This consent form, a copy of which has been given to you, is only part of the process of informed consent. If you want more details about something mentioned here, or information not included here, please feel free to ask. Please take the time to read this carefully and to understand any accompanying information. The University of Calgary Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board has approved this research study. Participation is completely voluntary. You are free to discontinue participation at any time during the study.
The federal government's Health Eating Strategy includes a commitment to monitor the marketing of unhealthy food and beverages to teenagers aged 13–17 (as part of its broader commitment to restrict food marketing to children). To monitor food marketing to teenagers, we first need to determine "counts" as teen-targeted food promotion. Clearly, not all food marketing is aimed specifically at teenagers: some food marketing targeted primarily at children, some at adults, and some at general audiences. But some food and beverage marketing—be it for fast food, snack food, "junk" food, coffee, energy drinks or even crackers—is specifically designed to appeal to teenagers. You might see food advertising and think it is aimed at teenagers because it is on Instagram or on an app designed for teenagers, or because Katy Perry or a social media influencer is promoting the product, or because of the style of humour or music of the advertisement. You might see a billboard for a fast food company or product packaging that you think is specifically designed to attract teenagers. As researchers, we are asking you to help us Grab Food Marketing! (GrabFM!) and let us know why, in your opinion, you think it is teen-targeted, which will give us a sense of the places and ways that food marketers target teenagers, and the types of food advertisements teenagers see. A smartphone app called GrabFM! will allow you to capture the food and beverage that you feel is targeted specifically to you, and to indicate why you think it is teen-targeted food promotion.
You must be age 13–17 to participate. You will be asked to use the GrabFM! app to take pictures or screenshots of food and beverage marketing examples that you think are specifically targeted at teenagers that you encounter in your life (on your phone, in social media, in the grocery store, on billboards or signs, while watching television, etc.) You will be asked to do this for a period of 7 consecutive days, and then to complete a survey based on your experience.
You will need to submit your first and last name, and email address, to register for the study and to gain access to the smartphone app for downloading. However, the data generated by the app will be anonymized (i.e., it will not be directly connected to your name or email, and there will be no way to identify you). The app will record your age, gender, ethnicity, and postal code. The data collected from the smartphone app and surveys will be used in academic articles and presentations.
This research encourages you to think about where, how, and how often food marketing messages target teenagers. In helping to collect examples and identify "what counts as" teen-targeted food marketing, you are helping to contribute to monitoring food marketing (for Health Canada purposes) and create evidence about the food and beverage marketing aimed at teenagers across Canada. In the process, you might find yourself becoming more aware of the kind of marketing that you encounter on a day to day basis. There are no risks associated with participating.
Data generated by the app use will be downloaded and securely stored by the researchers on password protected computers. There is no set date that this data will be destroyed. Directly identifiable participant information (full name and email address) will be deleted at the end of the five year study period. Any hard copy consent forms will be kept in a locked cabinet accessible by the PI (Elliott) and research team involved in the project. All electronic documents (permission form templates) will be on password protected computers. No individual other than the principal investigator and research team members will have access to the cabinet or password protected computers.
If you have any further questions or want clarification regarding this research and/or your participation, please contact:
Dr. Charlene Elliott, Department of Communication, Media and Film, Faculty of Arts, (403) 220-3180, charlene.elliott[at]ucalgary.ca
If you have any concerns about the way you've been treated as a participant, please contact Research Ethics Administrators, Research Services Office, University of Calgary at (403) 220-6289/220-4283; email: cfreb@ucalgary.ca