Asian Journal of Communication Vol. 20, No.

4, December 2010, 456476

ORIGINAL ARTICLE How food ads communicate health with children: a content analysis of Korean television commercials
Young Sook Moon*
Advertising & PR, Hanyang University, Ansan, Republic of Korea (Received 8 May 2009; nal version received 21 January 2010) In the past decades, the rates of childhood obesity have increased rapidly in Asian countries, where an increase in Westernization of behavioral and dietary lifestyle is evident. Although causes of childhood obesity have raised an issue about the direct influence of food advertising on children, little has been known about what kinds of health relevant content are provided and how they are presented. The present study explores the current practice of television food advertising targeted at children in Korea and extends previous content analyses by examining the content and presentation manner of health-related claims as well as persuasive appeals and food types. The results of the analysis of 403 television commercials show children in Korea are still mainly targeted with advertising messages that urge the consumption of unhealthy foods heavily emphasizing sensory and emotional appeals, while food marketers have not utilized health information enough and put an emphasis on health in advertising without making substantial claims explicitly. This study also reveals that some presentation manners of health-related claims are identified as potentially misleading with child audiences. Keywords: food advertising; children; persuasive appeals; health claims; Korea

Introduction The prevalence of obesity has reached alarming levels globally and is affecting both developed and developing countries of all socio-economic groups including all age groups. Over 22 million children under the age of five are severely overweight, as are 155 million children of school age, and this implies that one in 10 children are overweight worldwide (Kosti & Panagiotakos, 2006). In the past decades, the rates of obesity have increased rapidly in Asian countries, where an increase in Westernization of behavioral and dietary lifestyle is evident and such lifestyle changes are also affecting children in these countries (Deckelbaum & Williams, 2001; Hossain, Kawar, & Nahas, 2007). The available data show that 4.3% of pre-school children in Eastern Asia were overweight in the early 1990s. In Japan, the frequency of obese children between the ages of six and 14 years increased from 5% to 11% between 1974 and 2000 (de Onis & Blossner, 2000; Matsushida, Yoshhike, Kaneda, Yoshita, & Takimoto, 2004). The proportion of obese school children has risen from 16.1% in 1996 to 18.4% in 2006 in Hong Kong (Childhood obesity, 2007). In China, the prevalence of overweight and obese children has increased by 28 times between 1985
*Email: moonys@hanyang.ac.kr
ISSN 0129-2986 print/ISSN 1742-0911 online # 2010 AMIC/SCI-NTU DOI: 10.1080/01292986.2010.496858 http://www.informaworld.com

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and 2002, and almost one in five children under seven years is overweight and more than 7% are obese (Hepeng, 2008; Lupu, 2006). The causes of childhood obesity may prove to be of more importance because obesity at an early age is directly linked to chronic health problems that follow obese children into adulthood (Debby, 2005; Food Insight, 2001; Pereira et al., 2005). This has raised an issue about the direct influence of food advertising on children. Recent calls for investigations of food marketings influence on childrens diets have intensified a debate on the issue. Academic studies and media reports have pointed to the growing exposure of children to television food advertising as one of the most influential factors affecting childrens eating habits and causing children to become obese (e.g., Boynton-Jarrett, Thomas, Peterson, Wiecha, Sobol, & Gortmaker, 2003; Brennan, Czarnecka, Dahl, Eagle, & Mourouti, 2008; Burros, 2005; Henderson & Kelly, 2005; Kaiser Family Foundation, 2004; Lvovich, 2003; Warren, Wicks, Wicks, Fosu, & Chung, 2008; Young, 2003). Moreover, the issue has received considerable attention in the light of growing concerns in the developed world about rising obesity rates and the presumption that there is a link with advertising of foods high in fat, sugar, and salt (Danner & Molony, 2002; Sibbald, 2002). Thus, advertisers and childrens television networks in the US have implemented policies to limit the promotion of unhealthy foods to young children and, in 2005, companies such as Kraft and McDonalds announced plans to stop marketing unhealthy foods to children under age 11 (Romano & Becker, 2005). In addition, recently approved EU regulations are concerned about the negative effects of food labels and promotion primarily on children and adolescents (Brennan et al., 2008). Meanwhile, food advertising may contribute to peoples dietary habits in positive ways. Advertisers are promoting new initiatives to encourage healthy diets and increase physical activity among children. Food advertising may be useful in promoting the importance of healthy foods and lifestyles, and specific mention of nutrient contents in ads (such as percentage of fat, carbohydrates, protein, and sodium) has educated consumers to make more informed choices and change their dietary habits for the better (e.g., Chandra, Paul, & Emmett, 2005; Parker, 2003). One recent study (Warren et al., 2008), for example, showed that nutritional content was the third most frequently emphasized appeal following taste and mood alteration in childrens food advertising in the US. However, the researchers of the study suggested that considering childrens developing abilities to process verbal content, it is important for future content analyses to measure the manner in which nutritional information is delivered. Despite the increased attention to and criticism about childrens food advertising, little has been known about what kinds of health relevant content are provided and how they are presented. This raises important questions regarding the kinds of healthrelated claims as well as the presentation manner in television commercials delivered to child audience about food products. In addition, literature review reveals that previous research on children and food advertising has mainly been done in the US and some European countries (e.g., Byrd-Bredbenner, 2001; Lewis & Hill, 1998; Warren et al., 2008). In this vein, this study focuses on the current provision of healthrelated information in television food advertising targeted at children in Korea, one of the major markets in Asia with a booming youth market including children. There has been a sharp and noticeable increase in the rate of childhood obesity in Korea with the overall rates rising from 4% in late 1970s to 10.2% in 2005 (Korea

