Influence of Food and Nutrition Advertisements on Eating Habits - Essay Example

?INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT Project How Food and Nutrition Advertisements Influence the Perception of Adolescent Girls on their Eating Habits and Nutritional Status Reference Code: _________ Interview/Tape #: _________ Interviewer: PhD student in Secondary Education at The University of Akron Interviewee(s): 12th Grade Students – Senior of North High School Contact Information: __________________________________________________________ Date and Time of Interview: Sunday, November 24/13 at 10:00-12:00 am Location of Interview: __________________________________________________________ Brief description of interview topics transcribed: The interview was used as a primary data collection tool that was aimed at finding answers to the research questions that were posed in relation to the research topic. In effect, the topics of the interview were directly chosen as themes from the research questions. The first of these had to do with advertisement, which looked at the role of advertisement as a form of promotion for the trading of food and nutrition products and services. There was also the topic of female perception, which looked into the kind of ideas that adolescent girls develop after listening to and reading various kinds of advertisements. Then there was the topic of purchasing behavior, which centered on the trend of purchases made by adolescent girls in relation to what they hear from advertisements. Finally, there was focus on the effect of the decisions that girls take after acting to various forms of food and nutrition advertisements. Level of accuracy of transcription and transcription conventions: (Here you should note how accurate the transcription is and what factors affected this level. You should also note your own conventions used such as using all caps for emphasis, line breaks for pauses, etc.) The transcription can be said to be highly accurate given the strategies put in place to influence the level of accuracy with the practice. In the first place, as much as the researcher made on-the field transcription, the interview was also tape recorded with permission. This ensured that where there were lapses with the on-the field transcription, this was made up after the researcher went home. Whiles undertaking the transcription, there were clues that were personally developed to make interpretation easier. For instance CAPS were used to depict emphasis ___________________________________________________________________________ (Transcript begins below) Time Transcript (Start of Interview) Interview 1 Interviewer: Have you ever had the chance of buying the food and nutritional products that you consume on a day-to-day basis? Interviewee: Umm, I do have a chance to buy food and nutrition products that I use on daily basis. Umm… I yah I do……I go to the store and when I see them there I sometimes purchase them and sometimes I do not ….yeah. Interviewer: What role do your parents play in the purchasing decisions that you make? Interviewee (student A): My parents play a very important role in the purchasing decisions that I make, especially my mom. Umm…. She tries to get me to be healthier. This is different to my dad, who will… umm… actually get me junk food to eat. Interviewer: Through which channels do you often hear about the kinds of food and nutritional products and services that you patronize? Interviewee (student A): I hear about them on TV mostly. Umm… I see advertisements for healthy fruits that would be good, not just you know non healthy stuff, which is what mostly attracts me. Interviewer: When you listen to food and nutritional advertisements, what are the specific things you hear about particular products that make you choose to purchase some? Interviewee (student A): The specific things I hear about the foods that I would buy like that would make me want to choose to buy it is how healthy it can be for me and if it tastes good or not. Interviewer: Does the frequency at which you hear about a particular food or nutritional product or service in the media make you feel like patronizing the product? Interviewee (student A): No, it doesn’t I mean I do not know if there exaggerating about how good the food would be and how healthy it is for you, but it’s always good to try new things. Interviewer: Have you ever decided to buy a particular food or nutritional product because a celebrity you admire recommended it? Interviewee (student A): Umm no, I actually haven’t bought anything because it was recommended. I usually buy something because I need it. Interviewer: Do you always believe everything you hear about food and nutritional products and services? Interviewee (student A): I do not always believe what the commercials said. I mostly get it from TV shows. Umm…..advertisements don’t always convince me as they should usually. Interviewer: Have there been occasions where your peers have recommended a food or nutritional product to you and tried to force you to purchase it? Interviewee (student A): Yes, there have been times when my mom has recommended something to me but I have never been forced to buy anything that I don't want. My mom always reminds me to choose healthy food products. Interviewer: In your opinion, is it right that you try a food and nutrition product just because it worked well for your friend? Interviewee (student A): Well, if my friend tried it and it worked then I will try it, but it depends how good it worked. I always respond if it felt good for them, but if I tried it then I would also give them advice. Interviewer: How do you respond to friends who often pressure