YQFAUQ_UXneGJNag>m_preview=env-2>m_cookies_win=x Impact Factor 2.067 | CiteScore 3.2 More on impact › Frontiers in Psychology -- -- This article is part of the Research Topic The Role of Social Media Influencers in the Lives of Children and Adolescents View all 12 Articles Articles -- -- * View Article Impact Suggest a Research Topic > -- -- https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02975 The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Children’s Dietary Behaviors Crystal R. Smit^1, Laura Buijs^1, Thabo J. van Woudenberg^1, Kirsten E. -- -- Over the past years vlogs rapidly have become an attractive platform for food industries, sponsoring social media influencers to promote their products. As with more traditional media, social media -- their products. As with more traditional media, social media influencers predominantly promote unhealthy drinks and foods that are high in sugar, fat, and salt – consumption of which may increase the risk of overweight, obesity, and non-communicable diseases. The aim of -- -- high in sugar, fat, and salt – consumption of which may increase the risk of overweight, obesity, and non-communicable diseases. The aim of the current Brief Research Report is to examine the impact of vlogs on children’s unhealthy dietary behaviors. Drawing on longitudinal survey data from 453 8- to 12-year-old children, we analyzed the longitudinal -- -- consumption of unhealthy beverages and snacks. Structural path modeling analyses of three waves of data with 1-year intervals showed that children’s self-reported frequency of watching vlogs influenced consumption of unhealthy beverages 2 years later. The analyses did not yield significant relations for Unhealthy Snacks Consumption. The -- -- dietary behaviors (WHO, 2010; Boyland et al., 2016; Robinson et al., 2017). Research shows that, similar to traditional media such as television, “vlogs” (i.e., video weblogs) by social media influencers are a popular platform for advertisers to target young audiences with food marketing (Tan et al., 2018; Folkvord et al., 2019). This -- -- are a popular platform for advertisers to target young audiences with food marketing (Tan et al., 2018; Folkvord et al., 2019). This influencer marketing technique involves the promotion and selling of products or services through social media personalities (“influencers”) who have the capacity to affect the character of a brand (Hill et al., 2020). As is the case with food marketing in more traditional media, -- -- who have the capacity to affect the character of a brand (Hill et al., 2020). As is the case with food marketing in more traditional media, social media influencers predominantly promote drinks and foods that are high in sugar, fat, and salt (Coates et al., 2019; Folkvord et al., 2019). Consumption of these unhealthy products increases the risk of -- -- overweight, obesity, and non-communicable diseases (WHO, 2010). Vlogs of social media influencers are an attractive platform for food industries to promote their products. Watching these vlogs has become a huge part of children’s daily media consumption, for many children even -- -- still be advertised without restrictions. Food marketing by social media influencers is also of scholarly interest, because it raises new questions about the processes and effects of non-traditional advertising formats. Based on advertising -- -- effects of non-traditional advertising formats. Based on advertising processing models (Buijzen et al., 2010; Rozendaal et al., 2011), it can be expected that sponsoring of social media influencers to advertise products in vlogs is a particularly effective strategy to -- advertise products in vlogs is a particularly effective strategy to influence children. Importantly, the food promotion is often highly integrated with the vlog content, rendering it more difficult for children to recognize it as advertising than is the case with more -- -- Moreover, the defining characteristic of these vlogs; that is, the social media influencers themselves, may trigger particularly powerful influence mechanisms that have so far only been associated with character marketing among young children (i.e., using animated characters on product packaging, see De Droog et al., 2012). It is -- -- character marketing, such as parasocial relationship formation and identification with characters (De Droog et al., 2012), occur for social media influencers as well (Lee and Watkins, 2016). Similar to what animated characters represent for young children, social media -- what animated characters represent for young children, social media influencers represent highly attractive characters with whom older children can build parasocial relationships, identify themselves, and whom they trust and believe (De Droog, 2012; Kapitan and Silvera, 2016; -- -- The question remains whether this is also the case for watching online vlogs. As argued above, it is conceivable that for vlogs the impact on unhealthy foods is even stronger than for traditional advertising. Therefore, the aim of the current Brief Research Report is to examine -- -- unhealthy foods is even stronger than for traditional advertising. Therefore, the aim of the current Brief Research Report is to examine the impact of vlogs on children’s unhealthy dietary behaviors. Specifically, drawing on three waves of longitudinal survey data from a large-scale project on youth’s healthy lifestyles, we analyzed the -- -- The analyses consisted of two structural path models using Mplus Version 8.3, one for the influence of Frequency of Watching Vlogs on Unhealthy Beverages Consumption over time and one for the influence of Frequency of Watching Vlogs on Unhealthy Snacks Consumption over time. Figure 1 depicts the basic model tested in the analyses. The models -- -- This Brief Research Report presented the first study to investigate the longitudinal impact of watching vlogs on children’s dietary behaviors. Structural path modeling analyses of three waves of data showed that children’s self-reported frequency of watching vlogs was related to -- -- Lipsky and Iannotti, 2012; Boyland et al., 2016; Folkvord et al., 2016; Pearson et