Table 2.
Characteristics of social media food posts participants were exposed to during the study
| Social media posts (n = 1801) from 100 screen recordings | Total number of social media food posts, n (%) | Median rate per 10 min (Interquartile range) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unbranded | Branded | Total | Unbranded | Branded | Total | |
| Total | 1221 (68) | 580 (32) | 1801 | 7.3 (2.7–11.3) | 5.3 (3.3–7.7) | 12.0 (6.3–20) |
| Social media platformsa | ||||||
| Instagram (n = 26) | 321 (56) | 253 (44) | 574 | 6.0 (4–11.8) | 7.5 (3.8–12.5) | 16.0 (8–22.3) |
| TikTok (n = 15) | 88 (57) | 66 (43) | 154 | 4.0 (4–7) | 5.0 (2–6) | 9.0 (7–11) |
| Snapchat (n = 22) | 220 (72) | 85 (28) | 305 | 8.0 (4.8–13) | 2.5 (1–5) | 11.5 (7–15.8) |
| YouTube (n = 25) | 89 (48) | 95 (52) | 184 | 3.0 (1–4.5) | 3.0 (1–5) | 6.0 (2–10.5) |
| Pinterest (n = 7) | 498 (87) | 72 (13) | 570 | 38.0 (12–71) | 12.0 (4–15) | 53.0 (19–83) |
| Food classificationb | ||||||
| Core | 222 (94) | 15 (6) | 237 | 1.5 (0.7–3) | 0 (0–0.3) | 1.5 (0.7–3) |
| Non-core | 641 (63) | 379 (37) | 1020 | 2.7 (1.3–5.3) | 3.3 (2–5.7) | 6.0 (3–11) |
| Only brand logo or name | N/A | 91 (100) | 91 | N/A | 0.7 (0.3–1.3) | 0.7 (0.3–1.3) |
| Miscellaneous foods | 313 (82) | 69 (18) | 382 | 2.0 (1–3) | 0.7 (0.3–1) | 2.7 (1.3–3.5) |
| Food brand promotedc | ||||||
| Food manufacturer/brand | N/A | 335 (100) | 335 | N/A | 2.7 (1.7–4.3) | 2.7 (1.7–4.3) |
| Supermarket/retailer | N/A | 28 (100) | 28 | N/A | 0 (0–0.5) | 0 (0–0.5) |
| Chain restaurant/café | N/A | 168 (100) | 168 | N/A | 1.0 (0.7–2) | 1.0 (0.7–2) |
| Local restaurant/café | N/A | 29 (100) | 29 | N/A | 0 (0–0.7) | 0 (0–0.7) |
| Delivery serviced | N/A | 27 (100) | 27 | N/A | 0 (0–0.3) | 0 (0–0.3) |
| Type of food content, content generator | ||||||
| Paid contente | 62 (25) | 191 (75) | 253 | 0.3 (0–1) | 1.7 (0.7–2.3) | 2.0 (1–3.3) |
| Food manufacturer or brand | 13 (12) | 96 (88) | 109 | |||
| Non-food company/shop | 39 (83) | 8 (17) | 47 | |||
| Chain restaurant or café | 0 (0) | 39 (100) | 39 | |||
| Owned food contentf | 13 (22) | 47 (78) | 60 | 0 (0–0.3) | 0.3 (0–1) | 0.3 (0–1) |
| Food manufacturer or brand | 2 (12) | 15 (88) | 17 | |||
| Chain restaurant or café | 0 (0) | 9 (100) | 9 | |||
| Non-food company/shop | 11 (73) | 4 (27) | 15 | |||
| User-generated food content | 71 (65) | 38 (35) | 109 | 0.3 (0–1) | 0 (0–0.5) | 0.5 (0–1.3) |
| Everyday user (1–1,000 followers) | 21 (57) | 16 (43) | 37 | |||
| Micro-influencer (1 K-20 K followers) | 50 (69) | 22 (31) | 72 | |||
| Celebrity-generated food content | 176 (62) | 109 (38) | 285 | 1.7 (0.5–2.7) | 0.7 (0.3–1.7) | 2.0 (0.7–4) |
| Celebrity influencers (> 300 K followers) | 115 (60) | 76 (40) | 191 | |||
| Meso-influencers (20 K-100 K followers) | 30 (60) | 20 (40) | 50 | |||
| Macro-influencers (100 K-300 K followers) | 31 (70) | 13 (30) | 44 | |||
| Food content embedded in entertainment | 297 (73) | 108 (27) | 405 | 2.3 (1–4) | 0.7 (0–1.5) | 3.3 (1–5.3) |
| Non-food related creative channel | 192 (69) | 88 (31) | 280 | |||
| Food-related creative channel | 105 (84) | 20 (16) | 125 | |||
| Unknown source | 603 (87) | 88 (13) | 691 | |||
| Level of food integrationg | ||||||
| No focus on food/ in background | 55 (40) | 81 (60) | 136 | 0.5 (0–0.7) | 0.3 (0–1) | 1.0 (0.7–2.5) |
| Focus on food/ clearly visible | 676 (74) | 236 (26) | 912 | 2.0 (0.7–5) | 1.5 (1–3.7) | 5.0 (2–7.7) |
| Character handles or holds food | 390 (69) | 175 (31) | 565 | 2.5 (1–5.3) | 1.7 (0.3–2.3) | 4.0 (2–8) |
| Character consumes food | 47 (54) | 41 (46) | 88 | 0.3 (0–0.7) | 0.3 (0–0.5) | 0.7 (0.3–1.3) |
a Only social media platforms used by > 5 participants are shown, i.e., excluding Facebook (n = 2), Twitter (n = 1), Twitch (n = 1) and Reddit (n = 1)
b Based on the International Network for Food and Obesity/Non-Communicable diseases Research, Monitoring, and Action Support (INFORMAS) food classification system
c Only top 5 most occurring shown. Also includes: (outdoor) markets, food or health-related apps/services, catering companies and food trucks
d Includes meal boxes and online restaurant or cafe ordering applications or websites
e Only top 3 most occurring shown. Also includes: supermarket/retail, local restaurants, (outdoor) markets, food-related and non-food related creative channels, user- and celebrity-generated content, delivery services, food or health-related apps/services, and food trucks
f Only top 3 most occurring shown. Also includes: supermarket/retail, (outdoor) markets, user- and celebrity-generated content, delivery services, food or health-related apps/services, catering companies and food trucks
g Excludes promotions in text format or promotions in which no food or brand is shown (e.g., only in title or hashtags of post)