What parents prefer and children like – Investigating choice of vegetable-based food for children

Food Quality and Preference 18 (2007) 949–962 www.elsevier.com/locate/foodqual

What parents prefer and children like – Investigating choice of vegetable-based food for children Helle Alsted Søndergaard a,*, Merete Edelenbos b b

a MAPP, Aarhus School of Business, University of Aarhus, Haslegardsvej 10, DK-8210 Aarhus V, Denmark Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Aarhus, Research Centre Aarslev, Kirstinebjergvej 10, DK-5792 Aarslev, Denmark

Received 4 July 2005; received in revised form 12 February 2007; accepted 18 March 2007 Available online 4 April 2007

Abstract The inherent challenge of investigating food choice of new products for children is that more than one person is involved in the longterm decision-making. Parents decide in the purchase situation while children pass their verdict when they consume the meal. In this paper we suggest linking family decision-making and food choice, and reveal results from two empirical studies of vegetable-based food for children. One study discloses parents’ preferences regarding different food concepts while the other looks into children’s liking before and after tasting the products. Results show that parents know fairly well what children like. Sharing the meal experience with their children and having meal variation options are important benefits for parents. Parents are more concerned about health while children prefer products that look familiar. However, after tasting an unfamiliar product children are less reserved. Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Vegetable-based food for children; Family decision-making; Means-end chain theory; Food choice; Favourite vegetables

1. Introduction A diet rich in vegetables and fruits has a significant protective effect on human health. The Danish health authorities recommend that children age 4–10 years eat 400 g, and children above the age of 10 years eat 600 g of fruits and vegetables every day (www.6omdagen.dk). There are some indications that Danish children prefer raw vegetables (Gallup, 1999), however, very little is known about children’s preference for vegetables and in which context they prefer to eat vegetables (Harper, 1963). Consuming uncooked vegetables makes it difficult to reach the recommended intake. The volume of raw vegetables is higher than for cooked vegetables, and it takes more effort to chew them. Parents who want to provide a healthy diet for their children must therefore cook meals with a high content of vegetables and a low content of fat, sugar and

*

Corresponding author. Tel.: +45 89 48 64 91; fax: +45 86 15 39 88. E-mail address: [email protected] (H.A. Søndergaard).

0950-3293/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodqual.2007.03.009

energy. This may be difficult especially when time is limited and children tend to like palatable foods with a low content of vegetables and a high content of fats and sugars (Douglas, 1998; Drewnowski, 1989; Nicklaus, Boggio, Chabanet, & Issanchou, 2004; Nicklaus, Boggio, & Issanchou, 2005). There is therefore a need for nutritious and healthy convenience ready-to-eat food for children that is acceptable to parents and that children like. Research on family decision-making has shown that children have more influence on decisions in cases where the product is directly relevant to them and where the product is inexpensive (Foxman, Tansuhaj, & Ekstrom, 1989; Lackman & Lanasa, 1993; Swinyard & Sim, 1987). Food and beverages have been shown to be one of the categories where children have critical influence (Belch, Belch, & Ceresino, 1985; Carunana & Vassallo, 2003; Foxman et al., 1989). Their influence increases with age, while there is no consistency regarding the stages of the decision-making process (Holdert & Antonides, 1997; Lackman & Lanasa, 1993). Research on food choice shows that in order to have an affect on children dietary campaigns must

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be targeted at the whole family. Parents determine availability within the household, offer exposure and positive reinforcement to various foods and act as examples for dietary behaviour while taste is the primary determinant for children and adolescent’s choices (Oliveria et al., 1992; Shepherd & Dennison, 1996; Stratton & Bromley, 1999; Tuorila, La¨hteenma¨ki, Pohjalainen, & Lotti, 2001). Developing and marketing nutritious vegetable-based food for children therefore involves the central challenge of manufacturing products which both children and their parents like. The product as a whole must appeal to parents if they are to purchase it in the first place and children must like the appearance and taste of the product when they consume it. For young children the parent would normally be the final decision maker, at least when it comes to new products, and decide the initial purchase (Lackman & Lanasa, 1993). However, repeated purchase would depend on the children’s liking of the products which is where children act out their role as consumers and influencers. Therefore, neither parents nor children can be ignored in a study of children’s food choice. Since children play different roles than parents in the decision-making process, children and parents must be studied in different ways (Belch et al., 1985). Two empirical studies investigate how parents and children perceive a number of vegetable-based food products for children and subsequently how children evaluate the taste of these products. One of the challenges in food choice research is to integrate studies of purchase and consumption (Grunert, 2003). This study is unique in the sense that it investigates parents’ pre-purchase preferences and

children’s pre- and post-consumption liking for the same new food products. The study is part of a collaboration project whose aim it is to develop tasty and nutritious vegetable-based food for children. 2. Theoretical approach Research on family decision-making covers a number of areas such as family roles, the influence of children in the decision-making process, family types and the socialisation of children as consumers (Holdert & Antonides, 1997; Lackman & Lanasa, 1993). In this study we focus on parent and child preferences towards specific products at two stages of the decision-making process (before and after purchase/consumption) and involve at least two family decision-making roles. The roles normally identified in family decision-making are Initiators, Influencers, Deciders/Buyers and Users (Verma & Kapoor, 2003). Our objective is to investigate family decision-making regarding food, including both parents and children in an empirical study. We expect parents to act as Decision makers/Buyers and children as Influencers/Users. 2.1. Family food decision-making A way of studying individual decision-making in the pre- and post-purchase evaluation of foods is the ‘The Total Food Quality Model’ (TFQ model), which gives an overview of the central factors related to the perception of the quality of foods (Fig. 1). The model defines the term ‘‘quality” in a subjective and broad sense – it is the per-

Fig. 1. Family decision-making in the total food quality model (Own elaboration on model from Grunert, 2005).

