Setting My Final Question and Flowchart Writeup

Children and Television; Does the way that Fast Food is marketed at children promote an unbalanced diet and a sedentary nature

Flowchart

1) How is fast food advertised at children:
-Scheduling of adverts themselves
-Deconstructing the adverts
--> packaging
-->music
-->actors
-->catchphrases
-Create a theory, and test it through primary research

2) Industry: Avertising Industry, and the effects of Government Legislation
- Restrictions
--> Have these had any impact on sales
=> Have they reduced obesity rates?
-Media Theorists which agree/disagree with the ideas behind these restrictions
-protectionist theory, hypodermic needle, the effects model, problems with the effects model (David Gauntlett),

3) Primary Research

-Viewing Diaries
-->What they watch
-->average watching times
-->adverts in the breaks
--> tick box style to make it easier - will increase likehood of responses

-Activity Diaries
-->How much exercise they get
=>investigating correlation between tv watching and exercise
==> will be displayed in graph form
-Food Diary

=> To investigate the levels of pester power. To see if the snacks and food that they eat are a result of them requesting it or whether the parent has ultimate say

-Questionaires
=PARENTS
--> if they feel their children watch too much tv
--> who chooses what goes into the shopping basket
--> they they feel their children watch too much tv
---> if they feel that tv has a negative influence in their childrens lives
---> what kind of tv shows do they THINK their kids watch

=CHILDREN
-- tick box style
-->favourite shows
--> favourite snacks
--> how they choose theirsnacks

4) Secondary Research
- Internet polls
--> whether they think kids watch too much tv
-Newspaper Clipping
--> analyse content, reliability
-websites
--> theory
--> statistics
--> legislation changes
-books
--> Fast Food is Good For Kids

5) summing up of my research

Statistics on Childrens TV watching habits

http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html

Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680

Number of 30-second TV commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000

Percentage of 4-6 year-olds who, when asked to choose between watching TV

and spending time with their fathers, preferred television: 54

Percentage of local TV news broadcast time devoted to advertising: 30


There is a high emphasis on television advertising and the amount of television consumed by children a day (4 hours on average). This would give advertisers a lot of opportunity to access children and sell their products.

industry site

http://www.clearchannel.co.uk/adshel/casestudies/jaffaandminirolls/

there are case studies, this is one on jaffa cakes, detailing the direct effects of advertising on consumption

this is not television, . there were a number of billboards put up outside sainsburys. this increased awareness and more were bought

Company
McVities
Product
Jaffa Mini Rolls / Cake Bars
Campaign Details
484 Posters 217 Sainsbury's Stores
Target Audience
Sainsbury's Shoppers
Dates
9th-22nd September 2002
Marketing ObjectivesTo increase awareness and drive sales in Sainsbury's Stores.

Analysis of fast food statistics

There is a definate upwards trend in childhood and adult obesity. Fast food sales are also on the rise. However, gym meberships are at an all time high(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/594526.stm) and physical exercise is pushed in schools.

Fast food advertising has gone through various changes in the past few years. Time constraints have been implemented in the advertising of the 'big five' and things such as cartoons, celebrity endorsement and the necessity for fast foods to have a message conveying the need for consumption of unhealthy foods within a balanced diet has been implemented.

There hs been a growth in healthier alternatives being advertised on tv, and establishments such as macdonalds have introduced things such as fruit bags and chicken salads into their menus. whether the constraints on fast food advertsing have had any effect is demonstrated by the lack of effect on the upward trend in obesity. The foods are still there in abundance, and the kids know that. Pester power has a huge influence, and children havetheir own buying power which, added to the freedoms of being able to walk home by themselves from school gives them the opportunity to snack and buy things from corner shops. Children are known to be drawn greatly to packaging, and parents are likely to give in to low-cost new products

http://www.clearchannel.co.uk/research/audienceinsights/adshelandhousewives/

'Keeping children happy is a major priority for housewives. Children are strongly drawn by packaging, and can recognise logos before they can read and write. They are very good at spotting what's new or different, on the shelves or on a poster site, and, being naturally enquiring, they want to try what they see.'


'Housewives are responsive to and appreciative of new ideas, low-risk (low-cost) opportunities to try something new, and good value offers.'

I have decided to divide my primary research into different areas. first looking at the effects of advertising on buying preferences, and how this is done, and to not look at the volume of items bought in relationto advertising. This will be done through viewing diaries, and the number of adverts in a certain time slot. I will also do a survey of the things that people eat whilst watching tv. This will be done through a tick box style questionaire and tallying which would help make it easier for the participants, which would make it more successful


Following this, i will look at the amounts and types of foods bought outside parental control. i.e. snack foods bought on the way home, in breaktimes etc. This will be done through eating diaries. There will also be a survey of parents of the participants. I will ask for copies of their reciepts from weekly food buys to see exactly what they put in thei baskets for their children to eat. And to also see if the parents food preferences and what they bring into the home is consumed in abundance by their children.

i will also do exercise diaries to see if this is a factor in obesity. in addition to this, i will look at general media consumption i.e. internet, magazines.

