Picture Perfect Vitamins : the Semiotics of Health Supplement Marketing on Instagram

Instagram. Specifically, this MRP examines the visual social media marketing techniques utilized by vitamin supplement companies in health images on Instagram, and the images communicated messages and implications. Through a qualitative content analysis case study approach, two vitamin supplement companies Instagram images were analyzed and compared: Sugar Bear Hair and Ritual. An image analysis guided by Roland Barthes semiotic theory of myth was conducted on 20 images posted on each company’s Instagram profile on and before April 1, 2019. The results suggest that health brands use a variety of visual marketing techniques to market their brands and products to users on social media, such as colours, influencers, and computer-generated imagery. In addition, the communicated messages in health images, or the “Barthian” myths as referred to in this study, exaggerate and differ from the scientific evidence surrounding the efficacy of vitamin supplements. Lastly, the myths derived from the images have the potential to confuse consumers, which may lead to health repercussions. This research contributes to the field of health communications as it builds upon literature that has found that marketing health via traditional and social media can be misleading and that organizations and brands on social media can do more to communicate necessary and accurate health messages.