Sugar and Sports: Age Differences in Children’s Responses to a High Sugar Cereal Advertisement Portraying Physical Activities

Abstract

This study experimentally investigated whether exposing children to a television advertisement for a high sugar cereal that depicts physical activities influences their perceptions of the promoted food and activities differently than exposure to an advertisement for the same product without the depiction of physical activities. Children aged 5 to 6 and 10 to 11 years (N = 136) were compared to reveal age differences in responses to this marketing practice. Exposure to the advertisement depicting physical activities had an immediate strengthening effect on all children’s perceptions of the food’s healthfulness as well as younger children’s attitudes toward the product. The ability to recognize juxtaposed beliefs regarding a product’s healthfulness protected children from some of the influence of this marketing strategy.

Keywords

children obesity advertising schemas

Over the past three decades, the number of American children aged 6 to 11 years who are overweight has increased to 35% (Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2014). Although many factors influence children’s eating habits (Michela & Contento, 1986), the negative impact exposure to food advertising has on children’s diets and ultimate health has been well established (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2006). Consequently, members of the food and beverage industry have pledged to improve the nutritional quality of products marketed to children and promote a healthy lifestyle through their advertising (Council of Better Business Bureaus [BBB], 2013). Researchers have therefore begun to examine how marketing messages that associate a food with health can influence young viewers.

The results of such research differ depending on the age of participants. Younger children, defined as 5 to 6 years old, represent the minimum age at which foods can be recognized as healthful (Backett & Alexander, 1991). This age group has been shown to favor an appealing food that is associated with health (Lapierre, Vaala, & Linebarger, 2011). Older children, defined as 10 to 11 years old, represent the maximum age before adolescence when consumer influences shift (Valkenburg & Cantor, 2001). Their responses to marketing messages associating a food with health are more varied (Dixon et al., 2014; Dorey & McCool, 2009). The current study extends the literature in this area by directly comparing responses of different age children presented with marketing that associates an appealing food with health.

Products can be associated with health in a variety of ways, such as stating the physical benefits of consuming a product and/or its beneficial contents. One common tactic is to promote products alongside images of physical activities (Gantz, Schwartz, Angelini, & Rideout, 2007). Scholars have expressed concern regarding this practice when it is used to promote unhealthy items, fearing it could mislead children to overestimate the product’s healthfulness (Castonguay, McKinley, & Kunkel, 2013) and even enhance their attitude toward an unhealthy food (Lewin, Lindstrom, & Nestle, 2006). Alternatively, this practice may enhance intentions to lead a more active lifestyle (BBB, 2013). Research is yet to confirm any assertions.

The present study investigates whether the depiction of physical activities in food advertising alters children’s perceptions of the promoted product. Specifically, perceptions of the product’s healthfulness and attitudes toward the product are explored. Likewise, this study investigates children’s understanding of juxtaposed messages regarding an item’s healthfulness (i.e., a food that is high in sugar and associated with physical activity) as potentially limiting its appeal. Finally, this study presents a first effort in determining whether, as the food and beverage industry suggests, child-targeted food advertising that depicts physical activities can heighten children’s intentions to lead an active lifestyle.

Review of the Literature

In a review of over 120 studies, the IOM (2006) concluded that food advertising is associated with children’s product preferences and ultimate health. Although greater exposure to food advertising was associated with less understanding of healthy eating in several of the studies reviewed, evidence of such nutritional misperceptions is limited (IOM, 2006). Indeed, it is unclear what aspects of food advertising lead children to overestimate the healthfulness of promoted foods. However, there is concern that associating a nutritionally poor food with products or activities known to be healthy may contribute to children’s confusion.

Children’s understanding of healthy foods develops around age 5 when they are first able to state that eating sweets and fat is unhealthy (McKinley et al., 2005). Youth this age also associate food with fitness and strength (O’Dea, 2003). Food advertisements often pair depictions of unhealthy foods and physical activities. Indeed, physical activity appears in a substantial minority of child-targeted food advertisements (Gantz et al., 2007), often in association with high sugar cereals (Castonguay et al., 2013). The effects of this pairing are largely unknown. However, there is concern that the portrayal of children getting ready for a baseball game by eating macaroni and cheese, for example, may suggest that this meal contributes to strength required for physical activity. Thus, this may help explain the potential relationship between exposure to food advertising and children’s nutritional misperceptions.

Health in Food Advertising

A commonly examined impact of associating a product with health in food advertising is a halo effect. That is, when a food is associated with an ingredient or activity that viewers recognize as good for them, they then perceive the food to be healthier in numerous regards. This has been shown in children at age 7 (Hesketh, Waters, Green, Salmon, & Williams, 2005) and age 11 (Dixon et al., 2014), as well as among adults (Andrews, Netemeyer, & Burton, 2009).

This study further investigates the possibility of a halo effect by examining children’s perceptions of an item’s healthfulness when it is associated with physical activities.

Hypothesis 1: Exposure to an advertisement for a high sugar food that depicts physical activities is associated with greater perceptions of the promoted item’s healthfulness than is exposure to an advertisement promoting the same product without the depiction of physical activities among both younger and older children.