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Pediatrics Society, 2008). Especially, the obesity rates among school-age children doubled every year since 1998 and reached 18% for male students and 11% for female students in 2005. According to the 2005 National Survey of Health and Nutrition, 44% of teenagers have fast foods and convenience meals more than three times a week and 85% of elementary school children eat out once or more daily (Junior Herald, 2005; Ministry of Health & Welfare, 2006). The food industry is a major player in the field of television advertising and, especially, children and familyoriented television programs remain the marketers prime tool for selling food to children. About 76% of the food commercials broadcast during those programs are targeted at children and more than 30% of television commercials during childrens programs are food ads, two-thirds of which comprise of ads for foods high in salt and sugar, cereal, soft drinks, and instant noodles (TNS Media Korea, 2008). Recently, the Korean government has unveiled plans to battle rising children obesity rates. In 2008, the Korea Food and Drug Administration called for food companies to voluntarily post the nutrition information on product packaging or on their website, and fully-fledged labeling by the food industry will become mandatory by 2010. The Education Ministry has also stepped up efforts to improve childrens health and banned sales of carbonated soft drinks, instant noodles, fast food, and coffee at schools (Korea Herald, March 3, 2008). In addition, ongoing food-safety issues, further stoked by US beef imports, and Chinas melamine scandal have reinforced public cries for food health information and more responsible and transparent food manufacturers (Korea Herald, November 5, 2008). Responding to the calls, at issue is whether such changes in the government policy and food industry as well as public interests are reflected in the current food advertising, especially that directed at children. To date, no study has focused on the exploration of Korean food advertising targeted at children in terms of a health communication perspective. The present study extends previous content analyses by examining the content and presentation manner of health-related claims as well as persuasive appeals and food types. Korea is often considered a prime market for launching marketing strategies in Asia-Pacific markets which lead global advertising growth (cf., Fowler, 2003; Nielsen Media Research, 2002); thus, the findings of the study can provide international marketers and researchers with a standard of comparison that can be used to assess industry practice across cultures, as well as suggest relevant issues in food advertising in the region. Childrens understanding of television food advertising Reviews of the research on children and advertising offer a consistent account of the development of advertising literacy of food products in television. Drawing on information processing and developmental stage theories, a large body of research has explored what children understand in commercial messages. Among the basic tenets of the research is that younger and older children differ both in terms of their general understanding of advertisings purpose as well as in how they deploy this knowledge when responding to specific advertising messages (e.g., Moore, 2004; Roedder, 1981). Research suggests that television watching by children under the age of eight years is focused on perceptual stimuli rather than on semantic information in a message (Hoffner & Cantor, 1985; Hoffner, Cantor, & Thornson, 1989) and

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children obey the principle of centration, reacting to a single prominent attribute of a product (e.g., color or sound) to determine whether they like it or not (Carruth, Skinner, Moran, & Coletta, 2000; Vaulkenburg & Cantor, 2001). Studies based on consumer development show children younger than age seven or eight do not possess the cognitive abilities to understand that advertising presents a biased point of view. Thus, they are more influenced by advertising, while children between seven and 11 years are in a transitional phase in their responses to advertising. Understanding advertisers intent and skepticism about advertising helps older children defend against marketing messages (see John, 1999, for review). In this point of view, it is frequently argued that younger children are more susceptible to food advertising than older children because they lack knowledge of persuasive intent, that is, they do not understand that commercials try to convince people to buy things (e.g., Kunkel, Wilcox, Cantor, Palmer, Linn, & Dowrick, 2004). Meanwhile, recent studies provide evidence that older children and adolescents may be influenced by food advertising as well. Dixon et al. (2007) surveyed fifth- and sixth-grade children and found that heavier television viewing and more frequent exposure to television commercials were associated with more positive attitudes toward advertised junk food and higher consumption of such food. In an experiment study of 511-year old children, Chernin (2008) found that the effects of exposure to advertising on food preferences were not significantly related to age. Livingstone and Helsper (2006) also argue that the evidence on childrens responses to advertising does not support the belief that younger children are more influenced by advertising and, rather, is consistent with the view that different processes of persuasion operate at different ages, because literacy levels vary by age. Applying the Elaboration Likelihood Model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) which proposes two routes to persuasion, each governed by different principles and affected by different factors, they propose dual processing of advertising food to children. It suggests that younger children are more likely to be persuaded by the peripheral route and older children are more likely to be persuaded by the central route. Therefore, it can be hypothesized that younger children (less media-literate viewers) are more interested in such superficial or peripheral features of advertising, whereas older children (more media-literate viewers) are more attentive to the creativity or informative nature of advertising and are more influenced by the quality of the arguments and claims. Based on the dual processing, Livingstone and Helsper argue that for teenagers, health interventions should be more focused on directly countering the arguments of advertising (for example, through consumer awareness, provision of alternative food messages, and health-related information), whereas for younger children, the use of celebrities, cartoon, or familiar characters in advertising should be better researched (Livingstone & Helsper, 2006). Food products and appeals in food advertising targeted at children Previous research on advertising content has indicated a consistent group of products that dominate food advertising in US television (e.g., Byrd-Bredbenner & Grasso, 1999; Harrison & Marske, 2005; Kotz & Story, 1994; Kunkel & Gantz, 1992; Warren et al., 2008). Fast foods and cereal ads were most prevalent and represented the majority of television food advertising on childrens programming, while healthy food products such as fruits, vegetables, and milk were promoted in a low number of

