Collaborative Research: Media Characters: The Unhidden Persuaders in Food Marketing to Children

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Children's television viewing often involves extended experiences with familiar characters. Unlike any previous technological age, these characters are now present in many different kinds of media, including television programs and advertisements, computer games, and mobile Apps. In addition to entertaining and teaching viewers, these characters also sell to children, including unhealthy foods that have been linked to the childhood obesity crisis that plagues our nation. While characters such as these have been used as marketing tools for many years, little is known about the extent to which this marketing is effective, or the specific conditions under which children are susceptible to its influence. The investigators will test their theory that the existence of one-sided, emotionally-tinged friendships that children form with media characters--known as parasocial relationships--are central to their influence. The researchers will develop and validate an assessment scale for measuring the strength of parasocial relationships and use it to determine what factors influence relationship magnitude and predict the likelihood of media character influences on children's preferences. The investigators will use an experimental method in which children interact with a novel media character to explore the dynamics of how parasocial relationships form and under what circumstances they lead to strong influence. They will characterize the extent to which this process varies between 3 and 8 years of age. Structural equation modeling will be used to calculate the effect magnitude of different factors on parasocial relationships and character motivation. Without research about the underlying reasons for the obesity crisis, the future of our children is in peril. US children are now expected to have shorter life spans than their parents. Media characters may be playing an unhidden role in this epidemic. However, these same characters may also be able to change children's food choices and eating patterns by promoting healthier foods. The knowledge that will be gained from this project can help scientists understand the important role that media characters are playing in the childhood obesity crisis. This information can then be used to help parents make healthy decisions for their children in supermarkets and restaurants, to help businesses use their media characters more wisely, and to inform legislators about the kinds of policies that can improve the health and well being of future generations.