Packaging as a vehicle of nutritional information for children: Enhancing children’s perceptions of healthy food

Field lab in marketing: Children consumer behaviour

This research explores on-package nutrition claims as a way to transmit nutritional information and to promote children’s choice of healthy food. The influence of two formats of a nutrition claim - in verbal and visual form – and of a general claim assuring tastiness were analyzed on children and adults’ attention to the nutrition claim, attitude toward the product, perceived healthiness and purchase intention. A sample of 233 children aged between 7 and 11 years and 194 adults completed structured questionnaires. Results suggest that nutrition claims influence children’s perceptions but do not affect overall attitudes or behaviors. A visual nutrition claim grabs children’s attention and increases the perceived tastiness and healthiness, a perception that a claim assuring tastiness distorts. Regarding adults, the nutrition claim in verbal form, with or without the general claim, has negative effects on the purchase intention. Managerial contributions and implications for policy are discussed.