Advertising to Children Notes
* Children cannot comprehend advertising messages due to their young age. * Children don 't understand persuasive intent until they are eight or nine years old and that it is unethical to advertise to them before then. According to Karpatkin and Holmes from the Consumers Union, "Young children, in particular, have difficulty in distinguishing between advertising and reality in ads, and ads can distort their view of the world." Additionally children are unable to evaluate advertising claims. (Beder, 1998)
* Older children pay less attention to advertisements and are more able to differentiate between the ads and TV programs but they are also easy prey for advertisers. Around puberty, in their early teens, children are forming their own identities and they are "highly vulnerable to pressure to conform to group standards and mores." At this age they feel insecure and want to feel that they belong to their peer group. Advertising manipulates them through their insecurities, seeking to define normality for them; influencing the way they "view and obtain appropriate models for the adult world;" and undermining "fundamental human values in the development of the identity of children." Advertisements actively encourage them to seek happiness and esteem through consumption. (Beder, 1998)
* Younger children often do not understand the persuasive intent of advertisements, and even older children probably have difficulty understanding the intent of newer marketing techniques that blur the line between commercial and program content. (Calvert, 2008)
* One key area in research on the effect of advertising on children has been analysis of age-based changes in children’s ability to understand commercial messages, particularly their intent. Before they reach the age of eight, children believe that the purpose of commercials is to help them in their purchasing decisions; they are unaware that commercials are designed to persuade them to buy specific products.
* Older children pay less attention to advertisements and are more able to differentiate between the ads and TV programs but they are also easy prey for advertisers. Around puberty, in their early teens, children are forming their own identities and they are "highly vulnerable to pressure to conform to group standards and mores." At this age they feel insecure and want to feel that they belong to their peer group. Advertising manipulates them through their insecurities, seeking to define normality for them; influencing the way they "view and obtain appropriate models for the adult world;" and undermining "fundamental human values in the development of the identity of children." Advertisements actively encourage them to seek happiness and esteem through consumption. (Beder, 1998)
* Younger children often do not understand the persuasive intent of advertisements, and even older children probably have difficulty understanding the intent of newer marketing techniques that blur the line between commercial and program content. (Calvert, 2008)
* One key area in research on the effect of advertising on children has been analysis of age-based changes in children’s ability to understand commercial messages, particularly their intent. Before they reach the age of eight, children believe that the purpose of commercials is to help them in their purchasing decisions; they are unaware that commercials are designed to persuade them to buy specific products.
References: Calvert, S L., ‘Children as Consumers: Advertising and Marketing’, VOL. 18 / NO. 1 / SPRING 2008, Accessed 01/05/2013, URL: http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/18_01_09.pdf Beder, S, 'A Community View ', Caring for Children in the Media Age, Papers from a national conference, edited by John Squires and Tracy Newlands, New College Institute for Values Research, Sydney, 1998, pp. 101-111. Schumann, D W., and Thorson, E, 2007, Internet Advertising: Theory and Research, Advertising and Consumer Psychology, Edition 2, Routledge 2007. Carleton, G, The, C.T. 2000, Internet `Advertising Nirvana ' Targets Children, Madison, Wis., United States, Madison, Wis. Marshall, David W 2010, Understanding Children as Consumers, e-book, accessed 04 May 2013, URL: http://uow.eblib.com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=537817 Wollslager, M, 2009, Children’s Awareness of Online Advertising on Neopets: The Effect of Media Literacy Training on Recall, SIMILE: Studies in Media & Information Literacy Education, Volume 9, Number 2, May 2009, University of Toronto Press. Grimes, S M., 2005, Neopian economies of play: children;’s cyberpets and online communities as immersive advertising in NeoPets.com, International Journal od Media and Cultural Politics, