The Impact of Anti-Sugar Public Health Campaigns on Implicit Attitudes: An Abstract

Abstract

Obesity has a significant impact on public health (Redondo et al. 2018). The widespread obesity problem is attributed to the increase in the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) among consumers (Malik et al. 2010). This is particularly prevalent in South Africa, with the average consumption of SSBs by consumers in the country estimated to be over 200 ml per day (Tugendhaft et al. 2016). Despite the implementation of a Sugary Beverage Levy in South Africa, effective as from the 1st of April 2018, there is a lack of communication on the part of the South African Department of Health (Scott et al. 2017) which may be used to supplement the imposition of this Sugary Beverage Levy (Manyema et al. 2014). Public health campaigns are commonly used to address national health concerns and are implemented with the aim of (i) persuading attitudes, often through mass media channels (Wayman 2010), (ii) compelling consumers to cease or adopt a behaviour and (iii) preventing undesirable outcomes from occurring (Mayén et al. 2016). For example, interventions (i.e. public health campaigns) in nutrition-related education can be used to supplement the imposition of a tax on SSBs (Redondo et al. 2018). This in turn communicates the risks of excessive SSB consumption to compel consumers to reduce or cease their consumption of these SSBs (Rahman et al. 2014). Of interest to marketers is the implicit consumer attitudes that are under-researched in the marketing literature. Despite a few exceptions (see for example Wanke et al. 2002; Ackermann and Mathieu 2015), the importance of these implicit attitudes is either undermined or non-existent in marketing theory. Understanding the roles that implicit attitudes play in behavioural change has important implications for public health campaigns and the design thereof. By identifying whether these attitudes or associations are central to affecting an individual’s behaviour, avenues for more effective targeting can be created for future public health campaigns (Brunton and St Quinton 2017). Further, the exact influence of various public health campaigns in the context of SSB consumption requires further clarity (Morley et al. 2018).