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commercials. However, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans by the Department of Agriculture, food groups that people should be encouraged to consume include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products, whereas some of the food groups people should avoid consuming in high frequency include regular soft drinks, candies/cakes/cookies, and fruit drinks high in sugar (US Department of Agriculture [USDA], 2005). Studies on television food ads (e.g., Harrison & Marske, 2005; Kotz & Story, 1994; Kunkel & Gantz, 1992) showed that fewer than 5% of all food commercials were for healthy foods, which comprised the majority of a healthy diet as the USDA recommended. Byrd-Bredbenner and Grasso (1999) also found that fats, oils, and sweets were advertised almost four times as much as the USDAs recommended proportion of such foods in a healthy diet. Furthermore, Harrison and Marske (2005) indicated that a diet composed of advertised foods would exceed recommended nutritional levels of saturated fat, sodium, and sugar, and the same foods would provide less than 10% of the recommended daily minimum of essential vitamins and minerals. Consistent with the previous findings, one recent study (Warren et al., 2008) revealed products labeled as high calorie and low nutrition were most frequently promoted on children programs and nearly three-quarters of all food/beverage products advertised to children were among the five most unhealthy food categories such as pizza/fast food, sweets, breakfast food, family restaurants, and convenience meals. The advertising appeals employed in childrens food advertising also have been found consistent across the studies in the UK and the US. Kunkel and Gantz (1992) found that emotional appeals were more frequently used in food advertisements, even those for healthy foods. Fun and happiness were the most frequently employed appeal with child-targeted foods (Lewis & Hill, 1998) followed by the offer of a premium with a product purchase (Kunkel & Gantz, 1992; Reece, Rifon, & Rodriguez, 1999). Those persuasive messages were most common in fast food and cereal advertising and showed positive correlations with ad recall and product preference of children (cf., Comstack & Paik, 1991). In a recent analysis of US television food commercials in 2006, Warren et al. (2008) found that sensory appeal (taste/smell/texture) and emotional appeal (mood alteration) were the appeals most frequently emphasized in food ads directed at children. In this study, however, nutritional content was found as the third most prevalent appeal, which was encouraging given the importance of conveying information about good nutrition to children. Previous findings showed that children in some western countries like the UK and the US were consistently targeted with advertising messages that urged the consumption of unhealthy foods and mainly provided emotional appeals like fun and happiness and a premium offer, which could prevent children from processing pertinent product information like nutritional contents. However, no study has examined Korean food advertising directed at children yet and little has been known about what kinds of food products and persuasive appeals are provided in the current television commercials. Thus, the following research questions are explored:
RQ1: What types of food products are frequently advertised? RQ2: What types of persuasive appeals are frequently employed?

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Health and nutrition claims in food advertising can be highly influential in consumers dietary knowledge and subsequent behavior (Brennan et al., 2008; Parker, 2003). Studies found foods with nutrients claimed to ease or as solutions to specific health-related problems have been influential in facilitating consumption (Ippolito & Mathios, 1991; Roe, Levy & Derby, 1999; Martin, 2007). It is also known that consumers misinterpret or overgeneralize nutritional health claims (Andrews, Burton, & Netemeyer, 2000; Mitra, Hastak, Ford, & Ringold, 1999). Where labeling is available and consulted, consumers appear to focus primarily on fat content levels on labels, ignoring other factors such as sodium that may have health implications (Keller, Landry, Olson, Velliquette, Burton, & Andrews, 1997). For example, the term healthy has been shown to create the expectation that products displaying the term will be low in sodium, fat, cholesterol, and calories as well as being a source of fiber (Mayer & Scammon, 1993); thus, high fat or high sugar foods can still make nutrient claims (e.g., 0 grams of trans fat in fried chicken or potato chips, vitamin C in candies or carbonated soft drinks). In the early 1990s, the FDA in the US specified the approved use and terminology for a limited number of nutrient content claims on all food packaging (FDA Consumer, 1993, May; Federal Register, 1993, January 6). Nutrient content claims such as low fat, reduced sodium, and high in fiber have become quite prevalent in advertising and are often extended to synonyms for such terms (e.g., without all the fat, a lot less sodium, loaded with fiber). However, as the regulator of all national food advertising, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) expressed concern that consumers may sometimes draw misleading conclusions from such claims (FTC, 1994) and some type of disclosure about the related negative nutrient would be needed (e.g., fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, etc.). The FTC also expressed concern with the use of comparative nutrient content claims (i.e., 1/3 less salt, healthier), especially when the basis for comparison is not clear. Research studies on such misleading nutrient content in advertising concern overgeneralizations of absolute nutrient content (such as low cholesterol) to other related attributes and misperceptions of substitution claims (Andrews, Netemeyer, & Burton, 1998; FTC, 1998). In a study of nutritional claims, Roe, Levy, and Derby (1999) have identified three types of possible biased inferences: a positivity bias in which consumers provide better product ratings merely based on the presence of the claim; a halo effect in which consumers rate the product higher on other attributes not mentioned in the claim; and a magic bullet effect in which consumers attribute inappropriate health benefits to the product. In Andrews, Netemeyer, and Burton (1998), misleading halo effects occurred from nutrient content claims (no cholesterol, healthy) to evaluations of fat levels and overall healthiness for a product (margarine) viewed by consumers as relatively non-nutritious. To examine this issue further, Andrews, Burton, and Netemeyer (2000) conducted an experiment using the three types of nutrition disclosure: absolute quantitative level of a health and nutrient claim (e.g., contains 500 milligrams of sodium per serving); relative disclosure stating recommended daily value or percentage level of the nutrient; and evaluative disclosure specifying the per-serving level based on FDA standards. In this study, the disclosure conditions were found significantly more effective than no disclosure

