Researchers
at Yale did a study to see how much of a factor television advertising can have
on eating behaviors. In the first part of the experiment, children were shown a
popular children’s TV show, and snack food commercials were shown during
commercial breaks. In the first part of the experiment, while children were
watching a TV show, they were given goldfish and a glass of water. The group
that watched snack food ads ate 45% more goldfish than the group who watched
non-food related advertisements. The research group calculated this to be a
weight gain of 10 pounds per year for the average TV watcher.
In the
second part of this experiment, 3 groups of adults were shown a TV show with no
food advertising, snack food advertising, and health food advertising. They
were told to eat at least one bite of each, but that they could eat as much as
they wanted. The group that watched health food advertising ate less of every
single type of food than the control, which ate less food in every category
than the snack ads group.
This
experiment clearly shows that food advertising can have an effect on the whole
population, and could have a big contributing factor to obesity. However, this
study did show a way that people can be influenced to actually reduce the consumption
of their food. If people are shown advertising for health food, it could
actually encourage them to lose weight by eating less. What do you think could
be done to decrease obesity now knowing the information this study provides?
I agree that this is a huge issue for obesity factors in the United States. I know for a fact that there has been many times where I am watching t.v. and I will see and advertisement for food and just start to crave food. I might not necessarily go out and get that food, but I might go search my cabinets and look for something to eat right then. I definitely think there is some validity to this study. Advertising has a large impact on people. If I constantly just saw commercials about being healthy and working out I would probably feel guilty about eating junk food while I eat. However, I do not think there is a solution to this because obviously companies are going to advertise and market accordingly to the programs that are being watched. It would be interesting if some sort of legislation could be passed on advertisements during children shows to try to stop them from reaching obesity and start being more active.
ReplyDeleteThis seems to be an important study in today's world, mainly because of the rise in obesity in the United States. There are so many factors that contribute to youth obesity, some which include genetics, irresponsible parenting, and no outdoor activity. However, this topic brings a new factor: advertising. It's difficult in one sitting to not witness at least one junk food, fast food, or snack food advertisement. This experiment shows an obvious increase in food consumption (junk food too) when junk foods are being advertised.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it seems like the right thing to do is decrease the amount of junk food commercials published on television, it does not seem like a feasible thought. These companies pay good money to receive the amount of television time that they do, and they do not seem like they are willing to decrease this. It seems like a better idea would be to encourage the health food companies to invest more time in advertising to make the public aware of their product. It is clear that advertising is dominated by junk food companies, probably because they give their buyers a "quick" enjoyment of sugar, carbs, etc. However, if health foods advertise the long-term enjoyment of their products, maybe more people will eat them instead of junk food.
It is a fact that TV networks are selling advertising time in order to pay for airtime. They are not going to turn away the revenue paid by the food market. It would be interesting how people responded to the advertisements if the nutritional information had to be displayed during the commercial. I was recently in a MacDonald's that displayed how many calories were in a quarter pounder combo meal. It made me rethink my decision. If people saw that that tiny bag of advertised chips was 250 calories, with more than half of those calories coming from fat, I bet their consumption would go down.
DeleteAfter reading the above article, I cannot say that I am surprised as to how their results turned out. The people in charge of making and producing these commercials are experts in their field and know exactly what to do to their particular commercial in an effort to make it most appealing to the consumer watching. From personal experience, I can vouch for the participants in a study that after seeing a commercial or numerous commericals for snack food or fast food, I am much more likely to go out and purchase the particular food or snack.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, I think that the amount of advertising these companies show is bad for the general level of obesity in the United States. After seeing this article, I am curious as to what the ratio of commercials for snack/fast foods are to the amount of commercials on air for health conscious foods.
Martijn, one thing I thought was very interesting was that the advertisement of health foods actually decreased the consumption of health foods. So from a marketing standpoint, I can't imagine it would be a good business move to pay for a commercial.
ReplyDeleteI loved this article because I know that there has been many times when I'm sitting down watching TV and see a commercial for inticing food and just start to crave it, so I could see how showing these types of commercials could be linked somehow to the growing obesity problem in the United States. I think that it would be much more beneficial to show health food/ weight loss commercials, that way people won't see or desire the food that is horrible for you as much and will be more motivated to eat healthier and work out as well.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, I can definitely see why tv food commercials have a significant influence on the consumer. Obesity is an increasing problem in the U.S. and it has actually been predicted that by 2040, over 53% of the U.S will be overweight if people do not change their eating habits and lifestyles. There actually was an article that explained the "psychology of colors" which says that certain colors are used to provoke specific responses. For example, the colors yellow and red are meant to make you more alert, tense, feel anxiety, and actually stimulate your hunger. This is why fast food places such as mcdonalds uses these colors as their logo and in their advertisements.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that TV advertisements influence people's eating habits. The food commercials somehow have a way of making everything look delicious. Also, many of the commercials for food that we see on TV today are for fast food restaurants. These places are notorious to have very high fat and high calorie foods. The commercials do not tell you how bad the food actually is for you, they just market how good it looks and how inexpensive it is. I do think that these advertisements are bad and they are not helping the amount of obese people we now have in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteThis research is the story of my life it is common practice in my apartment for my roommates and I to be sitting and watching TV around 5:30 then suddenly subway commercial. Then suddenly its subway time, I would definantly agree that advertising affects eating habits yet at the same time I think it is more of a learned habit in the United States rather than any one things fault. Obesity falls mainly unto the personal responsibility of those who chose to eat more than they should.
ReplyDelete