Day 055 - 25 Nov 94 - Page 62

     
     1        example of children's influence on food purchases,
     2        presumably, in the context of advertising; is that right?
     3        A.  Yes.
     4
     5   Q.   At the very bottom you have inserted a quote which I think
     6        it comes from the Leatherhead Food Research Association
     7        paper 1991, does it not -- you can check the reference at
     8        the back?
     9        A.  Yes, that is correct, yes.
    10
    11   Q.   It is correct, is it not?  You write this as one mother put
    12        it:  "As one mother put it, I buy Sainsbury's Cola ... but
    13        what they really want is brand names ... it's like with
    14        clothes and everything else.  They really want Pepsi."  So
    15        far as the implications for the child's health and
    16        well-being are concerned, does it really matter whether
    17        they drink Pepsi or Sainsbury's Cola?
    18        A.  I do not know the relative nutritional benefits of
    19        those two products but assuming -----
    20
    Q.   Assume they are the same?
    22        A.  Assuming they are the same, then no.
    23
    24   Q.   This is an example, is it not, Ms. Dibb, of brand choice
    25        within a product category?
    26        A.  It is an example of brand choice within a product
    27        category.
    28
    29   Q.   It is, is it not?  The advertiser of Pepsi Cola has
    30        succeeded in persuading the mother, perhaps through the
    31        child to say:  "I will not buy that brand or this version
    32        of an identical product, I will buy the one that I have
    33        seen advertised".  That is what it shows, does it not?
    34        A.  This particular point was referring to brand awareness
    35        and brand loyalty.  But I come back to the point that the
    36        greater the salience of any branded food, be it in this
    37        case, for example, Pepsi, and the increased desire for
    38        Pepsi is not only going to be to the detriment possibly of
    39        Sainsbury's Cola, but also to the detriment of other drinks
    40        that that child might otherwise consume such as milk, fruit
         juice or any other juice -- drink.
    42
    43   Q.   If it should happen, Ms. Dibb, that children were more
    44        enthusiastic about drinking Cola than they were about
    45        drinking carrot juice, as a general proposition, then the
    46        effect of the advertising has had no effect upon their
    47        nutritional well-being, has it?
    48        A.  Sorry, the advertising of?
    49
    50   Q.   Pepsi Cola has persuaded his mother to buy one kind of 
    51        highly unhealthy, very sugary, fizzy drink, in preference 
    52        to another? 
    53        A.  Yes, but what we do not know from this one small quote
    54        is what else is going on here.
    55
    56   Q.   No, but can I ask you again -- I know you have not any
    57        children but you were child a lot more recently than I was
    58         -- to use your ordinary knowledge of human nature:  Why do
    59        you suppose it was that the mother was proposing to buy
    60        Cola in the first place as opposed to carrot juice?