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This study aims to examine adolescents’ social media environment connected to unhealthy food marketing. As social media have become a ubiquitous part of young people’s everyday lives, marketers have also shifted their focus to these channels. Literature on this phenomenon is still scarce and often takes a quite narrow view of the role of marketing in social media. Furthermore, the experiences of the adolescents are seldom considered.

Using a sociocultural approach and netnographic methodology, this study presents findings from a research project conducted in Finland. The data consist of both social media material and focus group interviews with adolescents.

The findings elaborate on unhealthy food marketing to adolescents in social media from two perspectives: sociocultural representations of unhealthy foods in social media marketing and social media influencers connecting with adolescents.

The study broadens and deepens the current understanding of unhealthy food marketing to adolescents taking place in social media. The study introduces a novel perspective to the topic by looking at it as a sociocultural phenomenon.

High levels of child obesity alongside rising stunting and the absence of a coherent food policy have deemed UK’s food system to be broken. The National Food Strategy (NFS) was debated intensely in media, with discussions on how and who should fix the food system.

Using a mixed methods approach, the authors conduct framing analysis on traditional media and sentiment analysis of twitter reactions to the NFS to identify frames used to shape food system policy interventions.

The study finds evidence that the media coverage of the NFS often utilised the tropes of “culture wars” shaping the debate of who is responsible to fix the food system – the government, the public or the industry. NFS recommendations were portrayed as issues of free choice to shift the debate away from government action correcting for market failure. In contrast, the industry was showcased as equipped to intervene on its own accord. Dietary recommendations made by the NFS were depicted as hurting the poor, painting a picture of helplessness and loss of control, while their voices were omitted and not represented in traditional media.

British media’s alignment with free market economic thinking has implications for food systems reform, as it deters the government from acting and relies on the invisible hand of the market to fix the system. Media firms should move beyond tropes of culture wars to discuss interventions that reform the structural causes of the UK’s broken food systems.

As traditional media coverage struggles to capture the diversity of public perception; the authors supplement framing analysis with sentiment analysis of Twitter data. To the best of our knowledge, no such media (and social media) analysis of the NFS has been conducted. The paper is also original as it extends our understanding of how media alignment with free market economic thinking has implications for food systems reform, as it deters the government from acting and relies on the invisible hand of the market to fix the system.

There is limited research examining the relationship between social media and green food purchasing behaviour. In the current study, we examine the factors that affect consumers’ green food purchasing behaviour in Türkiye.

Data collected from the participants by survey method were analysed using Smart PLS 4.0 with IBM SPSS 26 and PLS to run SEM.

Our findings have revealed that from all the structural elements in the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), only attitude and perceived behavioural control contribute to consumers’ green food purchasing behaviour, while subjective norms do not contribute to consumers’ green food purchasing behaviour. Additionally, it was found that social media usage (SMU) and digital marketing interactions (DMI) have a positive and significant effect on green food purchasing behaviour. More information, experiences, opinions and recommendations on green foods in social media channels can encourage consumers to buy more green food.

This study first evaluates the applicability of the TPB model in explaining green food purchasing behaviour. This study is extended with two new factors included in the original framework of the TPB model, namely, SMU and DMI.

The current research aimed to examine the prevalence of Instagram posts featuring ultra-processed products targeted at adolescents in Uruguay and hence investigate the frequency of such posts among a vulnerable consumer segment in a country that cannot be classified as WEIRD (i.e. Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic).

The study relied on a cross-sectional content analysis. A total of 2,014 Instagram posts promoting ultraprocessed products or brands commercializing such products, generated by 118 Instagram accounts between August 15th, 2020, and February 15th, 2021, were analyzed. Nine indicators of food marketing targeted at adolescents were selected to identify posts targeted at this age segment. Inductive coding was used to describe the content of the posts. Descriptive statistics and generalized linear models were used to analyze the data.

In total, 17.6% of the posts were identified as targeted at adolescents. Graphic design and adolescent language were the most prevalent indicators of marketing targeted at adolescents, followed by explicit references to adolescents or young adults and memes. Posts identified as targeted at adolescents mainly promoted snacks and discretionary foods. Differences in the content of posts identified as targeted and not targeted at adolescents were observed.

