Trial reportBMC public health2020
Can counter-advertising diminish persuasive effects of conventional and pseudo-healthy unhealthy food product advertising on parents?: an experimental study.
Trial report in BMC public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05953194 (Effects of Anti-sugar-sweetened-beverage Counter-marketing on Behavioral Intentions and Perceived Weight Stigma), which is not on this map. Cited by 8 papers.
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.
Effects of Anti-sugar-sweetened-beverage Counter-marketing on Behavioral Intentions and Perceived Weight Stigma
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Can counter-advertising dilute marketing effects of alcohol sponsorship of elite sport: A field experiment.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Trial
- Pre-Post Evaluation of a Sun Safety Social Media Campaign for Young Adults to Reduce Skin Cancer Risk.JMIR dermatology · 2026Article
- Ultra-Processed Foods and Childhood Obesity: Current evidence and perspectives.Current nutrition reports · 2025Review
- The feasibility and acceptability of an inoculative intervention video for gambling advertising: a focus group study of academics and experts-by-experience.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- Challenges and solutions to banning the advertisement of unhealthy products: a qualitative study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Child and adolescent exposure to unhealthy food marketing across digital platforms in Canada.BMC public health · 2024Article
- The relationship between parent's self-reported exposure to food marketing and child and parental purchasing and consumption outcomes in five countries: findings from the International Food Policy Study.Journal of nutritional science · 2023Article
- How the "Are We Drinking Ourselves Sick?" Communication Campaign Built Support for Policy Action on Sugary Drinks in Jamaica.Nutrients · 2022Article
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTo help address rising rates of obesity in children, evidence is needed concerning impacts of common forms of marketing for unhealthy child-oriented food products and the efficacy of educational interventions in counteracting any detrimental impacts of such marketing. This study aims to explore parents' responses to advertising for unhealthy children's food products that employ different types of persuasive appeals and test whether a counter-advertising intervention exposing industry motives and marketing strategies can bolster parents' resistance to influence by unhealthy product advertising.
methodsN = 1613 Australian parents were randomly assigned to view online either a: (A) non-food ad (control); (B) conventional confectionery ad (highlighting sensory benefits of the product); (C) pseudo-healthy confectionery ad (promoting sensory benefits and health attributes of the product); (D) conventional confectionery ad + counter-ad (employing inoculation-style messaging and narrative communication elements); (E) pseudo-healthy confectionery ad + counter-ad. Parents then viewed various snacks, including those promoted in the food ads and counter-ad. Parents nominated their preferred product, then rated the products.
resultsExposure to the conventional confectionery ad increased parents' preference for the advertised product, enhanced perceptions of the product's healthiness and reduced sugar content and boosted brand attitude. Exposure to the pseudo-healthy confectionery ad increased parents' preference for the advertised product, and enhanced perceptions of healthiness, fibre content and lower sugar content. The counter-ad diminished, but did not eliminate, product ad effects on parents' purchasing preference, product perceptions and brand attitudes. The counter-ad also prompted parents to perceive processed foods as less healthy, higher in sugar and lower in fibre and may have increased support for advertising regulation.
conclusionsExposure to unhealthy product advertising promoted favourable perceptions of products and increased preferences for advertised products among parents. Counter-advertising interventions may bolster parents' resistance to persuasion by unhealthy product advertising and empower parents to more accurately evaluate advertised food products.
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Registered trials
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