Packaging of a children’s health food. Junk foods (e.g., potato chips) are typically packaged to appeal to children.

Can similar packaging of a healthy food product influence children’s desire to consume the product? This was the question of interest in an article published in the Journal of Consumer Behaviour (Vol. 10, 2011). A fictitious brand of a healthy food product—sliced apples—was packaged to appeal to children (a smiling cartoon apple on the front of the package). The researchers showed the packaging to a sample of 408 schoolchildren and asked each whether he or she was willing to eat the product.

Willingness to eat was measured on a 5-point scale, with 1 = “not willing at all” and 5 = “very willing.”

The data are summarized as follows: x = 3.69, s = 2.44.

Suppose the researchers know that the mean willingness to eat an actual brand of sliced apples (which is not packaged for children) is m = 3.

a. Conduct a test to determine whether the true mean willingness to eat the brand of sliced apples packaged for children exceeds 3. Use a = .05 to make your conclusion.

b. The data (willingness to eat values) are not normally distributed. How does this affect (if at all) the validity of your conclusion in part a? Explain.