Tackling food marketing to children in a digital world: trans-disciplinary perspectives. Children’s rights, evidence of impact, methodological challenges, regulatory options and policy implications for the WHO European Region

There is unequivocal evidence that childhood obesity is influenced by marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages high in saturated fat, salt and/or free sugars (HFSS), and a core recommendation of the WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity is to reduce children’s exposure to all such marketing. As a result, WHO has called on Member States to introduce restrictions on marketing of HFSS foods to children, covering all media, including digital, and to close any regulatory loopholes. This publication provides up-to-date information on the marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages to children and the changes that have occurred in recent years, focusing in particular on the major shift to digital marketing. It examines trends in media use among children, marketing methods in the new digital media landscape and children’s engagement with such marketing. It also considers the impact on children and their ability to counter marketing as well as the implications for children’s rights and digital privacy. Finally the report discusses the policy implications and some of the recent policy action by WHO European Member States

Americans, Marketers, and the Internet: 1999-2012

This is a collection of the reports on the Annenberg national surveys that explored Americans\u27 knowledge and opinions about the new digital-marketing world that was becoming part of their lives. So far we’ve released seven reports on the subject, in 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, and 2012. The reports raised or deepened a range of provocative topics that have become part of public, policy, and industry discourse. In addition to these reports, I’ve included three journal articles — from I/S, New Media & Society and the Journal of Consumer Affairs — that synthesize some of the findings and place them into policy frameworks. The journals have kindly allowed reproduction for this purpose

Americans Reject Tailored Advertising and Three Activities That Enable It

This nationally representative telephone (wire-line and cell phone) survey explores Americans\u27 opinions about behavioral targeting by marketers, a controversial issue currently before government policymakers. Behavioral targeting involves two types of activities: following users\u27 actions and then tailoring advertisements for the users based on those actions. While privacy advocates have lambasted behavioral targeting for tracking and labeling people in ways they do not know or understand, marketers have defended the practice by insisting it gives Americans what they want: advertisements and other forms of content that are as relevant to their lives as possible. Contrary to what many marketers claim, most adult Americans (66%) do not want marketers to tailor advertisements to their interests. Moreover, when Americans are informed of three common ways that marketers gather data about people in order to tailor ads, even higher percentages - between 73% and 86% - say they would not want such advertising. Even among young adults, whom advertisers often portray as caring little about information privacy, more than half (55%) of 18-24 years-old do not want tailored advertising. And contrary to consistent assertions of marketers, young adults have as strong an aversion to being followed across websites and offline (for example, in stores) as do older adults. This survey finds that Americans want openness with marketers. If marketers want to continue to use various forms of behavioral targeting in their interactions with Americans, they must work with policymakers to open up the process so that individuals can learn exactly how their information is being collected and used, and then exercise control over their data. We offer specific proposals in this direction. An overarching one is for marketers to implement a regime of information respect toward the public rather than to treat them as objects from which they can take information in order to optimally persuade them

Advertising business model strategy to increase consumers' brand recognition : an exploratory study testing the benefits of a quiz structure, applying incentives and targeting ads

