It’s great to speak with Rebecca Evans, a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the University of Liverpool, about her award-winning PhD thesis work. Congratulations Rebecca, on winning the EASO Early Career Network Best Thesis Award at ECO2024!
Rebecca please tell us a bit about your academic background and what initially drew you to research childhood obesity. Was there a personal or professional experience that sparked your interest?
I completed my BSc in Psychology in 2018, and my MSc in Research Methods in Psychology in 2019, both at the University of Liverpool. It was in my third year studying my BSc that my interest in researching childhood obesity was sparked. I chose to study a module on Appetite Regulation & Obesity, and despite the main lecture being scheduled for 9am every Friday, it was a highlight of my week! The lectures on the impacts of food marketing really stuck with me, as well as an eye-opening guest lecture from Ken Clare about his personal experience of living with obesity. Following this, during the summer of my MSc, I undertook two research assistant positions, one with Prof Charlotte Hardman researching associations between food insecurity and diet, and one with Prof Eric Robinson researching the calorie content of snack foods in out-of-home food outlets. Around this time, I approached Prof Emma Boyland with an idea I had for a PhD (food marketing and VGLSPs, which Emma was very supportive of), and applied for a Doctoral Academic Teacher position at the University of Liverpool. I was offered this 4-year position, which involved teaching research methods and statistics to undergraduate Psychology students alongside my PhD studies. I started the post in September 2019, submitted my PhD thesis in October 2023, and passed my viva exam in January 2024.
What made you focus on videogame livestreaming platforms (VGLSPs) as a space for food marketing research? Was there a specific event or trend that made you realise the potential impact these platforms might have on young people?
I’ve always enjoyed gaming, and so I was very aware of VGLSPs and had used them myself. One thing that really stuck out to me was the amount of unhealthy food marketing (e.g., overlaid images of brands/products, product placement) on these platforms, particularly for “gamer” foods and the messaging around this. For example, fast food “to grab quickly and easily during gaming sessions” and energy drinks “to aid concentration and enhance gaming performance”. One top streamer even had an overlaid image ad for Uber Eats with the slogan “Build [referencing gameplay in the videogame Fortnite], Win, Eat, Repeat”. This messaging made it seem as though unhealthy food consumption was typical and even advised for “gamers”. I also thought that the way these foods were marketed was quite insidious. it usually wasn’t very clear what streamers were being paid to market, and what was authentic (even to an adult, let alone a child). The amount of young people using these platforms and being exposed to this unhealthy food marketing concerned me. My youngest brother, Will (10 years old at the time) was an avid user of Twitch (the leading VGLSP), and he was becoming very interested in buying unhealthy American snacks and sweets, all because he’d seen his favorite streamers eating them. I also found the marketing of energy drinks worrying, as their consumption can have particularly negative health impacts in young people. I was surprised to find that when I looked for research on this topic, there was absolutely nothing out there at the time, and I wanted to fill this gap.
Your research highlights the lack of current available evidence on the impact of digital media when compared to traditional media. Can you elaborate on some of the challenges you faced in establishing the link between VGLSP food marketing and young people’s eating behaviour?
The lack of evidence examining food marketing in VGLSPs and young people’s eating behaviour became particularly clear when I undertook one of the first studies of my PhD: a systematic review. My searches confirmed that there was no experimental evidence at the time examining the impact of food marketing in VGLSPs on food-related behaviours, so this review instead focused on two main forms of marketing used on these platforms: digital game-based marketing and influencer marketing, so that we could infer potential VGLSP impacts. I contributed to filling this gap with my PhD work by conducting (i) a questionnaire study examining the associations between recall of food marketing on VGLSPs and subsequent unhealthy food attitudes, purchase, and consumption, and (ii) an experimental (randomised controlled trial) study assessing the impact of exposure to unhealthy food marketing in a mock Twitch stream on subsequent intake. Alongside this, I have collaborated with Prof Travis Masteron’s lab at Penn State who have also contributed greatly to filling this research gap. However, further research, particularly experimental, is needed to better understand the impacts of this marketing.
Given the unregulated nature of VGLSPs at the time of your research, were there particular ethical considerations you had to address when studying food marketing on these platforms? How did you navigate this?
There were no real issues here – the videos I analysed were publicly available on Twitch and therefore based on ethical guidelines at the time I was able to access/watch them to collect data on the food marketing present.
Your thesis showcases the extensive exposure to HFSS food marketing on VGLSPs. Can you delve deeper into specific food-related outcomes you observed in young people, like how it influenced youth brand preferences or consumption habits?
As I’ve touched on, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis examining the effects of two key forms of marketing used on VGLSPs: digital game-based marketing and influencer marketing. We found that exposure to these forms of marketing was associated with more positive attitudes towards, preferences for, and increased consumption of marketed unhealthy foods. Next, we conducted a questionnaire study where we recruited adolescents who used VGLSPs. We asked them to report their recall of food marketing on these platforms, their attitudes towards various unhealthy foods, and the frequency with which they purchase and consumed marketed food categories (e.g., energy drinks, fast food). Using structural equation modelling, we established that greater recall of unhealthy food marketing was associated with more positive attitudes towards unhealthy foods, and, in turn, purchase and consumption of these foods. Subsequently, we conducted a randomised controlled trial to examine the impact of exposure to food marketing in a mock Twitch stream. We did not find an effect of food marketing on subsequent marketed snack intake, however, those who used VGLSPs more frequently consumed more of the marketed snack, suggesting that habitual exposure may be impactful. Importantly, we also only assessed the impact of one advertising placement (a static image) in this study. Food marketing on Twitch is typically synergistic and includes multiple concurrent placements (images, product placement), so effects may be underestimated.
Your work has been widely recognised! How do you envision your research informing policy changes in the UK, across Europe and globally regarding food marketing restrictions in digital media, particularly within VGLSPs?
I hope that our research brings VGLSPs into the regulatory spotlight. These platforms are frequently overlooked and often not well-understood as they are a hybridization of social and gaming media (they don’t fall into one neat category). Our research highlights the importance of including these platforms in digital marketing regulations because (i) there is extensive unhealthy food marketing on these platforms which young people are exposed to and (ii) this marketing is associated with unhealthy eating behaviours in young people. I hope that our research can help to inform the scope of the upcoming ban on unhealthy food advertising online in the UK (due for implementation in October 2025), and also more widely at a European- and global- level. It is important that countries collaborate to regulate this marketing, particularly as streamers are streaming from all over the world, which makes cross-border marketing a real challenge. I think that particularly in gaming, media is evolving quickly (e.g., VGLSPs, the metaverse) and brands are keeping up with this, but policy often lags behind.
Based on your groundbreaking research, what are some potential areas of future study in this area? Have you identified other aspects of VGLSPs or digital media that warrant further investigation in relation to childhood obesity?
There are several areas in which further research would be hugely beneficial. These include (i) young people’s actual exposure to food marketing in VGLSPs (e.g., using screen recording software), and (ii) further experimental evidence on the impacts of food marketing in VGLSPs on young people’s eating behaviour, including different ad formats (e.g., product placement), and a combination of ad formats. More broadly, in gaming, I think research is needed to examine exposure to and impacts of marketing in new and emerging outlets for food brands, including brand worlds/minigames (e.g., in the online game platform Roblox), and the metaverse, to enhance our understanding and help to inform policy.
Rebecca Evans is a Post-doctoral Research Associate in the Department of Psychology at the University of Liverpool. Her PhD thesis explored the extent and nature of digital food marketing via videogame livestreaming platforms and its impacts on young peoples’ eating behaviour.