field results, we adjusted the measured box sizes to reflect the child’s eye-level perspective of 48 inches. This required calculating the visible size of a box placed directly in-front (24 inches away) of the camera relative to the visible size of the box placed one to two shelves above or below. Only column one results for “visual field of view” reflect these adjustments. The results by nutritional qualities are reported on a per box basis.

  14. However, the total grams of fiber per serving were still quite low—in many cases less than 2 g per serving. The recommendation is 2 g or more per serving of grain product.

  15. A recent Institute of Medicine report found that only 20% of all food and beverage marketing in 2004 was devoted to advertising on measured media—television, radio, print, billboards, or the Internet (Institute of Medicine 2006, ES-3). Television remains the primary promotional vehicle for measured media marketing, but a shift is occurring toward unmeasured sales promotion, such as marketing through product placement, character licensing, special events, in-school activities, and “advergames.”

  16. Marketing featured prominently in supermarkets includes product placement, sales promotion, and sponsorship tie-ins. Sponsorship is the provision of funds and other resources to an event or activity in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that activity; Product placement is the use of any message, logo, object, or prop that appears in a visual or graphic in exchange for payment; Sales promotions are marketing tools used to create an incentive to buy a product or service at the point of sale (Institute of Medicine 2006, G-7).

References

  • Aalberts, R.J., and M.M. Jennings. 1999. The ethics of slotting: Is this bribery, facilitation marketing or just plain competition? Journal of Business Ethics 20(3): 207–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Acuff, D.S., and R.H. Reiher. 1997. What kids buy and why: The psychology of marketing to kids. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ascherio, A., and W.C. Willett. 1997. Health effects of trans fatty acids. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 66(supplement): 1006s–1010s.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atkin, C.K. 1978. Observation of parent–child interaction in supermarket decision-making. Journal of Marketing 41: 41–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, T. 2003. Interpreting visual culture. Art Education 56(2): 6–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boardman, J.D., J.M. Saint Onge, R.G. Rogers, and J.T. Denney. 2005. Race differentials in obesity: The impact of place. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 46(3): 229–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boone, L.E., and D.L. Kurtz. 1998. Contemporary marketing wired, 9th ed. Orlando, FL: Dryden Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, K., R.C. Endicott, S. Macdonald, M. Schumann, M. Macarthur, J. Sierra, L. Matheny, A. Green, and M. Ryan. 2005. 50th annual 100 leading national advertisers. Advertising Age. http://www.agage.com. Accessed October 5 2006.

  • Burnham, R.W., N. Randall, and C.J. Bartleson. 1963. Colour: A guide to basic facts and concepts. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, J.L. 2007. Why would corporations behave in socially responsible ways? An institutional theory of corporate social responsibility. Academy of Management Review 32(3): 946–967.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carruth, B.R., J.D. Skinner, J.D. Momon, and F. Coletta. 2000. Preschoolers’ food product choices at a simulated point of purchase and mothers’ consumer practices. Journal of Nutrition Education 32(3): 146–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Center for Science in the Public Interest. 2003. Pestering parents: How food companies market obesity to children. Washington, DC: Center for Science in the Public Interest. http://www.cspinet.org/new/200311101.html. Accessed November 9 2006.

  • Chaplin, H. 1999. Food fsht. American Demographics 21(6): 64–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheadle, A., B.M. Psaty, S. Curry, E.H. Wagner, P. Diehr, T. Koepsell, and A. Kristal. 1991. Community-level comparisons between the grocery store environment and individual dietary practices. Preventive Medicine 20(2): 250–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cioletti, J. 2001. Cereal thrillers: Breakfast food manufacturers attempt to `toon into what kids want through licensing. Supermarket Business 56(10): 30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cockerham, W.C. 2005. Health lifestyle theory: The convergence of agency and structure. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 46: 51–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, D.A., B.K. Finch, A. Bower, and N. Sastry. 2006. Collective efficacy and obesity: The potential influence of social factors on health. Social Science and Medicine 62(3): 769–778.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Critser, G. 2003. Fat land. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crosnoe, R., and C. Muller. 2004. Body mass index, academic achievement, and school context: Examining the educational experiences of adolescents at risk of obesity. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 45(4): 393–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daynard, R.A., P.T. Howard, and C.L. Wilking. 2004. Private enforcement: Litigation as a tool to prevent obesity. Journal of Public Health Policy 25(3–4): 408–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devine, C.M., M.M. Connors, J. Sobal, and C.A. Bisogni. 2003. Sandwiching it in: Spillover of work onto food choices and family roles in low- and moderate-income urban households. Social Science and Medicine 56(3): 617–630.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doh, J.P., and T.R. Guay. 2006. Corporate social responsibility, public policy, and NGO activism in Europe and the United States: An institutional-stakeholder perspective. Journal of Management Studies 43(1): 47–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enrico, D. 1999. Top 10 advertising icons. The Advertising Century: Special Issue. Advertising Age 43: 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamble, M., and N. Cotugna. 1999. A quarter century of TV food advertising targeted at children. American Journal of Health Behavior 23(4): 261–267.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garretson, J.A., and R.W. Niedrich. 2004. Creating character trust and positive brand attitudes. Journal of Advertising 33(2): 25–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gelperowic, R., and B. Beharrell. 1994. Healthy food products for children: Packaging and mothers’ purchase. British Food Journal 96(11): 4–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glanz, K., and A.L. Yaroch. 2004. Strategies for increasing fruit and vegetable intake in grocery stores and communities: Policy, pricing, and environmental change. Preventive Medicine 39(Supplement 2): S75–S80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gleitman, L.R., K. Cassidy, R. Nappa, A. Papafragou, and J.C. Trueswell. 2005. Hard words. Language Learning and Development 1: 23–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, R. 2004. In the hands of advertisers. Marketing: 17–18.