you to buy food and nutritional products because they tried it and thought it was good for them? Interviewee (student A): I am always concerned about the side effects that some products can give because you never know what people could put in products which they say can help you but it cannot really help you. Interviewer: Are you often concerned with the nutritional values and possible side effects of products and services that are publicized in food and nutritional advertisements? Interviewer: Can you mention some of the possible negative effects that you may get when you purchase food products and services that are not healthy? Interviewee (student A): Umm…, some of the negative effects may cause you to feel unwell. Also, umm… there’s always negative effects to every thing that you take or that you see on TV that you want to try. Interviewer: Do you have personal experience with any of the effects you mentioned in point (5)? Interviewee (student A): Umm…, no cause I've never actually purchased anything like that. I just make home a lot of home meals and I have never pursued something from a commercial that can help you to lose weight. I just do it the normal way. Interviewer: Do you know of any friends who have negatively suffered from buying certain foods and nutritional products or services? If so, please kindly explain their experiences. Interviewee (student A): Umm…, actually yes I have a cousin. She umm… I think she tried JENNY CRAKER. I forget what it's called. It's JENNY CRAKER or something and they count your points. She was eating less than what she should be eating, so I think it’s umm… I think she should be dieting like eating healthy and jogging rather than just eating less and doing nothing. Interviewer: When you buy food and nutritional products, do you thoroughly read their labels before consuming them? Interviewee (student A): Yes, I definitely read labels before using it. I read the labels because there are a lot of things you can get sick from and you never know what is bad for you if you don’t read the labels. Interviewer: Have you ever bought a food or nutritional product that you refused to use after reading its contents on the package or label? If yes, why so? Interviewee (student A): Yes, I’ve bought a PowerAde bottle and it had a lot of sodium in it, almost like 300 milligrams of sodium. It's not good to have that much sodium in your body, but I still didn't throw it away; I just didn’t buy it. Interviewer: If you spend huge sum of money to buy a food and nutritional product and it turns out that it has only few days to expire, are you going to discard it or you will use it? Interviewee (student A): Ummmmm… I usually check if it will expire soon before I buy it. If it does expire soon, actually I’m going to be honest, like no if I have something I bought and it will expire then even if it still smells and tastes good then I would throw it away. If it has a certain smell to it or doesn’t taste right then yes I would throw it away. Interviewer: Have you ever bought a food or nutritional product or service that is reserved for adults only? Interviewee (student A): No, I haven’t actually. I have had Red Bull and Monster before and I didn't know what the age requirement was for that, but I do not use anything else that should only be for adults. Interviewer: In your opinion, will you say you have a good attitude towards food and nutrition advertisements? Interviewee (student A): Umm…, I do have a good positive attitude toward advertisements for your health. Interviewer: If your own estimation is positive, how will you maintain it? If it is negative, how will you improve it? Interviewee (student A): Umm…, my estimation is positive and I try to keep it like you know healthy. I’m always positive and always trying to find something to help me with my health not because an advertisement told me but because you need to get regular exercise, and this is something that most advertisements don't tell you. Interview 2 Interviewer: Have you ever had the chance of buying the food and nutritional products that you consume on a day-to-day basis? Interviewee (student B): I shop with my mom when I buy nutritional products. I try to see how much nutritional value each product has and I would try to eat those good fruits on a daily basis. Interviewer: What role do your parents play in the purchasing decisions that you make? Interviewee (student B): My parents play very big part in my purchasing decisions because they provide me with the money haha… and they buy for the food that I eat, yeah. Interviewer: Through which channels do you often hear about the kinds of food and nutritional products and services that you patronize? Interviewee (student B): I usually hear them through school or like with commercials they sometimes tell you about the nutritional value of food. For something like fruit I don't need to see the commercials because I know it is good for me. Interviewer: When you listen to food and nutritional advertisements, what are the specific things you hear about particular products that make you choose to purchase some? Interviewee (student B): I usually listen to what it provides you and what kind of goodness you are getting out of it. I usually think how this is going to help my body instead whether I like it or not. Interviewer: Does the frequency at which you hear about a particular food or nutritional product or service in the media make you feel like patronizing the product? Interviewee (student B): Usually the media does play an influence in the food I eat because if there is for instance something really healthy and very popular I will probably eat it. If there is something that is healthy