Introduction
Obesity has become a perennial problem for the modern world. The costs involving obesity in the United States alone have surpassed the 100 billion mark. Though recent studies have shown that the prevalence of obesity in children and young adults have stagnated in both the United States and Australia, the rates remain relatively high. This has raised the concern for the overweight and obesity problems for later generations in Australia and the United States.
Research Question
Does digital marketing of junk food increase the prevalence of obesity in our generation?
Justification for the Proposal Research
Marketing has an immense effect on the consumer behavior. This research sought to reveal the Energy Dense Nutrient Poor Governmental (EDNP) digital food marketing and its effect on consumers.
Definition of terms
Junk food: Food that has very low nutritional value and required little to no preparation before consumption.
Obesity: A medical condition where someone becomes immensely overweight. Usually caused by a poor diet.
Preliminary Literature Review
In his piece (Campbell, 2006) insists that the certain companies use product placement and marketing practices that target children. Children obesity has been on the rise and research holds that the situation is set to be worse for future generations. These promotion practices use popular characters in a deceptive manner in order to drive their sales at the expense of children’s health. (Campbell, 2006) purports that such detrimental marketing practices should be prohibited under federal law.
Contribution to the Research
Through analysis of International companies, Australian based companies and strong corporate brands such as Coca-Cola and Subway, it was discovered that the companies possess a strong digital footprint and use captivating and unique techniques in order to keep the customers engaged. Of these companies four had integrated apps that allowed for direct placement of an order through Facebook and related mobile applications. In addition, it was revealed that adolescents and young adult are most drawn to this kind of marketing.
Methodology
Through content analysis, the digital marketing strategies of over 20 food and beverage companies were analyzed in Australia. Nineteen coded categories were used to make conclusions on the influence on consumers.
Conclusion
Through expert use of digital media such as Facebook, Instagram, and mobile applications ENDP are able to market products and push marketing messages to the online audience. Social networks available enable them to extend their marketing span.
References
Campbell, A. J. (2006). Restricting the Marketing of Junk Food To Children By Product Placement and Character Selling. Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review (Vol. 39).