The analysis was restricted to one social media platform in one country during a limited period of time, which limits the generalizability of the findings to other media platforms, samples and settings.

Results stress the need to implement digital food marketing regulations to reduce exposure of adolescents to the deleterious effects of stemming from marketing of unhealthy foods and provide empirical evidence to inform their development.

The study breaks new ground by analyzing the prevalence and exploring the characteristics and content of Instagram posts promoting ultra-processed products to adolescents in an under-researched geographic area of the world.

Explore what popular food influencers among Flemish emerging adults portray in their Instagram recipe posts in terms of (1) references to food literacy, (2) nutritional value, (3) rational and emotional appeals and (4) the relation between the nutritional value and rational/emotional appeals.

A content and nutritional analysis of Instagram recipe posts from seven food influencers (N = 166).

Findings reveal that food influencers rarely embed references to food literacy in their recipe posts, especially regarding meal planning, food selection, meal consumption and evaluating food-related information. Only in 28.9% of the posts information was given on how to prepare a recipe. Second, 220 recipes were included in the 166 recipe posts, of which the majority (65%) were main course meals that met at least six of the 11 nutrient criteria for a healthy main meal (67.2%). Finally, food influencers promote their recipe posts as positive narratives, focusing on the tastiness (66%) and convenience (40.9%) of meals.

This is the first study to evaluate what food influencers post nutritionally in their Instagram recipes, as well as how they promote these recipes. Health promotors should note the influential role of food influencers and seek ways to collaborate to provide information on how food literacy cues can be embedded in influencers' communications and provide insights into how influencers' recipes can be optimised.

This study aims to determine the extent to which consumers perceive food-related information to be tied to the intrinsic characteristics of food, particularly safety.

The authors examined Japanese consumers’ preferences regarding domestic or foreign perishables, as well as how they interpret origin information, focusing on their perceptions of safety using descriptive analysis and binary logistic regression analysis.

The results indicated that a high proportion of Japanese consumers considered domestic foods to be safer; in particular, people affected by food safety information obtained through personal communication, books and magazines tended to choose domestically produced perishables rather than imported ones.

The belief that domestic foods are safer than imported ones was highly universal among Japanese consumers, although this belief is not necessarily grounded in scientific evidence. When considering strategies to improve consumers’ information literacy, factors that have fostered this belief must be discussed. For consumers to make logical food choices, both food businesses and consumers require scientific and informational literacy and policy support.

The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of artificial intelligence (AI) and other AI-enabled technologies and to describe how COVID-19 affects various industries such as health care, manufacturing, retail, food services, education, media and entertainment, banking and insurance, travel and tourism. Furthermore, the authors discuss the tactics in which information technology is used to implement business strategies to transform businesses and to incentivise the implementation of these technologies in current or future emergency situations.

The review provides the rapidly growing literature on the use of smart technology during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The 127 empirical articles the authors have identified suggest that 39 forms of smart technologies have been used, ranging from artificial intelligence to computer vision technology. Eight different industries have been identified that are using these technologies, primarily food services and manufacturing. Further, the authors list 40 generalised types of activities that are involved including providing health services, data analysis and communication. To prevent the spread of illness, robots with artificial intelligence are being used to examine patients and give drugs to them. The online execution of teaching practices and simulators have replaced the classroom mode of teaching due to the epidemic. The AI-based Blue-dot algorithm aids in the detection of early warning indications. The AI model detects a patient in respiratory distress based on face detection, face recognition, facial action unit detection, expression recognition, posture, extremity movement analysis, visitation frequency detection, sound pressure detection and light level detection. The above and various other applications are listed throughout the paper.

Research is largely delimited to the area of COVID-19-related studies. Also, bias of selective assessment may be present. In Indian context, advanced technology is yet to be harnessed to its full extent. Also, educational system is yet to be upgraded to add these technologies potential benefits on wider basis.

First, leveraging of insights across various industry sectors to battle the global threat, and smart technology is one of the key takeaways in this field. Second, an integrated framework is recommended for policy making in this area. Lastly, the authors recommend that an internet-based repository should be developed, keeping all the ideas, databases, best practices, dashboard and real-time statistical data.

