The Psychology of Food Marketing and Overeating

Book excerpt: Integrating recent research and existing knowledge on food marketing and its effects on the eating behaviour of children, adolescents, and adults, this timely collection explores how food promotion techniques can be used to promote healthier foods. Numerous factors influence what, when, and how we eat, but one of the main drivers behind the unhealthy dietary intake of people is food marketing. Bringing together important trends from different areas of study, with state-of-the-art insights from multiple disciplines, the book examines the important factors and psychological processes that explain the effects of food marketing in a range of contexts, including social media platforms. The book also provides guidelines for future research by critically examining interventions and their effectiveness in reducing the impact of food marketing on dietary intake, in order to help develop new research programs, legislation, and techniques about what can be done about unhealthy food marketing. With research conducted by leading scholars from across the world, this is essential reading for students and academics in psychology and related areas, as well as professionals interested in food marketing and healthy eating.