Parental knowledge as a filter: how nutrition literacy moderates the influence of package color and pester power on Brazilian families
Erico Aurelio Abreu CardozoPurpose
Childhood overweight and obesity have reached alarming levels globally and in Brazil, where systematic reviews estimate obesity prevalence around 12% among children, with an increasing trend over recent decades and a strong association with obesogenic food environments. In this context, this study aims to investigate whether and how parents’ nutrition literacy functions as a “cognitive filter” that moderates the impact of child-directed package color and pester power on the purchase intention of ultra-processed child-oriented foods in Brazil.
Design/methodology/approach
A sequential exploratory mixed-methods design (QUAL → QUAN) was adopted. In the qualitative phase, 30 semi-structured online interviews were conducted with primary caregivers of children aged 4–11 years, intentionally selected based on sociodemographic diversity and self-rated nutritional knowledge. In the quantitative phase, a survey with 431 parents from socioeconomic Classes B/C incorporated validated multi-item scales of parental nutrition knowledge and perceived pester power, as well as a choice experiment that manipulated snack and cookie package colors (vibrant versus neutral), while keeping front-of-package warning labels constant. Quantitative data were analyzed using covariance-based Structural Equation Modeling with bootstrap confidence intervals and moderated mediation specification.
Findings
The results of this study show that vibrant package colors significantly increase the perceived intensity of pester power, which in turn raises purchase intention for ultra-processed products. Pester power partially mediates the relationship between package color and purchase intention, accounting for approximately 29% of the total effect. Crucially, parental nutrition knowledge negatively moderates the first stage of this pathway: the effect of color on pester power is strong among parents with low knowledge and weak and statistically non-significant among parents with high knowledge. The conditional indirect effect of color on purchase intention via pester power is significant only at low and medium levels of knowledge, configuring a pattern of moderated mediation consistent with the proposed “cognitive filter” mechanism.
Originality/value
This study advances the literature on young consumers and responsible food marketing by integrating the Elaboration Likelihood Model with family decision-making and the construct of pester power, situating this framework within the Brazilian regulatory context of front-of-package warning labels. It mechanistically demonstrates that parental nutrition literacy shifts family decision-making from a reliance on peripheral cues (package colors) to central processing of substantive information (front-of-package labels), attenuating the effectiveness of visually induced pester power. The findings of this study offer actionable guidelines for responsible marketers and policymakers seeking to protect children in obesogenic food environments.