The Exploration of Television Advertising of Infant Formula Milk and How This Impacts on Women’s Feeding Choices

Infant feeding remains a topic which continually fuels heated debate. The benefits of breastfeeding are well versed and irrefutable. However, breastfeeding rates continue to be poor globally with The United Kingdom (UK) being one of the worst affected nations. Evidence highlights that whilst infant...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Swift, Olivia
Format: Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/68227/
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author Swift, Olivia
author_facet Swift, Olivia
author_sort Swift, Olivia
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Infant feeding remains a topic which continually fuels heated debate. The benefits of breastfeeding are well versed and irrefutable. However, breastfeeding rates continue to be poor globally with The United Kingdom (UK) being one of the worst affected nations. Evidence highlights that whilst infant feeding is somewhat of a conundrum, the marketing of artificial feeding methods, namely infant formula is perpetuating the problem. Becoming a mother is a time in a woman’s life where direction is haphazard and arguments remain that infant formula companies try to exploit this through using aggressive marketing tactics to push infant formula milks and manipulate these vulnerable consumers somewhat. Such marketing strategies are not always welcomed by those striving to protect breastfeeding, however it is unclear as to whether mothers are in fact impacted by the advertising, or whether they remain detached. It is important therefore to understand how mothers themselves view infant formula marketing and whether it does affect their infant feeding behavioural intentions. This dissertation aims to explore television advertising of infant formula and how this impacts on women’s feeding choices. The study interviewed thirteen new mothers to further understand their perception of this advertising and uncover how infant feeding choices are adopted. The dissertation proposes a more collaborative stance between healthcare providers and infant formula companies, recognising that whilst at present they have polarised views, the two share some values in common. The findings extend extant knowledge of the complexities surrounding infant feeding choice and highlights the factors that marketers and health care bodies should consider when providing objective information to new mothers regarding feeding methods.
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spelling nottingham-682272023-05-02T10:48:55Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/68227/ The Exploration of Television Advertising of Infant Formula Milk and How This Impacts on Women’s Feeding Choices Swift, Olivia Infant feeding remains a topic which continually fuels heated debate. The benefits of breastfeeding are well versed and irrefutable. However, breastfeeding rates continue to be poor globally with The United Kingdom (UK) being one of the worst affected nations. Evidence highlights that whilst infant feeding is somewhat of a conundrum, the marketing of artificial feeding methods, namely infant formula is perpetuating the problem. Becoming a mother is a time in a woman’s life where direction is haphazard and arguments remain that infant formula companies try to exploit this through using aggressive marketing tactics to push infant formula milks and manipulate these vulnerable consumers somewhat. Such marketing strategies are not always welcomed by those striving to protect breastfeeding, however it is unclear as to whether mothers are in fact impacted by the advertising, or whether they remain detached. It is important therefore to understand how mothers themselves view infant formula marketing and whether it does affect their infant feeding behavioural intentions. This dissertation aims to explore television advertising of infant formula and how this impacts on women’s feeding choices. The study interviewed thirteen new mothers to further understand their perception of this advertising and uncover how infant feeding choices are adopted. The dissertation proposes a more collaborative stance between healthcare providers and infant formula companies, recognising that whilst at present they have polarised views, the two share some values in common. The findings extend extant knowledge of the complexities surrounding infant feeding choice and highlights the factors that marketers and health care bodies should consider when providing objective information to new mothers regarding feeding methods. 2022-01-24 Dissertation (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/68227/2/20316590_Dissertation_FINAL%20.pdf Swift, Olivia (2022) The Exploration of Television Advertising of Infant Formula Milk and How This Impacts on Women’s Feeding Choices. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)] infant feeding infant formula milk television advertising of infant formula
spellingShingle infant feeding
infant formula milk
television advertising of infant formula
Swift, Olivia
The Exploration of Television Advertising of Infant Formula Milk and How This Impacts on Women’s Feeding Choices
title The Exploration of Television Advertising of Infant Formula Milk and How This Impacts on Women’s Feeding Choices
title_full The Exploration of Television Advertising of Infant Formula Milk and How This Impacts on Women’s Feeding Choices
title_fullStr The Exploration of Television Advertising of Infant Formula Milk and How This Impacts on Women’s Feeding Choices
title_full_unstemmed The Exploration of Television Advertising of Infant Formula Milk and How This Impacts on Women’s Feeding Choices
title_short The Exploration of Television Advertising of Infant Formula Milk and How This Impacts on Women’s Feeding Choices
title_sort exploration of television advertising of infant formula milk and how this impacts on women’s feeding choices
topic infant feeding
infant formula milk
television advertising of infant formula
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/68227/