title: The influence of media characters on children's food choices.
abstract: Two experiments were conducted to assess the role of media characters in influencing children's food choices; the first focused on children's self-reported preference, whereas the second focused on actual choice. The results of the experiments suggest that popular characters can make a difference in encouraging children to select one food over another. In the first experiment, children were more likely to indicate a preference for one food over another when one was associated with characters that they liked and with whom they were familiar. This effect was particularly strong when a sugary or salty snack branded by a favored character was competing with a healthier option branded by an unknown character or no character. Alternatively, when children were asked to choose between a healthy food and a sugary or salty snack, branding of the healthy food with a favored character did not significantly change appeal of that healthy snack. However, when foods within the same category (i.e., 2 vegetables, 2 fruits, or 2 grains) were asked to compete against each other, character branding strongly influenced children's food choice. Findings from the second experiment suggest that children are more willing to try more pieces of a healthy food if a favored character, in comparison with an unknown character, is promoting that food.
authors.affiliation: Sesame Workshop, New York, New York 10023, USA. jennifer.kotler@sesame.org
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kotler
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Schiffman
authors.forename: Katherine G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Hanson
mesh_terms: D000329:Advertising / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005260:Female; D005502:Food / Q000145:classification; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D040241:Social Marketing