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condition in reducing misperceptions of negative nutrient content (i.e., sodium) and evaluative disclosure was more effective than absolute and relative disclosures. Information about foods and their nutritional value appearing on the labeling and used for their presentation, marketing, and advertising should be clear, accurate, and meaningful (Brennan et al., 2008; Byrd-Bredbenner & Grasso, 2001; Ippolito & Mathios, 1991). Some consumer organizations in the European Union (e.g., the Consumers Association, Independent Dietician) suggest that products that do not have a desirable nutritional profile, such as candies or high salt and high fat snacks, should not be allowed to bear nutrition claims. For instance, a low fat claim should only be allowed if the product does not contain high qualities of sugar or salt, or a high calcium claim should not be used on a product with a high fat content. Since such food products with high sugar, salt, or fat would become more attractive because of the way in which they are labeled and advertised, many consumers who are currently eating them in moderation would consume them in greater quantities. The organizations argue this would have a more immediate negative effect on the dietary habits of certain particularly vulnerable groups of the population, like children and adolescents (as cited in Brennan et al., 2008, p. 58). Given the potential impact of health and nutrition content on childrens dietary behavior, it is important to examine what kinds of healthrelated claims and nutrient content disclosure are provided in television food commercials aimed at children. Therefore, the following two research questions are proposed:
RQ3: What types of health-related claims are used in Korean television food commercials directed at children in terms of general health claim and nutrition/ substance? RQ4: What levels of nutrition/substance claim are provided in Korean television food commercials directed at children in terms of three types of disclosure (absolute, relative, and evaluative)?

According to developmental psychology theories, audio/visual cues heighten childrens attention and comprehension of television advertising; however, effects research indicates that some of these cues can mislead young viewers. Within a Piagetian framework, two cognitive processing concepts are important to understanding the nutritional content of television food advertising. The first is young childrens propensity for sensory-based processing. Research suggests that television watching by children under the age of eight years is focused on perceptual stimuli rather than on semantic information in a message (Hoffner & Cantor, 1985; Hoffner et al., 1989). They are more attentive to salient perceptual cues such as animation, lively music, and auditory changes. Simple audio/visual cues place no demands on their limited linguistic skills and can thus be processed holistically. A second concept is the notion of centration. Young children focus their attention on audio/visual cues (e.g., color or sound), excluding verbal content. The literature on cognitive processing stresses childrens affinity with information presented in visuals or sound effects and advertising directed at children lends itself to such processing and employs images and impressions more often than rational product messages (Carruth et al., 2000; Maher, Hu, & Kolbe, 2006; van Evra, 2004; Vaulkenburg & Cantor, 2001). Thus, children can be distracted by perceptual cues presented simultaneously with pertinent product information and, for example, the use of

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special effects can heighten the risk that children would miss nutritional information about advertised products, especially when that information is communicated via text or voice-overs (cf., Warren et al., 2008). Studies on fine-print disclosures may provide some implications for how healthrelated claims are presented in television food commercials. Previous content analyses have been critical of the fine-print advertising practice, suggesting that viewers are unlikely to be able to read the messages because of the small print size and the brevity of their appearance or because the language used is incomprehensible to young audiences (e.g., Kolbe & Muehling, 1992; Stern & Harmon, 1984). In the study of practitioners views of fine-print in television advertising (Muehling & Kolbe, 1997), nearly three-quarters of the respondents (73%) agreed that advertisers should not be allowed to use fine-print statements in advertising directed at children. One content analysis of childrens television commercials (Muehling & Kolbe, 1998) revealed that a majority of fine-print statements were found in the ads for breakfast foods, fast food restaurants, and toys. More than 75% of the disclosures were placed in the beginning and end of the ads, consistent with message order effects; attention is best for messages appearing in the beginning of the ad (primacy effect) and comprehension and recall may be best for messages appearing at the beginning and end of the ad (recency and primacy effects) (Crowder, 1976; Haugtvedt & Wegener, 1994). However, a majority of fine-prints were positioned at the bottom of the screen, although information presented in the upper part of the screen is more likely to be seen than that placed elsewhere. When health and nutrition claims are delivered in advertising, they should be clearly and prominently stated and displayed, and thus can be effective in mitigating the formation of potentially misleading beliefs, attitudes, and intentions (cf., Muehling & Kolbe, 1998). Especially, in television advertising directed at children, the presentation manner of health-related claims should be developed considering childrens cognitive abilities of message processing (e.g., verbal content, audio/visual processing, order and positioning effects). This leads to the following research question:
RQ5: In what manner are health-related claims presented in terms of audio/visual cues, text, spokesperson, and fine-prints (also where and when appeared)?

Method Sample The sample of this study was collected from the 2008 television commercial archives of Korea TV-CM Research, a creative research company which provides monthly data of television commercials including brand and company name, product category, station and program, target audience, airtime, and commercial length. The food commercials directed at children were selected based on the following criteria: the food commercials of the childrens programming broadcast on the three major network television channels (KBS2, MBC, SBS) and the six cable channels which are popular for children and teenagers (Tooniverse, Nickelodeon, JEI TV, Champ, Cartoon Network, Children TV); the food commercials broadcast between 7 am and 9 am and between 4 pm and 8 pm on the three networks during the weekdays. The selected hours contained not only childrens programs, but also general audience shows that are likely to attract significant child and teenager audiences (cf., TNS Media Korea, 2008). Duplicated commercials were not included in order to eliminate

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the bias from the broadcast frequency of commercials. A total of 403 unduplicated commercials were selected and each commercial time ranged from 15 to 30 seconds. The number of commercials per month was distributed from nine in July to 60 in January, which was due to the exclusion of duplicated commercials and the differences in the number of new commercials produced in each month.

