RESUMEN
Abstract The role of children as consumers has generated great interest in social marketing, especially in aspects related to food. However, there are fields such as the regulation of advertising, digital behavior, and children's attitudes towards products that until now have not been completely studied. To support future research of the social marketing scientific community about this topic, the present bibliometric study aimed to investigate and describe the lines and areas of inquiry in psychology, behavior and social marketing in relation to child consumption, in order to respond the following research question: what have been the most important publications, authors and trends in research on child consumption in the last 45 years? To this end, 1375 articles from 703 journals were analyzed with the Bibliometrix packages (R Studio), under an exploratory and descriptive methodology, analyzing 2588 author keywords and 1265 additional keywords, with 2597 authors hi the Scopus database. Scientometric indicators show the existence of five thematic groups related to child consumption. It is concluded that scientific production on child consumption should address protection and regulation issues oriented to social responsibility, especially in integrated marketing and advertising communications for food brands, with greater and special care in the digital environment, due to the current immersion of the world's child population and its growing autonomy in the choice of digital content, products, and brands.
Resumen El papel de los niños como consumidores ha generado un gran interés en el marketing social, especialmente en los aspectos relacionados con la alimentación; sin embargo, hay campos como la regulación de la publicidad, el comportamiento digital y las actitudes de los niños hacia los productos, que hasta ahora no están completamente estudiados. Para apoyar las futuras investigaciones de la comunidad científica del marketing social sobre este tema, el presente estudio bibliométrico tuvo como objetivo investigar y describir las líneas y áreas de investigación en psicología, comportamiento y marketing social, en relación con el consumo infantil, para responder a la siguiente pregunta de investigación: ¿Cuáles son las publicaciones, autores y tendencias más importantes en la investigación sobre el consumo infantil en los últimos 45 años? Para ello, se analizaron 1375 artículos de 703 revistas con los paquetes Bibliometrix (R Studio), utilizando una metodología exploratoria y descriptiva, analizando 2588 palabras clave de autor y 1265 palabras clave adicionales con 2597 autores en la base de datos Scopus. Los indicadores cienciométricos muestran la existencia de cinco grupos temáticos relacionados con el consumo infantil. Se concluye que la producción científica sobre el consumo de niños y niñas debe abordar cuestiones de protección y regulación orientadas a la responsabilidad social, especialmente en las comunicaciones integradas de marketing y publicidad de las marcas alimentarias, con mayor y especial cuidado en el entorno digital, debido a la actual inmersión de la población infantil mundial y su creciente autonomía en la elección de contenidos, productos y marcas digitales.
RESUMEN
As crianças estão assumindo um papel cada vez mais importante nas decisões de consumo familiar em função de sua crescente influência e autonomia na escolha dos produtos adquiridos, o que as torna um segmento de mercado cada vez mais visado nas estratégias de marketing das empresas de produtos manufaturados. Essa dinâmica é particularmente importante no mercado de alimentos infantis, em que se estabelecem necessidades, às vezes contraditórias, de integrar a busca por alimentos saudáveis (pelos pais) saborosos e valorizados (muitas vezes em função de atributos extrínsecos) pelos filhos. Esta pesquisa evidenciou que a adoção de padrões de alimentação inadequados tem gerado a emergência de novos problemas de saúde na população infantil brasileira. Esse quadro é agravado por um contexto institucional marcado pelo conflito de parte do setor processador de alimentos e órgãos públicos de regulação - em particular no que diz respeito à competência de regular a publicidade de alimentos para esse segmento de consumidores. Ao largo desse debate, as empresas líderes no mercado de alimentos infantis, em grande parte multinacionais, procuram alinhar a oferta de alimentos cada vez mais saudáveis aos consumidores infanto-juvenis, atendendo uma tendência inexorável nesse setor. É inconcebível, portanto, que o estabelecimento de uma regulamentação rígida e específica sobre as informações veiculadas na propaganda e publicidade de alimentos, voltados ao público infantil, por órgãos públicos isentos, beneficiando não apenas os consumidores, mas também a empresa preocupada em garantir a boa qualidade de seus produtos, não represente uma bandeira comum do setor processador de alimentos no Brasil.
Children have taken an increasingly important role in consumption-related family decision-making due to a growing influence and autonomy in choosing the products to be bought, and this has turned them into a market segment that has is increasingly aimed at by marketing strategies of manufacturing companies. This dynamics is particularly important in the children food market, in which needs of integrating the search for foods that are both considered healthy (by the parents) and seen as tasteful and valued by the children (often because of extrinsic attributes) have been established, even though they can be sometimes regarded as contradictory. This research has evidenced that the adoption of inadequate nutrition patterns have caused the emergence of new health problems in the Brazilian children population. This picture has become more serious due to an institutional context marked by the conflict between the food processing industry and public regulation institutions - particularly concerning the competence to rule food advertising aimed at this consumer segment. Far from this debate, companies that are leaders in the children food market, most of which are multinational, attempt to align their offer of healthier foods to children and adolescent consumers, thus meeting an inexorable trend in this industry. Therefore, it is unconceivable that the establishment of a strict, specific regulation of the information provided in the advertisement and publicity of children food by impartial public institutions, not only benefitting consumers, but also the companies that are concerned about assuring the good quality of their products, does not represent a common purpose of the food processing industry in Brazil.