Marketing of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages on Instagram and Compliance With Regulations Limiting Advertising to Children and Adolescents

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the content of Sugar Sweetened Beverage (SSB) brands’ Instagram posts regarding marketing and engagement techniques used in 2020 and compliance with regulations governing advertising to children and adolescents. METHODS: Study design was a content analysis of posts from 15 SSB brand accounts on Instagram, categorized as carbonated soft drinks, coffee/tea, and sports/energy drinks. User engagement was evaluated by comparing median likes, comments, video views per post, and other features such as games and sweepstakes. Compliance with regulations for advertising to children and adolescents was assessed using the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) Advertising Code. The AANA code was transformed into 17 categorical variables and compiled into a compliance score of 0–17. Continuous variables reflecting engagement with users as well as compliance were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis Tests. Chi Square and Fisher's Exact Tests were used to calculate differences in use of engagement across SSB categories. RESULTS: A total of 794 posts were analyzed, representing about 25% of all posts made by the 15 SSB brands’ Instagram accounts in 2020. Sports and energy posts were less likely to feature the beverage (27.5%, P < 0.001) and more likely to be videos (58.9%, P < 0.01). Sports and energy posts engaged more by tagging other accounts (83.4%, P < 0.001) and using hashtags (80.8%, P < 0.001). Coffee and tea were most compliant with AANA regulations (mean score 0.85, P < 0.05) while sports and energy posts were least compliant (mean score 1.11, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This content analysis found posts made by sports/energy drink brands used more engagement features than other SSB categories. Across all three SSB categories, Instagram posts were compliant with the AANA regulatory code regarding advertising and marketing to children. Further research looking at how social media influences consumption is warranted. FUNDING SOURCES: None.