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ceived quality of factors such as taste, origin, healthiness, convenience and production method (e.g. organic or GMO) which is analysed (Grunert, 2005). The left hand side of the figure illustrates the factors affecting the expected quality of a product before purchase, while the factors affecting the experienced quality after consumption are shown on the right hand side. Moving from left to right in the figure illustrates the quality perception before and after purchase and consumption. This is central with regard to food products for children since parents’ quality perception before purchase is important as well as children’s taste experience during consumption. We propose that the two sides of the TFQ model seen in a family decision-making perspective would represent two stages of a family decision-making process; information search/evaluation and post-purchase behaviour. The actual purchase takes place at the interface. Regarding family roles ‘the Buyer’ is active during the actual purchase decision while ‘the Influencers’ and ‘Decision makers’ are active before the purchase in the information search and evaluation stage. ‘The users/consumers’ play their role after the purchase with their post-purchase behaviour. The suggested relationship between the decision-making stages, the family roles and the TQF model is shown in Fig. 1. The TFQ model’s vertical dimension illustrates differences in the level of abstraction in the perceived quality. The level of abstraction increases from the ‘‘quality cues”, which are the indicators of quality at the top of the model, through ‘‘quality” to ‘‘purchase motives” at the bottom. The expected quality of a product is thus only relevant if it leads to fulfilment of purchase motives or values. A product’s expected quality can be described as the positive outcome that consumers expect from buying a food product (Grunert, 2005). Consumers’ positive expectations are based on perceived intrinsic and extrinsic quality cues. Cues are thus pieces of information used to form quality expectations (Steenkamp, 1990). Intrinsic quality cues are the physical characteristics of a product, while extrinsic cues denote all other characteristics of a product (brand name, price, distribution, packaging, etc.). There are different techniques for studying the various parts of the TFQ model. Laddering, based on the meansend chain (MEC) theory, can be used to investigate the hierarchical relationships among quality cues, quality aspects and purchase motives (Grunert, Hartvig Larsen, Madsen, & Baadsgaard, 1996). The MEC theory is based on the assumption that consumers demand products because of expected positive consequences of using the

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products (Grunert & Valli, 2001; Gutman, 1982; Walker & Olson, 1991). Products are usually described in terms of their attributes, even though the consequences of using them are just as important, since these can be related to realisation of life values. A means-end chain illustrates the links between product attributes, consequences and values, where the means is the product and the end is the desired value state. The purpose of the MEC theory is to explain how product preference and choice are related to the achievement of central life values (Gutman, 1982). Fig. 2 shows a means-end chain for apples. It illustrates that we buy apples because they give us energy from the natural fruit sugar so that we can live an active life, which may enhance our well-being. The taste or sensory quality of a food product can either be evaluated by means of a trained panel or with consumers from a target group (Grunert et al., 1996). The objective of our two studies was to investigate parent preferences and child liking for vegetable-based food for children. Therefore, we focused on parents’ expected quality and children’s experienced quality. In interviews with parents from the target group the quality cues that they infer as well as their purchase motives were determined. Furthermore, children from the target group tasted the products and were interviewed regarding their liking and disliking for the food products. The children’s favourite vegetables and their preferred vegetable-eating context were determined to support the results of the preference testing involving children. In order to strengthen the external validity of this study unrelated adults and children were used in the two empirical studies. 3. Material and methods 3.1. Food products Four food products varying in context and vegetable ingredients were produced for the experiment. See Table 1 for the nutritional content of the four products. Potato Heads were produced from 1 cm slices of ‘Bintje’ potatoes, dipped in batter, fried in oil, chilled, quick-frozen and vacuum-packed in aluminium foil pouches and stored at 24 °C until testing. Indian Mix consisted of frozen and mixed precooked white rice, green peas, sweet corn and shredded carrots. Traffic Lights were produced from mashed potatoes mixed with a puree of red bell pepper, carrot or green peas and made into red, yellow or green croquets. The croquets were fried in oil, frozen and packed

Natural fruit sugar

Gives me energy

I can do more, staying power

Quality of life, feel well

Attribute

Consequence

Consequence

Value

Fig. 2. A means-end chain for apples (Søndergaard, 2003).

