Playing with fruit: An experimental study to test the effectiveness of an online memory advergame to promote children's fruit consumption

Abstract

ObjectiveLiterature on food marketing targeting young people reveals that in the last years, sophisticated marketing techniques have been developed to market predominantly unhealthy food products. Much research has been conducted to test the impact of these techniques on subsequent product selection and intake. Less is known about the effects of promoting healthier foods, although the health-related benefits of eating more fruit and vegetables for children are important. The main aim of the present experiment was to examine if an online advergame promoting a fruit brand with food products increased subsequent fruit intake by children. MethodsWe used a randomized between-subject design with 123 children (age: 7–13 years) who played an advergame that promoted fruit (n = 43), non-food products (n = 40), or were in the control condition (n = 40). Subsequently, we measured the free intake of fruit as main outcome. ResultsPlaying the advergame promoting fruit did not stimulate the subsequent intake of fruit. Children in the advergame with fruit ate similar amounts of fruit than children in the control condition. No moderation effects of BMI, hunger, sex and game attitude were found. In addition, Bayesian analyses have been conducted that support the null hypothesis. DiscussionPrevious research has shown that marketing of unhealthy products via advergames affects subsequent intake of the promoted product, but the same effect is not found for healthier foods. We suggest that future research should examine if longer exposure or different forms of novel food marketing are effective in increasing the intake of healthier foods. Until now, it is unclear if advergames as a marketing technique for healthy foods have the same effectiveness on the intake of healthier food products.