References: Eat Well For Less? (2015) BBC 1, 17th September.
Special Commercials (2015) Shop a Lidl Smarter - Lidl Advert 2015. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNNJreO4dZw (Accessed: 22nd September 2015).
I came across a programme on BBC 1 last week called 'Eat Well For Less?'. The aim of the programme is to follow a family who are spending a significant amount of money on food and reduce the amount of money they are spending on their weekly food shops, whilst also factoring in healthier eating. A quote from the title sequence is 'It's not just about saving money, it's about saving families diets for the better'.
They basically follow them on a typical food shop, see what they are spending and what on and then try to reduce that amount by swapping certain foods for cheaper or healthier options. They put everything in plain packaging so that the family don't know whats been swapped or not and this means that the family then have to decide whether they like a food or not based purely on taste and not on packaging or price.
A lot of families on the programme are obsessed with expensive brand names and pretty/fancy looking packaging. By placing everything in plain packaging, the show makes them realise how they have been sucked in by the marketing, packaging and appearance of a food. They have to decide whether they like a food or not and most of the time, but not always, they like cheaper and healthier options just as much, if not more than their usual big brand names.
Another part of the show takes to the streets of Britain, targeting the public to do 'taste tests'. They take several different brands of the same type of food, for example, Strawberry Jam, and mix them all up so that the tasters have no idea which one is which and they then have to guess based on taste alone. Some they get right, others they get completely wrong making them think twice about choosing a product based on it's brand alone. A lot of the time the most expensive products weren't their favourite and in fact the cheap, supermarkets own come up first!
This show isn't the first to do 'taste tests', Lidl have been using this tactic on their television advertisements for a little while now and have fooled many people into thinking they are eating a certain brand when in fact it's their own cheaper brand.
I want to complete my own taste tests aimed at children to find out a) which type of marketing is most effective to children; advertisements, free toys or characters and b) if children think a food tastes different depending on what packaging it is in.
I will be creating two different tests to find out the answers to the two above questions.
The first test will be to find out which type of marketing is most effective and it will be a test between three different products. The first product will come with an accompanying television advertisement which will be shown before the food is chosen, the second will include a free promotional toy and the third will have a popular character on the packaging. The children will then have to choose which one of the products they want to consume, and have to choose only one. This is to find out which of those marketing techniques are coming up strongest.
The second test will be to find out whether the appearance of a product overall effects the children's idea of the taste of that product. Three of exactly the same products will each be packaged in three different boxes/packets, the first will have a completely plain packet, the second will have a character on the packet and the third will have a popular brand name on. The children will have to taste all three products and then decide which one they thought was the nicest tasting.
I will be completing these taste tests over the next couple of weeks and will record all results and write up a summary to follow...
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