Supermarket magazines and foodscape mediation in Australia

Abstract

This empirical study of Australian supermarket magazines examines how the mediatised representations of branded products are used to construct relations to food and (re-)establish its functional and symbolic values. It contends supermarket magazines are corporate-owned and -controlled sites of communication and cultural production that bring to light the shifting (power) relations between consumers, food producers and supermarkets. The first section of the paper highlights the role of mediatised representations, product positioning and differentiation strategies and cultural intermediaries in mediating the functional and symbolic values of branded products. Using data generated from the analysis of Coles and Fresh, the next section outlines the communicative orientations of mediatised representations in supermarket magazines and identifies four types of relations to food practices. A communication model of supermarket foodscape mediation is presented to illustrate the mediatory influence of supermarket magazines on the formation of food practices and food relations.