Publications by authors named "Marisa M Putnam"
Children's math learning (N = 217; M = 4.87 years; 63% European American, 96% college-educated families) from an intelligent character game was examined via social meaningfulness (parasocial relationships [PSRs]) and social contingency (parasocial interactions, e.g.
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- Childhood obesity is linked to marketing tactics that use media characters to promote unhealthy products, leading researchers to study how a character-based gaming app impacts children's recall of nutritional content.
- A study with 114 children aged 4-5 tested different levels of app exposure, revealing that those with repeated exposure liked the character more and recalled more healthy and unhealthy food items.
- The findings suggest that repeated exposure to positively-reinforcing health-related content in a gaming app can enhance children's nutritional learning and engagement with the character.
Objective: Media characters are used to market snacks that are typically of poor nutritional value, which has been linked to childhood obesity. This study examines whether children's snack selections and consumption patterns are influenced by an app depicting a popular children's media character, as well as the role that children's awareness of the character plays. The results can increase our understanding of how to encourage healthier snack selection and consumption in newer game-based marketing venues, such as apps.
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