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Introduction
Popular movements, from Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Campaign to groups like the Campaign to End Obesity, stress greater consumption of fruits and vegetables. As a result, fruit-branded products have experienced growth in the American marketplace[1]. Fruit-branded is a term for brands linked to fruit through signals of fruit in the brand name and/or package (e.g. Berry Berry Kix, Fruit roll-ups). Many of these products contain images of fruit on their packaging, regardless of the actual product content or nutritional value. This is concerning as it relates to consumer purchasing and the role that brands and packaging play in influencing choice. In some cases, it might even be potentially misleading to consumers with limited nutritional knowledge (Clement et al., 2013).
This project examines the role brand names and front-of-package (FOP) visual cues have in influencing parents’ perceptions of the degree of real fruit and non-fruit substitutes contained in popular food and corresponding purchase behaviors. We are specifically addressing how these perceptions affect the parents of at-risk families, with at-risk defined as income levels below the poverty line. American at-risk families, an important population to study, are often affected by limited access to supermarkets and/or chain grocery stores offering a variety of reasonably priced fresh fruit. So it is quite possible families in these communities rely more often on fruit substitutes.
Our research focuses on fruit content and parental perception; our results do not include conclusions associated with the nutritional value or sugar content. The products used in this research are a compilation of popular kids’ fruit-branded products. The indicators of interest examined in this study are: pictures of fruit, use of the word “fruit/fruity, a mention of fruit flavors, or the name/image of a specific fruit. These products are of particular relevance as an American Government interagency regulatory group representing the Federal Trade Commission, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control proposed voluntary nutrition principles in April 2011, stating that marketing should encourage healthier choices for children, including increased consumption of fruits. In the current state of marketing food and beverage products to children, this research sheds light on how fruit-based branding informs parental perceptions and drives purchase behavior in today’s environment.