“Can I Have This Superhero Milk?” Investigating the Role of Packaging in Persuading Children

Abstract

Child consumers form a very important segment for marketers due to several reasons. However, since children have an easily manipulative nature, they are considered to be vulnerable and special regulations apply when marketing practices are targeted directly towards children. Because of the tight restrictions, marketers tend to attract children with different techniques, one of which is product packaging. In this study, as the first step of analysis, packaging practices in flavored milk products for children are observed. In the second stage, the effect of packaging in the preferences of children is examined by conducting short structured interviews with 34 children. The results show that, children are highly influenced by the appearance of the packages and super hero or princess characters are admired most. The respondent children state that “they feel like they are a part of the adventure” by selecting the packages with those characters, therefore tend to change their preferences accordingly.

Keywords: Packaging, vulnerable customers, children