As the COVID-19 is a relatively recent phenomenon, such a comprehensive review does not exist in the extant literature to the best of the authors’ knowledge. The review is rapidly emerging literature on smart technology use during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The present study aims to examine the impact of social media marketing activities (SMMAs) on the adoption of food waste reduction behavior among Generation Z consumers within the restaurant service industry in Pakistan. The study focuses on the impact of social media advertisements and investigates the mediating influence of waste reduction intentions on actual behavior. This underscores the significance of contextual and emotional variables in comprehending consumer behaviors.

The study used a cross-sectional research methodology to examine the impact of SMMAs on the behavior of Generation Z consumers in Pakistan’s food service industry with regard to reducing food waste. A study was conducted to investigate the restaurant purchasing behaviors of a sample consisting of 449 individuals belonging to the millennial generation, often known as Generation Z.

The majority of variables related to SMMA, except for interactivity and personalization, were shown to have a positive impact on individuals’ intents to reduce food waste. The study observed a significant relationship between consumers’ intentions to decrease waste and their actual behavior in waste reduction. Furthermore, this relationship was shown to be influenced by the mediating role of waste reduction intention.

Examining how social media affects Pakistani Generation Z’s efforts to reduce food waste is what makes this study distinctive. According to the research, the majority of social media factors positively influence intentions to reduce waste. The relationship between intentions and actual behavior, which highlights the impact of social media campaigns and emotional aspects in promoting waste reduction, is one of the important conclusions.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of different information source on consumer attitudes toward genetically modified food.

The data used in this study are obtained from a large-scale nationwide consumers' survey in urban China conducted by the China Center for Agricultural Policy, Peking University, in 2020. A descriptive analysis between information sources and consumer attitudes toward GM food was conducted. Based on the collected data, an econometric model on the determinants of consumer attitudes was constructed and used for analysis.

This study shows that the impact of new media is currently no different than that of traditional media, indicating that the media campaign successfully reduced the spread of rumors and misinformation regarding GM food. Moreover, this study also shows that consumers whose main information source regarding GM foods is school hold more positive feelings toward such food.

This study contributes to the existing literature by examining the impact of information source on consumer attitudes toward GM food. To reverse consumers' negative attitudes, China has launched a widespread media campaign since the first decade of the 2000s. Results of this study show that authorities' efforts to manage and surveil new media have yielded the desired outcome.

This study aims to experimentally investigate branded functional beverage (BFB) consumption behaviour post-COVID-19 through the lens of a conceptual framework built on three renowned behaviour modification models and to critically evaluate how well subjective norms serve as a moderator in the consumption behaviour relating to such beverage products.

A conceptual model was developed based on the tenets of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), health belief model (HBM) and value-attitude-behaviour (VAB) model. The study was performed on a convenience sample of 537 respondents aged 18 and up from diverse regions in India using the PLS-SEM method. A total of 444 useable questionnaires were utilized for the final data analysis.

Given the post-pandemic setting, the perceived benefits of BFBs significantly influenced its purchase intention and consumption behaviour. It could grossly impact the media's role (information about COVID-19) and the consumers' interest in healthy food. The study revealed that the information about COVID-19 (role of media) strongly increased interest in healthy food, whereas interest in healthy food positively influenced purchase intention of functional beverages. With interest in healthy food as a “mediator”, the role of media (information about COVID-19) positively influenced purchase intention. It is worth noting the moderating role of subjective norms in the relationship between the role of media (information about COVID-19) and interest in healthy food and that between interest in healthy food and BFB purchase intention.

Food marketers shall skillfully use “opinion” leaders and subject experts in marketing communication campaigns to popularize the link between good food and immunity through COVID-19 and healthy diet-related messages sent via a suitable media platform. This would grab food consumers' interest in BFBs and persuade them to incorporate such items in their daily food milieu. Consumers need to be assured that consuming “functional” products would deliver health benefits and upkeep their body immunity in the post-COVID-19 times.

There has been minimal research on the link between perceived benefits, the role of media, interest in healthy food and consumption behaviour on functional beverages in the post-COVID-19 setting. Moreover, subjective norms have never been probed as a moderator in the consumer behaviour studies on BFBs. This pioneering study applied the tenets of the TPB, HBM and VAB model in the context of post-pandemic functional beverage consumption. The altered study settings caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the context of a developing economy like India have amplified the research value of this study.