A nudge in the right direction? How emoticons and labels shape children’s food choices

Promoting healthy eating in childhood is a key public health objective, and nudges represent a low-cost strategy to influence behavior without limiting choice. However, evidence regarding their effectiveness among children remains limited. Two randomized experiments examine whether simple visual (emoticons) and textual (labels) cues can promote healthier food choices in Croatian children aged 6–9, adjusting for children’s (associative and factual) food knowledge and (implicit and explicit) attitudes. In Study 1, children completed a food choice task in which the healthy option was paired with descriptive labels (healthy, tasty, popular) or emoticons (heart, muscle, smile). Study 2 examined the effects of specific emoticons (green smileys on healthy options alone, or both green smileys on healthy options and red smileys on unhealthy ones) on food choices. Results indicate that visual and textual nudges can significantly increase the selection of healthy options by children. Specifically, “health” and “tasty” labels were effective, and green and both green–red emoticons increased the likelihood of choosing the healthier option. However, while nudges deliver an incremental shift at the point of decision, the magnitude of this shift depends on children’s underlying explicit and implicit attitudes.