In addition to influencing perceptions of a product’s healthfulness, such advertising may influence attitudes toward a product. Children tend to dislike healthful foods such as vegetables, assuming they are poor tasting (Wardle et al., 2003). However, research with 4- to 5-year-old children found they preferred a product that appeared appealing and was labeled as “healthy” as compared with the same product without this label (Lapierre et al., 2011). Similar studies with children 7 to 12 years of age have found that only girls (Levin & Levin, 2010) or only boys (Dixon et al., 2014) preferred a product associated with health. Pre-teens have even been shown to dislike unhealthy products associated with health (Dorey & McCool, 2009; Wardle & Huon, 2000). Although previous research has not directly compared younger and older children, implying that an otherwise good tasting food is healthy is likely to influence younger children more so than older children. Thus, it is hypothesized as follows:

Hypothesis 2: Exposure to an advertisement associating a high sugar food with physical activities results in more positive attitudes toward the product than does exposure to an advertisement promoting the same product without the depiction of physical activities among younger, but not older, children.

Theoretical Foundation

Schema theories can provide a useful framework for understanding how food advertising can influence a viewer’s perception of a product’s healthfulness and ultimate attitude toward a product. Schemas are mental structures that represent the attributes, and the relations among attributes, of a concept (Fiske & Taylor, 1991). Perceptions of new information are often distorted in order to more easily assimilate it into a selected schema (Szentagotai et al., 2005). However, at times we are aware that new information does not fully fit our existing schema. The schema pointer plus tag (SP+T) model (Graesser, Woll, Kowalski, & Smith, 1980) addresses this issue.

The SP+T model suggests that instead of incorporating every detail of newly encountered information into memory, one simply chooses a schema consistent with as much information as possible but stores all discrepant information separately. A “pointer” indicates the selected schema whereas a “tag” marks the discrepant, or unique, content. Extreme discrepancies are frustrating and lead to negative reactions. Alternatively, moderate discrepancies are perceived more positively than even consistency, as the discrepancy makes the information “unique” (Meyers-Levy & Tybout, 1989).

The SP+T model has been used to examine adults’ responses to health-related messages. For example, Meyers-Levy and Tybout (1989) found that participants evaluated an all-natural soda and high-preservative beverage (both considered moderately discrepant) more positively than an all-natural beverage or high-preservative soda (both considered consistent). The discrepant products generated better recall of the product and more product-related thoughts than did the consistent products.

Similarly, Cheong and Kim (2011) found that products presented with moderately discrepant messages regarding their healthfulness (i.e., a low-fat cookie) were received more positively than schema-consistent messages (i.e., a tasty cookie or nutritious vegetable) or an extremely schema-discrepant message (i.e., a snack that relieves headaches). Although the basic principles of the SP+T model apply to children as well as adults, developmental differences must be considered to accurately assess how children will interpret information.

Developmental Differences

As children mature, they gain the ability to simultaneously consider multiple traits of an item (Inhelder & Piaget, 1964). This allows them to acknowledge that a food is healthy in some regards and unhealthy in others (Hesketh et al., 2005). Previous studies of children’s comprehension of juxtaposed beliefs have repeatedly revealed that the ability to simultaneously consider contrasting aspects of an item or event develops over time and can be frustrating.

Donaldson and Westerman (1986) detailed the development of children’s ability to process juxtaposed beliefs. Children were presented with a story in which a character both loved his pet and was angry at the pet for misbehaving. Around age 6, children simply replaced one belief (love or anger) with the other. However, by age 8, they recognized multiple beliefs and struggled to reconcile the discrepancy, often vacillating back and forth between conclusions. Eventually, this struggle subsided, as 11-year-old children recognized that more than one trait can simultaneously be present and can bias perceptions.

Dorey and McCool’s (2009) work confirms the notion that older children struggle with juxtaposed beliefs. The researchers presented children aged 10 to 12 with advertising for McDonald’s Happy Meals that depicts athletes. The children recognized the contrast between a food they knew to be unhealthy and celebrities they perceived as healthy. They expressed dislike for this marketing tactic. This suggests that attitudes toward a product recognized as unhealthy, yet advertised alongside depictions of physical activities, may depend on children’s ability to recognize the juxtaposition of a healthy activity and unhealthy food.

Based on this literature, the following hypotheses are proposed:

Hypothesis 3: When asked to assess the healthfulness of an advertised high sugar food, older, but not younger, children will recognize both healthy and unhealthy aspects of the item.

Hypothesis 4: More negative attitudes are expected among those children who view the advertisement depicting physical activity yet recognize juxtaposed beliefs.

Physical Activity

Young children can easily identify physically active pursuits (Hesketh et al., 2005). Children 9 and under often view physical activity positively (Hume, Salmon, & Ball, 2005). Beyond this age is when the desirability of physical activity sharply declines (Sallis, Prochaska, Taylor, Hill, & Geraci, 1999), leaving many older children with a negative view of these behaviors (Chase, 2001).

In addition to age, gender differences appear when assessing children’s desire to engage in physical activities. In a review of 54 published studies, 81% of comparisons confirmed that boys were more physically active than girls (Sallis, Prochaska, & Taylor, 2000). Nevertheless, girls do show favorable attitudes toward physical activities that emphasize aesthetics (Hicks, Wiggins, Crist, & Moode, 2001) and are more positive toward physical activities in a single-sex environment (Koca, Asci, & Demirhan, 2005).

