Design of a TV Character with Visual Appeal for Preschool Children

Reactions were obtained of preschool children from urban and rural areas of Quebec to a range of animated and other representational characters presented on videotape. The visual elements which proved consistently appealing to them were identified, and their responses were collected (a) via electronic push‐button hand‐units sampling moment‐by‐moment responses to the material every two seconds; and (b) in discussion sessions following each showing. The electronic responses were inspected for possible effects of sex, cultural background (French vs English) and location (urban vs rural). The children had two clear favourites among the characters shown to them, sharing the following attributes: they were the only animal characters; both were highly colourful and sharply delineated; they were described as highly active and amusing; and were recalled as having a comical distinguishing feature (ears/tooth). By contrast, the characters provoking the most negative responses were lacking in colour, substantially less animated, and less easily recalled. Boys and girls had marginally different preferences. Rural children were less responsive and less systematic in their responses than urban children, though they shared the same basic preferences. No significant effect of cultural background was observed. The results are related to recent findings in the literature of children's broadcasting, and their possible application in the forthcoming production of a televised anti‐smoking promotion for pre‐schoolers is discussed.