Atualmente, existe uma saturação do mercado publicitário devido aos novos meios de baixo custo. A sociedade tem acesso a ferramentas para ignorar ou evitar publicidade, nomeadamente, bloquear anúncios na internet, e passar à frente anúncios na TV. O principal objetivo deste projeto é a criação de estratégias publicitárias com o intuito de aumentar a atenção dos consumidores e, consequentemente, o reconhecimento da marca. Este modelo foi construído de forma a testar, os benefícios de uma estrutura quiz, incentivos e anúncios com targeting, de acordo com género, idade e ocupação. O presente trabalho é, de natureza descritiva e, quanto à profundidade, exploratório. Procura-se um primeiro conhecimento empírico da aceitação do modelo imaginado, através dos dados recolhidos que identificam caraterísticas e dimensões da problemática, oferecendo, no final, uma visão mais completa e clara. O desenho metodológico incluiu um simulador de quiz, associado a um inquérito por questionário, capaz de mostrar anúncios publicitários para testar a atenção de 160 participantes, e um inquérito, fundamentado na Teoria de Comportamento Planeado, para recolher a sua opinião. Após um mês, um novo questionário foi aplicado com o objetivo de avaliar o reconhecimento da marca pelos consumidores. Através do desempenho dos participantes, este estudo concluiu que a estrutura de quiz tem influência positiva na atenção e no reconhecimento da marca. Os participantes demostraram uma atitude positiva face à experiência, o que é promissor para a criação de um modelo de negócio com base nesta estratégia de publicidade. Efetivamente destacaram que seria mais fácil a sua aceitação, caso se implementasse em smartphones e se se usasse incentivos.Advertising has now cheap methods to promote products which are leading to market saturation. Nowadays, society has tools to ignore or avoid advertising, giving consumers the ability to block ads from the internet, and fast-forwarding commercials in TV. The main goal for this project was to create a business model strategy to increase consumers’ attention and consequently, brand recognition. This model was constructed to test the benefits of strategies such the implementation of a quiz structure, incentives and targeting ads, according to gender, age and occupation This research has a descriptive nature and follows and presents an exploratory study, using quantitative instruments to collect data. These instruments consisted in a quiz simulator, associated to a questionnaire, showing commercial videos, in order to test users’ attention, along with a survey, grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior, to assess participants’ opinion. After one month, another questionnaire tested participants’ memory, with the goal of assessing consumers’ brand recognition. Results evaluated participants’ performances, influenced by each strategy, individually and combined. From participants’ performances, this research concluded that a quiz structure helps users focus on the ad and improves their brand recognition. Furthermore, incentives and targeted ads have different influence over each demographic variable, and behave different when combined with each other. From feedback, participants demonstrated a positive attitude towards the business model and highlighted that this model would be more easily accepted, implementing it in smartphones and using a reward system along with targeted ads

selected case studies from the choice factory

A inovação tecnológica e digital, o surgimento do marketing digital e a generalização da utilização de dados para fins comerciais têm permitido que o marketing comportamental orientado para os dados esteja progressivamente mais presente no sector da publicidade. Devido à vontade das empresas e profissionais de aumentar as suas vendas, os marketers e os publicitários apresentam técnicas publicitárias baseadas em conclusões provenientes da ciência comportamental que podem não ser tão inofensivas como parecem. Como tal, os consumidores podem vir a ser vítimas de publicidade personalizada, enganosa ou agressiva, através de, por exemplo, violações do RGPD ou mesmo da utilização de padrões obscuros, que podem constituir práticas comerciais desleais ao abrigo da DPCD. Como Vender Mais, de Richard Shotton, autor e consultor, é um livro em que o autor emprega preconceitos comportamentais para sugerir técnicas práticas de marketing com o objetivo de convencer os consumidores a comprar mais. Posto isto, esta dissertação analisa quatro dessas técnicas de marketing e publicidade, sugeridas por Richard Shotton, para inferir se são inofensivas para o consumidor ou se, de facto, poderão constituir práticas ilícitas ao abrigo da DPCD. A análise foi dividida em três partes. Em primeiro lugar, esta dissertação reconhece e faz um esboço geral dos recentes desenvolvimentos legislativos no quadro da UE em matéria de proteção do consumidor que podem prevenir eventuais abusos na área do marketing e publicidade, fornecendo, em simultâneo, uma análise do conceito de marketing comportamental, da sua influência e do entendimento dos marketers sobre este tema. Em segundo lugar, uma vez que, de acordo com orientações recentes fornecidas pela CE sobre a interpretação e aplicação da DPCD e da própria DPCD, há necessidade de efetuar apreciações caso a caso, para garantir a segurança jurídica, esta dissertação pretende fazêlo, analisando as técnicas fornecidas no livro Como Vender Mais, à luz do contexto legal comunitário existente e explicando como algumas destas práticas comerciais poderiam ser consideradas desleais e, por isso, proibidas ao abrigo da DPCD. Finalmente, são feitos alguns comentários acerca das declarações de Richard Shotton sobre a ética aplicada à utilização da ciência comportamental para influenciar consumidores.Technological and digital innovation, the emergence of digital marketing and the widespread of data use for commercial purposes have allowed data-driven behavioural marketing to be progressively more present in the advertising sector. Due to businesses’ demand to sell more, marketers and advertisers come up with advertising techniques based on behavioural science findings that may not be as harmless as them seem. Hence, consumers may fall victim to over personalised, misleading or aggressive advertisements, for instance through violations of the GDPR or even the use of dark patterns, that may constitute unfair commercial practices under the UCPD. The Choice Factory, by Richard Shotton, bestselling author and consultant, is a book in which the author employs behavioural biases to suggest practical marketing techniques to sway consumers into buying more. Therefore, this dissertation analyses four of those marketing and adverting techniques, suggested by Richard Shotton, to further explore if they are harmless to the consumer or if, in fact, they are unlawful under the UCPD. The analysis is divided in three parts. Firstly, this dissertation acknowledges and makes an overview of recent developments in the EU’s legal framework regarding consumer protection that could prevent eventual marketing and advertising abuses towards consumers, while also providing an overview of behavioural marketing, its influence and the marketers’ perspective of it. Secondly, since according to recent Guidance provided by the EC on the interpretation and application of the UCPD and the UCPD itself, case-by-case assessments are required to ensure legal certainty, this dissertation intends to do precisely that, analysing the techniques provided in The Choice Factory in light of the existing EU’s legal framework and explaining how some of these commercial practices could be considered unfair and, therefore, prohibited under the UCPD. Lastly, some comments are made on the statements by Richard Shotton on the ethics regarding using behavioural science to influence consumers

