Research questions legitimacy of promoting harmful products

Marketers need to pay more attention to how marketing practices normalize the consumption of products that are known to be harmful to public health and social well-being, University of Otago—Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka researchers argue. A new paper led by Associate Professor Leah Watkins and Professor Rob Aitken, of the Otago Business School, shows how industries such as tobacco, alcohol, gambling, and ultra-processed food have invested heavily in marketing strategies, including digital and social media channels, that increase the consumption of products associated with disease, addiction, and social harm. These strategies also disproportionately affect disadvantaged consumers and undermine traditional regulatory safeguards.