IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jconsa/v56y2022i2p536-564.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does industry self‐regulation work to protect consumers? An evaluation of the children's food and beverage advertising initiative

Author

Listed:
  • Rosemary J. Avery
  • Aerin Brown
  • Alan Mathios

Abstract

The study evaluates the success of an industry self‐regulatory initiative, the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), designed to limit advertising of less nutritious foods to children that began in 2006 and implemented by pledging firms by 2013. We estimate the nutritional profile (calories, sugar, sodium, and fiber) of cereals that were advertised on national/local television (approximately 170 million ads) and measure children's exposure (over 21,000 children) to these ads for years 2001–2013. We also examine how firms responded to the voluntary agreement in terms of their advertising and product line decisions. Results reveal improvements in the nutritional quality of cereal children are exposed to through advertising, indicating the success of this self‐regulatory initiative in this product category. Results also reveal the ways in which manufacturers adapted their product line offerings and ad airings in response to their CFBAI pledges.

Suggested Citation

  • Rosemary J. Avery & Aerin Brown & Alan Mathios, 2022. "Does industry self‐regulation work to protect consumers? An evaluation of the children's food and beverage advertising initiative," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 536-564, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:56:y:2022:i:2:p:536-564
    DOI: 10.1111/joca.12438
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12438
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/joca.12438?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joshua Berning & Rui Huang & Adam Rabinowitz, 2014. "An Evaluation of Government and Industry Proposed Restrictions on Television Advertising of Breakfast Cereals to Children," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 507-525, December.
    2. Peltzman, Sam, 1981. "The Effects of FTC Advertising Regulation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(3), pages 403-448, December.
    3. Sharma, L.L. & Teret, S.P. & Brownell, K.D., 2010. "The food industry and self-regulation: Standards to promote success and to avoid public health failures," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(2), pages 240-246.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Levy, Daniel & Dutta, Shantanu & Bergen, Mark & Venable, Robert, 1998. "Price Adjustment at Multiproduct Retailers," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 19(2), pages 81-120.
    2. Pak Hung Au & Yuk‐Fai Fong & Jin Li, 2020. "Negotiated Block Trade And Rebuilding Of Trust," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 61(2), pages 901-939, May.
    3. Emma J. Kuhn & G. Stewart Walker & Harriet Whiley & Jackie Wright & Kirstin E. Ross, 2021. "Overview of Current Practices in the Methamphetamine Testing and Decontamination Industry: An Australian Case Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-11, August.
    4. Kraak, Vivica I. & Swinburn, Boyd & Lawrence, Mark & Harrison, Paul, 2014. "A Q methodology study of stakeholders’ views about accountability for promoting healthy food environments in England through the Responsibility Deal Food Network," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(P1), pages 207-218.
    5. Timothy Werner, 2015. "Gaining Access by Doing Good: The Effect of Sociopolitical Reputation on Firm Participation in Public Policy Making," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(8), pages 1989-2011, August.
    6. Johnson, William C. & Xie, Wenjuan & Yi, Sangho, 2014. "Corporate fraud and the value of reputations in the product market," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 16-39.
    7. Mark Bergen & Daniel Levy & Sourav Ray & Paul H. Rubin & Benjamin Zeliger, 2008. "When Little Things Mean a Lot: On the Inefficiency of Item-Pricing Laws," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(2), pages 209-250, May.
    8. Gary Entwistle & Glenn Feltham & Chima Mbagwu, 2006. "Misleading Disclosure of Pro Forma Earnings: An Empirical Examination," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 69(4), pages 355-372, December.
    9. Angela Chang & Peter J. Schulz & Tony Schirato & Brian J. Hall, 2018. "Implicit Messages Regarding Unhealthy Foodstuffs in Chinese Television Advertisements: Increasing the Risk of Obesity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, January.
    10. Béné, Christophe, 2022. "Why the Great Food Transformation may not happen – A deep-dive into our food systems’ political economy, controversies and politics of evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    11. Knai, C. & Petticrew, M. & Durand, M.A. & Eastmure, E. & James, L. & Mehrotra, A. & Scott, C. & Mays, N., 2015. "Has a public–private partnership resulted in action on healthier diets in England? An analysis of the Public Health Responsibility Deal food pledges," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-10.
    12. Panjwani, Clare & Caraher, Martin, 2014. "The Public Health Responsibility Deal: Brokering a deal for public health, but on whose terms?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(2), pages 163-173.
    13. Scott, C. & Hawkins, B. & Knai, C., 2017. "Food and beverage product reformulation as a corporate political strategy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 37-45.
    14. von Kaufmann, Freddie & Skafida, Valeria, 2023. "Captive school markets, industry self-regulation, and public-private partnerships: Narratives shaping the development of alternative proteins in the United States, 1965–1982," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    15. Rachel Griffith & Martin O'Connell & Kate Smith, 2017. "The Importance of Product Reformulation Versus Consumer Choice in Improving Diet Quality," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 84(333), pages 34-53, January.
    16. Robert Cluley, 2020. "Complaining about rivals: Indifference, cooperation, and competition in the governance of advertising," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(2), pages 316-327, April.
    17. Alexander, Cindy R, 1999. "On the Nature of the Reputational Penalty for Corporate Crime: Evidence," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(1), pages 489-526, April.
    18. Julie V. Stanton & Deirdre T. Guion, 2013. "Taking Advantage of a Vulnerable Group? Emotional Cues in Ads Targeting Parents," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 485-517, November.
    19. Zorbas, Christina & Resnick, Danielle & Jones, Eleanor & Suri, Shoba & Iruhiriye, Elyse & Headey, Derek D. & Martin, Will & Vos, Rob & Arndt, Channing & Menon, Purnima, 2024. "From promises to action: Analyzing global commitments on food security and diets since 2015," IFPRI discussion papers 2238, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    20. Berning, Joshua P., 2014. "The Effect of Breakfast Cereal Coupons on the Nutritional Quality of Household Purchases," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 17(A), pages 1-20, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:56:y:2022:i:2:p:536-564. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-0078 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.