What Tobacco, Food, and Social Media Companies Have in Common: Proven Techniques for Hooking Users

The techniques that keep you hooked on fast food and social media have their roots in the tobacco industry. It were the tobacco companies that pioneered strategies to create dependency. It focused on behavioral conditioning, reward system manipulation, and craving amplification—techniques that were later mirrored by food and social media companies.

In 1989, Philip Morris, a leading tobacco company, acquired Kraft (which later became Kraft Heinz). Philip Morris applied the same principles used to make cigarettes addictive to food products. By leveraging sugar, salt, and fat to create cravings, they optimized their products for what scientists call the “bliss point” - the exact combination of ingredients that makes it hard for consumers to stop eating. This transformed Kraft products into food magnets, compelling people to consume more.

For smokers, the equivalent "bliss point" refers to the optimal level of nicotine and sensory satisfaction that keeps them engaged and craving cigarettes. Tobacco companies have manipulated nicotine delivery (e.g., via freebasing nicotine or designing filters and paper for faster absorption) to maximize this effect.

Shared Techniques Across Industries

Despite differences in their products—nicotine, sugar/salt/fat, or digital content—all three industries exploit behavioral conditioning and reward manipulation to create habits. Their shared goal is to keep consumers coming back repeatedly and spending more time (or money) on their products.

1. Reward System Manipulation (Dopamine Triggers)

• Tobacco: Nicotine stimulates the brain’s reward system, releasing dopamine, which reinforces the habit and makes quitting difficult. Additives like menthol, sugars, and flavorings are used to enhance the sensory experience of smoking. These ingredients smooth out the harshness of tobacco smoke, making it more palatable and enjoyable. Further, ammonia is added to some cigarettes to "freebase" nicotine, allowing it to be absorbed more rapidly into the bloodstream and enhancing the "hit."
• Food: Sugar, salt, and fat trigger dopamine release, creating a rewarding sensation that encourages overeating. Food companies use emulsifiers and other additives to enhance the delivery and sensation of sugar, salt, or fat.
• Social Media: Likes, comments, and notifications act as intermittent rewards, causing dopamine spikes that keep users scrolling.

2. Creating Feedback Loops

• Tobacco: Smoking satisfies nicotine cravings temporarily but leaves users wanting more, driving repeated use.
• Food: Processed foods briefly satisfy hunger but are engineered to leave you craving more soon after.
• Social Media: Notifications and algorithmically curated content create feedback loops, pulling users back to their phones frequently. Content algorithms are designed to surface posts and videos that are most likely to grab attention and keep users engaged.

3. Behavioral Conditioning and Exploiting Psychological Needs

• Tobacco: Smoking was marketed as a symbol of sophistication and independence, conditioning users to associate it with positive emotions. Smoking rituals (e.g., lighting a cigarette, inhaling, exhaling) become associated with relaxation, stress relief, or social bonding, reinforcing the habit. Tobacco industry went even as far as sponsoring the feminist movement in the early 20th century to increase its products' sales. It was also positioned as a solution to stress, boredom, or social anxiety.
• Food: Advertisements tie food to celebrations, comfort, and happiness, reinforcing consumption as an emotional response, a way to be with friends. It is marketed as comfort or indulgence during stressful or celebratory moments.
• Social Media: Platforms condition users to associate app usage with social validation, entertainment, relaxation, FOMO or connection with loved ones to keep users coming back.

4. Personalization for Dependency

• Tobacco: Products were tailored to specific demographics (e.g., flavored cigarettes for younger audiences, sponsoring feminism movements).
• Food: Fast food and snacks are designed to appeal to regional or demographic taste preferences.
• Social Media: Algorithms deliver personalized content based on user data, ensuring every scroll feels uniquely engaging.

Lessons from Tobacco and Junk Food Advertising for Social Media Regulation

The reduction in tobacco use over the past few decades can be attributed to comprehensive regulatory measures, including advertising bans, public health campaigns, and restrictions on sales to minors. Similarly, efforts to limit junk food advertising, especially towards children, have been implemented in various regions, such as the UK's ban on junk food ads across London's public transport system.

Both tobacco and junk food industries were regulated due to their significant negative impacts on public health and the recognition that their marketing strategies disproportionately targeted vulnerable populations, including youth.

Given the behavioural science principles used in social media, similar regulatory approaches could be considered.

Lessons from Tobacco and Food Regulation:

1. Health Warnings and Education:

Tobacco: Mandatory warnings about health risks on packaging and anti-smoking campaigns helped reduce smoking rates.

Social Media: Platforms should be required to incorporate warnings about excessive use, mental health risks, or digital well-being directly into their interfaces - for example, such a message can appear after 2 hours of using the social media platform or for vulnerable groups.

It's essential that all public health organizations start understanding that these are not 3 separate problems, but just three sides of the same one.

2. Advertising Restrictions:

• Tobacco: Bans on TV and radio ads, sponsorships, and public advertising reduced exposure, especially to minors.
• Social Media: Restricting specific manipulative features (e.g., infinite scroll) and targeted ads for minors could help protect vulnerable users rather than an overall age ban (which is very difficult to control).

3. Public Awareness Campaigns:

• Tobacco: Anti-smoking campaigns educated people about risks and promoted quitting.
• Food: Celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver heavily promote healthy food in schools.
• Social Media: Campaigns could raise awareness about mental health impacts and promote digital literacy and mindful usage - via influencers, governmental campaigns, school education, working with parents etc.

4. Limiting Data Collection and Advertising to Young People:

• Tobacco: Laws prevent sales to minors and require age verification.
• Social Media: While I don't think that strict age-verification processes are realistic, I think regulation should be focused around prohibiting any kind of targeted ads towards younger users as well as an opportunity for parents to select on the feed the type of content that their kids should be able to use.
• What they should be able to do though is to regulate algorithmic amplification of harmful content or ads targeted at children and limit engagement-based metrics (e.g., likes, shares) to reduce manipulation.
• It is especially important that all advertising (direct or indirect i.e. via influencers) of junk food and drinks targeting minors should be strictly prohibited (there are lots of studies showing relationships between social media usage, junk food consumption and mental health problems incl suicidal thoughts).

5. Taxes and Financial Incentives

• Tobacco: Taxes on cigarettes made them more expensive and less accessible.
• Junk Food: "Sugar taxes" on sodas and unhealthy foods aim to deter consumption.
• Social Media: Introduce taxes on features that promote compulsive behavior (e.g., infinite scroll, autoplay). Encourage platforms to implement tools promoting mindful use by offering tax breaks for ethical design.

6. Time-Limiting Features

• Tobacco: Bans on public smoking reduced exposure and normalized non-smoking spaces.
• Junk Food: Restricting the sale of unhealthy foods in schools or public facilities helped reduce accessibility.
• Social Media: Mandate built-in time limits for users, with reminders or prompts encouraging breaks. This could reduce excessive screen time.

7. Restricting Harmful Features

• Tobacco: Additives like menthol (which make smoking smoother and more addictive) are now restricted.
• Junk Food: Limits on trans fats and mandatory calorie labeling help reduce harm.
• Social Media: Ban or restrict features designed for addiction, such as infinite scrolling or excessive notifications. Platforms could also be required to offer an ad-free or simplified version for younger audiences.

Conclusion:

The "bliss point" in social media parallels that of tobacco and food, with its reliance on dopamine-driven rewards, habit formation, and sensory optimization. Just as regulatory measures reduced the harms of tobacco and junk food, the same principles could guide interventions to mitigate the negative impacts of social media. By recognizing these parallels, we can better advocate for ethical design and user protections in the digital age.

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