Project

Understanding parental decision-making in the digital age: How social media influencers affect food choices of parents for their children

Code
BOF/24J/2023/077
Duration
01 January 2024 → 31 December 2027
Funding
Regional and community funding: Special Research Fund
Research disciplines
  • Social sciences
    • Learning and behaviour
    • Family studies
    • Interpersonal communication
    • Media and communication policy
    • Science and health communication
  • Medical and health sciences
    • Health promotion and policy
Keywords
Parent influencers Influencer marketing Parental decision-making Child nutrition
 
Project description

The biggest dietary gatekeepers of young children are still their parents. They are part of a generation that is greatly relying on social media to gather parenting information, and are strongly affected by the opinions of the social media influencers (SMIs) they follow. Especially parent influencers are trusted among today’s parents, as they gathered  a great audience and credibility by narrating their parental experiences online. To date little is known about how food choices for children are affected by the SMIs their parents follow. This project will investigate how the most influential voices of today’s digital age affect parental decision-making processes related to children’s food. This multimethodological project will examine the (1) amount and nutritional value of infant food on parent influencers’ profiles and (2) impact of parent influencers’ message strategies and nutritional labels on the parental decision-making process for infant food.