Coding The coding categories were investigated through the scales which have been utilized and validated by several previous studies on childrens advertising (Andrews et al., 2000; Byrd-Bredbenner & Grasso, 1999; Henderson & Kelly, 2005; Maher et al., 2006; Muehling & Kolbe, 1998; Parker, 2003; Warren et al., 2008). The coding scheme of the present study includes the following categories: product category (rice/grain/cereal/ pasta, meat/fish/poultry, dairy, fruit/vegetables/100% juice, health supplements/water, family/fast food restaurants, desserts/candies/sweets/snacks, soft drinks/tea/coffee, condiments, convenience/pre-prepared food, others); persuasive appeal (product appeals; inherent qualities or components, emotional appeals; affective appeals associated with consumption); general health claim (good for health, prevent illness, gives energy, provides balance/variety, fitness); nutrition/substances claim (light/ lighter, lean/leaner, diet; fat, calorie, protein, carbohydrate, fiber, sugar, caffeine, cholesterol, sodium, additive-free, pure/natural, vitamin/mineral, calcium, other); types of nutrition/substance level (absolute, relative, evaluative claim); presentation manner of health-related claims (audio/visual cues, text, spokesperson, presence of fine-print). The description of the coding categories is given in Table 1. There were two levels of analysis: the first level was based on an individual commercial, and the second was based on the health-related claim that was stated verbally, superimposed as text, or explicitly included as part of a visual or voice-over. Each commercial was coded in terms of product category, presence of persuasive appeal, presence of general health claim, and presence of nutrition/substance claim. The distribution of the heath-related claims per ad ranged from 0 to 3 and at most three claims in each ad were coded in terms of product category, claim type (general health claim, nutrition/substance claim), nutrition/substance level, and presentation manner. A Korean male and a Korean female graduate students (research assistants) majored in Advertising at one of the major universities in Korea coded a sample of 403 ads. They pretested 15% of the sample commercials and intercoder reliability for each variable was determined as the percentage of agreement between the pair of judges. Using Perreault and Leighs (1989) measure, the intercoder reliability ranged from .89 to .98. The all reliability coefficients exceeded the critical level of .80, as suggested by Perreault and Leigh (1989). All disagreements between the coders were resolved through discussions with the researcher and a final decision was made by consensus between the coders.

Results Types of food products Of the 11 product categories, soft drinks/tea/coffee (22.6%) were most frequently advertised, followed by fast food/family restaurants (16.6%), desserts/candies/sweets/

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Table 1. Coding categories and intercoder reliability.

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Product categories (.98) Rice/grain/cereal/pasta, Meat/fish/poultry, Dairy, Fruit/vegetables/100% juice, Health supplements/water, Family/fast food restaurants, Desserts/candies/sweets/snacks, Soft drinks/tea/coffee, Condiments (sauces, dressing, oil, etc.), Convenience/pre-prepared food, Others Persuasive appeala Product appeals Competitive/Unique: presented as better or different than other brands (.97) Premium offers: product has associated free gifts or material benefits (.98) New (introduction of new product or flavor) (.91) Quantity/size/amount: claims about the size or amount of the product (1.0) Taste/flavor/smell/texture: description of products sensory characteristics (.93) Nutritional content: specific claims about fiber, fat, calories, etc.; includes claims about product purity (e.g., 100% juice) or lack of additives (1.0) Convenience: product is easy to prepare and/or consume (e.g., ready-to-eat or heat and eat) (1.0) Value for money: claims of better product value for the money spent (e.g., buy one get one free, free 30% more) (1.0) Emotional appeals Mood alterations: suggests that product will either create/enhance positive feelings (e.g., happiness, relief) or remove negative feelings (e.g., anxiety, anger over not having product) (.89) Health/wellbeing: product consumption is associated with a general improvement in overall health or wellbeing as well as claims around weight management or dieting (.98) Speed/strength: product consumption will enhance physical performance (e.g., sports performance, stamina) (.98) Achievement/enablement: product consumption is linked with being able to obtain a desired goal or achieving control over undesirable aspects of self or the environment (.97) Action/adventure: product is associated with engaging in daring activities, thrill-seeking (1.0) Magic/fantasy: product is associated with producing effects by charms, spells, rituals, etc. (.93) Peer acceptance/superiority (being better than ones peers) (.91) Adult approval or disapproval: product consumption is linked to either adults (or other authority figures) approval of child, or getting away with something despite disapproval (.98) Appearance: improved appearance as the main reason for having the product (.95) Trickery/deceit: denying, tricking, or deceiving others out of the product (.96) Others (1.0) General health claims (.99) Good for health, Prevent illness, Gives energy, Provides balance/variety, Fitness Nutrition/substance claims (.99) Light (lighter)/lean (leaner)/diet, Fat, Calorie, Protein, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Sugar, Caffeine, Cholesterol, Sodium, Additive-free, Pure/natural, Vitamin/mineral, Calcium, Other Type of nutrition/substance claimsb (.99) Absolute claim (e.g., contains 500 milligrams of sodium) Relative claim (e.g., includes not only disclosure of the nutrient level, but adds information on the recommended daily value level and percentage of daily value of the nutrient) Evaluative claim (e.g., specifies that the per-serving level of the nutrient is high based on FDA standards) Audio/visual presentationc (.91)

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Present only with audio (or voice-over), Present only with visual, Present with audio and visual Text (.95) Presence, No presence Spokesperson (.97) Presence, No presence Presence of fine-printd (.98) Presence, No presence When appeared (.98) Beginning of ad, Middle of ad, End of ad Where appeared (.97) Top of screen, Middle of screen, Bottom of screen
a

Warren et al. (2008),b Andrews et al. (2000), cMaher et al. (2006), dMuehling and Kolbe (1998)

snacks (15.9%), convenience/pre-prepared foods (9.9%), dairy foods (8.7%), and fruit/vegetables/100% fruit juices (7.2%), while meat/fish/poultry (1.0%) were the least frequently advertised (see Table 2). According to the previous studies (Harrison & Marske, 2005; Kotz & Story, 1994; Kunkel & Gantz, 1992; Warren et al., 2008), food categories were classified into the two groups: healthy foods (meat/fish/poultry, rice/grain/bread/cereal/pasta, dairy, fruits/vegetables/100% fruit juice, food supplements/water) and unhealthy foods (fast food/family restaurants, dessert/sweets/ snacks, soft drinks/tea/coffee, condiments, convenience/pre-prepared food). The result showed unhealthy foods comprised nearly three-quarters (n 0284, 73%) of the total food ads (N 0390 except others category) and healthy foods comprised 27% (n 0 106) of the total food ads, only about one-third of the amount of unhealthy foods.

