How Is Functional Food Advertising Understood? An Approximation in University Students

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Title: How Is Functional Food Advertising Understood? An Approximation in University Students
Authors: González-Díaz, Cristina | Vilaplana-Aparicio, Maria J. | Iglesias-García, Mar
Research Group/s: Grupo de Estudios sobre Comunicación Estratégica (E-COM) | Relaciones Públicas, Responsabilidad Social y Comunicación con Públicos Especializados y Las Minorías | Medios, Discursos y Expresión Audiovisual (MEDEA) | COSOCO (Comunicación y Sociedad del Conocimiento)
Center, Department or Service: Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Comunicación y Psicología Social
Keywords: Functional foods | Advertising | Information | Understanding | University | Health claims | Nutritional claims
Knowledge Area: Comunicación Audiovisual y Publicidad
Issue Date: 29-Oct-2020
Publisher: MDPI
Citation: González-Díaz C, Vilaplana-Aparicio MJ, Iglesias-García M. How Is Functional Food Advertising Understood? An Approximation in University Students. Nutrients. 2020; 12(11):3312. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12113312
Abstract: In functional food advertising, messages are not always easily understandable for the target audience. Current European legislation, enforced through Regulation 1924/2006, specifies that such messages should be clear and precise so as not to mislead the consumer. The objective of this study was to observe consumers’ understanding of messages in functional food advertisements. The methodology used was a self-administered survey filled out by 191 students enrolled in a Degree in Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Alicante (Spain). The results suggest that a large number of students do not know what functional food is and obtain information about these products mainly from labelling/packaging. The major means of communication through which they learn about health benefits via advertising is the internet, followed by television. Most respondents indicated that they understood related advertisements and found it helpful to be given additional information on health benefits. Worthy of note, the greater their level of understanding of the messages, the higher their level of distrust of advertising messages, which they considered to be deceptive or misleading.
Sponsor: This research was conducted under the R&D&i project “Reclamos de salud en la publicidad de alimentos y comprensión del consumidor” (“Health claims in food advertising and consumer understanding”-GV/2016/088), funded by the Generalitat Valenciana, Spain and directed by Cristina González Díaz.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10045/109967
ISSN: 2072-6643
DOI: 10.3390/nu12113312
Language: eng
Type: info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Rights: © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Peer Review: si
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12113312
Appears in Collections:INV - COSOCO - Artículos de Revistas
INV - E-COM - Artículos de Revistas
INV - RPRSS - Artículos de Revistas
INV - ICOMAV - Artículos de Revistas
INV - FOODCO - Artículos de Revistas

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