Better Late than Never: How the Online Advertising Industry’s Response to Proposed Privacy Legislation Eliminates the Need for Regulation

Although Julie Matlin liked the shoes she saw on Zappos.com, she ultimately left the site without purchasing them. However, it was not the last time she would see that pair of shoes. For the next several days, the shoes followed Ms. Matlin to numerous other websites. “It was as if Zappos had unleashed a persistent salesmen who wouldn’t take no for an answer.” Understandably, Ms. Matlin found this “online stalking” disturbing, but she was more troubled when ads for her online dieting service started following her as well. She stated, “They are still following me around, and it makes me feel fat.

Pro-smoking information scanning using social media and increased smoking among young adults

textThe amount of pro-smoking information appearing on social media has increased sharply in the past few years (Freeman & Chapman, 2007, 2010). This proliferation has expanded the potential for widespread exposure to information about smoking. Such potential highlights the need to understand how individuals acquire and use this information to make decisions about smoking initiation and cessation behaviors. Being in a critical age group (aged 18-25) for lifelong smoking behavior (Gilpin, White, & Pierce, 2005), young adults use social media ubiquitously. This study introduces information scanning (Niederdeppe, Hornik, Kelly, Frosch, Romantan, Stevens, Barg, Weiner, & Schwartz, 2007; Hornik & Niederdeppe, 2008) and the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction (Fishbein and Cappella, 2006; Fishbein, Hennessy, Yzer and Douglas, 2003; Fishbein and Yzer, 2003; Yzer, 2012) as useful constructs for understanding young adult smoking in the context of social media. Information scanning, understood in this research as routine patterns of exposure to mediated and interpersonal sources, has been found to be useful in predicting cancer-related behaviors (e.g., Kelly, Hornik, & Niederdeppe, 2009; Shim, Kelly, & Hornik, 2006) but has never used to understand smoking behavior. This study builds on research that has found that only a small number of variables need to be considered to predict, change, or strengthen a particular behavior in certain population (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975, 2010). To understand the extent to which a young adult’s pro-smoking information scanning using social media affects the likelihood of being susceptible to smoking, being an experimental smoker, and being an established smoker. Specifically, this thesis hypothesizes (1) that pro-smoking information scanning using social media will influence smoking behavior, (2) that pro-smoking information scanning will interact with attitudes toward smoking, social norms regarding smoking, and smoking self-efficacy, interpersonal information scanning, and participation level on social media to impact smoking behavior, and (3) information scanning will contribute to the predictive validity of the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction to predict intentions to smoke. To test these hypotheses, a cross-sectional survey of 247 young adults (aged 18-25) was conducted. Results of this survey indicated that pro-smoking information scanning through social media significantly impacted attitudes toward smoking, social norms regarding smoking, and smoking self-efficacy. Pro-smoking information scanning using social media is independently related to smoking behavior after controlling for factors such as gender, ethnicity, academic achievement, interpersonal information scanning, attitudes toward smoking, social norms regarding smoking, and smoking self-efficacy. Only attitudes toward smoking and interpersonal information scanning mediate the relationship between pro-smoking information scanning through social media and experimental and established smoking. Additionally, inclusion of information scanning variables increased the predictive ability of the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction. This study should be a wakeup call for more comprehensive and concerted efforts on the interaction between tobacco control and social media use. It concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of these findings, especially the theory-based antismoking interventions using social media.Radio-Television-Fil