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Table 1 The four vegetable products: nutritional information Vegetable ingredienta

Nutritional information/100 g productb Energy (kJ)

Protein (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Fat (g)

Dietary fibres (g)

Potato Heads

Potato (87%)

700

2.5 (6)

24 (58)

6.5 (35)

1.5

Indian Mix

Green pea (24%) Sweet Corn (24%) Carrot (20%)

345

3.4 (17)

15.5 (76)

0.6 (7)

2.9

Red pepper (31%) Carrot (34%) Green pea (33%)

760

4.5 (10)

26 (58)

6.5 (33)

Spinach (22%)

410

4.6 (19)

10.1 (42)

4.3 (40)

Product

Traffic Lights

Spinach Lasagne a b c

Vitamin A REc 0.5

Vitamin C (mg)

Iron (mg)

8

0.07

448

7

1.38

1.0 1.2 2.1

53 530 18

49 4 8

0.44 0.44 0.65

0.4

195

5

0.60

Percentage is indicated in parenthesis on wet weight basis. Values in parenthesis are calculated as energy%. RE, retinol equivalent.

in thick plastic pouches and stored at 24 °C until testing. Spinach Lasagne was made from precooked lasagne sheets, blanched spinach and be´chamel sauce containing cooked onions. The lasagne was prepared in trays, quick-frozen and stored at 24 °C until testing. 3.2. Data collection Laddering interviews with parents were conducted in order to obtain information about their pre-purchase perception of the vegetable-based products (the laddering technique is explained in Section 3.2.1). We designed a study where children were asked about the appearance of the products and at a later stage about the taste of the products. This gave us an opportunity to evaluate both parents’ and children’s pre-purchase perceptions of the products and children’s liking after consumption. Parents evaluated the products by looking at pictures of the packaged products including content information (no nutritional information). Children evaluated the products by looking at the products and tasting them. These methods were chosen to imitate real-life purchase and consumption situations where parents see a product in the store and children see and eat the product in a meal situation at home. 3.2.1. Procedures and measurements for the parent study Parents’ pre-purchase preferences were investigated by means of the laddering method. The laddering technique is the most commonly used method for collecting MEC data (Grunert et al., 1996). The technique is used in in-depth personal interviews and is especially useful for conveying the underlying reasons for the product being important to the consumer. When the respondent mentions a product attribute the interviewer asks the respondent why a specific attribute is important to the respondent. When the respondent has answered this question the interviewer

asks another ‘why-question’ based on the respondent’s answer. The aim of the technique is to determine the links between attributes, consequences and values (Reynolds & Gutman, 1988). The technique is named after the ladder which guides the respondent upwards by means of the ‘why-questions’. The analysis of laddering data involves summarising the key elements of the interviews by means of a standard content analysis procedure into a diagram displaying the dominant connections among attributes, consequences and values. These dominant connections are subsequently depicted in a hierarchical value map (HVM) (Reynolds & Gutman, 1988). Respondents were recruited in Copenhagen, Denmark. A total number of 60 parents were interviewed using the laddering method. Data was collected by a Danish research agency using an interview design developed by Søndergaard (2003). The recruitment criteria were main responsibility for shopping and cooking and having children aged between 3 and 11. Each laddering interview lasted approximately 30 min. Respondents were introduced to the general theme of the interview and were asked to rank three to four products within two of three meal categories: full meal, side dish or snack. The product order was randomised. Respondents were asked to rank the products according to which products they would be inclined to buy for their families. After the ranking, respondents were asked to motivate their ranking and to identify product attributes. The interviewer started with the respondent’s first priority, e.g. Potato Heads, asking: ‘Why is it important that Potato Heads are made from potatoes?’ This started off the laddering interview and the interviewer asked questions along this line until the respondent reached a value level or did not know what to answer. Due to the design including both products and meal categories responses from between 34 and 40 respondents fed ladders into the hierarchical value maps for each product. The cut off levels were 10 for all hierarchical value maps.

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3.2.2. Procedures and measurement for the children’s study The children were recruited from an eight-grade elementary school: one nursery class and seven elementary classes, in Skellerup, Denmark. Teachers were given a consent form with a clear description of the study, which allowed them to discuss participation with the principal. All the school’s 96 children participated in the tests. The children were between 6 and 14 years old and 57% were girls. Data from four children was excluded due to the children either being unable to follow research instructions or being absent in one of the tests. Data was collected over two testing days with a four to six day interval between the two tests. The testing took place in the classroom around lunchtime to create a near-natural consumption set-up. Children made a preconsumption preference test followed by a qualitative interview on likings and disliking of the products and vegetables in general. In the second test, an eating preference test and qualitative interviewing took place. Five interviewers from Research Centre Aarslev carried out the tests. They were trained in food testing with children during a fruit and lunch-bar test carried out two months prior to this food test at the school (Edelenbos & Thybo, 2001). A script was developed to ensure consistency in the way the tests were performed and in the wording used in the interviewing process. The interviewers were specifically trained for the tests during two-hour introduction sessions at the Research Centre prior to each test. On each test day, the children were introduced to the test and if a child did not immediately understand the test, further explanations were offered. In each classroom one or two interviewers carried out the test depending on class size and age of the children. Interviewers were located in different corners of the classroom to minimize interpersonal influence among children. Each interview lasted approximately 30 min. Children’s pre-consumption preferences were investigated by asking children whether they felt like eating a product just from looking at it. The products were prepared 30 min ahead to allow products to cool down so volatilization would not stimulate the children’s senses. Frozen Potato Heads were oven-fried 12 min at 180 °C. Indian Mix was defrosted one hour at room temperature. Traffic Lights were oven-fried 30 min at 220 °C. The Spinach Lasagne was baked for 45 min at 200 °C. The products were placed in the middle of the classroom on white plates for the children to look at. The children were asked to look at each product and on a five-point hedonic facial scale ranging from 1 = ‘would dislike very much’, 2 = ‘would dislike’, 3 = ‘would neither like nor dislike’, 4 = ‘would like’ to 5 = ‘would like very much’ rate how much they would like or would dislike to eat the products (Chen, Resurreccion, & Plaguio, 1996; Kroll, 1990). Hedonic categorization was used to discriminate between samples (Le´on, Couronne, Marcuz, & Ko¨ster, 1999). Scores 1 and 2 had sour-looking faces, score 3 a neutral face and scores 4 and 5 smiling faces. The product order was visualised with

