A new study published in Pediatrics: Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics determined that YouTube kid influencers, or ‘kidfluencers’, promote unhealthy eating habits too often. The study was conducted in order to determine how often the young influencers promoted junk food during their YouTube video and how nutritious all the food showed was. Researchers analyzed data from the five most-watched kidfluencers and recorded what appeared.
The methods used in the study were very thorough. YouTube is a massive platform with thousands, if not millions of videos uploaded everyday. The team utilized data from Socialbakers, a social media marketing company, to narrow down their workload. Staff at Socialbakers review the most viewed channels and categorize them based on keywords and video content. Using this data and their own metric, the research team was able to narrow down their sample size. Then they took the top five channels and selected 50 videos that had the most views and the most recent 50 videos that prominently feature junk food product placement in their thumbnail and logo. From this group of videos, the researchers analyzed them and determined the prevalence of junk food product placement.
The results showed how much effort junk food companies put into advertising to young kids. The study took the sample of 418 YouTube videos and, out of that number, 179 of them had food and drinks in them. The videos pulled in massive numbers by collectively having 48 billion total views, and the videos which featured food were viewed 1 billion times. Most of the food and drink shown were unhealthy name brand products, with McDonald’s making up around 90%. Unhealthy generic products took up 4%, healthy generic products like fruits made up 3%, and healthy name-brand products like Yoplait made up only 2%. Food and beverage companies spend $1.8 billion a year to target children and this is the result of that tactic.
YouTube’s Persuasive Power
The influence of these YouTube stars raises serious concerns. Other studies, like one done by an APA task force in 2004, have determined that children younger than eight years old have a tough time recognizing advertising. They can’t really tell the difference between a commercial and a cartoon. These children are the most susceptible to advertising, with resulting poor dietary habits potentially leading to an increased risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. And influencers know how to keep an audience via engagement. YouTube influencers like to portray themselves as ‘everyday people’, building relationships with their audiences that can feel almost personal. The audience can interact with their favorite YouTube stars, albeit in a limited capacity, and that engagement can contribute to a cycle of recursion. As such, the tactics of generating trust and incorporating advertisements into videos can make for a dangerous combination with young viewers.
This direct access to a young and impressionable audience has not been lost. The Federal Trade Commission created a new set of guidelines stating all social media influencers must disclose endorsements. The FTC recognizes the power of social media influencers and the effect they can have on children. Food and drink companies have tried to self-regulate, but studies, like one done by The Outloud Group, have shown that those self-regulation guidelines are not stringent enough. It is unknown whether or not more unhealthy foods were eaten as a result of this outreach, but it is important for the FTC to be proactive and address the situation.
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Source: Pediatrics
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