  • Harvard Public Health Review. 2006. Trans fats: The story behind the label. Harvard School of Public Health. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/review/rvw_spring06/rvwspr06_transfats.html. Accessed September 17 2006.

  • Hawkes, C. 2004. Marketing food to children: The global regulatory environment. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization (WHO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Health Canada. 2005. Canadian nutrient file (CNF). Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Health Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, H., and J. Tilley. 2002. Case study: Packaging of children’s breakfast cereal: Manufacturers versus children. British Food Journal 104(9): 766–777.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horowitz, C.R., K.A. Colson, P.L. Hebert, and K. Lancaster. 2004. Barriers to buying healthy foods for people with diabetes: Evidence of environmental disparities. American Journal of Public Health 94(9): 1549–1554.

    Google Scholar 

  • Institute of Medicine. 2006. Food marketing to children and youth: Threat or opportunity? Vol. 42. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3788/21939/31330.aspx. Accessed 11 April 2006.

  • Irwin Toy v. Québec (Attorney General). 1989. 20074. 1 S.C.R. 927 at 988.

  • John, D.R. 1999. Consumer socialization of children: A retrospective look at twenty-five years of research. Journal of Consumer Research 26(3): 183–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kornblau, C. 1961. Packaging and supermarkets: The package in the marketplace. Effective marketing coordination. Chicago, IL: American Marketing Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laraia, B.A., A.M. Siega-Riz, J.S. Kaufman, and S.J. Jones. 2004. Proximity of supermarkets is positively associated with diet quality index for pregnancy. Preventive Medicine 39(5): 869–875.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linn, S.E. 2004. Food marketing to children in the context of a marketing maelstrom. Journal of Public Health Policy 25(3/4): 367–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macklin, M.C. 1996. Preschooler’s learning of brand names from visual clues. Journal of Consumer Research 23(3): 251–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNeal, J. 1999. The kids market: Myth and realities. Ithaca, NY: Paramount Market Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mannie, E. 1999. Breakfast cereal, kid-style. Design Elements. http://www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/1999/0699de.html. Accessed August 14 2005.

  • Marion, B.W., and D. Kim. 1991. Concentration change in selected food manufacturing industries: The influence of mergers vs. internal growth. Agribusiness 7: 415–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marion, B.W., W.F. Mueller, R.W. Cotterill, F.E. Geithman, and J.R. Schmelzer. 1979. The food retailing industry: Market structure, profits and prices. New York: Praeger Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marquis, M. 2004. Strategies for influencing parental decisions on food purchasing. Journal of Consumer Marketing 21(2/3): 134–143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNeal, J.U., and M.F. Ji. 2003. Children’s visual memory of packaging. The Journal of Consumer Research 20(4): 400–428.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, E.S. 2005. An overview of academic marketing research on children’s issues. Presentation at the Institute of Medicine Workshop on marketing strategies that foster healthy food and beverage choices in children and youth. Washington, DC: Committee on Food Marketing and the Diets of Children and Youth.