Types of persuasive appeals The six appeals most frequently employed in the ads were competitive/unique (30.5%), health/wellbeing (27%), taste/flavor/smell/texture (26.8%), nutritional content (14.9%), mood alterations (14.4%), and new (13.6%), whereas the six appeals least
Table 2. Types of food products in television commercials targeted at children. n 91 67 64 40 35 29 22 20 18 4 13 403 % 22.6 16.6 15.9 9.9 8.7 7.2 5.5 5.0 4.5 1.0 3.2 100.0

Product category Soft drinks/tea/coffee Fast food/family restaurants Desserts/sweets/candies/snacks Convenience food/pre-prepared food Dairy Fruit/vegetables/100% fruit juice Condiments Health supplements/water Rice/grain/bread/cereal/pasta Meat/fish/poultry Others (Corporate PR, Event, etc.) Total

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frequently employed in the ads were value for money (3%), appearance (3%), convenience (2.5%), trickery/deceit (1.2%), adult approval/disapproval (1%), and quantity/size/amount (0.2%). Of the 18 appeals (except others category), healthy food ads emphasized health/wellbeing (51.9%), competitive/unique (40.6%), and nutritional content (29.2%), while unhealthy food ads emphasized taste/flavor/smell/texture (31.7%) and competitive/unique (27.8%). Nine appeals were found significantly different between the two types of food ads (p B.05). The five appeals (competitive/ unique, nutritional content, health/wellbeing, speed/strength, achievement/enablement) appeared more frequently in healthy food ads, whereas the four appeals (taste/ flavor/smell/texture, new, convenience, mood alterations) appeared more frequently in unhealthy food ads (see Table 3).

Health-related claims Ads of health-related claims Ads containing health claims were 33.7% of the total food ads (n 0136): ads containing one claim were 20.8% (n 0 84), ads containing two claims were 8.9% (n 036), and ads containing three claims were 4.0% (n 016). However, nearly twothirds of the food ads (66.2%) provided none of the health-related claims at all. Table 4 shows the proportions of ads containing each claim. Of the 20 health claims, ads containing good for health were found most frequently (20.1%), followed by gives energy (5.5%), fitness (4.2%), vitamin/mineral (4.2%), and calorie (2.2%). Ads containing certain categories were rarely found: the three claims (light/diet, caffeine, cholesterol) were not found at all and the five claims (prevent illness, carbohydrate, fiber, sodium, pure/natural) appeared just in a few ads. None of the remaining categories accounted for more than 2% of the total number of ads. Ads containing one or more claims were more prevalent in the healthy food group than in the unhealthy food group (61.3% vs. 25.0%, x2 044.84, df 01, p B.05). In particular, the three claims (good for health, gives energy, vitamin/mineral) appeared more frequently in healthy food ads than in unhealthy food ads (p B.05) (see Table 4). In addition, the two claims, protein and pure/natural, were found only in the healthy food group; however, the frequencies of the ads were relatively small (7 and 3, respectively).

Types of health-related claim and nutrition/substance level A total of 216 claims were coded in this study: general health claims and nutrition/ substance claims (59.7% vs. 40.3%). Of the five general health claims, good for health appeared most frequently (37.5%), followed by gives energy (10.2%), fitness (7.9%), provides balance/variety (3.7%), and prevent illness (0.5%). Of the 14 nutrition and substance claims, vitamin/mineral appeared most frequently (7.9%), followed by calorie (4.2%), additive free (3.7%), protein (3.2%), fat (2.8%), sugar (2.8%), and calcium (2.3%) (see Table 5). Nutrition/substance claims were classified into the three types: absolute, relative, and evaluative claims. Of the total 87 nutrition/substance claims, absolute claims were 18.2% (n 016) and relative claims were 8% (n 06). The remaining nutrition/substance claims (74.7%) were presented without any specific nutrient level.

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Table 3.

Y. S. Moon
Types of persuasive appeals: total ads/healthy vs. unhealthy food ads. Healthy foods % N 0 106 40.6 51.9 17.0 29.2 4.7 6.6 9.4 7.5 7.5 8.5 9.4 3.8 0.9 1.9 0.9 1.9 Unhealthy foods % N 0 284 27.8 18.3 31.7 9.9 18.7 16.9 10.9 9.2 9.2 3.5 2.5 3.2 3.9 3.5 3.5 1.4 0.7 0.4 0.4

Persuasive appeal Competitive/unique Health/wellbeing Taste/flavor/smell/ texture Nutritional content Mood alterations New Magic/fantasy Premium offers Peer acceptance/ superiority Speed/strength Achievement/ enablement Action/adventure Value for money Appearance Convenience Trickery/deceit Adult approval or disapproval Quantity/size/amount Other appeals

% (n) N 0 403a 30.5 (123) 27.0 (109) 26.8 (108) 14.9 14.4 13.6 14.4 8.4 8.4 (60) (58) (55) (58) (34) (34)

x2 5.84* 43.71** 8.34** 22.60** 11.86** 6.76** 0.18 0.25 0.25 4.11* 8.99** 0.09 2.22 0.69 3.83* 0.13 1.06 0.37 0.37

4.7 (19) 4.2 (17) 3.2 3.0 3.0 2.5 1.2 1.0 (13) (12) (12) (10) (5) (4)

0.2 (1) 1.2 (5)

*p B.05; **p B.01 a 13 ads of others category are included.

