Facebook advertisements and food preferences among students nurses at a private university

Abstract

As social media becomes more integrated into daily life, Facebook has become an essential tool for marketing food-related products. However, these advertisements can create confusion about healthy eating choices among young adults. This study examined the relationship between level of exposure to Facebook advertisements and the level of food preferences among student nurses at a private university in Iloilo City, Philippines, using a descriptive-correlational design. The respondents included randomly selected bona fide student nurses (n=288) from the university during the first semester of 2023-2024. Furthermore, data were collected using a researcher-developed questionnaire. Also, descriptive statistics included frequency, percentage, measures of central tendency, and standard deviation, and Gamma and Kruskal’s gamma coefficients were used for inferential statistics. Most respondents (38.5%) reported moderate exposure to food-related Facebook advertisements, indicating a reasonable level of interaction. Additionally, 31.6% reported low exposure while 29.9% reported high exposure, suggesting varied engagement with these advertisements. The data indicated that 38.5% of respondents felt a moderate influence from food-related Facebook advertisements, 28.1% reported low influence, and 33.3% showed high influence, reflecting the diverse impacts of these ads. The correlation between exposure and influence was statistically significant (p=.000), suggesting that higher exposure is directly proportional to greater influence on food preferences. This underscores the vital role of social media marketing in shaping dietary choices among student nurses. Further research is recommended to explore the lived experiences of student nurses regarding their food preferences influenced by Facebook advertisements.