Political Advertising in Virtual Reality

This Article is about how biometric data collected through VR technologies will greatly exacerbate existing problems with political ad microtargeting. Commercially available VR devices can—and in some cases, must—be integrated with sensors that track users’ eyes, faces, hands, and bodies. Political campaigns will be able to leverage this data to target ads with extraordinary precision. Indeed, targeting ads with biometric data may well be the next step in the evolution of microtargeted political messaging—a practice that has contributed to a rise in disinformation, filter-bubbles, and privacy invasions. If this sounds like science fiction, it is closer than you may think. Ad platforms have a tremendous financial incentive to improve the accuracy of their predictions about user preferences; consumer researchers already use biometric monitoring to test advertisements; campaigns have long incorporated data about voters to shape messaging; and candidates are already experimenting with VR and related technologies. Nonetheless, a formidable obstacle awaits policymakers who try to curb this ad-targeting practice: The Supreme Court’s First Amendment jurisprudence. After examining the ad-targeting practices described above, this Article warns that current Speech Clause doctrine will cast doubt upon laws that limit political ad microtargeting. As a result, policymakers must take extraordinary care in designing such laws, and reformers must pursue private-sector solutions as well

Matching Contextual Ads and Web Page Contents through Computational Advertising: Getting the Best Match

The technological transformation and automation of digital content delivery has revolutionized the media industry. What is more, the Internet is rapidly turning into an advertising channel. Just in the United States, Internet advertising revenues hit $7.3 billion for the first quarter of 2011, representing a 23 percent increase over the same period in 2010 (iab.net, 2011). Beneficiaries of this investment and growth are search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Also, Malaysian advertising landscape is gradually shifting its traditional media forms to the emergent of Internet advertising but still at a budding stage. The latter shows much room for growth, as the industry fuels to content digitization on Web applications. In this project, the types of Internet advertising that is going to be discussed on are Contextual Ads and Sponsored Search Ads, but the major scope will be on Contextual Advertising. Given that, these types of advertising have the central challenge of finding the “best match” between a given context and a suitable advertisement, through principled way of computational methods. Hence, it is also referred as Computational advertising. Furthermore, there are four main players that exists in the Internet advertising ecosystem that are going to be discussed in this study, which are; Users, Advertisers, Ad Exchange and Publishers. Hence in order to find ways to counter the centre challenge, this research study will mainly address two objectives, which are to successfully make the best Contextual Ads selections that match to the Web Page contents through the concept of Computational advertising, and to ensure that there is a valuable connection between the Web pages and the Contextual Ads. Thus, the scope of the study will be mainly on discussing about the theory of Computational advertising itself, besides elaborating on Contextual Ads, matching Contextual Ads and Web pages and also, finding the most feasible way in creating the valuable connection between Contextual Ads and the Web pages. Moreover, at the end of every discussion in every subtopic, some insights on the Internet advertising in Malaysian context are discussed as per related issue. v Consequently, this study employed two main methods to address the research questions rose. Those methods include extensive research and analysis on previous literature works and journals, and also in depth surveys to collect related data and information in real-life situations. Every part of gathered data and findings will then be analyzed accordingly. All discussions, conclusion and future recommendations are presented as per sections. Hence in order to prove the working mechanism of matching Contextual Ads and Web pages by using Computational advertising approach, Web pages together with the ads matching system, will then be developed through FYP-II timeline, as the final product of the study