Presentation manner of health-related claim Results of presentation manner of health-related claims are shown in Tables 5 and 6. More than two-thirds of the total health-related claims (67.6%) were presented in audio/visual format. Among the three types of presentation, the health claims presented with both audio and visual cues were most prevalent (56.9%), followed by only with audio cues (28.1%) and only with visuals (15.1%). The two types of healthrelated claims showed differences in audio/visual presentation. More than half of the general health claims (55%) were presented with both audio and visual cues, whereas more than half of the nutrition/substance claims (57.5%) were presented without any audio or visual cues (x2 051.27, df 03, p B.01). However, both types of health-related claims showed similar proportions in the presentation only with audio (19.4% vs. 18.4%) or visual cues (10.1% vs. 10.3%). Health-related claims were also delivered in text (85.6%) or by spokesperson (25.5%). General health claims were delivered by spokesperson more frequently than nutrition/substance claims (31.8% vs. 16.1%, x2 06.74, df 01, p B.05), whereas nutrition/substance claims were delivered in text more frequently than general health

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Table 4. Ads containing health-related claims: total ads/healthy vs. unhealthy food ads. Healthy foods % N0106 45.3 11.3 1.9 0.9 Unhealthy foods % N 0284 10.9 3.5 5.3 2.5 0.4

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Health-related claims General health claim Good for health Gives energy Fitness Provides balance/ variety Prevent illness Nutrition/substance claim Vitamin/mineral Calorie Additive-free Protein Fat Sugar Calcium Pure/natural Fiber Sodium Carbohydrate Light/lighter, lean/ leaner, diet Caffeine Cholesterol Others

% (n) N 0403a 20.1 5.5 4.2 2.0 (81) (22) (17) (8)

x2 56.44** 8.82** 2.13 0.89 0.37

0.2 (1)

4.2 2.2 2.0 1.7 1.5 1.5 1.2 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.2

(17) (9) (8) (7) (6) (6) (5) (3) (2) (2) (1)

11.3 1.9 2.8 6.6 1.9 1.9 2.8 2.8 0.9 0.9 16.0

1.8 2.5 1.4 1.4 1.4 0.7 0.4 0.7 1.4

16.92** 0.11 0.89 19.10** 0.12 0.12 2.76 8.10** 0.53 0.75 2.69 32.43**

5.2 (21)

*p B.05; **p B.01 a 13 ads of others category are included.

claims (97.7% vs. 77.5%, x2 017.21, df 01, p B.05). Of the total 185 claims delivered in text, more than one-quarter (25.4%) were fine-print, mostly placed in the middle of the ads (85.1%) and at the bottom of the screen (89.4%). In addition, all of the fine-print messages (n 047) were nutrition/substance claims, which means that more than half of the nutrition/substance claims (54.0%) were delivered in fine-print.

Discussion and conclusion The present study investigated current practice of television food advertising targeted at children in Korea by examining food types, persuasive appeals, and health-related claims. The results of the study show that unhealthy foods like soft drinks/tea/coffee, fast food/family restaurants, and dessert/candies/sweets/snacks are advertised heavily much more than healthy foods, which is nearly three-quarters of the total food ads. By contrast, meat and protein foods especially important for growing children are

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Table 5.

Y. S. Moon
Types and presentation manner of health-related claims (N 0216). n 81 22 17 8 1 17 9 8 7 6 6 5 3 2 2 1 21 146 83 41 22 185 55 47 40 5 2 42 4 1 % 37.5 10.2 7.9 3.7 0.5 7.9 4.2 3.7 3.2 2.8 2.8 2.3 1.4 0.9 0.9 0.5 9.7 67.6 56.9a 28.1a 15.1a 85.6 25.5 21.8 85.1b 10.6b 4.3b 89.4b 8.5b 2.1

Types of claims/ presentation manner General health claim Good for health Gives energy Fitness Provides balance/variety Prevent illness Nutrition/substance claim Vitamin/mineral Calorie Additive-free Protein Fat Sugar Calcium Pure/natural Fiber Sodium Carbohydrate Light/lighter, lean/leaner, diet Caffeine Cholesterol Others Audio/visual presentation Both with audio and visual Only with audio Only with visual Text Spokesperson Fine-print When appeared Middle of ad Beginning of ad End of ad Whole ad Where appeared Bottom of ad Middle of ad Top of ad
a b

% based on the total number of audio/visual presentation (n 0 146) % based on the total number of fine-print presentation (n 0 47)

the least advertised. In addition, ads for unhealthy foods are more likely to employ appeals like taste/flavor/smell/texture and mood alterations, whereas ads for healthy foods are more likely to employ appeals like health/wellbeing, competitive/unique,

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Table 6. Presentation manner of general health vs. nutrition/substance claims. General health % N0129 55.0 19.4 10.1 15.5 77.5 31.8 Nutrition/substance % N 087 13.8 18.4 10.3 57.5 97.7 16.1 54.0

471

Presentation manner Audio/visual presentation Both with audio and visual Only with audio Only with visual Without audio and visual Text Spokesperson Fine-print
**p B.01

x2 51.27**

17.22** 6.74** 89.07**

and nutritional content. Based on these results, it can be said that consistent with the previous findings (Byrd-Bredbenner & Grasso, 1999; Harrison & Marske, 2005; Kotz & Story, 1994; Kunkel & Gantz, 1992; Warren et al., 2008), children in Korea are still mainly targeted with advertising messages that urge the consumption of unhealthy foods heavily emphasizing sensory and emotional appeals. In the current study, health/wellbeing and nutrition content were found to be the second and the fourth most prevalent appeals. This is encouraging given the importance of conveying information about health and nutrition to children (cf., Warren et al., 2008). Responding to the increased attention toward the responsibility of food advertising on childrens dietary behavior and obesity, food advertisers seem to strive to highlight health and nutrition claims. However, the results of the study indicate food marketers have not utilized health information enough and put an emphasis on health in advertising without making substantial claims explicitly. Food ads containing health-related claims were found in about one-third of the total ads and the ads just mentioning good for health were most prevalent. Ads containing nutrition/substance claims appeared much less than those containing general health claims and ads of certain claims were found not at all (e.g., light/diet, cholesterol, caffeine) or less than 2% of the total food ads except vitamin/mineral and calorie. In addition, although healthy food ads contain more health claims than unhealthy food ads, there is no significant difference in the use of general health claims and nutrition/ substance claims between the two types of ads, contrary to the presumption that ads for healthy foods emphasize nutrient values for their selling proposition. This study reveals that health-related claims in food ads are delivered in audiovisual cues, text, and by spokesperson, and some presentation manners are identified as potentially misleading with child audiences. General health claims tend to be more presented with both audio and visual cues and by spokesperson, whereas nutrition/ substance claims tend to be more presented with only audio cues and in text. Regarding these findings, one might assume that conveying factual information about nutrition or substance content would be easier with audio cues. However, as shown in this study as well as in previous studies, food advertising directed at children emphasizes sensory and emotional appeals that do not communicate pertinent product information. Considering childrens propensity of sensory-based processing and centration (e.g.,