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product photos on the test sheets. Products were evaluated in randomised order to avoid interpersonal influences between children and to minimize misunderstanding among young children who did not understand words and phrases. Data on vegetables and preferred context for consumption of vegetables were collected after the pre-consumption test. A white box containing 23 kinds of vegetables was placed in front of each child for inspiration. The box contained lettuce, red, yellow and green bell pepper, sweet corn, green beans, green peas, onion, leek, tomato, white cabbage, red cabbage, mushroom, broccoli, spinach, celery, cauliflower, cucumber, carrot, squash, beetroot and radish. The children were asked to list three favourite vegetables. No data was collected on frequency of eating vegetables since 6–8-year old children do not have a clear perception of time and eating certain foods (Thybo, Ku¨hn, & Martens, 2003). Data on preferred context was collected using pictures of vegetables served alone (separate helpings of sweet corn, red bell pepper and green peas), vegetables in a mix (mix of sweet corn, red bell pepper and green peas) and vegetables in a dish (red, yellow and green traffic lights containing red bell pepper, carrots and green peas, respectively). The children’s post-consumption preferences were determined by asking them how much they liked or disliked the overall taste of a product. The set-up of this test was identical to that in the pre-consumption test except that the order of presentation and the wording was changed to questions about the overall taste of the products. The products were prepared as for the pre-consumption test except that the products were prepared just before consumption to allow volatilization, and that the Indian Mix was mixed with one spoonful of oil, fried in a pan for 5 min and kept warm in the oven at 100 °C for 10 min. The products were served hot in a compartment foil tray. The children were asked to taste the products and were allowed to eat the whole serving. Water and crisp bread were served to clean the palate between products. 3.3. Data analysis The laddering data was coded as described in Søndergaard (2003) and analysed using the Laddermap software programme (Reynolds & Gengler, 1987). For statistical analysis, the analysis of variances, ANOVA was used (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). Statistical significance between products was assessed by one-way analysis of variance at P 6 0.05. Duncan’s multiple-range test was used to locate the significant differences. 4. Results and discussion The results are reported in three parts. First, the results of the laddering interviews on the parents’ purchase preferences are reported. Second, the children’s favourite vegetables, their pre-consumption preferences and their

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consumption preferences are reported. In the third section the results are compared and discussed. 4.1. What parents prefer The main outcome from the laddering interviews conducted with parents is the four hierarchical value maps (HVM) in Figs. 3–6. The HVMs exhibit a number of similarities. The central positive benefit in all four hierarchical value maps is healthiness and healthy eating habits. This is not surprising and in line with other HVMs for foods (Bech-Larsen, 2001; Nielsen, Bech-Larsen, & Grunert, 1998; Nielsen, Sørensen, & Grunert, 1997). The four maps are described first, and later the common quality cues, consequences and purchase motives are discussed. Fig. 3 shows that Potato Heads are perceived positively by parents. It is a dish with good, simple ingredients, it looks appetizing and it indicates that it is a wholesome

product. The ingredients are known or recognizable; at the same time the product is easy to prepare leaving more time for other (more important) things in life. The only negative attribute is that Potato Heads are/can be deepfried which may cause overweight. The value map for the Indian Mix in Fig. 4 shows that the primary benefit of the dish, as perceived by the parents, is the desire to eat which is stimulated by the wholesome ingredients and the appealing pictures of this ‘no-nonsense’ dish. At the same time meals can be varied using this dish, and the dish is easy to prepare. However, the taste may be perceived as negative due to the fact that the dish is made from frozen ingredients. Some parents feel that a mix of ingredients reduces their children’s desire to eat. For the Traffic Lights in Fig. 5 it is the wholesome ingredients, the vitamins and the vegetables that lead to the central theme of healthiness. In this product the pictures and colours trigger a desire to eat and share a meal. The dish

Fig. 3. Hierarchical value map: Potato Heads.

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Fig. 4. Hierarchical value map: Indian Mix.

is easy to prepare, which leaves time for other things. Some respondents perceive the toy element as fun and enjoyable for children. On the other hand the mixed ingredients do not add to the desire to eat, and the respondents feel limited in their choice. Again respondents are averse to deep-fried products. From Fig. 6 showing the value map for Spinach Lasagne, it is clear that parents perceive spinach as a wholesome ingredient rich in vitamins, aspects which are central in healthy eating habits. The appetizing appearance of the dish adds to the desire to eat and furthermore, the dish is easy to prepare. However, some parents are aware of the fact that children may dislike spinach. Most of the quality cues in the maps are of an intrinsic nature (vitamins, ingredients, is appetizing, simple dish, easy to prepare) while extrinsic cues (the colours/pictures and the toys/sweets) are only perceived for Traffic Lights and Indian Mix. Parents expect quality within three of the common quality factors: taste, health and convenience (Grunert et al., 1996). The taste and health factors are