Media has the potential to encourage physical activity among all children. Providing mediated depictions of physical activities as enjoyable is the premise behind effective public service announcements (Huhman et al., 2010). Still, reviews of the effectiveness of such health campaigns indicate that numerous efforts fail to achieve their designated goal of encouraging children to be more physically active (Leavy, Bull, Rosenberg, & Bauman, 2011). Thus, it is unclear whether depictions of physical activity in food advertising can achieve the effects that specifically designed health promotions have difficulty attaining. Given the potential for media depictions to influence children’s desire to engage in physical activities, it is hypothesized as follows:

Hypothesis 5: Exposure to an advertisement for a high sugar food that depicts physical activities is associated with greater behavioral intentions to engage in physical activities than is exposure to an advertisement for the same product that does not depict physical activities.

The role of age and gender in this relationship will be explored.

Method

A convenience sample of 136 children (55.1% male, 65.0% White) was examined. Equal numbers of children in each age group participated. Specifically, 68 children born between July 1, 2006, and December 31, 2008, and an additional 68 born between July 1, 2001, and December 31, 2003, took part in this research.

Procedure

Following approval from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Arizona, parents were offered the opportunity to have their younger or older child participate. Each participating child was exposed to a 5-minute cartoon with embedded advertising for the Cartoon Network, a computer game, and a high sugar food. For purposes of this study, a high sugar food is defined as any item containing 25% or more of the recommended daily value of added sugar (i.e., ≥10 g). The cereal Frosted Flakes, which contains approximately 13 g of sugar per cup, was selected as the stimulus product.

Children were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions, viewing different advertisements for the cereal, and then shown four pictures of Frosted Flakes, each in varying contexts. For example, the product was shown in its full-size container, a single serving package, in a bowl, and being poured (not contained in any vessel). He or she then responded to questions regarding the healthfulness of the food, as well as his or her attitude regarding the food. Next, children were shown pictures of young people engaged in the physical activities depicted in the stimulus food advertisement (i.e., baseball, basketball, soccer, and gymnastics). Each child’s intention to engage in the pictured activities was assessed. Finally, an open-ended interview was performed to determine whether or not children recognized juxtaposed beliefs regarding the advertised food’s healthfulness. The entire procedure took children approximately 20 minutes.

Stimuli

The stimuli for this study depict promotions for the high sugar cereal Frosted Flakes. Frosted Flakes is one of the top five cereals marketed to children via media and the number one cereal marketed to children in U.S. stores. It is the only brand to associate its cereal with physical activity across all of its marketing (Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, 2013), making Frosted Flakes advertising an ideal stimulus for this study.

Two complementary advertisements for the product were identified, one with and one without the depiction of physical activities. The ads were matched in length (30 seconds) and presented similar characters and themes. The advertisement depicting physical activities portrayed characters engaged in competitive sports. The ad frames the product as being healthful but does not make any explicit health claims. The advertisement without physical activities lacks any verbal or visual reference to health and/or nutrient content and does not show any characters engaged in sports. Instead, the ad focuses on the appealing taste and desirability of the food.

Measures

The independent variable was exposure to the Frosted Flakes advertisement with and without physical activities. The dependent variables pertained to perceptions of the advertised product and intentions to engage in the depicted physical activities. Additionally, recognition of juxtaposed beliefs and the child’s age were examined as moderators of effects.

Perceptions of the advertised product

Similar to measures used by Dixon et al. (2014), children were asked to rate their perceptions of Frosted Flakes as a level of agreement with provided statements on a 5-point scale (1 = I do not agree, 5 = I agree very much). Two items were used to assess the perceived healthfulness of the food: “this food makes me strong” and “this food makes me healthy.” Attitude regarding the food was assessed by asking about children’s agreement with two statements: “I like this food” and “this food makes me happy.”

To adapt the measures for children of all ages, pictures of circles increasing in size were used to designate each ranking on a scale (1 = the smallest circle, 5 = the largest circle). The child then chose the circle indicating his or her response. This method has been successfully used to assess the perceptions of children as young as 5 years of age (Michela & Contento, 1986). The scales for healthfulness (α = .75) and attitude (α = .79) achieved acceptable reliability.

Intention to engage in physical activities

A similar process was used to assess intentions to engage in the depicted physical activities. Children were shown pictures of the depicted activities (gymnastics, soccer, baseball, and basketball) and asked to use the previously described scale to illustrate their agreement with two statements similar to those used by the VERB campaign. Specifically, children were asked to indicate their agreement that “I will do this soon” and “I will do this when I am older,” each of which is analyzed separately due to low reliability.

Recognition of juxtaposed beliefs

Recognition of juxtaposed beliefs was assessed using an open-ended interview structure similar to that of Donaldson and Westerman (1986). The interview was adapted to determine whether or not a child recognized competing beliefs regarding an item’s healthfulness. Each child was asked whether he or she thought Frosted Flakes was healthy or unhealthy. Then the child was asked why he or she made this judgment and to elaborate upon the aspects of the food that make it healthy and/or unhealthy. Finally, the child was asked to confirm whether the item was healthy or unhealthy.

