ArticleJMIR mHealth and uHealth2019
A Baby Formula Designed for Chinese Babies: Content Analysis of Milk Formula Advertisements on Chinese Parenting Apps.
Article in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Outcomes of implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes as national laws: a systematic review.International breastfeeding journal · 2024Pooled it
- Understanding the marketing of BMS in China through pregnant women and new mothers' diary.Globalization and health · 2025Article
- Digital Marketing Claims and Their Association With the Perceptions of Parents of Children Under 2 Years Old of Commercial Milk Formulas in Mexico.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Mediating Roles of Perceived Quality and Perceived Behaviour Control in Shaping Chinese Consumer's Purchase Intention for Domestic Infant Milk Formula (IMF).Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- How the marketing practices of commercial milk formula companies impact infant breastfeeding practices in China.BMJ global health · 2023Article
- Content analysis of on-package formula labelling in Great Britain: use of marketing messages on infant, follow-on, growing-up and specialist formula.Public health nutrition · 2023Article
- Cross-sectional multimedia audit reveals a multinational commercial milk formula industry circumventing the Philippine Milk Code with misinformation, manipulation, and cross-promotion campaigns.Frontiers in nutrition · 2023Article
- Digital health tools to support parents with parent-infant sleep and mental well-being.NPJ digital medicine · 2022Article
- Digital marketing of formula and baby food negatively influences breast feeding and complementary feeding: a cross-sectional study and video recording of parental exposure in Mexico.BMJ global health · 2022Article
- Data handling practices and commercial features of apps related to children: a scoping review of content analyses.Archives of disease in childhood · 2022Article
- Global evidence of persistent violations of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes: A systematic scoping review.Maternal & child nutrition · 2022Article
- Content analysis of breast milk substitutes marketing on Chinese e-commerce platforms.Maternal & child nutrition · 2022Article
- A prospective follow-up study on how long newborns are fasting in Debre Markos Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia, 2020.PloS one · 2022Article
- Evidence of Violations of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes since the Adoption by the World Health Assembly in 1981: A Systematic Scoping Review Protocol.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Advice to use infant formula and free samples are common in both urban and rural areas in China: a cross-sectional survey.Public health nutrition · 2021Article
- Globalization, first-foods systems transformations and corporate power: a synthesis of literature and data on the market and political practices of the transnational baby food industry.Globalization and health · 2021Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChina is the largest market for infant formula. With the increasing use of smartphones, apps have become the latest tool used to promote milk formula. Formula manufacturers and distributors both have seized the popularity of apps as an avenue for marketing.
objectiveThis study aimed to identify and analyze milk formula ads featured on Chinese pregnancy and parenting apps, to build the first complete picture of app-based milk formula marketing techniques being used by milk formula brand variants on these apps, and to more fully understand the ad content that potentially undermines public health messaging about infant and young child feeding.
methodsWe searched for free-to-download Chinese parenting apps in the 360 App Store, the biggest Android app store in China. The final sample consisted of 353 unique formula ads from the 79 apps that met the inclusion criteria. We developed a content analysis coding tool for categorizing the marketing techniques used in ads, which included a total of 22 coding options developed across 4 categories: emotional imagery, marketing elements, claims, and advertising disclosure.
resultsThe 353 milk formula ads were distributed across 31 companies, 44 brands, and 79 brand variants. Overall, 15 of 31 corporations were international with the remaining 16 being Chinese owned. An image of a natural pasture was the most commonly used emotional image among the brand variants (16/79). All variants included branding elements, and 75 variants linked directly to e-shops. Special price promotions were promoted by nearly half (n=39) of all variants. A total of 5 variants included a celebrity endorsement in their advertising. A total of 25 of the 79 variants made a product quality claim. Only 14 variants made a direct advertisement disclosure.
conclusionsThe purpose of marketing messages is to widen the use of formula and normalize formula as an appropriate food for all infants and young children, rather than as a specialized food for those unable to breastfeed. Policy makers should take steps to establish an appropriate regulatory framework and provide detailed monitoring and enforcement to ensure that milk formula marketing practices do not undermine breastfeeding norms and behaviors.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.