Researchers have examined the influence of entertainment companies' licensed media characters on children's diet and health. Conversely, limited empirical research exists on how food, beverage and restaurant companies use brand mascots to influence the dietary preferences and choices of children and their parents. This M.S. thesis is comprised of two studies that address this knowledge gap. The first study conducted a nutrient-profile analysis of 20 food, beverage, and restaurant products that use brand mascot marketing to children, whose companies are members of the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), an industry self-regulatory program. Products were evaluated using seven nutrient-profile models or nutrition guidelines. Results showed that all twenty products that used brand mascots failed to meet one or more of the guidelines, especially for candy/sweets, children's meals, and snack foods. The second pilot study used Q methodology to explore the views of five child-parent dyads concerning the influence of brand mascots on their diet-related cognitive outcomes. Each child and one parent independently completed a demographic survey, a brand mascot and product association survey, and a card-sort with 48 brand mascot images to determine 'most-liked' versus 'most-disliked' mascots. Factor analysis identified three unique viewpoints that were shared by participants including: 1) Breakfast Cereal Animal Lovers; lover of mascots with eyes/hands of approval; and 3) human, hat-wearing mascot lovers. Participants associated 66 percent of products with the correct brand mascots. These results may inform policy-relevant recommendations to strengthen industry self-regulatory programs to create a more healthful childhood marketing atmosphere. / Master of Science / Researchers have examined the influence of entertainment companies’ cartoon media characters on children’s diet and health. Conversely, limited experimental research exists on how food, beverage and restaurant companies use brand mascots to influence the diets of children and their parents. This M.S. thesis comprises two studies that address this knowledge gap. The first study consists of an analysis of 20 food, beverage, and restaurant products that use unique brand mascots marketed to children, whose companies are members of the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), an industry self-regulatory program. Products were measured up to seven voluntary and/or mandatory nutrition guidelines. All twenty products that used brand mascots failed to meet one or more of the nutrition guidelines, and especially for candy/sweets, children’s meals, and snack foods. The second study used Q methodology to explore the views of five children and their parents (n=10) concerning how brand mascots influence their diet-related cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Children and one of their parents were asked to independently complete three activities: 1) demographic survey; 2) brand mascot and product association survey; and 3) a card-sort with 48 brand mascot images to determine “most-liked” versus “most-disliked” mascots. Factor analysis identified three unique viewpoints shared by participants regarding how brand mascots influence their dietary preferences, dislikes, and intergenerational marketing. Additionally, participants correctly associated 66 percent of products and their respected brand mascots. Results from both studies may be used to inform policy-relevant recommendations to strengthen industry self-regulatory programs such as the CFBAI.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/86359 |
| Date | 20 June 2017 |
| Creators | Brownell, Taylor Reed |
| Contributors | Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Kraak, Vivica, Ivory, Adrienne Holz, Hedrick, Valisa E., Misyak, Sarah A. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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