Abstract

Unhealthy foods advertisements often use motivationally-relevant appeals – i.e., stimuli with survival benefits, linked to hedonic consumption or social eating contexts. These stimuli automatically attract mental resources, resulting in memorable advertisements that can influence consumers’ choices and well-being. Aiming to prevent obesity and encourage healthy lifestyles, we examined the usability of these appeals to promote healthy foods to young consumers. A mixed factorial experiment recorded memory in preteen children and teenagers who watched various depictions of social eating contexts and texts emphasizing hedonic versus utilitarian benefits. The free recall and recognition tests revealed that young people had better memory for food advertisements featuring social eating contexts. Depictions of large groups were remarkably lasting, contributing to 80% of the health messages being recognized and recalled. As hypothesized, these appeals were more effective for teenagers than preteen children. Motivationally-relevant social appeals make pronutritional media more memorable, influencing healthy choices in the long run.

摘要

不健康食品广告通常使用与动机相关的吸引力——即具有生存益处的刺激物，与享乐消费或社交饮食环境相关。这些刺激会自动吸引心理资源，从而产生令人难忘的广告，从而影响消费者的选择和幸福感。为了防止肥胖和鼓励健康的生活方式，我们检查了这些呼吁的可用性，以向年轻消费者推广健康食品。一项混合因子实验记录了青春期前儿童和青少年的记忆，他们观看了对社会饮食环境和强调享乐与功利利益的文本的各种描述。免费回忆和识别测试表明，年轻人对具有社会饮食背景的食品广告有更好的记忆力。对大型团体的描绘非常持久，80% 的健康信息被识别和召回。正如假设的那样，这些呼吁对青少年比青春期前的儿童更有效。与动机相关的社会吸引力使营养媒体更令人难忘，从长远来看会影响健康的选择。