ResearchOriginal ResearchAdvertising Placement in Digital Game Design Influences Children’s Choices of Advertised Snacks: A Randomized Trial
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Materials and Methods
Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the University of Wollongong Human Research Ethics Committee (HE17-311) and the study was prospectively registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12617001313325, on September 17, 2017).
Participants aged 7 to 12 years were recruited via opportunistic sampling, including two childcare organizations (a University of Wollongong school holiday camp, and an afterschool care provider) in the Illawarra region, New
Sample Characteristics
One hundred fifty-six participants aged 7 to 12 years (85 men, age 8.7±1.5 years) were recruited (Table 1). Forty-six percent of participants participated at the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute at the University of Wollongong (29% general public and 17% the University of Wollongong’s school holiday camp), and the remaining 54% of participants were recruited from five afterschool centers across the Illawarra region. The Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas Index of Disadvantage for
Discussion
This study explored the influence of persuasive advertising techniques and placement within game designs that are commonly used in online games to promote food and beverages. The findings highlighted that persuasive and modern techniques, specifically those that overtly incorporate advertising into the game experience such as rewarded video advertising strategies, directly influence children to choose unhealthy advertised foods immediately after acute online game exposure. Comparatively, in the
Conclusions
This research contributes new evidence that demonstrates the persuasive influence of food marketing exposure on children’s food behaviors through the medium of online gaming. It highlights that it is not simply exposure to a brand that influences children’s brand awareness, attitudes, and choices, but also how branded messages are delivered in highly sophisticated advertising techniques. Specifically, children were not influenced by banner advertising or advergames, but by a technique that
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Peak Sport and Learning OSHC as well as Lee Murray and his team at the University of Wollongong School Holiday Camp for their flexibility and willingness to partner with the authors on the project. The authors also thank their research assistant and Liam Frappell for collaborating on the build of the online game, Marijka Batterham for her statistical expertise and advice, and the study participants, without whom the study would not have been possible.
Author Contributions
B. Kelly was the chief
R. Smith is a public health researcher, Early Start, School of Health and Society, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
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2023, Food Quality and PreferencePosition of the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior: Healthful Food for Children is the Same as Adults
2022, Journal of Nutrition Education and BehaviorCitation Excerpt :The pervasive and widespread influence of this messaging could be leveraged to mobilize collective efforts aimed at improving social constructs, particularly those related to kids’ food.55,94 Even more fundamentally, this messaging should frame childhood nutrition as a societal issue in which individuals work with the government, schools, and industry to identify and implement solutions.96,97 Nutrition educators can help shape health promotion messaging about kids’ meals to include societal-level policy solutions, such as healthy default menu options and menu labeling.
R. Smith is a public health researcher, Early Start, School of Health and Society, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
B. Kelly is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow, Early Start, School of Health and Society, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
H. Yeatman is a professor of public health, School of Health and Society, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
C. Moore is a senior lecturer, School of Arts, English, and Media, Faculty of Law, Humanities, and the Arts, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
L. Baur is a professor and head of Child and Adolescent Health, Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, Prevention Research Collaboration, School of Public Health, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
L. King is an adjunct associate professor, Prevention Research Collaboration, School of Public Health, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
A. Bauman is Sesquicenenary Professor of Public Health, Prevention Research Collaboration, School of Public Health, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
E. Boyland is a senior lecturer of psychological sciences, Institute of Psychology, School of Health and Society, University of Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom.
K. Chapman is an honorary associate, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, and a conjoint senior lecturer, Faculty of Science, School of Medicine, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and a conjoint senior lecturer, Public Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
C. Hughes is the nutrition programme manager, Cancer Council New South Wales, Woolloomooloo, New South Wales, Australia.
STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
FUNDING/SUPPORT This research was supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council (LP140100120) and the Cancer Council New South Wales (Linkage Grant Partner). The Australian Research Council played no part in the study design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; the writing of the report; or the decision to submit for publication.
The study was prospectively registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12617001313325 on September 13, 2017).