Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32418538›Full record

ArticleNutrition journal2020

The impact of a cartoon character on adults perceptions of Children's breakfast cereals: a randomized experiment.

Alejandra Contreras-Manzano, Alejandra Jáuregui, Claudia Nieto, Marissa G Hall, Jorge Vargas-Meza, James F Thrasher, Daniel Illescas-Zárate, Simón Barquera, David Hammond

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nutrition journal, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. Observational
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.

Alejandra Contreras-ManzanoNutrition and Health Research Center, Mexican National Institute of Public Health, Av. Universidad 655 Col, Santa María Ahuacatitlán, 62100, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Alejandra JáureguiNutrition and Health Research Center, Mexican National Institute of Public Health, Av. Universidad 655 Col, Santa María Ahuacatitlán, 62100, Cuernavaca, Mexico. alejandra.jauregui@insp.mx.ORCID 0000-0001-9158-2007
Claudia NietoNutrition and Health Research Center, Mexican National Institute of Public Health, Av. Universidad 655 Col, Santa María Ahuacatitlán, 62100, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Marissa G HallDepartment of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
Jorge Vargas-MezaNutrition and Health Research Center, Mexican National Institute of Public Health, Av. Universidad 655 Col, Santa María Ahuacatitlán, 62100, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
James F ThrasherPopulation Health Research Center, Mexican National Institute of Public Health, Av. Universidad 655 Col. Santa María Ahuacatitlán, 62100, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Daniel Illescas-ZárateNutrition and Health Research Center, Mexican National Institute of Public Health, Av. Universidad 655 Col, Santa María Ahuacatitlán, 62100, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Simón BarqueraNutrition and Health Research Center, Mexican National Institute of Public Health, Av. Universidad 655 Col, Santa María Ahuacatitlán, 62100, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
David HammondSchool of Demography, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, The Australian National University, 9 Fellows Road Acton ACT, Canberra, 260, Australia.
Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública · MXAustralian National University · AUNational Institute of Public Health · KHUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · USUniversity of South Carolina · US

Funding

CIHR
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCartoon characters on processed food packaging increase the perception of product preference among children, but their effect among adults has rarely been examined. We evaluated the effect of a cartoon character on breakfast cereals on beliefs about buying them for children, as well as whether demographic characteristics modified this effect.

methodsAn experimental study was conducted with adults from online consumer panels in Mexico (n = 3755). Participants were randomly assigned to a "cartoon" condition (n = 1789), in which they viewed a breakfast cereal box with a Minion character on the front of the package, or the "control" condition (n = 1966), in which the same cereal box was displayed with no character on the package. Participants were asked: "Is this a good cereal to buy children?" with the response options "Yes", "No", or "Don't know". Multinomial adjusted logistic models regressed responses to this question (Yes = 0, No = 1, 2 = Don't know) on experimental condition. Differences in the effect of the cartoon character across demographic characteristics were tested by introducing multiplicative interaction terms.

resultsThe adjusted model showed that participants in the "cartoon character" condition were 1.67 (1.45-1.94) times more likely to consider the cereal as being "Not good to buy for children" than those in the control condition (p < 0.001). This effect was smaller among parents (RRR = 1.39, 1.13-1.72) compared to those without children (RRR = 2.01, 1.63-2.47). No differences were observed in the proportion of participants answering "Don't know" across experimental groups.

conclusionAmong this sample of Mexican adults, a cereal with a cartoon character on the packaging was more often perceived as "not good to buy for children" compared to a cereal without it. This effect was smaller among parents, potentially due to children influences of parental decisions during food purchasing.

Indexed as

BreakfastChoice BehaviorConsumer BehaviorEdible GrainAdultAdvertisingCartoons as TopicFemaleFood PackagingFood PreferencesHumansMaleMexicoMiddle AgedYoung AdultCartoon charactersGoodness perceptionMarketing directed to children

Identifiers

PMID32418538
PMCPMC7232833
OpenAlexW3027755837

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.