The researcher and a trained assistant met frequently to discuss the content of the interviews and develop a precise coding system. If the child stated competing beliefs regarding the food’s healthfulness, the child was said to have recognition. Competing beliefs were defined as related opposites. If the child mentioned an aspect of the food’s contents that makes it healthy (e.g., wheat, vitamins), a related opposite point must also be an aspect of the food’s contents (e.g., sugar, fat, salt). Using this definition, believing the product is unhealthy due to content such as sugar but healthy because of societal reasons (e.g., mom gives it to me) or the child’s affection for the product (e.g., he or she likes it) did not qualify as recognizing competing beliefs. A subset of interviews (n = 22) was coded separately by the researcher and research assistant to establish inter-coder reliability (Scott’s Pi = .91).

Results

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects that associating physical activities with a high sugar cereal in advertising has on the beliefs and intentions of older and younger children. Per Hypothesis 1, perceptions of the product’s healthfulness were expected to be greater among those children exposed to the advertisement depicting physical activities than among those exposed to the advertisement that did not depict physical activities. Findings regarding the advertising condition’s relationship to perceptions of healthfulness reveal that those children who viewed the advertisement depicting physical activities responded at nearly one-half point above the neutral value of the scale (M = 3.49, standard deviation [SD] = 1.29), whereas those who viewed the advertisement without physical activities responded at the midpoint (M = 3.01, SD = 1.28, F(1, 132) = 5.05, p < .05, $η_{p}^{2}$ = .04). This was true of both age groups, supporting the first hypothesis.

The second hypothesis predicted that the type of advertisement to which a child was exposed would be related to attitudes toward the promoted product, but only among younger children. Indeed, younger children who viewed the advertisement depicting physical activities reported an average attitude more than 1.25 points above the neutral value of the scale (M = 4.27, SD = 0.21). Younger children who viewed the advertisement without physical activities still had a positive attitude, but at one-half point above the neutral value of the scale (M = 3.50, SD = 0.21). Older children’s responses remained consistent (F(1, 132) = 4.08, p < .05, $η_{p}^{2}$ = .03; see Figure 1). Exposure to the food advertisement depicting physical activities generated a significantly more positive attitude among younger, but not older, children, confirming Hypothesis 2.

Figure 1.

Attitude toward the advertised product by advertising condition and age group.

It was also hypothesized that older, but not younger, children would be able to recognize both the healthy and unhealthy aspects of a food. Indeed, age differences in recognition of juxtaposed beliefs were significant (χ² = 44.75, df = 1, p < .001, Φ = .57). As expected, when asked to assess the healthy and unhealthy aspects of an advertised food, 77.9% of older children named related opposite traits, whereas just 20.6% of younger children did so.

This recognition was then thought to counter some of the influence that exposure to an advertisement promoting a high sugar cereal alongside physical activities has on one’s attitude toward the product. A linear regression was used to examine the relative influence of numerous factors on children’s attitudes toward the product. The advertising condition and recognition of juxtaposed beliefs were assessed, controlling for age and perception of healthfulness. The interaction between recognition and the condition was included to assess Hypothesis 4.

The model was significant ( $R_{adj}^{2}$ = .22, F(5, 130) = 8.76, p < .001). Recognition of juxtaposed beliefs had a negative influence on one’s attitude among those children who viewed the advertisement depicting physical activity (β = −.38, p < .01). This developmental ability was a significant predictor beyond age alone (β = −.12, p = .22). However, both exposure to the advertisement depicting physical activities (β = .29, p < .01) and recognition of juxtaposed beliefs overall (β = .28, p < .05) were significant positive predictors of a child’s attitude toward the promoted cereal, as was the perception of Frosted Flakes’ healthfulness (β = .40, p < .001).

Next, the influence that exposure to advertising promoting a high sugar cereal alongside depictions of physical activities has on children’s intentions to engage in physical activities was explored. The data failed to support the hypothesis that exposure to the advertisement depicting physical activity would be associated with greater intentions to engage in the activities. Indeed, main effects regarding the advertising condition’s influence on children’s intention to engage in the activities soon (F(1, 132) = −1.38, p = .24, $η_{p}^{2}$ = .00) or when older (F(1, 132) = 0.02, p = .89, $η_{p}^{2}$ = .00) failed to reach significance. Still, all children’s intentions were approximately one full point above the midpoint of the scale, indicating a ceiling effect.

Although specific hypotheses were not posed, age and gender were explored to further assess the relationship between exposure to advertising depicting physical activities and children’s intentions to engage in the activities. Neither age nor gender interacted with the advertising condition to influence intentions to engage in the activities soon. However, a significant interaction between the condition and one’s gender was identified in regard to children’s intentions to engage in the depicted physical activities when older (F(1, 128) = 4.66, p < .05, $η_{p}^{2}$ = .04; see Figure 2). Whereas boys’ intentions were greater upon viewing the advertisement with (M = 4.32, SD = 1.21), as compared with without (M = 3.93, SD = 1.32), physical activities, the opposite pattern appeared among females. Those females shown the advertisement with physical activities (M = 3.73, SD = 1.53) had intentions lower in absolute value than those shown the advertisement without physical activities (M = 4.29, SD = 1.07).

