Colour of food as a vector for children’s well-being

Abstract

Purpose A product colour plays an important role in consumers’ preferences. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the impact of the three-dimensional character of colour (brightness, saturation and vividness) on children’s behaviour towards a food product and as a source of well-being. Design/methodology/approach Two experiments were conducted. Study 1 was conducted with 62 children and used four visuals of syrup presenting two colours (red/green) and two variations of vividness (vivid/dim). Study 2 was conducted with 70 children and used four pictures of stewed apples and four pictures of pouches to test the influence of each dimension of colour on children’s preferences for the product and the product packaging. Findings Results show that the three-dimensional character of colour plays an important role in children’s gustatory inferences and well-being. Research limitations/implications The study is restricted to one food product (in each study) habitually consumed by children. Other products could be investigated to show how colour can contribute to children’s well-being. Practical implications The paper addresses the issue of well-being as a potential brand-positioning element. Social implications The paper suggests new avenues to use the brightness/saturation or vividness of a product or packaging colour as a potential element to arouse positive sensations that generate children’s well-being even when the product is not a preferred one. Originality/value This works initiates creative thinking concerning the impact of a product colour on children consumers.

Visual aesthetics and multisensory engagement in online food delivery services

“…Although the importance of multisensory experience in food consumption has been studied intensely in the offline context (e.g. Elder and Krishna, 2012;Ezan et al, 2019;Wang, 2013;Woods et al, 2016), we find a significant gap in the literature that demonstrates the underlying mechanism of crossmodal responses when consumers make food consumption decisions in the online environment.…”

“…For example, Liang et al (2013) found that the color of a food influences perceived sweetness. Also, Ezan et al (2019) demonstrated how three dimensions of colors (e.g. saturation, brightness and vividness) influence different taste perceptions (sweet, refreshing, acid, etc.).…”

“…While previous findings focused on the effects of a food product's physical attributes (e.g. color in Ezan et al, 2019;shape in Liang et al, 2013) on taste perception and emotional and behavioral outcomes, as far as we are aware, this is the first time that the effects of visual design principles (e.g. repetition and compositional lines) have been validated as an effective technique to engage customers in multisensory experience and enhance purchase intention in the context of online retailing.…”

Children in marketing: A review, synthesis and research agenda

“…Finally, while Moore and Rideout (2007) focus on systematically examining food marketers' Web sites that target children, Ezan et al (2019) analyse a completely different research issue by focusing on the effect of colour on children's behaviour toward food.…”

An experimental study of the effect of packaging colour on children's evaluation of packaging and attitude towards the brand

“…When it comes to the product, little research has focused on the effect of colour on children's evaluation of product. For instance, according to Ezan et al (2019), fruit syrup colour influences children's product attitudes and desire to consume the product. A lighter, brighter red syrup seems less cold, less bland and with a fruitier taste than dark red syrup.…”