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Unhealthy Scrolling: Instagram Influencers Endorse More Unhealthy Food and Beverage Products Compared to Celebrities

JSHS · 2022

Nyasha Nyoni, Valerie Holmes and Angelo Picirillo, Dr. Marie Bragg · Ossining High School, Ossining, NY

Overview

More than 3.5 billion people use social media globally, and food and beverage companies have capitalized on this by implementing celebrity endorsement strategies to promote food and beverage products. Due to the fast- paced culture of social media, limited research has examined celebrity and influencer product endorsements, creating uncertainty about their impacts. The present study investigated engagement rate and frequency of food and beverage endorsements on Instagram and assessed the nutritional value of products endorsed by musicians, athletes, and Instagram influencers (n=300) using the Nutrient Profile Index (NPI). Three raters coded 10% of the data to establish inter-rater reliability. Results indicate the most frequently endorsed food category is snack products, followed by energy drinks. The most common endorsers are Instagram influencers, who endorsed significantly more food and beverage-related products compared to other cohorts (F(2, 294) = 4.989, p < .05). Overall, the snack products endorsed by influencers received the lowest NPI scores and are considered the most unhealthy food category endorsed based on NPI standards (NPI scores < 64). Additionally, there was no significant difference in the engagement rate (i.e., number of likes received) of food and beverage related posts across the three cohorts (F(2, 600) = 3.349, p > .05). These results bring awareness to the physiological effects that food and beverage product endorsements may have on consumers’ purchasing habits and dietary behaviors. Since celebrity and influencer endorsements are known to influence viewers, adolescents especially, the results of this study may also encourage a change in social media marketing regulations.

Competition history

  • JSHS 2022 Category not listed

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Source: Junior Science and Humanities Symposium

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