interrelated in the sense that if the taste is good, then eating habits will be healthy because of wholesome ingredients. The important negative consequences are overweight caused by deep-frying and the fact that children will not eat a product if they do not like the ingredients. It is important that the product has ‘wholesome ingredients’ and looks ‘appetizing’ so that a ‘desire to eat’ is spurred by the expectations of tastiness. A desire to eat is related to the health/healthiness factor. The attribute ‘easy to prepare’, which is a convenience aspect, is also central in all four products because the family then has ‘time for other things’. One other central consequence appears for all products: ‘sharing the meal experience’. The parents value this, since it means ‘the family is spending time together’. Furthermore, there is a ‘variation/liberty of choice’ factor in all products except the Spinach Lasagne. Potato Heads and Indian Mix leave the family with the possibility of varying the meal as a whole according to preferences (and healthiness) while the Traffic Lights reduce the liberty of choice

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Fig. 5. Hierarchical value map: Traffic Lights.

since they are perceived as resembling a whole meal where ingredients are mixed in advance. In all value maps, the central purchase motives of ‘doing well in life’ and obtaining ‘good quality of life’ are gained by good health and energy. Parents were asked to rank the products according to which they would choose for a meal for their family. They were not directly asked to take the children’s taste into account but it is clear from the value maps that parents do consider children’s preferences as ‘the children like it/ fun for the children’ appears in all four value maps. However, these consequences are not as central as healthiness. We cannot expect parents to consider all consequences of their purchase behaviour when evaluating products before or in the purchase situation. It will always be a trade off between positive and negative consequences and not all parents will be willing to buy these products. For companies marketing these types of products it is important to emphasize the positive consequences in the product communication, e.g. on the product packaging. 4.2. What children like First, the results from the vegetable choice study are presented in order to give an idea of how children in general

prefer vegetables. Subsequently, results from the pre- and post-consumption studies are reported. 4.2.1. Favourite vegetables and preferred context Popular vegetables are vegetables that can either accompany Danish open rye bread sandwiches eaten at lunch time or be used in salads such as carrot (22%), cucumber (19%), sweet corn (12%), green peas (10%), tomato (10%), lettuce (8%) and bell pepper (6%) (Table 2). Overall results on vegetable choice show that strong tasting Brassica vegetables, e.g. cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and radish, and Allium vegetables, e.g. onion, leek, and garlic, were the least popular vegetables; and spinach and squash were not listed at all (Table 2). In a lunch bar set-up two months earlier, we registered that these same children selected cucumber (32%) followed by sweet corn (25%), green peas (20%), lettuce (15%) and tomato (8%) to accompany meatballs in pita bread (Edelenbos & Thybo, 2001). Obviously, there was agreement between the children’s favourite vegetables and their actual selection during this two-month period. Other studies show that raw carrot, cucumber, lettuce, tomato and green peas are frequently eaten by 6–11-year old children more than strong tasting, cooked cauliflower, broccoli, spinach and eggplant (Gallup, 1999). Again the children prefer mild and sweet

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Fig. 6. Hierarchical value map: Spinach Lasagne.

tasting vegetables such as carrots over spinach if vegetables are cooked (Kidmose & Edelenbos, 2000). The results of the present study corroborate other results on children’s preferences for vegetables which show that children prefer crisp and crunchy, mild-tasting and sweet vegetables and dislike strong and bitter tasting cooked ones (Krølner, Rasmussen, Haraldsdo´ttir, Holstein, & Due, 2005; Nicklaus et al., 2004, 2005). Vegetables in the present study were cooked which minimised the effect of texture for children’s food preferences compared to the taste and colour attributes. Looking into the differences in age and gender reveals that older children preferred cucumber over carrots (Table 2) and boys preferred sweet corn and green peas over salad greens and tomatoes, which were preferred by girls. More boys than girls listed mushroom, green beans, beetroot and celery as their favourites while girls listed radishes. More young (6%) than older children (3%) listed Brassica vegetables as their favourites. This result was in contrast to Harper (1963) who reported that older children like Brassica vegetables. However, the consumption context is also important for food acceptance and choice.

Results on the preferred context shows that the children preferred vegetables alone as a side dish (53%) over mixed with other vegetables (26%) or in a dish (21%). More boys (33%) than girls preferred to eat vegetables in a dish, while conversely more girls preferred to eat vegetables separately as a side dish (Table 2). Danish men also prefer to eat vegetables as an integrated part of a dish (Bagger, 2003). This result suggests that parents act as an important role model for the way children prefer to eat vegetables as seen for many other food products (Lagstro¨m, Seppa¨nen, Jokinen, Salminen, & Simell, 2001). Apparently, parents’ food choices influence the food intake of children especially of young children when parents provide the majority of the food and to some extent control what the children eat (Oliveria et al., 1992). 4.2.2. Children’s pre-consumption and consumption preference 4.2.2.1. Pre-consumption. The pre-consumption test showed that children appreciated the appearance of the Potato Heads and would prefer this product to Indian Mix, Traffic Lights and Spinach Lasagne (Table 3). Most

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Table 2 Vegetable choice and preferred context of eating vegetables Distribution of results (%)a

