A new study out today shows just how ‘brand aware’ young children are, especially when it comes to food and drink. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California tested 63 children aged three and five to determine the effect that advertising has on their preferences. Each child was given a taste test of the same food – one in McDonald’s packaging and the second in generic packaging. Parents were then asked to fill out information about their child including how often they watched TV and how familiar they were with McDonald’s food and toys.
The results showed that:
- On average, the children preferred the taste of the food and drink in the McDonald's packaging over the identical products in unmarked packaging.
- The result for hamburgers was 48.3 per cent vs. 36.7 per cent.
- For chicken nuggets the result was 59 per cent vs. 18 per cent.
- For baby carrots the result was 54.1 per cent vs. 23 per cent.
- For french fries the result was 76.7 per cent vs. 13.3 per cent.
- For milk or apple juice the result was 61.3 per cent vs. 21 per cent.
- Futher analysis showed that 4 out of 5 times, children preferred the taste of food and drink that they thought was from McDonald's.
- Preschool children who had more TV sets in their homes, and children who ate McDonald's foods more frequently were also more likely to prefer McDonald's branded food and drink to the identical unbranded items.
The authors of the study noted that their findings suggest that there needs to be even tighter regulation on food and drink advertising of high calorie, low-nutrient food, if not a ban on all marketing that is aimed at young children.
Source: Medical News Today, 7 August 2007