Examination of Health Messages in Food Advertising: A Case of South Korea

As the public interest in health information has increased globally, the use of health benefits in food advertisements is becoming more essential for food marketing strategy. Consumers view a food product as healthy if it carries a health claim, whereas there has been an ongoing debate about the value of health claims as a strategy to help consumers’ healthier food consumption. The present study attempted to examine the food commercials broadcast on Korean network television in terms of claim types and executional elements. Results indicate that television food advertising has made a wide number of implied “soft” health claims (e.g., “good for health”) without substantial information and call into question whether consumers are misled or deceived by the executional elements used for presenting health messages. The findings of the study raise regulatory concerns about the provision of potentially confusing or misleading health messages in food advertising nationally as well as internationally and suggest further research in this area.