Figure 2.

Intentions to engage in physical activities when older by gender and advertising condition.

A power analysis revealed that main effects as small as $η_{p}^{2}$ = .05 could be detected with power = .8 (Cohen, 1988). The VERB campaign produced a behavioral effect of $η_{p}^{2}$ = .05 among certain populations (Huhman et al., 2010). Effects on behavioral intentions regarding physical activity appear larger ( $η_{p}^{2}$ = .07; Marks et al., 2006). Thus, this sample was sufficient to detect the small changes to behavioral intentions produced by well-designed health campaigns. Yet, results revealed non-significant changes to intentions regarding physical activities and a negative trend among females.

Discussion

Childhood obesity rates around the world, and particularly in the United States, are alarming (Ogden et al., 2014). Thus, gaining an understanding of the influences on a child’s perceptions regarding food and physical activity is a top public health priority. This study investigated whether exposing children to an advertisement for a high sugar cereal that depicts physical activities influences their perceptions of the promoted food and activities differently than does an advertisement for the same product without the depiction of physical activities.

Prior research has established that children’s advertising exposure is associated with their nutritional misperceptions, though research is too limited to draw firm conclusions (IOM, 2006). This study sought to investigate whether associating a high sugar food with physical activities could be a contributing factor in this relationship. The results confirmed that when a promoted food is too high in sugar to be a healthful selection, yet is associated with physical activities, children’s perceptions of the item’s healthfulness are skewed. Thus, they form a nutritional misperception.

Most children perceived Frosted Flakes to be healthy, yet exposure to the food advertisement depicting physical activities was associated with greater perceptions of Frosted Flakes’ healthfulness among both younger and older children. This was expected, as 5- to 11-year-olds regularly use tangential cues to determine a food’s healthfulness (Hesketh et al., 2005). Children as young as 5 years of age associate physical activity with health (O’Dea, 2003), suggesting that the depiction of physical activities functioned as a tangential cue.

This finding supports the premise of schema theories. Schema theories propose that we often interpret new information by assuming traits consistent with the schema that best reflects the newly encountered content (Szentagotai et al., 2005). Prior research has revealed that audiences of all ages skew their perceptions of a food when it is associated with something they perceive as healthy (Andrews et al., 2009; Dixon et al., 2014; Hesketh et al., 2005). This study confirms this notion, revealing that such a halo effect occurs when a food is associated with physical activity.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA, 2013) has even expressed concern that health messages used to promote less than optimally nutritious items may have long-term negative repercussions on consumers’ understanding of nutrition. Both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC, 1984) and FDA (1997) have some, albeit limited, power to regulate health claims made in food marketing that may give consumers an inaccurate impression of the promoted item. However, to date, government intervention has occurred only when a specific claim is made, which leads the consumer to act in a manner he or she otherwise would not. This raises two important questions for legal scholars interested in food marketing to children: What constitutes a “claim” and who is a “consumer?”

Although the depiction of physical activities in a food advertisement is not a health claim in the legal sense, it nevertheless appears to lead young children to assume the product will make them healthy and strong. Policy makers must determine whether this practice is legally actionable. Similarly, viewers under the age of 12 are unlikely to purchase an advertised product without parental supervision (Valkenburg & Cantor, 2001). The findings of this study raise the question for legal scholars: Does the fact that parents purchase most sugared cereal for children inoculate food companies from legal responsibility for effectively misleading children?

Still, numerous factors determine children’s attitudes toward foods (Michela & Contento, 1986). Although all children on average held a positive attitude toward the cereal, younger children’s attitudes toward Frosted Flakes were significantly more positive among those who viewed the advertisement with, as compared with without, physical activities. Conversely, older children’s attitudes were stable regardless of the viewing condition.

Although the attitudinal effect from a one-time exposure to this type of message may be easily countered, children view nearly one dozen food ads daily (Gantz et al., 2007; Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, 2013). In 2011, 12% of these ads promoted sugared cereals (Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, 2013). Physical activity was depicted in roughly 11% of sugared cereal ads targeting children as of 2009 (Castonguay et al., 2013). At that rate, an average child views an ad promoting a high sugar cereal alongside depictions of physical activities at least once every week. Frosted Flakes, one of the top five cereals marketed to children via media, is known for being associated with physical activity in marketing (Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, 2013), suggesting the effects revealed in this study occur frequently in children’s homes.

Research with adults (Cheong & Kim, 2011) and 10- to 12-year-old children (Dorey & McCool, 2009) found that they recognized the incongruity of pairing an unhealthy food with an advertising message related to health. Conversely, younger children frequently fail to acknowledge that an item or event can be categorized by two seemingly contradictory traits simultaneously (Inhelder & Piaget, 1964). It was therefore predicted, and the data confirmed, that older, but not younger, children frequently acknowledge both the healthy and unhealthy traits of an advertised food. This recognition resulted in more negative attitudes toward the promoted food among those children exposed to the advertisement depicting physical activities. This finding has implications for nutrition education.

