مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

Using social networking sites has become a popular activity among children in this digital age (Fernández, 2011). These sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, allow social interaction and create a sense of community. They act as a portal for entertainment and communication and have developed significantly over the past few years (Fernández, 2011). Research demonstrates that healthrelated behaviors are formed and controlled by a variety of social and community environments; likewise, the manner in which individuals belong to broader social networks and communities has a significant impact on their health and well-being (Morrow, 1999). In this digital age, social media play an important part in everyone’s life, and children are no exception. It is believed that traditional media, such as television, can be blamed for reductions in physical activity and escalations in sedentary behavior, which lead to a wide range of health effects (Marshall et al., 2004). Furthermore, social networking sites present a new opportunity for companies to target children. A review of online marketing to children in the United States reveals that fast-food restaurants allocated 19% of all their online advertising on Facebook in 2012 (Clarke and Svanaes, ۲۰۱۴). Big brands such as Starbucks, McDonald’s, Pepsi and Subway had a substantial presence on social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube with millions of followers and ‘likes’ (Harris et al., 2013). Brands use various engagement tactics such as using celebrity images or videos, doing polls or quizzes, hosting competitions, or providing discounts and vouchers in order to facilitate the interactions between the users and the brands (Clarke and Svanaes, 2014). One of the most popular techniques is to depict complimentary toys or premium with a children’s meal or special discount voucher that could be used when purchasing the product in the advertisements. However, an understanding of the effects of marketing communications in social networking sites on children is lacking.

On the other hand, the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Australians has been growing progressively for the past 30 years (NHMRC, 2014). Between 2011 and 2012, around 60% of Australian adults were classified as overweight, and more than 25% of these fell into the obese category (NHMRC, 2014). In 2013, over 12 million or three out of five Australian adults were overweight or obese (AIHW, 2014). Furthermore, one in four Australian children were overweight or obese (AIHW, 2014). Besides, overweight and obesity are only beaten by smoking and high blood pressure as contributors to the burden of diseases (AIHW, 2014).

Recent research suggests that obesity can be escalated across social networks, highlighting the role of social networks and social media regarding obesity of children (Bahr et al., 2009; Christakis and Fowler, 2007). Previous research concentrated predominantly on advertisements in children’s web page design, and advergames as a form of advertising have been given the most attention by researchers (Clarke and Svanaes, 2014). This is partly because of the popularity of online games among children, which is considered an advantage for advergames to become an extremely effective and affordable advertising method (An and Kang, 2014; An and Stern, 2011; Dias and Agante, 2011). Notwithstanding, scant research has been done on the new forms of data-driven advertising, especially social networking sites. There is little evidence on how young consumers respond to fast food ads on social networking sites, which are supposed to be their private space. In addition, as children are considered digital natives and more digital literate than most adults (Clarke and Svanaes, 2014), it is important to investigate to what extent children are vulnerable to advertising influence. Therefore, this study endeavors to investigate the child’s perception of online advertising in social networking sites and the impact on his/her intention to consume unhealthy food in the Australian setting, which can be associated with the issue of obesity.