Jennifer Harris, PhD, MBA
Dr. Jennifer Harris is Director of Marketing Initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale University where she is also an Associate Research Scientist. She is responsible for identifying and coordinating research initiatives to understand the extent and impact of children's exposure to food advertising and communicate that information to the health community, parents and legislators.
Dr. Harris received her BA in Political Science from Northwestern University and her MBA in Marketing from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Before returning to graduate school, she worked for eighteen years as a business executive as a Vice President in marketing. At American Express, she gained experience in all consumer marketing functions including advertising, direct marketing, new product development, and customer relationship management. She then launched her own marketing consulting firm specializing in marketing strategy and new product and market development. Dr. Harris completed her PhD in Social Psychology at Yale University where she worked with Dr. John Bargh. Her dissertation research demonstrates the automatic effects of food advertising on snacking behaviors and food preferences among elementary school children and young adults.
Dr. Harris' research interests include applying social psychological theory and experimental methods to examine the socialization influences of media, with a focus on unconscious effects of advertising on public health. She has written on the psychological effects of advertising to children and conducted research on the interactive influence of media exposure and parental communication on diet and food attitudes in young adults.
Contact: (203) 432-4613; jennifer.harris@yale.edu
In the News
How Advertising Targets Our Children
Television is still one of the main ways foods are marketed to children. But according to Rudd Center’s Jennifer Harris, “parents may not realize that their children are also subjected to messages from advertisers coming in from other directions.”
The New York Times, February 2013
Food Marketers to Kids: You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide
Even though junk food advertising to children on television has decreased in recent years, according to the FTC’s recent report on food marketing, companies are turning to new platforms like embedding ads in games and on popular kids' websites.
Take Part, January 2013
Kids Who Play Food Product Games May Eat More Junk Food
Some kids can't get enough of online games where they can pretend to run a candy factory or decorate cakes. But children who play with these games may eat more, and eat more junk food, even if the game features fruit or other healthful choices, according to new research.
NPR, January 2013
Food Company 'Advergames' Target Children with Apps, Websites
Regulation is needed to protect children from advergames that promote unhealthy food, according to health experts
ABC News, December 2012
New Study: Parents Support Restrictions on The Marketing of Food to Kids
Parents are concerned about food marketing and the way it impacts their children’s eating habits and would support policies to limit the marketing of unhealthy food and beverages to children.
The Lunch Tray, November 2012
Publications
Gearhardt AN, Yokum S, Stice E, Harris JL, Brownell KB. Relation of obesity to neural activation in response to food commercials. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. 2013 Apr.
Pomeranz JL, Munsell CR, Harris JL. Energy drinks: An emerging public health hazard for youth. Journal of Public Health Policy. 2013 Mar;14:1-8.
Harris JL, Sarda V, Schwartz MB, Brownell KD. Redefining “child-directed advertising” to reduce unhealthy television food advertising. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2013 Mar;44(4):358-364.
Harris JL, Weinberg M, Javadizadeh J, Sarda V. Monitoring food company marketing to children to spotlight best and worst practices. Advances in Communication Research to Reduce Childhood Obesity. 2013 :153-175.
Cheyne A, Dorfman L, Bukofzer E, Harris JL. Marketing sugary cereals to children in the digital age: A content analysis of 17 child-targeted websites. Journal of Health Communication. 2013 Feb:1-20.
Roberto CA, Shivaram M, Martinez O, Boles C, Harris JL, Brownell KD. The Smart Choices front-of-package nutrition label. Influence on perceptions and intake of cereal. Appetite. 2012 Apr;58(2):651-657.
Kirkpatrick SI, Reedy J, Kahle LL, Harris JL, Ohri-Vachaspati P, Krebs-Smith SM. Fast-food menu offerings vary in dietary quality, but are consistently poor. Public Health Nutrition. 2013 Jan:1-8.
Bragg MA, Liu PJ, Roberto CA, Sarda V, Harris JL, Brownell KD. The use of sports references in marketing of food and beverage products in supermarkets. Public Health Nutrition. 2012 Aug:1-5.
Harris JL, Graff SK. Protecting young people from junk food advertising: Implications of psychological research for First Amendment law. American Journal of Public Health. 2012 Feb;102(2):214-222.
Harris JL, Speers SE, Schwartz MB, Brownell KD. US food company branded advergames on the internet: Children's exposure and effects on snack consumption. Journal of Children and Media. 2012 Feb;6(1):51-68.
Television is still one of the main ways foods are marketed to children. But according to Rudd Center’s Jennifer Harris, “parents may not realize that their children are also subjected to messages from advertisers coming in from other directions.”
The New York Times, February 2013
Even though junk food advertising to children on television has decreased in recent years, according to the FTC’s recent report on food marketing, companies are turning to new platforms like embedding ads in games and on popular kids' websites.
Take Part, January 2013
Some kids can't get enough of online games where they can pretend to run a candy factory or decorate cakes. But children who play with these games may eat more, and eat more junk food, even if the game features fruit or other healthful choices, according to new research.
NPR, January 2013
Regulation is needed to protect children from advergames that promote unhealthy food, according to health experts
ABC News, December 2012
Parents are concerned about food marketing and the way it impacts their children’s eating habits and would support policies to limit the marketing of unhealthy food and beverages to children.
The Lunch Tray, November 2012
3/12/13: Industry self-regulation permits junk food ads in programming popular with children 10/29/12: Survey shows parents support policies limiting unhealthy food marketing to children 6/22/12: Cereal FACTS 2012: A spoonful of progress in a bowl full of unhealthy marketing to kids 4/24/12: Yale Rudd Center Featured in HBO Series on Obesity Crisis 1/9/12: Food Company Computer Games Increase Junk Food ConsumptionPress Releases
Loopholes in industry self-regulation allow food companies to continue to reach large numbers of children with advertising for unhealthy products — such as fast food, candy, and cookies — during “tween” programs and popular children’s holiday specials. The study by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity is published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Parents are concerned about food marketing and the way it impacts their children’s eating habits and would support policies to limit the marketing of unhealthy food and beverages to children, according to a study from Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity.
Cereal companies have improved the nutritional quality of most cereals marketed directly to children, but they also have increased advertising to children for many of their least nutritious products, according to a report by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity.
Researchers from the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity will be featured in a multi-part series on HBO that addresses the national obesity epidemic. Rudd Center director Kelly Brownell, deputy director Marlene Schwartz, director of research Rebecca Puhl, and director of marketing initiatives Jennifer Harris will join other notable names in obesity research and prevention to discuss one of the nation’s most pressing health issues and offer practical but far-reaching solutions.
Despite food company pledges to reduce marketing of unhealthy products to children, a Rudd Center study finds that children are disproportionately targeted by food company websites using branded computer games, known as advergames. Researchers also found that playing these games increases children’s consumption of junk food. The study is published online in the Journal of Children and Media.