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Carruth et al., 2000; Hoffner et al., 1989; Vaulkenburg & Cantor, 2001), these appeals might distract children from processing nutrition claims about products, especially when the claims are delivered in text or audio cues. A majority of nutrition/substance claims were delivered without any specific (absolute, relative, and evaluative) information of the nutrient level. Previous studies on nutrient content claims suggest consumers may have misperceptions from omissions of nutrient content level in food ads and concern overgeneralizations of absolute nutrient content such as low cholesterol. As found by Andrews, Burton, and Netemeyer (2000), specific disclosures of nutrition claim are more effective than no disclosure condition in reducing misperceptions of nutrient content; thus, some types of disclosure would be needed especially in case of negative nutrition and substances such as cholesterol and caffeine which were not found at all in this study. In relation to this, Korea Food & Drug Administration recently warned that children favorite foods like chocolate, soft drinks, and coffee-milk contain a substantial amount of caffeine (Korea Consumer Agency, 2009). In addition, nearly half of the nutrition/substance claims were presented in fine-print, mostly placed in the middle of the ads and positioned at the bottom of the screen, while communication effects are best for the messages appearing in the beginning and the end of the ad and in the upper part than in the middle and the bottom of the screen (cf., Crowder, 1976; Haugtvedt & Wegener, 1994; Muehling & Kolbe, 1998). Therefore, the findings of the type and position of nutrition/substance claims call into question the likelihood that young consumers like children would be given full nutrient information for the food products advertised. Given the public interest in food health information and more responsible food advertising, the use of health claims in food ads would be essential for the selling point in the food industry. If food advertisers are expected to communicate important health relevant information to children, one would assume that ads would be likely to contain statements presented in such a way as to facilitate childrens understanding of the health-related claims. In this vein, the findings of the present study have a strong implication for government policy and industry practice. Over the last few years, the Korean government has required food companies to disclose the nutrient profile of their products. However, the provisions of health and nutrition claims has focused on product labels and packaging, rather than advertising and are for the general population, rather than being intended for children. Currently, Korea Communications Standards Commission (KOCSC), a government regulation organization, oversees the content of childrens programming and advertising and monitors the implementation of all national advertising regulations with the Broadcast Advertising Law (Korea Communications Standards Commission, 2008), which addresses childrens advertising in very vague terms and does not carry any specific stipulations regarding childrens food advertising. The Disclaimer and Disclosure Act has been in effect since 2000 but there is no clear standard for the appropriate means by which disclosures are provided in television advertising yet, and most of the health and nutrient contents in food ads are displayed in fine-print, nearly illegible for children. Therefore, advertising regulators of the government and industry as well as media firms need to develop guidelines that specifically address childrens processing needs, to help ensure that the advertising messages directed to children are clearly communicated and not likely to mislead and/or deceive (cf., Muehling & Kolbe, 1998). For food advertising

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controls and health claims during child-oriented programs, policy guidelines are needed for the regulations to prohibit certain claims or products that do not meet nutrient profile standards for healthy foods (e.g., FTC, 1994; US Department of Agriculture, 2005), as well as providing directives for the presentation manner of health-related claims considering childrens processing skills and limitations. As public discussion of childhood obesity intensifies, advertisers are expected to respond with initiatives that will encourage children to eat a healthier diet. Knowing the content of the health claims as well as the means by which they are communicated would be beneficial in assessing their potential usefulness and their ability to communicate pertinent product information such as nutrients and substances information. The results of the present study show the current food advertising practices confronting children in Korea and how food marketers communicate health messages with children through television commercials. Persuasion knowledge of consumers, especially young viewers like children, develops through time and is also culturally contingent (cf., Friestad & Wright, 1994); therefore, the study should be replicated not only in Korea periodically, but also in other countries. Longitudinal studies could use the framework presented in this study to provide further insights into the long-term influence of regulation on the use of health claims in food advertising. Cross-cultural comparison could be undertaken to assess the types of advertising appeal and health claim as food supply and marketing become more globalized. In addition, research on consumers level of comprehension and belief in the health-related claims made in food advertising would contribute to policymaking, advertising practice, and theory by improved understanding of consumers persuasion knowledge and skepticism (Brennan et al., 2008). However, a content analysis is descriptive and precludes direct conclusions about the effects of food advertising on children; thus, more empirical work remains to be done. Future research should examine how the content of health-related claims influence childrens preferences for the advertised food products by testing various types of health claim and presentation manner on children of different ages and cognitive abilities. Results of such studies may provide implications not only for the research on roles of food advertising in promoting or demoting childrens health, but also for the policy-making to plan effective ways to create a more responsible advertising environment. Notes on contributor
Young Sook Moon is Professor at the Department of Advertising and PR at Hanyang University, South Korea. She has published in leading academic journals such as the Journal of Advertising, International Marketing Review, and Asian Journal of Communication. Her research fields include cross-cultural studies in advertising, information processing and ethics, and social issues in advertising.

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