Encouraging children to recognize advertising that has paired a healthy trait with an unhealthy food could help them to overcome the persuasive influence of this advertising. However, given younger children’s cognitive limitations, educators may have little success teaching 5- and 6-year-old children to properly evaluate the nutritional value of a food. Instead, repeated reminders that specific foods are healthy or unhealthy, regardless of the messages conveyed in advertising, could help this group make healthy choices.

As Graff, Kunkel, and Mermin (2012) noted, young children cannot critically assess the persuasive intent of advertising. Claims that older viewers recognize as exaggeration are often accepted as the truth by children under the age of 8. Indeed, the FTC has recognized that “misleading and deceptive advertising claims beamed at children tend to exploit unfairly a consumer group unqualified by age or experience to anticipate or appreciate the possibility that representations may be exaggerated or untrue” (FTC, 1984, p. 1).

The association between a high sugar cereal and physical activity appears to be particularly influential among a young age group, who has not developed the ability to recognize juxtaposed beliefs presented in advertising. If these children act on their heightened attitudes to request and consume an unhealthy product promoted alongside depictions of physical activity, this advertising may be a contributing factor to the epidemic of childhood obesity. It appears to be the result of the cognitive immaturity of a vulnerable audience.

Recognition of juxtaposed beliefs following exposure to an advertisement promoting a high sugar cereal alongside physical activities resulted in a more negative attitude toward the cereal. However, recognition of juxtaposed beliefs following exposure to an advertisement without physical activity actually improved attitudes toward the cereal. Although an unexpected finding, this may be explained with the SP+T model.

The model states that positive responses occur when discrepancies are perceived as moderate, whereas negative responses occur when discrepancies are perceived as extreme. When children were confronted with images of a high sugar cereal and physical activities in the advertisement, the discrepancy may have been perceived as extreme. Thus, recognition of juxtaposed beliefs regarding the product’s healthfulness resulted in a more negative attitude toward the product. However, when children recognized that the cereal may have some healthy and some unhealthy traits in the absence of advertising presenting this juxtaposition, they may have perceived the discrepancy more moderately. Thus, positive responses occurred. Future research is needed to more directly test these assertions. Although the underlying principles of the SP+T model may be supported, this research suggests that the model can predict very different responses to the same schema-discrepant information depending on an individual’s age and external factors that influence perceptions of a discrepancy.

Additionally, perceptions of the product’s healthfulness were positively associated with children’s attitudes toward the promoted product. Although it is often assumed that children do not like healthy foods, this is typically because children assume healthy foods to have poor taste and being less filling (Noble, Corney, Eves, Kipps, & Lumbers, 2003; Raghunathan, Naylor, & Hoyer, 2006). Children are likely to recognize a high sugar cereal as tasting good, suggesting that a healthy and good tasting food is a pleasant surprise. Thus, “health” in and of itself may not be improving attitudes toward a product, but the surprise that a good tasting item is healthy may be resulting in positive attitudes.

Educators and parents should embrace the finding that children perceive a good tasting foods’ healthfulness positively. Although this adds to their positive attitudes toward unhealthy foods promoted in advertising depicting physical activities when the child fails to recognize juxtaposed beliefs, this association should not be discouraged. Parents and educators can embrace the fact that children find healthy foods appealing and use this to encourage healthier choices by promoting them as tasty and nutritious.

In addition to influencing children’s perceptions of an advertised food, depictions of physical activities in media have the potential to impact children’s desire to engage in physical activities. However, this has never been investigated in the context of food advertising. Therefore, intentions to model the activities depicted in the food advertisement were explored.

Intentions to engage in the activities soon and when older did not form a reliable scale. Further exploration revealed that the two items were significantly correlated among older children (r = .25, p < .001). Younger children’s inconsistency in responses may be due to perceptions of the time frame. That is, whereas older children often commented about playing sports in high school, younger children often commented that “grown-ups don’t do that” when asked about their intentions to play sports when older.

On average, all children intended to engage in the activities both soon and when older. The type of ad viewed did not appear to alter this intent, though a ceiling effect made significant main effects impossible to detect. Nevertheless, a significant interaction between the advertising condition and gender did appear. Females exposed to the advertisement depicting physical activities indicated weaker behavioral intentions to engage in the depicted physical activities when older than did those females exposed to the food advertisement absent any portrayal of physical activities.

As the stimulus advertisement depicted both male and female athletes, this finding is somewhat consistent with research showing that females are more negative toward physical activity in a coed environment (Koca et al., 2005). This interaction did not appear regarding their intentions to engage in the activity soon, as children may simply be enrolled in different activities and have little control over what they do soon. Future research is needed to further investigate this result. However, this significant interaction effect, indicating weaker intentions among females exposed to physical activities in advertising, certainly suggests that industry praise of this marketing practice is overstated.

As with any study, there are limitations to this research. For example, the chosen stimuli represent a balance between internal and external validity. That is, they were chosen to adequately manipulate the advertising context, but left largely in their initial form in order to generalize findings beyond a laboratory setting. Future research should therefore replicate these findings with a fictitious product to enhance internal validity. By using a product with which children are not familiar, and creating advertising messages that are entirely equivalent except for the inclusion of physical activity, internal validity would be maximized.

