Using virtual reality to stimulate healthy and environmentally friendly food consumption among children: An interview study
Smit,Eline Suzanne Meijers,Marijn Hendrika Catharina van der Laan,Laura Nynke
Smit,Eline Suzanne
Meijers,Marijn Hendrika Catharina
van der Laan,Laura Nynke
Abstract
Since habits formed during childhood are predictive of adult behaviour, children form an important target group when it comes to improving healthy and environmentally friendly food consumption. To explore the potential of immersive virtual reality (VR) in this respect, we conducted a semi-structured interview study (N = 22) among children aged 6-13 years. This study consisted of two parts: (1) a VR experience and (2) a semi-structured interview to investigate (1) to what extent children are able to recall and understand information about the impact of food products on their health and the environment when provided to them as pop-ups in a VR supermarket; (2) what rational and emotional processes are triggered by this information; and (3) what children’s expectations about the real-life application and impact of the pop-ups are, and why. Interview data were analysed using the framework method. Results showed that although all participants were able to recall the information, only children from an average age of ten years old also understood the information. When participants understood the information, they were often aware of and felt sorry for their negative behavioural impact. Most participants expected their behaviour to positively change when imagining real-life application of the pop-ups.
Description
Funding Information: Funding: Funding came from the Amsterdam School of Communication Research and the Innovational Research Incentives Scheme Veni from NWO-MaGW (Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research—Division for the Social Sciences) accredited to E.S.S. (project number 451-15-028). Funding Information: Funding came from the Amsterdam School of Communication Research and the Innovational Research Incentives Scheme Veni from NWO-MaGW (Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research-Division for the Social Sciences) accredited to E.S.S. (project number 451-15-028). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Date
2021-02-01
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Publisher
Research Projects
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Keywords
Children, Environment, Food consumption, Health, Interviews, Qualitative, Sustainability, Virtual reality, SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Citation
Smit, E S, Meijers, M H C & van der Laan, L N 2021, 'Using virtual reality to stimulate healthy and environmentally friendly food consumption among children : An interview study', International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 18, no. 3, 1088, pp. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031088