Some parents know that it is enough to tell a teenager not to do something for him to do it! This principle seems to apply just as well to advertising slogans such as those of the national campaign “Eat move” which advise “for your health, eat at least. five fruits and vegetables a day“Researchers from the Grenoble School of Management conducted an experiment to measure the impact of nutrition slogans on high school and college students. They concluded that these messages are ineffective or even counterproductive.
During a conference on the effectiveness of prevention policies, research manager Carolina Werle explained that she showed a photo of McDonald’s sandwich, the Big max, to a group of students, accompanied by a health message. The study participants then had the choice between a voucher for an ice cream or a bag of fresh fruit from the American fast food chain. About 82% of those who saw the photo chose ice versus 65% of those who saw nothing. The health slogan seems to act as “a justification for hedonistic consumption and makes this product more positive” explained the marketer, cited by The Parisian.
A second study conducted after around 800 high school students in the Grenoble region has shown that it is more effective to rely on social arguments such as the negative aspect of overweight, for example, than on health advice. A message like “balanced meals, friends at will!” has proven to be among the most effective. “Current campaigns focus on the health argument and neglect the social argument while adolescents are particularly sensitive to social norms and the influence of their peers,” Carolina Werle explains to Parisian.