but not very popular then I probably wouldn’t eat it, yeah. Interviewer: Have you ever decided to buy a particular food or nutritional product because a celebrity you admire recommended it? Interviewee (student B): Umm… not really because I don’t really care about what the celebrities think of food because they don’t play a big role in my life. If advertisements have the right persuasive techniques such as what is in the food and how is going to help me then I would probably buy it on the basis of the advertisement only. Interviewer: Do you always believe everything you hear about food and nutritional products and services? Interviewee (student B): Yes, I am very global when it comes to people telling me what is in the food and what is in the nutritional products. Interviewer: Have there been occasions where your peers have recommended a food or nutritional product to you and tried to force you to purchase it? Interviewee (student B): Yes, that is actually very true. I usually buy food on the basis of what my friends tell me, such as “that oh yeah that taste very good and it is very good for you.” I do the same thing with my friends because I tell them if something is really good and what it is going to do for them because that is how we look out for each other. Interviewer: In your opinion, is it right that you try a food and nutrition product just because it worked well for your friend? Interviewee (student B): Yes, I do think it's right because if it is working well for you or your friends then it should to help everybody...Yeah I think that is right. Interviewer: How do you respond to friends who often pressure you to buy food and nutritional products because they tried it and thought it was good for them? Interviewee (student B): I usually tell … like ……. If something is not good for me then I would tell them I don’t like this so please keep it away from me, but if they are just looking out for my health then I would try it and I see if I like it or not. Interviewer: Are you often concerned with the nutritional values and possible side effects of products and services that are publicized in food and nutritional advertisements? Interviewee (student B): Yes, because sometime in nutritional advertisements they see how well it is but at the same time they have a guy at the end talking very fast about the side effects. Some of which result in death …… That does really scare me. Interviewer: Can you mention some of the possible negative effects that you may get when you purchase food products and services that are not healthy? Interviewee (student B): Umm… well like for instance if you buy a big bag of M&Ms or chips it will have some negative effects, maybe gain some weight. You will feel not as good and you might get sick more often. Interviewer: Do you have a personal experience with any of the effects you mentioned in point (5)? Interviewee (student B): Yes, actually umm…yeah… it does. I do have some personal experience. One time I was just watching TV and I saw some ads taking about omega-3 pills. At first it sounded really good then they start like mentioning bad things that would happen if you took too much of it or not enough. That scared me so I just stay away from it. Interviewer: Do you know of any friends who have negatively suffered from buying certain foods and nutritional products or services? If so, please kindly explain their experiences. Interviewee (student B): Umm… I do not have friends who suffered from certain food or nutritional products except one of my friends. She was on EDHD pills and they made her gain weight and then she directly lost her weight. Interviewer: When you buy food and nutritional products, do you thoroughly read their labels before consuming them? Interviewee (student B): I do read the labels, mostly the calories and fats. Interviewer: Have you ever bought a food or nutritional product that you refused to use after reading its contents on the package or label? If yes, why so? Interviewee (student B): Kind of because one time I bought Doritos Nacho Cheese because I always heard it's good for you. But then I just read the packaging and labeling to see how many carbs were in it. There were a lot of carbs because it is cheese and so I just stopped eating it. But now it is still in my refrigerator… haha. Interviewer: If you spend huge sum of money to buy a food and nutritional product and it turns out that it has only few days to expire, are you going to discard it or you will use it? Interviewee (student B): I would probably discard it because you never know how these things will react after the expiration day. With some products you can wait up to a year after they have expired and it will still be alright. But with things like cheese, butter, and milk if it is only a few days after the expiration date then I would probably not eat or drink it. Interviewer: Have you ever bought a food or nutritional product or service that is reserved for adults only? Interviewee (student B): Umm…, no I have not. Interviewer: In your opinion, will you say you have a good attitude towards food and nutrition advertisements? Interviewee (student B): Yes, I actually like nutrition and being healthy because it is very big part of my lifestyle. I like to feel fit and healthy because it improves my whole attitude to life. Yes I would say I do. Interviewer: If your own estimation is positive, how will you maintain it? If it is negative, how will you improve it? Interviewee (student B): I try to be as positive as possible all the time. When it comes to health I try to encourage people to be healthier. I try to go to work with my friends every Tuesday and Wednesday to try and keep it up. Read More