  • Mogelonsky, M. 1995. Snap, crackle, profits. American Demographics 17(6): 10–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, D. 2000. Today’s food trends: Are consumers eating to live? Or living to eat? Smoke Signals XI(61): 25–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mozlin, R. 2005. Childhood obesity–A public health crisis. Journal of the American Optometric Association 76(12): 685–691.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neeley, S.M., and D.W. Schumann. 2004. Using animated spokes-characters in advertising to young children. Journal of Advertising 33(3): 7–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nestle, M. 2002. Food politics. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicklas, T.A., T. Baranowski, K.W. Cullen, and G. Berenson. 2001. Eating patterns, dietary quality and obesity. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 20(6): 599–608.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Dougherty, M., M. Story, and J. Stang. 2006. Observations of parent-child co-shoppers in supermarkets: Children’s involvement in food selections, parental yielding and refusal strategies. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 38(3): 183–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oomen, C.M., M.C. Ocke, E. J.Feskens, M. van Erp-Baart, F.J. Kok, and D. Kromhout. 2001. Association between trans fatty acid intake and 10-year risk of coronary heart disease in the Zutphen Elderly Study: A prospective population-based study. Lancet 357 (9258): 732–733.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira, M.A., D.R. Jacobs, J.J. Pins, S.K. Raatz, M.D. Gross, J.L. Slavin, and E.R. Seaquist. 2002. Effect of whole grains on insulin sensitivity in overweight hyperinsulinemic adults. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 75(5): 848–855.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petretti, A. 1992. Coca-Cola collectibles price guide, 8th ed. Hackensack, NJ: Nostalgia Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pettersson, A., U. Olsson, and C. Fjellström. 2004. Family life in grocery stores – A study of interaction between adults and children. International Journal of Consumer Studies 28(4): 317–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pheasant, S. 1988. Bodyspace. London, UK: Taylor & Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rampersaud, G., M. Pereira, and B. Girard. 2005. Breakfast habits, nutritional status, body weight, and academic performance in children and adolescents. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 105(5): 743–760.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raudenbush, S.W., and R.J. Sampson. 1999. Ecometrics: Toward a science of assessing ecological settings, with application to the systematic social observation of neighborhoods. Sociological Methodology 29: 1–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rust, L. 1993. Observations - parents and children shopping together: A new approach to the qualitative analysis of observational data. Journal of Advertising Research (July/August): 65–70.

  • Samuels, S.E., L. Craypo, M. Dorfman, M. Purciel, and M.B. Standish. 2003. Food and beverage industry marketing practices aimed at children: Developing strategies for preventing obesity and diabetes. San Francisco, CA: The California Endowment.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schor, J.B. 2004. Born to buy: The commercialized child and the new consumer culture. New York: Scribner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schudson, M. 1984. Advertising, the uneasy persuasion: Its dubious impact on American society. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spence, I., P. Wong, M. Rusan, and N. Rastegar. 2006. How color enhances visual memory for Natural Scenes. Psychological Science 17(1): 1–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Canada. 2005. Food consumption 2004. The Daily. Ottawa, Ontario: Statistics Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stender, S., and J. Dyerberg. 2004. Influence of trans fatty acids on health. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism 48: 61–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Story, M., and T. Orleans. 2006. Building evidence for environmental and policy solutions to prevent child obesity. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 30(1): 96–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Story, M., and S. French. 2004. Food advertising and marketing directed at children and adolescents in the US. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 1: 3–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suchar, C. 1989. The sociological imagination and documentary still photography. Visual Sociology 4(2): 51–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taras, H.L., and M. Gage. 1995. Advertised foods on children’s television. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 149: 649–652.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Wall Street Journal Online and Harris Interactive. 2005. Most of the American public, including a majority of parents, believe that childhood obesity in the U.S. is a major problem. http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/newsletters/wsjhealthnews/WSJOnline_HI_Health-CarePoll2005vol4_iss03.pdf. Accessed 12 May 2007.

  • Wasserman, T. 2004. Curbing their appetite. Brandweek 45(44): 24–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winson, A. 1993. The intimate commodity: Food and the development of the Canadian agro-industrial complex. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Garamond Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winson, A. 2004. Bringing political economy into the debate on the obesity epidemic. Agriculture and Human Values 21(4): 299–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WHICH?. 2004. A food crisis: Cereal offenders. London: Consumers’ Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zaltman, G. 1997. Rethinking market research: Putting people back in. Journal of Marketing Research XXXIV: 424–437.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zollo, P. 1999. Wise up to teens: Insight into marketing and advertising to teenagers, 2nd ed. Ithaca, NY: New Strategist Publications.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Kashfia Iqbal, Naajia Raja, Andrea Sobko, Valerie Mensah, John Henretta, and Jennifer Kayahara for their input and research assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, 725 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5S 2J4

    Brent Berry & Taralyn McMullen

Authors
  1. Brent Berry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Taralyn McMullen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brent Berry.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Berry, B., McMullen, T. Visual communication to children in the supermarket context: Health protective or exploitive?. Agric Hum Values 25, 333–348 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-007-9110-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-007-9110-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation