Impact of verbal mimicry on children’s fruit consumption - Université Rennes 2 Access content directly
Journal Articles Food Quality and Preference Year : 2016

Impact of verbal mimicry on children’s fruit consumption

Abstract

Research has shown that mimicking someone is a way for solicitors to be perceived more positively and to increase compliance with a helping request. The effect of mimicking on children and on compliance with a request for change in food consumption, however, has never been examined. Nine- and 11-year-old children (N = 57) were either mimicked or not by an instructor at the beginning of an interaction. Then, the children were asked to eat a piece of fruit in their afternoon snack for at least 1 week and to try not to eat candy or drink soda for at least 1 week. The results show that children who were mimicked by the instructor consumed more fruit in their afternoon snack and they did so for a longer period of time. Children who were mimicked also asked their parents to buy fruit, and they wanted to continue eating fruit in their afternoon snack. These changes in their fruit consumption were confirmed by their mother (N = 25). These results suggest that mimicry can influence child behavior and could be used to promote changes in eating behavior.
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Dates and versions

hal-01999873 , version 1 (30-01-2019)

Identifiers

  • HAL Id : hal-01999873 , version 1

Cite

Angélique Martin, Jacques Fischer-Lokou, Nicolas Guéguen. Impact of verbal mimicry on children’s fruit consumption. Food Quality and Preference, 2016, 49, pp.100-105. ⟨hal-01999873⟩
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