al., 2018). We had expected to find a stronger association, given the defining characteristics of social media influencers that should strengthen the impact of advertising. A potential explanation might lie in the great number of influencers and vlogs, and the large variety of product categories that they promote, also including for example beauty and clothing brands. It is likely that more specific -- -- responses (cf. Folkvord et al., 2016). Even though there is convincing evidence for such a cue-response mechanism for other types of integrated advertising, the patterns observed for influencers in the current study suggest a more complex effect mechanism that needs more -- current study suggest a more complex effect mechanism that needs more time to evolve. Given the specific features of influencer marketing, it is plausible that the mechanisms observed for character marketing among -- is plausible that the mechanisms observed for character marketing among younger children (De Droog et al., 2011, 2012) also hold for influencer marketing. -- -- To come to decisive conclusions about the mechanisms involved in the effects of social media influencer food marketing on unhealthy dietary behaviors, there is a need for further research. Specifically, there is a need for experimental research systematically varying the -- -- behaviors, there is a need for further research. Specifically, there is a need for experimental research systematically varying the characteristics that are expected to increase the impact, including message factors (e.g., level of integration of the food promotion; -- message factors (e.g., level of integration of the food promotion; Buijzen et al., 2010) and characteristics of the child-influencer relationship (e.g., level of identification; Folkvord et al., 2019). -- relationship (e.g., level of identification; Folkvord et al., 2019). Vlogs with social media influencers may provide excellent stimulus materials for such experimental designs, with one recent randomized controlled trial providing a promising first step (Van Woudenberg et -- -- non-familiar vloggers on responses to the vlogs and physical activity behaviors, Van Woudenberg et al.’s findings showed that familiarity of the influencer improved adolescents’ viewing time of and attitudes toward the vlogs and vloggers. -- -- media literacy programs that started to pay attention to the phenomenon. Moreover, at the time of the study a self-regulatory code for influencers was being developed in the Netherlands, which also received some media attention. These changing circumstances may have resulted in children becoming more aware of and critical about food -- -- Theoretically, they extend the literature of advertising effects by examining a rapidly evolving form of media with an arguably strong impact on dietary consumption. Our findings also have implications for policies regulating new forms of food marketing to children. Previously observed associations between more traditional forms of food marketing -- -- restrictions of food marketing in most Western countries. Our findings on Unhealthy Beverages Consumption indicate a similar need for food marketing by social media influencers. Several countries have taken steps in this direction, such as for example “The Social Code: YouTube” in the Netherlands, which involves a self-regulatory code for social -- -- steps in this direction, such as for example “The Social Code: YouTube” in the Netherlands, which involves a self-regulatory code for social media influencers under supervision of the Dutch Media Authority^2. However, regulating online video content and social media influencers raises fundamental challenges for media policy, which the existing traditional media-based regulatory systems are often not able to -- -- Bevelander, K. E., Smit, C. R., Van Woudenberg, T. J., Buijs, L., Burk, W. J., and Buijzen, M. (2018). Youth’s social network structures and peer influences: study protocol mymovez project - Phase I. BMC Public Health 18:504. doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5353-5 -- -- Coates, A. E., Hardman, C. A., Halford, J. C. G., Christiansen, P., and Boyland, E. J. (2019). Food and beverage cues featured in YouTube videos of social media influencers popular with children: an exploratory study. Front. Psychol. 10:2142. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02142 -- -- PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar De Droog, S. M. (2012). Establishing and Explaining the Impact of Characters on Young Children’s Healthy Food Choices. Ph.D. thesis, Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam. -- -- CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Kapitan, S., and Silvera, D. H. (2016). From digital media influencers to celebrity endorsers: attributions drive endorser effectiveness. Mark. Lett. 27, 553–567. doi: 10.1007/s11002-015-9363-0 -- -- Google Scholar Lee, J. E., and Watkins, B. (2016). YouTube vloggers’ influence on consumer luxury brand perceptions and intentions. J. Bus. Res. 69, 5753–5760. doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.171 -- -- Opree, S. J., Buijzen, M. A., and van Reijmersdal, E. A. (2014). “Reliability and validity of children’s advertising exposure measures,” in Consumed by Consumer Culture? Advertising’s Impact on Children’s Materialism and Life Satisfaction, ed. S. J. Opree (Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam), 25–54. -- -- Smit, C. S., De Leeuw, R. N. H., Bevelander, K. E., Burk, W. J., and Buijzen, M. (2016). A social network-based intervention stimulating peer influence on children’s self-reported water consumption: a randomized control trial. Appetite 103, 294–301. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2016.04.011 -- -- Google Scholar Keywords: children, food marketing, vlogs, social media influencers, sugar-sweetened beverages, energy-dense snacks, dietary behaviors -- -- Citation: Smit CR, Buijs L, van Woudenberg TJ, Bevelander KE and Buijzen M (2020) The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Children’s Dietary Behaviors. Front. Psychol. 10:2975. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02975