IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ausman/v47y2022i4p749-772.html

Research on unhealthy food and beverages advertising targeting children: Systematic literature review and directions for future research

Author

Listed:
  • Ritu Srivastava

    (University of Lucknow, Lucknow, India; Management Development Institute Gurgaon, India)

  • Parul Gupta

    (Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India; Management Development Institute Gurgaon, India)

Abstract

The rising level of childhood obesity across the globe has escalated the worries of World Health Organization (WHO), health practitioners, policymakers, and regulators. One of the most prominent factors that promote unhealthy eating habits of children is the heavy advertising of food and beverages (F&B) targeted at children. This has deepened the concerns of stakeholders about the persuasion ethics of firms aggressively promoting unhealthy foodstuff to young consumers. This article presents a systematic literature review of scholarly research on the advertising of unhealthy F&B targeted at children. A systematic review of 70 peer-reviewed articles is conducted through the theoretical lens to present their contributions. Synthesising the findings of empirical studies, the scholarly research is classified into six core research themes. We elaborate on directions for future research: Theory, Context, and Methods and distil specific research questions for future studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Ritu Srivastava & Parul Gupta, 2022. "Research on unhealthy food and beverages advertising targeting children: Systematic literature review and directions for future research," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 47(4), pages 749-772, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ausman:v:47:y:2022:i:4:p:749-772
    DOI: 10.1177/03128962211059579
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03128962211059579
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/03128962211059579?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. Jawad Azimi & Jimbo H. Claver & Takeru Suzuki & Jesus Pascal, 2020. "Identification and analysis of factors influencing food advertisements on buying behaviour of children in emerging consumption markets: the case study of Afghanistan," International Journal of Business and Systems Research, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 14(1), pages 1-32.
    2. Newman, Christopher L. & Howlett, Elizabeth & Burton, Scot, 2014. "Implications of fast food restaurant concentration for preschool-aged childhood obesity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(8), pages 1573-1580.
    3. Gupta, Parul & Chauhan, Sumedha & Paul, Justin & Jaiswal, M.P., 2020. "Social entrepreneurship research: A review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 209-229.
    4. Avi Goldfarb, 2014. "What is Different About Online Advertising?," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 44(2), pages 115-129, March.
    5. Zimmerman, F.J. & Bell, J.F., 2010. "Associations of television content type and obesity in children," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(2), pages 334-340.
    6. Jyoti Vohra & Pavleen Soni, 2015. "Logit modelling of food shopping behaviour of children in retail stores," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 38(8), pages 840-854, August.
    7. Jyoti Vohra & Pavleen Soni, 2015. "Logit modelling of food shopping behaviour of children in retail stores," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 38(8), pages 840-854, August.
    8. Joost F Wolfswinkel & Elfi Furtmueller & Celeste P M Wilderom, 2013. "Using grounded theory as a method for rigorously reviewing literature," European Journal of Information Systems, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 45-55, January.
    9. Carter, Owen B.J. & Patterson, Lisa J. & Donovan, Robert J. & Ewing, Michael T. & Roberts, Clare M., 2011. "Children's understanding of the selling versus persuasive intent of junk food advertising: Implications for regulation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(6), pages 962-968, March.
    10. Jyoti Vohra & Pavleen Soni, 2015. "Logit modelling of food shopping behaviour of children in retail stores," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 38(8), pages 840-854, August.
    11. Cunningham, Solveig A. & Zavodny, Madeline, 2011. "Does the sale of sweetened beverages at school affect children’s weight?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(9), pages 1332-1339.
    12. Robert J. David & Shin‐Kap Han, 2004. "A systematic assessment of the empirical support for transaction cost economics," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 39-58, January.
    13. Henderson, Julie & Coveney, John & Ward, Paul & Taylor, Anne, 2009. "Governing childhood obesity: Framing regulation of fast food advertising in the Australian print media," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 1402-1408, November.
    14. Dixon, Helen & Scully, Maree & Kelly, Bridget & Chapman, Kathy & Wakefield, Melanie, 2014. "Can counter-advertising reduce pre-adolescent children's susceptibility to front-of-package promotions on unhealthy foods?: Experimental research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 211-219.
