Healthy food advertising affecting Irish youngster’s food preferences: An exploratory study in the Irish market

Background: There has been a significant rise in the “healthy” fast-food outlets giving stiff competition to traditional fast-food restaurants. Food industry has completely changed in the past few years and so has people’s connection to food. Companies are spending millions to market their product as healthy and make consumers aware of the healthier options available in the market. With the motivation towards a healthy lifestyle and constant bombarding of advertisements, people are willing to invest their money on healthy food products available in the market. Objective: The study aims to find out if advertising impacts the food preferences and decision making of the Irish consumers and if healthy food advertising impacts the food consumption and buying patterns of Irish consumers. Method: A self-administered online questionnaire(n=100) was developed to find out the effect of healthy food advertising on the consumption pattern of adults aged 16- 35 years in Dublin, Ireland. The questionnaire focused on the role that advertising plays in the manipulation of consumer’s decision making and lifestyle, thereby, creating a distinction in the Irish consumer’s preferences and food choices. Results: The result validates that advertising drives decision making and drives youngsters into buying food products. While youngsters are bombarded with fast-food advertising which persuades them to buy fast-food compared to healthy food options, it is also evident that food marketing on social media is highly influential compared to traditional marketing platforms like television. Conclusion: The study concludes that food advertising does impact the food preferences of consumers. With the constant exposure of fast food advertising on various media platforms, most Irish youngsters prefer fast food over healthy food options. Hence, to tackle the health issues arising out of this scenario, the health department needs to impose strict regulations on unhealthy food advertising in Ireland