How Marketers Reach Young Consumers: Implications for Nutrition Education and Health Promotion Campaigns

Family Economics and Nutrition Review, Fall, 1998 by Vivica Kraak, David L. Pelletier

Separate nutrition messages were the most effective short-format messages in terms of children's verbalized snack selections and nutrition knowledge. Pro-nutrition messages that are aired on television compete with other advertisements for the attention of young viewers, so it is important that nutrition messages are comparable in technical and creative quality, interest, and variety. Public service announcements must be broadcast at times when children are likely to be exposed to them and aired repeatedly to ensure exposure and to reinforce desirable messages (29).

Communication Channels

Marketers can use different levels of intervention to reach various target audiences with messages, programs, and services. The individual-level targets are children and teenage youth, and the network-level targets are peer groups, families, and social networks. Organizational-level targets are restaurants, grocery stores, schools, and school cafeterias; and community-level targets are the media, public opinion, social norms, local legislation, and food producers (25). The message from the advertising industry to us is this: To have a successful social marketing program--one that effectively influences the eating behavior of children and teenagers--we must use multiple and reinforcing communication channels and approaches.

Summary

This paper describes the research methods used by marketers to gain specific information about young consumers--information that is used to design targeted marketing campaigns. Nutrition knowledge is a necessary but insufficient factor that can be used by nutrition educators to influence positively the food- and nutrition-related attitudes, decisions, and behavior of young consumers. Nutrition educators must use the knowledge gained from marketing and communications research to design more effective nutrition education and health promotion campaigns tailored for children and teenage youth (8). This paper discussed the range of research and marketing strategies the private sector uses. We believe that health and nutrition educators can take advantage of this sector's knowledge and expertise and the substantial investments it has made generating this knowledge.

This review indicates that a successful nutrition and health promotion campaign must consider appropriate methods of communication; preferred sources of information; credible sources and role models; and images of self, groups, and society. A social marketing campaign may be a useful component of a larger action plan that fosters partnerships among a variety of stakeholders who are committed to influencing positively the total food and nutrition environment of young consumers. This approach includes working collaboratively with potential allies and stakeholders who are interested in building or strengthening children's and teenagers' ability to become informed consumers in the marketplace.

This collaborative approach has a great advantage for the nutrition community. It has the potential to leverage the substantial resources of the portion of the private sector that has an interest in promoting improved nutrition and health. Collaboration, however, challenges nutrition educators to think and to act creatively, strategically, and nontraditionally to coordinate successfully efforts to improve the health and nutrition needs of our Nation's children and teenagers.