Attribute and Benefit Claims in Food Advertising

Abstract: Based on the expectancy-value model and construal level theory, this study conducted a content analysis of major women’s magazines published between 2013 and 2015 to identify and explain recent trends in food advertising and to compare the strategies used in the ads to theoretical models. Result showed that taste claims were still the most common across food product categories. Claims related to product attributes other than taste were significantly more common in vice food ads than virtue food ads, while benefit claims were more common in the latter.