• On average, each citizen scientist sent the researchers 23 harmful industry ads over the two-week period, and many said they could have sent more. The participants who sent in the most screenshots received an average of 105 harmful industry ads.

“This experience was eye opening. I became aware of just how many advertisements I am exposed to throughout the day, and how the vast majority of the ads are for unhealthy food/activities.” (Rupert, 20, male). 

• 97% of the ads seen and shared by the citizen scientists were “dark” to some degree. By “dark” it means that they are only visible to those targeted by the advertisers, are fleeting, and not published on advertiser accounts where they can be viewed.

• Participants downloaded and shared information that Facebook created about them in its advertising model. This data indicates that on average, the young Victorians in the study had 194 advertisers upload data about them, and the advertising model had generated 787 interests about them. Meta’s advertising model is tuned to “learn” predispositions toward the consumption of harmful and addictive commodities and reinforce them by assigning “interests” related to those products.

• 81% of young people involved in the study think the advertising of unhealthy industries they see on social media should be reduced and regulated. The participants described the targeted social media advertising using opaque algorithms as “manipulative”, “creepy”, and “annoying”. They also had many ideas on how this regulation should work, both on the industry and platform ends.

“With things like gambling, I personally don’t think individuals under the age of 25 when your brain is still developing should be advertised gambling services as it forms unhealthy and hard to break habits that could follow you for the rest of your life, so I would prevent advertising of gambling, alcohol and fast food to people under 25. ” (Russell, 17, male,)

• The volume of advertisements was concentrated among a small number of multinational  corporate  advertisers with operations in Australia, particularly in the unhealthy food, home delivery and alcohol categories, with 5% of all advertisers (n=48) accounting for 50% of all advertisements.

“I don’t think you should be allowed to advertise unhealthy food, drinks, alcohol or gambling all together. It is normalising unhealthy habits.” (Darcie, 20, female)

• The study found that young people under the age of 18 are being exposed to alcohol and gambling campaigns on social media. There were 54 participants in the study aged 16-17 and 67% of them were targeted with alcohol ads and 22% with gambling ads.

• The study also revealed that interactive buttons are now central to harmful industries’ advertising, with more and more ads on social media delivered with a call-to-action button, such as ‘Shop now’ or ‘Learn more’. These buttons push the ad to a shoppable product, directly linking the moment of persuasion to an opportunity for purchase – ultimately leading to consumption.

“Gambling ads should be banned, they’re an absolute net negative for society and my wallet.” (Ash, 21, male, Melbourne)

*These mocked-up screenshots demonstrate how ‘call to action’ buttons are used by harmful industries. These are not real advertisements.

 

In this project 204 young Victorians were engaged to examine the promotion of alcohol, unhealthy food, sugary drinks, and gambling on social media. The citizen scientist participants were recruited from six targeted research participant recruitment campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. This multi-step approach ensured a diverse group of participants were recruited into the study. The citizen scientist participants worked with the researchers to collect 5,169 examples of advertising they saw on their own social media feeds over a two-week period. In addition to the collection of visual data, citizen scientists completed two surveys on their views and perceptions of unhealthy marketing on social media before and after the collection of screenshots and were invited to download and share information Facebook created about them in its advertising model. They also offered insights and self-reflections on the data they were collecting via online chat and discussion forums.  

This research shows the targeted and relentless bombardment of harmful product marketing to young people and young adults through digital channels that is uniquely difficult for public or regulator scrutiny.  

Digital marketing and the targeted methods used by harmful industries remains largely unregulated and is mostly governed by industry codes which are inadequate, ineffective, and lack transparency and accountability. It largely occurs under the radar and is always evolving, making it difficult to identify and control.

Young Victorians helped us observe marketing that platforms and advertisers hide. They helped us provide accountability that the platforms and industry fail to allow. This project has reinforced that young Victorians want better regulation. It has engaged young people as advocates for change. We need higher standards to be legislated for marketing of harmful products. This needs to be independent of industry, to ensure a safe and healthy online environment for everyone; especially for those most at risk from harm including young people and young adults. 

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