Influence of Licensed Characters on Children’s Taste and Snack Preferences

WHAT’S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Little is known about the influence of licensed characters on eating behavior. No published study has documented causal relationships between licensed characters appearing on food packaging and children’s taste and snack preferences. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: This study found a relationship between licensed characters appearing on food packaging and children’s taste and snack preferences. Overall, children preferred the taste of foods and selected foods for snack more often when a character appeared on the packaging. OBJECTIVE: The goal was to study how popular licensed cartoon char-acters appearing on food packaging affect young children’s taste and snack preferences. METHODS: Forty 4- to 6-year-old children tasted 3 pairs of identica