Food advertising from early childhood to adolescence: what is the impact

The factors that bring a child to accept or to refuse a given food are sweetness, familiarity, and hedonic value. All these factors are present in food advertising. The most frequently aired food advertising are of foods too rich in sugar and/or fat and poor in fibres, vitamins, and mineral content. The frequency of food advertising directed to children is very high. It has been shown that even advertising lasting for 10-30 seconds are able to influence food preferences of children 2-6 years old, thus it might be possible that frequently watching a specific food advertising on TV could increase the familiarity a child has with that food, and, of consequence, its preference. The F.A. structure applies the best methodologies coming from the most updated scientific researches in order to increase the hedonic value of the advertised food. Increasing the hedonic value of a given often sweet and fat food together with a frequent airing might strongly influence the food preference and its buying by the target audience.