Taking Advantage of a Vulnerable Group? Emotional Cues in Ads Targeting Parents

Parents of small children regularly face challenges that are new to them, creating uncertainties and stress that complicate their decision-making processes. In this vulnerable state, parents may be susceptible to emotional appeals in advertisements in ways that influence their knowledge formation, food choices, and perceptions of self. In this study, we use a combination of content analysis and interviews to examine the use of emotional appeals, particularly guilt and fear, in food ads and how parents respond to them. We find that guilt is more frequently used in ads that target parents than has been shown for other audiences, and that parents often express negative self-images and coping strategies when viewing them. ********** In recent years, the general public has been gradually made aware of rising obesity rates in both adults and children (Carter et al. 2011). Further, medical research has yielded increasing amounts of advice regarding nutritional advantages of certain types of foods, often linking their nutrient content to reduced risks of disease, e.g., dietary fiber reducing cancer risks (Thompson and Moughan 2008). These pressures on the food choices made by the average consumer are compounded by the complexity of today's foods, with ingredients that are often unpronounceable by a typical consumer, much less definable. In this greater context of the connections between health and food, consumers are encouraged to make the "right" choices, whether for themselves or on behalf of their families. It is arguable as to whether most consumers understand what constitutes a healthy choice in all contexts, even when many make incremental steps such as opting for whole grain varieties of cereal products. Developing that knowledge--with confidence--takes time and practice. Thus, given the "newness" of their role, parents of small children can be viewed as inexperienced with making what they could confidently conclude is the "right" choice of foods for their children. At the same time, the rather cluttered landscape for food products, brands, and media outlets has left advertisers with a difficult task as they attempt to create brand associations and influence shopping choices. In order to differentiate their product from others, some utilize appeals based on emotion, whether fear, happiness, or humor. Using negative emotional cues is expected to make consumers uncomfortable enough to want the "solution" offered in the ad (Biswas, Olsen, and Carlet 1992; Brennan and Binney 2010; Huhmann and Brotherton 1997), while positive emotional cues may enhance the consumer's ability to process information cues. The combination of an inexperienced consumer group--one which we will argue is "vulnerable" to persuasive messages regarding food for their children--and an advertising strategy that seeks differentiation in a variety of ways suggests that there may be gray areas in food advertising about which the ethical implications require discussion. In this study, we look specifically at the messages parents receive via food ads in targeted magazines and at the perceptions parents hold of those ads. In a two-study approach, we utilize content analysis to illustrate the emotional appeals used to target parents of small children (Study 1) and personal interviews to gauge parents' feelings about the same (Study 2). Our goal is twofold: first, to illustrate the connections advertisers make between foods, negative emotions, and parental responsibilities regarding food choices for their children, and second, to raise questions as to the appropriateness of such strategies. While we do not pursue conclusive evidence of consumers being harmed by negative emotional appeals, we do begin an important dialogue regarding the external triggers that influence the quality of parental food choices on behalf of small children. In the next section, we establish our argument for considering parents of small children to be a "vulnerable" population, and discuss our theoretical approach to examining advertising strategy that targets them. …