Social media has become a powerful tool for food marketing, shaping our eating habits with every scroll. Platforms such as Instagram and TikTok are flooded with images of UPFs and viral food trends, but the impact goes beyond emotive marketing techniques. Research shows that constant exposure to digital food marketing—often promoting unhealthy and unsustainable products—can influence our preferences and eating behaviours, especially among vulnerable groups like children and adolescents. As food marketing shifts to these digital spaces, its influence on public health is growing, and so is the need for action.
In today's digital age, food marketing has found a new frontier: social media. Scroll through Instagram or TikTok for just a few minutes, and it's likely that you'll be bombarded with images of crispy fries, mouth watering cinnamon rolls, or viral food challenges. While all of this may seem like harmless scrolling, the impact of digital food marketing shouldn't be underestimated.
A new era of food marketing
Food marketing is not a new phenomenon. For decades, food companies have mastered the art of persuading consumers to choose their products. In the mid-20th century, television became the dominant space for food advertising due to its ability to reach millions of viewers at once. As the amount of food marketing kept on growing and spreading to different platforms, so did our exposure to food products.
Over the past few years, there has been a shift to newer forms of food marketing through websites, advergames and maybe most importantly: social media. With 59% of the European population actively using social media platforms such as, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, and as a result have become pivotal for food marketing. In comparison to the traditional mass advertising approach, digital food marketing is more embedded into entertaining content and can even be tailored to the characteristics and preferences of the individual. Research has shown that digital food marketing influences our preferences, attitudes, and even eating habits. This is particularly concerning as an overwhelming part of food marketing promotes unhealthy and environmentally unsustainable foods. So, how exactly does this constant exposure affect our eating choices?
The science behind the influence
To better understand how digital marketing shapes our eating behaviour, researchers have developed various models. One influential framework is the Food Brand Consumption Decision-Making (FBCDM) Model, which highlights the subtle ways in which marketing elements interact with our decision-making. While we might believe that our food choices are the result of rational and deliberate decisions, most of our eating behaviour is automatic, guided by subconscious processes. Constant exposure to digital food marketing has the power to normalise the consumption of unhealthy and unsustainable food products, making it more likely that we will include these foods into our daily diet. To achieve this, digital food marketing actively employs various persuasive techniques. These techniques can also affect us through messages from peers that might not be as intentionally persuasive as marketing messages are.
Modelling
Modelling is rooted in social learning theory, which posits that people learn not only through direct experience but also by observing the actions of others. If we see someone we admire, such as an influencer, celebrity or peer perform a certain behaviour (e.g. eat unhealthy foods), we’re more likely to adopt these behaviours ourselves.
Social Proof
If unhealthy food consumption is socially reinforced through likes, shares, or positive comments, it signals that these foods are popular and accepted as the norm. This makes these products seem highly desired, widely consumed by others and accessible, which increases the likelihood that we will consume them. Marketers can also reinforce social proof by sharing testimonials or by using endorsers.
Reciprocity
Digital food marketers often offer something of perceived value, like exclusive recipes or discounts, which leverages he human tendency to feel obligated to reciprocate after receiving something. For example, an influencer might say, “I’ve shared my best burger recipe; now it’s your turn to try it out!”.
Emotional appeals
Emotional appeals in food marketing aim to evoke feelings of happiness or satisfaction, associating those emotions to the food advertised. This gives us the impression that eating the food product will bring us the same joy and satisfaction, motivating us to buy the promoted product.
Visual appeal
Eye-catching images of aesthetically appealing food can make people feel hungry or crave certain foods. This sensory-triggering strategy works particularly well in digital media, where the visual element is the main aspect.
Vulnerable groups at greater risk
While digital food marketing affects all of us, certain groups are more at risk. Children are still developing critical skills, making it harder for them to recognise marketing and understand the persuasive intentions of food ads. When it comes to adolescents, research shows that they are more impulsive and self-conscious, still forming their identity, and therefore more susceptible to peer pressure. When they see attractive role models on social media (such as influencers) promoting unhealthy food, it’s easy for them to make the leap that eating those foods will help them fit in or feel good about themselves.
Low-income neighbourhoods are disproportionately targeted by unhealthy food marketing, and this trend extends to the digital food environment. Recent research shows that individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are more frequently exposed to digital food marketing promoting unhealthy products. On top of that, lower health literacy in these groups makes it even harder for them to critically evaluate this food content.
Next steps
The high prevalence of unhealthy and unsustainable digital food marketing poses serious threats to public health, underscoring the need for strategies to mitigate its impact.
- Regulation of unhealthy and unsustainable digital food marketing
Stricter regulation is needed on the social media marketing of unhealthy and unsustainable foods, particularly by influencers and those targeting younger audiences. Similar regulations could be implemented to limit the advertising of food products linked to negative environmental impacts, such as meat products.
- Countering unhealthy food marketing
While regulating unhealthy and unsustainable food marketing is important, actively promoting healthy and sustainable food choices is equally crucial. Although some studies show digital interventions to be successful, there is insufficient research focussing on communication strategies that can effectively promote the consumption of healthy and sustainable food (i.e. plant-based products). Hence, at KU Leuven, we are addressing this gap by conducting research on how digital media, especially social media, can promote a plant-based diet.
Käbi Vanwinkelen
Käbi Vanwinkelen is a PhD researcher at KU Leuven’s Media, Information, and Persuasion Lab under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Tim Smits. Her research explores how digital media can promote healthy and sustainable food consumption, specifically among vulnerable groups. Käbi is active in the EU project ‘FEAST’.