Vegetable choiceb Carrot Cucumber Sweet corn Green pea Tomato Salad greens (lettuce, iceberg) Bell pepper (various colours) Brassica (cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage) Radish Allium (onion, leek, garlic) Others (mushroom, green bean, beets, celery) Preferred contextc Alone Mixed with other vegetables As vegetables in a dish

All children

Gender

Age

Boy

Girl

6–9 years

10–13 years

21.7 19.4 12.2 9.5 9.5 8.4 6.1 4.6

23.6 18.2 14.5 13.6 8.2 3.6 6.4 2.7

20.3 20.3 10.5 6.5 10.5 11.8 5.9 5.9

22.8 16.5 12.6 9.4 9.4 6.3 4.7 6.3

20.6 22.1 11.8 9.6 9.6 10.3 7.4 2.9

4.2 1.9 2.7

0.9 2.7 5.5

6.5 1.3 0.7

7.9 0.8 3.1

0.7 2.9 2.2

53.3 26.1 20.7

45.0 22.5 32.5

59.6 28.8 11.5

54.3 23.9 21.7

52.2 28.3 19.6

a A total of 92 children participated; of these 39 (43%) were boys and 46 (50%) were between the age of 6–9 years old. b A total of 276 registrations on vegetables were made (3 vegetables per child) of which 60 registrations or 21.7% were on carrots. c Within preferred context, 53.3% or 49 children preferred to eat vegetables alone.

Table 3 Children’s pre-consumption preference Product

Rank

Pre-consumption preferencea All children

Boys

6–9 years

Potato Heads Indian Mix Traffic Lights Spinach Lasagne

1 2 3 4

4.7a 3.7b 3.1c 1.9d

4.6a 3.7b 3.4b 2.0c

4.7a 3.7b 3.2b 1.8c

Mean attitude scores towards the products. a 1 = dislike very much to eat, 5 = like very much to eat. Mean separation within columns by Duncan’s test at P = 0.05.

children liked the appearance of the Potato Heads. They were familiar with the ingredients and felt comfortable with the product. They liked the way the product looked and they liked the fact that it was made from fried potatoes. This is in agreement with Katz (1998) who showed that children prefer familiar foods. The children as a whole discriminated among the products. The young children and the boys as sub groups did not discriminate between Indian Mix and Traffic Lights (Table 3). Potato Heads, Indian Mix and lasagne were types of products familiar to the children. Fig. 7 compares the children’s preferences regarding appearance (A) and the taste (T) of the products. As for Indian Mix the children with the highest liking (scores 4 and 5) appreciated the appearance of the rice, green peas, sweet corn and shredded carrot. The product and the ingre-

dients were well known to the children and they liked the taste of the ingredients and the combination of the bright white, green, yellow and orange colours. Many of these children (36%) preferred to eat vegetables in a mix rather than alone or in a dish (data not shown). Generally, the children had an ambivalent response to the appearance of the Traffic Lights, which was a new product to them. The group either expressed interest (37% liked the product) or aversion (30% disliked the product) towards the product. In this case the interest-aversion balance tilted toward interest probably because the product looked fried and crisp and had bright colours, which many children seem to prefer (Katz, 1998). Traffic Lights were made from a mixture of mashed potatoes and puree of red bell pepper, carrot or green peas producing red, yellow and green lights. To the likers the colours were ‘beautiful’ to the dislikers they were ‘awful’, i.e. they thought it looked like a poisonous, toxic and artificial product. The Traffic Lights looked like nuggets to 7% of the children and they thought they had tasted them before although the product was brand new and prepared especially for the study. A majority (70%) of the children disliked the appearance of the Spinach Lasagne and would not like to eat it (Fig. 7) although they liked traditional lasagne. The children had a negative reaction to the expected taste of spinach, which they considered strong and bitter (Turnbull & MatissoSmith, 2002). 4.2.2.2. Consumption preference. The children ranked the overall taste of Potato Heads higher than those of Indian Mix/Traffic Lights and Spinach Lasagne (Table 4). The Potato Heads were extremely popular and had an average rating of 4.7 (Table 4). The Potato Heads were fried and resembled chips in taste and texture and were preferred by all children. Other studies show that 12-year old children like chips and that they would choose chips if they are free to make a choice (Douglas, 1998). Spinach Lasagne was the least favoured product with an average rating of 2.2 (Table 4). Children disliked the taste of spinach or ‘the green stuff in it’ although the lasagne was made with mild tasting spinach. More young (65%) than older children (57%) disliked the Spinach Lasagne indicating a change in acceptability with age (Harper, 1963). However, these differences were not statistically significant (Table 4). Accordingly to Turnbull and Matisso-Smith (2002) there is a link between children’s sensitivity to bitter taste and children’s liking of spinach; however, it is not clear whether children are more sensitive to bitter tastes than adults (Cowart, 1981). The consumption preference scores for Indian Mix and Traffic Lights fell in the interval between the most and least favoured products (Table 4). Indian Mix was familiar and Traffic Lights were unfamiliar to the children. Both products were colourful with green, orange and yellow/red colours. The children liked the overall taste of the Indian Mix (62%) and all vegetable ingredients in it, and vice versa for the children who disliked the product.

