Supermarket magazines and foodscape mediation in Australia

ABSTRACT

This empirical study of Australian supermarket magazines examines how the mediatised representations of branded products are used to construct relations to food and (re-)establish its functional and symbolic values. It contends supermarket magazines are corporate-owned and -controlled sites of communication and cultural production that bring to light the shifting (power) relations between consumers, food producers and supermarkets. The first section of the paper highlights the role of mediatised representations, product positioning and differentiation strategies and cultural intermediaries in mediating the functional and symbolic values of branded products. Using data generated from the analysis of Coles and Fresh, the next section outlines the communicative orientations of mediatised representations in supermarket magazines and identifies four types of relations to food practices. A communication model of supermarket foodscape mediation is presented to illustrate the mediatory influence of supermarket magazines on the formation of food practices and food relations.

KEYWORDS:

• Food media
• food practices
• branded products
• product positioning strategies
• country-of-origin
• cultural intermediaries

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback and insightful comments, which helped to clarify and strengthen the arguments put forward in the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. https://www.coles.com.au/magazine#2018.

2. https://www.woolworths.com.au/Shop/Recipes/fresh-magazine/fresh-magazine#2018.

3. Coles, March 2018 issue, pp. 26–33.

4. Fresh, March 2018 issue, p. 93.

5. Fresh, January/February issue, p. 115.

6. Coles, January 2018 issue, p. 78.

7. Coles, December 2017 issue, pp. 32–38.

8. Fresh, October 2017 issue, p. 68.

9. Coles, December 2017 issue, p. 128.

10. Fresh, January/February 2018 issue, p. 18.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elaine Xu

Elaine Xu is a Ph.D. candidate in Communication and Media Studies and a sessional academic in Communication at Murdoch University, Perth, Australia. Her doctoral research examines the communicative practices of charitable fundraising campaigns and the evolving tripartite relationships between individuals, companies and non-profit organisations. Her research interests revolve around philanthropic studies, strategic and ethical communication practices and the effects of technological mediation on communication and meaning-making practices.

Terence Lee

Terence Lee is an Associate Professor in Communication and Media Studies and Research Fellow of the Asia Research Centre at Murdoch University, Perth, Australia.