The Role of Radio Personalities as Endorsers of Food Supplements. An Analysis of Health-Related Claims (H-RCs) on Spanish Radio Mentions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2021-1511Keywords:
advertising; health claims; product information; food supplements; radio; media personality; source credibility.Abstract
Introduction: Advertisers use endorsers due to their potential in terms of persuasion and message effectiveness. The objective of this work is to analyze health-related claims in food supplements advertising establishing the relationship between radio personalities and health-related information. Methodology: A content analysis of all radio mentions —with a final corpus of 437— broadcast in 2017 on the three news/talk radio stations with the largest audiences was conducted. Results: Radio hosts (55%) predominate over collaborators (45%), with function claims as the most prevalent type of claim (99.5%), followed by disease claims, prohibited by law. Collaborators mention non-authorized claims more frequently than radio hosts. Regarding mandatory information on product content, 79% of mentions do not refer to any mineral that supports their alleged benefits. Discussion: Advertisers exploit the reliability of opinion leaders to endorse food supplements. These personalities are clearly inadequate to recommend these products, which implies a great risk to consumers’ health. The significant and illicit use of these claims demands more restrictive legislation and stricter control mechanisms by self-regulatory authorities. Conclusions: Although advertisers are solely responsible for the illicit endorsement, the responsibility must be extended to media owners and radio personalities, due to their social influence, for a greater protection against illicit advertising
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