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Fig. 7. The relative frequency of the children’s scores evaluated on appearance (A) (pre-consumption) and on taste (T) (post-consumption). Scores were grouped into like (scores 4 and 5), ok (score 3) and dislike (scores 1 and 2).

Table 4 Children’s consumption preference Products

Potato Heads Indian Mix Traffic Lights Spinach Lasagne

Rank

1 2 2 3

Consumption preferencea All children

Gender

Age

Boys

Girls

6–9 years

10–13 years

4.7a 3.7b 3.5b 2.2c

4.5a 4.0a 3.9aA 2.2b

4.8a 3.6b 3.2bB 2.3c

4.8a 3.8b 3.7b 2.1c

4.6a 3.7b 3.3b 2.3c

Mean attitude scores towards the products. a 1 = dislike very much the overall taste, 5 = like very much the overall taste. Mean separation within columns (small letters) by Duncan’s test at P = 0.05. Mean separation within rows on gender (capital letters) by Duncan’s test at P = 0.05.

About half the children liked Traffic Lights (Fig. 7) especially the 6 to 9-year old boys (Table 4), due to the ingredients. Traffic Lights were made from mashed potatoes and blended vegetables and were crisp outside with a soft texture inside. The taste of the Traffic Lights reminded the children of spring rolls and chips. Green lights were preferred over yellow and red lights, which were too spicy for some children. About 22% of the children disliked the texture of the Traffic Lights; the texture was mushy, sticky and baby-food like. It is interesting that boys (60%) preferred the taste of Indian Mix and Traffic Lights more than girls (50%). The vegetables in the Indian Mix and Traffic Lights were integrated into the product in a way that the boys liked (Table 2). The response pattern for Potato Heads, the other fried food product, was opposite that of Traffic Lights as more girls (96%) than boys (88%) liked them. This indicates no clear preference among boys for fried food products but

that children either like a fried and/or a familiar product. Douglas (1998) reported that 12-year olds preferred foods with a high fat and sugar content when given a free choice between familiar products and disliked vegetables and potatoes unless they were fried. 4.3. Comparison of the results from parents and children Results of the four-product ranking show that both parents and children have Potato Heads as their first priority, whereas they disagree on the ranking of Spinach Lasagne (Table 5). Parents were very keen on the lasagne while children did not like it. Some parents liked the Spinach Lasagne because spinach is a healthy vegetable and some parents disliked the Potato Heads because fried potatoes are fattening and unhealthy. However, the children simply did not share the parents’ enthusiasm for the Spinach Lasagne. Parents and children ranked Indian Mix intermediate. Traffic Lights received the lowest ranking by parents, while children placed it third. Since we asked parents to rank the products according to what they would prefer to purchase for their family we cannot be certain whether the difference is due to (1) parents being unaware of children’s preferences or (2) parents disregard their children’s preferences when choosing products. On the one hand, especially Table 5 Parents’ pre-purchase and children’s pre-consumption preferences Product

Rank Parents

Children

Potato Heads Indian Mix Traffic Lights Spinach Lasagne

1 2 3 1

1 2 3 4

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related to the Spinach Lasagne, results indicate that parents only to some degree are aware of and take children’s preferences into account. On the other hand, parents and children agree on potato heads taking the first place in the ranking and that Potato Heads rank over Indian Mix and Indian Mix over Traffic Lights. This indicates that children’s expected preferences do influence parent’s evaluation of product alternatives. It is clear from this study that children play a role both as influencers and users/consumers and that children at least indirectly have an influence on family decision-making regarding food. Parents and children agree on a lot of the quality cues. Both groups mention ingredients, appeal and colours, while children were more focused on familiarity and expected taste of the products than parents. This is an interesting result seen from the perspective of attitudes to novel foods and children’s potential food neophobia towards unfamiliar foods and foods containing specific ingredients like vegetables (Nicklaus et al., 2004; Tuorila et al., 2001). Often green vegetables appear at the top of a child’s most disliked food list mostly due to bitter and acid tastes and previous experience with similar foods (Harper, 1963; Stratton & Bromley, 1999). By looking at the differences in the results of the children’s pre- and post-consumption preferences we can see whether the products meet the children’s expectations (Fig. 7). The same number of children (93%) liked the appearance and taste of the Potato Heads. Potato Heads ranked highest in both tests indicating that the product met children’s expectations. Mean scores for Indian Mix did not change from the pre-consumption to the post-consumption test in contrast to mean scores for Traffic Lights, which increased by a factor 0.4 (Tables 3 and 4). This result reveals that the children liked the taste of the Traffic Lights better than they expected and were thus more satisfied with the product. More children (28%) liked the taste than the appearance (13%) of the Spinach Lasagne (Fig. 7). Again, the children liked the taste of the product better than expected. It is clear from the results that children prefer familiar or recognizable foods and if a new product does not lie within this category, children may give the product a low preference rating and may even be unwilling to taste. However, results corroborate that repeated exposure may modify sensory preferences and food acceptance (Liem & Mennella, 2003). In the present study, all children tasted the products, which may differ from a situation at home. It may be easier to prompt children to taste new and unknown products in a ‘neutral environment’ e.g. at school where neophilic and innovative children with low suspicion of new products may encourage food-neophobic children to taste (Huotilainen, Pirttila¨-Backman, & Tuorila, 2006; Tuorila et al., 2001). At home, introducing new food products may cause parent–child conflicts; this contrasts that mealtimes and enjoyment of foods are important family values (Stratton & Bromley, 1999). Often, parents accept that children have likes and dislikes and regard a child’s