    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. Maryna Brychko & Tetyana Vasilyeva & Zuzana Rowland & Serhiy Lyeonov, 2021. "Does the real estate market behavior predict the trust crisis in the financial sector? The case of the ECB and the Euro," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 16(4), pages 711-740, December.
    2. Manhart, Niklas, 2022. "The Mission Comes First: Exploring the Mechanisms of Organizational Sponsorship for the Acceleration of Social Start-Ups," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 7(2), pages 289-337.
    3. Schneider, Christian O. & Bremen, Philipp & Schönsleben, Paul & Alard, Robert, 2013. "Transaction cost economics in global sourcing: Assessing regional differences and implications for performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(1), pages 243-254.
    4. M. Meuleman & S. Manigart & A. Lockett & M. Wright, 2006. "Transaction costs, behavioral uncertainty and the formation of interfirm cooperations: Syndication in the UK private equity market," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 06/359, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    5. Reeti Kulshrestha & Arunaditya Sahay & Subhanjan Sengupta, 2022. "Constituents and Drivers of Mission Engagement for Social Enterprise Sustainability: A Systematic Review," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 31(1), pages 90-120, March.
    6. Muhammad Rahies Khan & Amir Manzoor, 2021. "Application and Impact of New Technologies in the Supply Chain Management During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Literature Review," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(2), pages 277-292.
    7. Chen, Xiao & Dai, Narisa Tianjing & Liu, Leo Jiahe, 2025. "Audit implications of major customer diversity," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(2).
    8. Aaltonen, Aleksi Ville & Alaimo, Cristina & Kallinikos, Jannis, 2021. "The making of data commodities: data analytics as an embedded process," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 110296, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. repec:wsi:acsxxx:v:21:y:2019:i:08:n:s1363919619500130 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Esther Gal-Or & Ronen Gal-Or & Nabita Penmetsa, 2018. "The Role of User Privacy Concerns in Shaping Competition Among Platforms," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 698-722, September.
    11. Ivan De Battista & Franco Curmi & Emanuel Said, 2021. "Influencing Factors Affecting Young People’s Attitude Towards Online Advertising: A Systematic Literature Review," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 11(3), pages 58-72.
    12. Femi Olan & Thanos Papadopoulos & Konstantina Spanaki & Uchitha Jayawickrama, 2026. "Social Entrepreneurial Marketing and Innovation in B2B Services: Building Resilience with Explainable Artificial Intelligence," Post-Print hal-04850236, HAL.
    13. Xueying Tian & Chunyang Zhao & Xiaochun Ge, 2022. "Entrepreneurial Traits, Relational Capital, and Social Enterprise Performance: Regulatory Effects of Cognitive Legitimacy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-22, March.
    14. Paulin Gohoungodji & Nabil Amara, 2023. "Art of innovating in the arts: definitions, determinants, and mode of innovation in creative industries, a systematic review," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(8), pages 2685-2725, November.
    15. Thomas Mellewigt & Glenn Hoetker & Martina Lütkewitte, 2018. "Avoiding High Opportunism Is Easy, Achieving Low Opportunism Is Not: A QCA Study on Curbing Opportunism in Buyer–Supplier Relationships," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(6), pages 1208-1208, December.
    16. Martino, Gaetano & Frascarelli, Angelo, 2012. "Adaptation in Food Networks: Theoretical Frame Work and Empirical Evidences," 2012 International European Forum, February 13-17, 2012, Innsbruck-Igls, Austria 144981, International European Forum on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks.
    17. Vishal K. Gupta & Gizem Atav & Dev K. Dutta, 2019. "Market orientation research: a qualitative synthesis and future research agenda," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 649-670, August.
    18. María Luisa Pajuelo‐Moreno & María Jesús Barroso‐Méndez & Dolores Gallardo‐Vázquez, 2024. "Relationship between sustainability disclosure and corporate reputation: Evidence from a meta‐analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 8593-8615, December.
    19. Lichtenstein, Scott & Fenn, Paul & Kah, Sally, 2023. "Developing a Co-constructed Autoethnographic Approach to Understand Personal Values-Guided Social Entrepreneurship," CAFE Working Papers 23, Centre for Accountancy, Finance and Economics (CAFE), Birmingham City Business School, Birmingham City University.
    20. Bayer, Emanuel & Srinivasan, Shuba & Riedl, Edward J. & Skiera, Bernd, 2020. "The impact of online display advertising and paid search advertising relative to offline advertising on firm performance and firm value," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 789-804.
    21. Haotian Zhu & Yao Sun & Junfeng Yang, 2025. "Towards responsible artificial intelligence in education: a systematic review on identifying and mitigating ethical risks," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-14, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:sae:ausman:v:47:y:2022:i:4:p:749-772. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.agsm.edu.au .

    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.