Judith Danovitch, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Louisville, and Candice Mills at The University of Texas-Dallas looked at how 4-year-olds evaluate messages from familiar characters. Their is in the December 2014 Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
Children chose low-quality items, including toys that were dirty, broken or missing parts, decorated with a familiar character鈥檚 image over brand-new, high-quality ones that lacked a character image up to 74 percent of the time. In selecting between pairs of toys, children seldom chose the damaged toys when they were not decorated with a character鈥檚 image. 鈥淛ust having that picture there has a big influence,鈥 Danovitch said.
The duo also found that children trusted familiar characters much like they trust familiar people.
鈥淥ur findings demonstrate the powerful effects familiar characters have on children鈥檚 judgments,鈥 Danovitch said. 鈥淧arents should be aware that children place a lot of trust in what these characters say, even when children know that the character may not be reliable, such as in advertisements.鈥
Danovitch said the data confirm what cost-conscious parents suspect 鈥 that licensed characters matter to children.
However, parents can also use this information to their advantage in establishing good habits. 听鈥淐hildren may be more enthusiastic about using a toothbrush or wearing a bicycle helmet if the object has a picture of their favorite character,鈥 she said.
For more information, contact Danovitch at 502-852-4781 or j.danovitch@louisville.edu or check 听听Parents interested in having their children participate in Danovitch鈥檚 child development research studies can contact her at the Knowledge in Development laboratory, 852-0718, or check .
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