My sample for choosing are girls aged 11-13. They have the largest threat for obesity in this age bracket and their age means that they have access to shops etc in which they can spend money without direct parental input. They are old enough to understand healthy eating and are good users of the media

initial deconstruction of tv adverts

deconstruction will come later....

Treatment of Audiences

Different ways of looking at audiences

Shaun Moores - Interpreting Audiences and http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/pph9701.html

The effects model
-The hypodermic syringe model

This was proposed by the Frankfurt school established 1923

they saw 'society to be composed of isolated individuals who were susceptible to media messages'

Since then, theorists have in dismissed this to an extent, and it is seen as an inadequate representation of the relationship between the individual and the media. It is seen now as much more complex

David gauntlett details the 'ten things wrong with the effects model' on this site:

http://www.theory.org.uk/tenthings.htm

1. The effects model tackles social problems 'backwards': simplifying the causes
2. The effects model treats children as inadequate: their intelligence is underestimated
3. Assumptions within the effects model are characterised by barely-concealed conservative ideology

4. The effects model inadequately defines its own objects of study

5. The effects model is often based on artificial elements and assumptions within studies

6. The effects model is often based on studies with misapplied methodology

7. The effects model is selective in its criticisms of media depictions of violence

8. The effects model assumes superiority to the masses

9. The effects model makes no attempt to understand meanings of the media

10. The effects model is not grounded in theory

'Audiences are not blank sheets of paper on which media messages can be written; members of an audience will have prior attitudes and beliefs which will determine how effective media messages are. (Abercrombie 1996, 140)'

Supporters of the Effects model assume the audience is passive in the receiving and interpretation of media texts. This problem is highlighted in David Gauntletts ten things wrong with the effects model; points 2, 3, and 9

The uses and Gratifications model

Jay G. Blumler and Elihu Katz devised their uses and gratifications model to highlight four areas of gratification in media texts for audiences. These include:

Personal identity — for example, characters in soap operas experiencing something the audience once did.

Personal relationships — a media text provides information for 'water-cooler talk' at work with colleagues, what's happening in the latest reality TV show?
Surveillance — lets the audience know what is happening in the world, for example print and broadcast news.
Diversion — a media text which provides escapism for the audience, for example a holiday programme.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uses_and_Gratifications

Problems with this model:

The model still implies that messages are packages of information that all the audience will read as the same. It does not consider how the messages are interpreted or any other factors affecting the audience’s interpretation.

Both the Effects and the Uses and Gratifications model ignore to some extent the audience and their social backgrounds, how they form their interpretations of the media messages and their specific relationship with the media text.

'Screen Theory'

Screen theory suggested that all media texts have a "mode of address" – a term used by semioticians which proposes that media texts address its intended audience in a particular way, establishing a relationship between the producer of the text and the media’s audience. The mode of address is dependant on the particular medium. For instance, cinema rarely addresses the audience directly. Films are usually shot to suggest the film is reality. In comedy characters occasionally look into the camera. Recently there has be a trend in which films have become self-reflexive, drawing on and manipulating the conventions of the audience’s expectations of the medium. The "Scream" films are a good example of this. Television differs from cinema, as the audience are not expected to pay the attention which cinema demands, so television has to work to attain and maintain the audience’s attention.

Proportion of adverts broadcast during children's TV

Haribo - 56%
Bel - 48%
Kellogs - 44%
Britvic - 41%
McDonalds - 33%
Nestle - 30%
It has also been learnt that a high proportion of food advertsing is now being targeted at children

This would suggest that junk food advertising has a negative effect, but the industry argues that
'Adverts do not encourage children to eat more, it claims, but just to change brand.'

'Industry position

The advertising industry insists that there is no correlation between food advertising and obesity.

It cites the example of Sweden, where there is a complete ban on advertising during children's television, but no noticeable difference between children's bodyweight there and in neighbouring countries.

The advertising industry also says there is a direct link between advertising revenue and expenditure on children's programming. '

The link between revenue and expenditure definately suggests that there is a correlation between the two, although the fact that sweden has no advertising but similar trends could suggest that advertising has little real affect on childrens andparents buying preferences

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3605503.stm

Childhood obesity Trends

This diagram shows a growth in the obesity of children

'High levels of overweight and obesity among children are likely to exacerbate the trend towards overweight and obesity in the adult population, since compared to thin children, obese children have a high risk of becoming overweight adults.