This study erred toward the side of external validity. Although Frosted Flakes is an ideal product with which to examine this marketing practice, there was a mono-operational bias as it was the only product used to examine effects. Thus, future research is needed to replicate these findings with other high sugar products associated with physical activities in advertising. This replication would reveal whether effects can be generalized beyond breakfast cereal advertising.

Finally, a more detailed investigation of the influence this advertising has on children’s physical activity is needed for firm conclusions to be made. A larger sample size may be needed to overcome the ceiling effect revealed in this study. Additional measures of children’s current physical activity levels and attitudes toward physical activities would also help to better unveil the potential influence that food advertising depicting physical activity can have on children.

In addition to addressing the limitations of this study, future investigations are needed to expand this line of research. This study looked at one common marketing practice, the pairing of a high sugar food with physical activities. Other unhealthy products, such as high fat fast food meals, are frequently associated with health in child-targeted advertising as well (Castonguay et al., 2013). Implicit health messages include depictions of physical activities as well as associations with foods children know to be healthy, such as fruit. Therefore, research should examine how these related advertising messages contribute to children’s nutritional misperceptions. If the findings of this study are replicated, regulatory changes, either government or industry led, may be needed to specifically address such marketing practices.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Dale Kunkel, Ed Donnerstein, Steve Rains, and Heidi Burross for their insights throughout the duration of this project, as well as Susan Castonguay and Isabelle Zuniga for their dedication and assistance. The author would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for helpful comments that prompted revisions of this manuscript.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author Biography

Jessica Castonguay is an assistant professor in the Department of Advertising at Temple University. Her research focuses on advertising to children and health.

References

Andrews

J. C.

Netemeyer

R. G.

Burton

(2009). The nutrition elite: Do only the highest levels of caloric knowledge, obesity knowledge, and motivation matter in processing nutrition ad claims and disclosures? Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 28, 41-55. doi:10.1509/jppm.28.1.41

Backett

Alexander

(1991). Talking to young children about health: Methods and findings. Health Education Journal, 50, 34-38. doi:10.1177/001789699105000110

Castonguay

McKinley

Kinkel

(2013). Health cues: A content analysis of health-related messages in food advertisements targeting children. Health Education, 113(5), 420-432. doi:10.3390/ijerph15010070

Chase

M. A.

(2001). Children’s self-efficacy, motivational intentions, and attributions in physical education and sport. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 72, 47-54. doi:10.1080/02701367.2001.10608931

Cheong

Kim

(2011). The interplay between advertising claims and product categories in food advertising: A schema congruity perspective. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 39, 55-74. doi:10.1080/00909882.2010.536845

Cohen

(1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Council of Better Business Bureaus. (2013). The national partner program: About the initiative. Retrieved from http://www.bbb.org/council/the-national-partner-program/national-advertising-review-services/childrens-food-and-beverage-advertising-initiative/about-the-initiative/

Dixon

Scully

Niven

Kelly

Chapman

Donovan

. . . Wakefield

(2014). Effects of nutrient content claims, sports celebrity endorsements and premium offers on pre-adolescent children’s food preferences: Experimental research. Pediatric Obesity, 9(2), 47-57. doi:10.1111/j.2047-6310.2013.00169.x

Donaldson

S. K.

Westerman

M. A.

(1986). Development of children’s understanding of ambivalence and causal theories of emotions. Developmental Psychology, 22, 655-662. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.22.5.655

10.

Dorey

McCool

(2009). The role of the media in influencing children’s nutritional perceptions. Qualitative Health Research, 19, 645-654. doi:10.1177/1049732309334104

11.

Federal Trade Commission. (1984). FTC policy statement on deception (FTC Publication No. 103-110). Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.ftc.gov/ftc-policy-statement-on-deception

12.

Fiske

S. T.

Taylor

S. E.

(1991). Social cognition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

13.

Food and Drug Administration. (1997). FDA Backgrounder on Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997. Retrieved from http://www.fda.gov/RegulatoryInformation/Legislation/FederalFoodDrugandCosmeticActFDCAct/SignificantAmendmentstotheFDCAct/FDAMA/ucm089179.htm

14.

Food and Drug Administration. (2013). Agency information collection activities, submission for office of management and budget review, comment request, experimental studies on consumer responses to nutrient content claims on fortified foods. Federal Register, 78(163), 52201-52202.

15.

Gantz

Schwartz

Angelini

Rideout

(2007). Food for thought: Television food advertising to children in the United States. Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser Family Foundation.

16.

Graesser

Woll

Kowalski

Smith

(1980). Memory for typical and atypical actions in scripted activities. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 6, S03-S1S.

17.

Graff

Kunkel

Mermin

S. E.

(2012). Government can regulate food advertising to children because cognitive research shows that it is inherently misleading. Health Affairs, 31, 392-398. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0609

18.

Hesketh

Waters

Green

Salmon

Williams

(2005). Healthy eating, activity and obesity prevention: A qualitative study of parent and child perceptions in Australia. Health Promotion International, 20, 19-26. doi:10.1093/heapro/dah503

19.

