Effects of Characters on Parents' Perceptions of Breakfast Cereals

NCT05639335 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 21-3135
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,017
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Purpose: To test how the presence of characters on breakfast cereals affects parents' perceptions and purchase intentions for their children. Participants: \~1,000 parents of children ages 2-12 Procedures: After completing a screener and reviewing a consent form, participants will complete two unrelated experimental studies. Participants will then move on to this study, where they will be randomized into conditions and view three breakfast cereal box images, with or without characters. They will then be asked a series of questions about their children and their perceptions about the breakfast cereals

Conditions

Obesity

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Purchase intentions

  The primary outcome will be purchase intentions, measured using the following item: "How likely would you be to buy this cereal to your \[age\]-year-old child in the next month?" using a 5-point likert-style response scale ranging from "not at all likely" (1) to "extremely likely" (5).

  During ~15 minute online survey

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Perceived healthfulness

  During ~15 minute online survey

• Perceived child appeal

  During ~15 minute online survey

Other Outcomes (2)

• Past week cereal consumption

  During ~15 minute online survey

• Perceived child food fussiness

  During ~15 minute online survey

Study Arms (2)

No Character Control

OTHER

Participants will view images of three breakfast cereals (Frosted Flakes, Apple Jacks, Froot Loops) containing no characters.

Other: No Character Control

Character

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will view images of three breakfast cereals (Frosted Flakes, Apple Jacks, Froot Loops) containing their respective brand characters (e.g., Tony the Tiger) and a licensed character recently featured on these cereal brands (e.g., Buzz Lightyear).

Other: Experimental Characters

Interventions

No Character Control OTHER

Participants will view images of three breakfast cereals (Frosted Flakes, Apple Jacks, Froot Loops) containing no characters.

No Character Control

Experimental Characters OTHER

Participants will view images of three breakfast cereals (Frosted Flakes, Apple Jacks, Froot Loops) containing their respective brand characters (e.g., Tony the Tiger) and a licensed character recently featured on these cereal brands (e.g., Buzz Lightyear).

Character

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Age 18 or older
• Parent or guardian of at least one child between the ages of 2-12

You may not qualify if:

• \<18 years old
• is not the parent or guardian of a child between the ages of 2-12

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27516, United States

Location

Related Publications (4)

• Hall MG, Lazard AJ, Grummon AH, Mendel JR, Taillie LS. The impact of front-of-package claims, fruit images, and health warnings on consumers' perceptions of sugar-sweetened fruit drinks: Three randomized experiments. Prev Med. 2020 Mar;132:105998. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.105998. Epub 2020 Jan 23.

  PMID: 31982477 BACKGROUND

• Liem DG, Zandstra LH. Children's liking and wanting of snack products: Influence of shape and flavour. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2009 Jul 2;6:38. doi: 10.1186/1479-5868-6-38.

  PMID: 19573228 BACKGROUND

• Dial LA, Musher-Eizenman DR. Power of packaging: Evaluations of packaged fruits and vegetables by school-age children in the U.S. Appetite. 2020 May 1;148:104591. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2020.104591. Epub 2020 Jan 9.

  PMID: 31927069 BACKGROUND

• Wardle J, Guthrie CA, Sanderson S, Rapoport L. Development of the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2001 Oct;42(7):963-70. doi: 10.1111/1469-7610.00792.

  PMID: 11693591 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Obesity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Overweight; Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Body Weight; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Marissa G Hall, PhD

  UNC-Chapel Hill

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 28, 2022
• First Posted: December 6, 2022
• Study Start: December 13, 2022
• Primary Completion: January 3, 2023
• Study Completion: January 3, 2023
• Last Updated: January 17, 2023

Record last verified: 2022-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: SAP, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Within 6 months of publication
• Access Criteria: No access criteria, will be publicly available. We plan to make these resources available on Open Science Framework.

Locations

US (1)