Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

'Like Me, Want Me, Buy Me, Eat Me': Relationship-Building Marketing Communications In Children's Magazines, Sandra C. Jones, Nadia L. Mannino, Julia Green

Sandra Jones

Objective: Television, Internet and print media are saturated with advertisements for unhealthy food that use marketing tactics aimed to build long-term brand loyalty and ‘relationships’ with children. While research in this area has largely focused on television, the current study examines children’s responses to relationship-building marketing communications found in popular children’s magazines. Design: A qualitative study consisting of friendship-pair interviews in which children were interviewed and asked to comment on a range of recent food advertisements. Setting: A university-based after-school care programme in New SouthWales, Australia. Subjects: Ten children aged 6–13 years, interviewed in self-selected friendship pairs. Results: The children …