Between 1995 and 2004 the prevalence of obesity almost doubled among English boys (from 11% to 19%) and increased by over a half in girls (from 12% to 19%). '

from http://www.heartstats.org/datapage.asp?id=1011

Looking at associations between Television and Lifestyle

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/reports/food_ads/report.pdf
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/reports/food_ads/appendix2.pdf
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/reports/food_ads/appendix2.pdf

(Reports by the regulatory body, Ofcom)

Obesity caused by multiple factors?

Theory

‘(1) Individual (intrapersonal) - psychosocial, biological and behavioural factors.
(2) Social environmental (interpersonal) - family, friends and peer networks.
(3) Physical environment (community) – accessibility, school food policy and local facilities.
(4) Macro system (societal) - mass media and advertising, social and cultural norms,
production and distribution systems and pricing policies.’

‘Television viewing is correlated with obesity. Among the many influences on obesity,
television viewing is consistently reported as a key factor. Surveys confirm that hours
spent in television viewing correlate with measures of poor diet, poor health and obesity
among both children and adults. This finding is open to three explanations. (1) Television
viewing is a sedentary activity that reduces metabolic rates and displaces physical
exercise. (2) Television viewing is associated with frequent snacking, pre-prepared
meals and/or fast food consumption. (3) Television viewing includes exposure to
advertisements for HFSS1 food products. There is support for each of these explanations
although little empirical research attempts to disentangle them.’


This suggests that advertising itself has less effect on the lifestyle of children than the act of watching television itself. Watching television causes a behavioural change, making them more sedentary. They become less active. Lack of exercise can result in lowered energy levels, meaning that they crave sugar and want more, unhealthier foods. Thy will also want quick easy things to eat so they can go back to watching TV. The advertising plays on these needs and provides ‘inspiration for what they should eat’

However, I want to investigate the effects of TV advertising in general on the Lifestyle choices of children and obesity.

Focus for my study;

-Effects models – attitudes towards audiences, in particular child audiences

The active consumer
Theories of promotion recognise that consumers/viewers themselves play an active
role in mediating (selecting, interpreting, accepting or resisting, acting upon) media
messages. However, the FSA report does not pursue the question of whether
children have the competence to play such a role, leaving open some crucial
questions of media literacy, although the report does conclude (p.183) that research
is needed on how children interpret television advertising. This is indeed important,
because their interpretation mediates the advertised message, potentially enhancing,
reinforcing or undermining the message.12


-Packaging of food
-What it looks like - is it made to look fun?
-Are unhealthy foods misrepresented (industry packaging standards)

Ofcom’s Current Rules
Ofcom is required by the Communications Act 20032 to ensure that broadcasters meet a range of standards objectives for programmes and advertisements and to draw up codes of practice to assist broadcasters in meeting these standards.
Compliance with the codes is mandatory, and is a condition of being a broadcast
licence holder. Ofcom’s Codes contain a number of rules relating to children and to
food. Amongst these are:
􀁸 Advertisements in which personalities or other characters (including puppets
etc.) who appear regularly in any children’s television programme . present
or positively endorse products or services of special interest to children, may
not be advertised before 9pm.3
􀁸 Advertisements must not directly advise or ask children to buy or to ask their
parents or others to make enquiries or purchases.4
􀁸 Nutrition claims (e.g. .full of the goodness of vitamin C.) or health claims (e.g.
.aids a healthy digestion.) must be supported by sound scientific evidence.
Advertising must not give a misleading impression of the nutritional or health
benefits of the product as a whole.5
􀁸 Advertisements must not encourage or condone excessive consumption of
any food (Note: Interpretation of this rule should be by reference to current
generally accepted nutritional advice.).6
􀁸 Advertisements must not disparage good dietary practice. Comparisons
between products must not discourage the selection of options such as fresh
fruit and vegetables which accepted dietary opinion recommends should form
a greater part of the average diet.7

-How the adverts are constructed
->What methods are used to make them effective
-Placement of adverts within television advertising slots
->How much money is invested by the advertising
-Legislation governing ‘unhealthy foods’
-(Secondary) Other causes of sedentary activity
->Change in lifestyle trends
-What exactly are children watching
->BARB audience viewing data
-Comparison of obese and healthy children’s diet, behaviour and attitudes
-Parent and child opinions about advertising
-What exactly is marketed at children -> food types.

I will firstly look at obesity and lifestyle trends...

Tony the tiger advert

This is now banned due to the presence of a fictional cartoon character

Children and the Media/Advertising

Children and fast food advertising

Welcome

to your Latymer Critical Research Blog