food preferences as fixed and intrinsic and not open to changes (Birch, McPhee, Shoba, Pirok, & Steinberg, 1987; Nicklaus et al., 2004; Stratton & Bromley, 1999; Tuorila et al., 2001). In the present study, experience with and repeated exposure to the Traffic Lights and the Spinach Lasagne increased children’s liking scores. A positive experience with the products may have allowed neophobia or aversion to decrease; however, satiety and vegetables accompanied by something tasty may also have enhanced the liking (Birch et al., 1987; Rozin & Vollmecke, 1986; Tuorila et al., 2001). The fried taste of the Traffic Lights probably resulted in a higher liking of this product than if the product had not been fried. It would be interesting to study whether a traditional lasagne with spinach would cause the same aversion as the vegetarian variety in order to examine whether combined meat and vegetables could encourage children to increase vegetable consumption. 5. Conclusion It is clear from our results that decision-making regarding food for families and especially food for children cannot be investigated relying solely on traditional individual decision-making models. The influence and the role of children on parent decision-making must be taken into account since our results indicate that parents choose products with expected child preferences in mind. Overall, our results show that there is a similarity between parent and child preferences. The major disagreement between parents and children centred on one product, Spinach Lasagne. Parents were quite keen on the product, whereas children disliked it. It is a fact that some children exhibit consistent negative reactions to certain flavours in foods that adults enjoy, like bitter and ‘hot’ flavours (Cowart, 1981). It is also well documented that human beings differ genetically in their sensitivity to certain tastes, e.g. bitterness (Rozin & Vollmecke, 1986). However, it is not known whether differences in the parents and children’s preferences to the Spinach Lasagne were caused by developmental courses of hedonic reaction to bitterness (Cowart, 1981) or parents’ lacking to repeatedly exposing children to certain foods. Results from our study show that children prefer mild, sweet, crisp and crunchy vegetables served as a side dish and dislike strong and bitter tasting vegetables. Parents are well aware that children prefer familiar foods. The health dimension, however, which was very strong for parents, was not mentioned by the children. This is not surprising since the main emphasis on health and nutrition education has been on dietary prevention of diseases later in life, and young people see little relevance in disease prevention when young (Douglas, 1998). In addition, dietary health seems to be a parental responsibility. Parents tackle adequate nutrition with nutritional supplements rather than through a balanced diet (Stratton & Bromley, 1999). Parents accept that children have likes and dislikes that may cause dietary imbalances (Stratton

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& Bromley, 1999), e.g. that children prefer ‘snack’ foods such as fried potatoes, crisps, chips and fizzy drinks (Douglas, 1998) and meat and starchy food over vegetables and cheeses (Nicklaus et al., 2004). Therefore parents do not generally encourage children to modify their diet by giving them regular, meaningful, and useful input about dietary health, dietary variety and dietary balances and imbalances (Stratton & Bromley, 1999). The taste of the wholesome ingredients was a quality cue for both parents and children while only the parents focused on the convenience dimension of the products. Two quality dimensions, specific for food for children and the family, appeared from the HVMs: the importance of sharing the family meal experience and the multi-purpose aspect of the product in a consumption situation. By conducting laddering interviews with parents and setting up eating experiments with children we gained information about food choice covering both purchase and consumption therefore covering the two sides of the Total Food Quality model. At the same time we were able to identify the roles played by parents and children and the latter’s influence in the family decision-making process for food. The participating company used the results from the studies to prioritise the new products, i.e. some products they wanted to launch with minor changes and other they needed to develop further. The different levels of abstraction of the parents’ quality perception, i.e. the consequences and purchase motives in the HVMs, can be used when contemplating packaging and communication to parents when launching vegetable-based food for children. Acknowledgements This work is part of a project under the Danish Vertical Network for Fruits and Vegetables (Project no. 93S-2486˚ 98-00048) supported by the Danish Directorate for AgriA culture and Development, Dhnfeldt, Nutana, AGA and Biodania. We thank J. M. Madsen, L. Borum, J. Ryaa and N. Eggers for technical assistance. References Bagger, J. (2003). Mnd kan ikke lide grønsager. Tt pa˚ Krft, 1, 10–11. Bech-Larsen, T. (2001). Model-based development and testing of advertising messages: A comparative study of two campaign proposals based on the MECCAS model and a conventional approach. International Journal of Advertising: The Quarterly Review of Marketing Communications, 20(4), 499–519. Belch, G. E., Belch, M. A., & Ceresino, G. (1985). Parental and teenage child influences in family decision making. Journal of Business Research, 13, 163–176. Birch, L. L., McPhee, L., Shoba, B. C., Pirok, E., & Steinberg, L. (1987). What kind of exposure reduces children’s food neophobia? Looking vs. tasting. Appetite, 9, 171–178. Carunana, A., & Vassallo, R. (2003). Children’s perception of their influence over purchase: The role of parental communication patterns. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 20(1), 55–66. Chen, A. W., Resurreccion, A. V. A., & Plaguio, L. P. (1996). Age appropriate hedonic scales to measure food preferences of young children. Journal of Sensory Studies, 11, 141–163.

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