Hicks

Wiggins

Crist

Moode

(2001). Sex differences in grade three students' attitudes toward physical activity. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 93(1), 97-102. doi:10.2466/pms.2001.93.1.97

20.

Huhman

M. E.

Potter

L. D.

Nolin

M. J.

Piesse

Judkins

D. R.

Banspach

S. W.

Wong

F. L.

(2010). The influence of the VERB campaign on children’s physical activity in 2002 to 2006. American Journal of Public Health, 100, 638-645. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2008.142968

21.

Hume

Salmon

Ball

(2005). Children’s perceptions of their home and neighborhood environments, and their association with objectively measured physical activity: A qualitative and quantitative study. Health Education Research, 20, 1-13. doi:10.1093/her/cyg095

22.

Inhelder

Piaget

(1964). The early growth of logic in the child. New York, NY: Harper & Row.

23.

Institute of Medicine. (2006). Food marketing to children and youth: Threat or opportunity? Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

24.

Koca

Asci

Demirhan

(2005). Attitudes toward physical education and class preferences of Turkish adolescents in terms of school gender composition. Adolescence, 40, 365-375.

25.

Lapierre

Vaala

Linebarger

(2011). Influence of licensed spokescharacters and health cues on children’s ratings of cereal taste. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 165, 229-234. doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2010.300

26.

Leavy

J. E.

Bull

F. C.

Rosenberg

Bauman

(2011). Physical activity mass media campaigns and their evaluation: A systematic review of the literature 2003–2010. Health Education Research, 26, 1060-1085. doi:10.1093/her/cyr069

27.

Levin

I. P.

(2010). Packaging of healthy and unhealthy food products for children and parents: The relative influence of licensed characters and brand names. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 9, 393-402. doi:10.1002/cb.326

28.

Lewin

Lindstrom

Nestle

(2006). Food industry promises to address childhood obesity: Preliminary evaluation. Journal of Public Health Policy, 27, 327-348. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jphp.3200098

29.

Marks

J. T.

Campbell

M. K.

Ward

D. S.

Ribisl

K. M.

Wildemuth

B. M.

Symons

M. J.

(2006). A comparison of Web and print media for physical activity promotion among adolescent girls. Journal of Adolescent Health, 39, 96-104. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2005.11.002

30.

McKinley

M. C.

Lowis

Robson

P. J.

Wallace

J. M. W.

Morrissey

Moran

Livingstone

M. B. E.

(2005). It’s good to talk: Children’s views on food and nutrition. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 59, 542-551. doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602113

31.

Meyers-Levy

Tybout

A. M.

(1989). Schema congruity as a basis for product evaluation. Journal of Consumer Research, 16, 39-54. doi:10.1086/209192

32.

Michela

Contento

(1986). Cognitive, motivational, social, and environmental influences on children’s food choices. Health Psychology, 5, 209-230. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.5.3.209

33.

Noble

Corney

Eves

Kipps

Lumbers

(2003). Food choice and secondary school meals: The nutritional implications of choices based on preference rather than perceived healthiness. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 22, 197-215. doi:10.1016/S0278-4319(03)00018-5

34.

O’Dea

J. A.

(2003). Why do kids eat healthful food? Perceived benefits of and barriers to healthful eating and physical activity among children and adolescents. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 103, 497-501.

35.

Ogden

C. L.

Carroll

M. D.

Kit

B. K.

Flegal

K. M.

(2014). Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011-2012. Journal of the American Medical Association, 311, 806-814. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.732

36.

Raghunathan

Naylor

R. W.

Hoyer

W. D.

(2006). The unhealthy = tasty intuition and its effects on taste inferences, enjoyment, and choice of food products. Journal of Marketing, 70, 170-184. doi:10.1509/jmkg.70.4.170

37.

Sallis

J. F.

Prochaska

J. J.

Taylor

W. C.

(2000). A review of correlates of physical activity of children and adolescents. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 32, 963-975.

38.

Sallis

J. F.

Prochaska

J. J.

Taylor

W. C.

Hill

J. O.

Geraci

J. C.

(1999). Correlates of physical activity in a national sample of girls and boys in grades 4 through 12. Health Psychology, 18, 410-415.

39.

Szentagotai

Schnur

DiGiuseppe

Macavei

Kallay

David

(2005). The organization and the nature of irrational beliefs: Schemas or appraisal. Journal of Cognitive and Behavioral Psychotherapies, 5(2), 13958.

40.

Valkenburg

Cantor

(2001). The development of a child into a consumer. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 22, 61-72. doi:10.1016/S0193-3973(00)00066-6

41.

Wardle

Cooke

Gibson

E. L.

Sapochnik

Sheiham

Lwson

(2003). Increasing children’s acceptance of vegetables; a randomized trial of parent-led exposure. Appetite, 40, 155-162. doi:10.1016/j.jand.2013.07.040

42.

Wardle

Huon

(2000). An experimental investigation of the influence of health information on children’s taste preferences. Health Education Research, 15, 39-44. doi:10.1093/her/15.1.39

43.

Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. (2013). Where children and adolescents view food and beverage ads on TV: Exposure by channel and program. Available from http://www.yaleruddcenter.org