Examining the relationship between product package colour and product selection in preschoolers

Research into food liking among children has shown the importance of colour as a variable [Leon, F., Couronne, T., Marcuz, M. C., & Koster, E. P. (1999). Measuring food liking in children: a comparison of non-verbal methods. Food Quality and Preference 10, 93–100; Lavin, J., & Lawless, H. T. (1998). Effects of color and odor on judgments of sweetness among children and adults. Food Quality and Preference 9, 283–289] but there is little work on how children react to colour in the context of packaging and product categorisation. Attractively coloured packaging may serve to influence children’s selection or persuasion in the store [Hutchings, J. B. (2003). Expectations and the food industry: The impact of color and appearance. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers].The main objective of the study was to determine the role of packaging colour in product selection among preschoolers, by age and gender, across three product categories: cereals, biscuits and drinks. Forty-three preschoolers, 36 girls and 7 boys, aged 3–5-years-old participated in the study. The three product categeories, with logo and brand information obscured, were presented with a range of nine colours. The children were asked to choose one package from each category for themselves, one package from each category for a boy, and one package from each category for a girl. They were then asked why they had chosen the packages and asked about their favourite colour.The results showed a high correlation between favourite colour and choice of product across the total sample, with lower correlations for individuals. Favourite colours were pink (24%), purple (11.4) yellow and blue (both 9%) and most popular colours were pink (40.9%), followed by purple (15%) and yellow (15%). Correlations were lower when selecting for boys and girls, with younger children more likely to select colours that matched their own preferences.