ArticleGlobalization and health2020
Selling second best: how infant formula marketing works.
Article in Globalization and health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 132 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
- Conduct and reporting of formula milk trials: systematic review.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2021Pooled it
- Development and Validation of the Lactation Psychological Needs Scale.Journal of human lactation : official journal of International Lactation Consultant Association · 2026Article
- Infant Formula Affordability Negatively Impacts Parental Wellbeing, Financial Security and Safe Feeding Practices in the UK.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Article
- Loss aversion and the limits of breastfeeding promotion: a behavioral policy perspective.International breastfeeding journal · 2026Article
- Food industry degrowth as a public health strategy: the case of ultra processed baked goods.Globalization and health · 2025Article
- Building a baby-friendly community: Development, strategy, implementation and evaluation of a BFCI program.Journal of advanced nursing · 2025Article
- Understanding the marketing of BMS in China through pregnant women and new mothers' diary.Globalization and health · 2025Article
- Profits Before Health? New Zealand Government Rejection of Stricter Infant Formula Marketing Standards and the Lobbying Behind It.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Cross-Sectional Associations Between Exposure to Commercial Milk Formula Marketing, Beliefs About Its Use, and Socioeconomic Position Among Pregnant Women and Mothers in the UK.Maternal & child nutrition · 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
- Infant Formula in the Digital Age: How US Online Formula Marketing Targets Parents.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Article
- Policy changes to US federal infant feeding laws and regulations from 2014-2023: evidence that the 2022 infant formula shortage had a narrow policy impact.Health affairs scholar · 2025Article
- Healthcare professionals' perspectives on commercial milk formula marketing in the UK: a qualitative study.Archives of disease in childhood · 2025Article
- Breastfeeding: The Multifaceted Impact on Child Development and Maternal Well-Being.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Content Analysis of Austrian Print and Online Newspaper Coverage of Breastfeeding Over Two Decades.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Formula Labelling in the United Kingdom: Manufacturers' Compliance With the Code, UK Law and Guidance Notes.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Overcoming barriers to gut microbiome development through nutritional factors in the first 1,000 days of life: strategies and implications for preventing non-communicable diseases.Gut microbiome (Cambridge, England) · 2025Review
- Women's exposure to commercial milk formula marketing: a WHO multi-country market research study.Globalization and health · 2024Article
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDespite the clear policy intent to contain it, the marketing of formula milk remains widespread, powerful and successful. This paper examines how it works.
methodsThe study comprised a mix of secondary analysis of business databases and qualitative interviews with marketing practitioners, some of whom had previously worked in formula marketing.
resultsThe World Health Assembly Code aims to shield parents from unfair commercial pressures by stopping the inappropriate promotion of infant formula. In reality marketing remains widespread because some countries (e.g. the USA) have not adopted the Code, and elsewhere industry has developed follow-on and specialist milks with which they promote formula by proxy. The World Health Assembly has tried to close these loopholes by extending its Code to these products; but the marketing continues. The campaigns use emotional appeals to reach out to and build relationships with parents and especially mothers. Evocative brands give these approaches a human face. The advent of social media has made it easier to pose as the friend and supporter of parents; it is also providing companies with a rich stream of personal data with which they hone and target their campaigns. The formula industry is dominated by a small number of extremely powerful multinational corporations with the resources to buy the best global marketing expertise. Like all corporations they are governed by the fiduciary imperative which puts the pursuit of profits ahead of all other concerns. This mix of fiscal power, sophisticated marketing, and single-mindedness is causing great harm to public health.
conclusionsFormula marketing is widespread and using powerful emotional techniques to sell parents a product that is vastly inferior to breast milk. There is an urgent need to update and strengthen regulation.
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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.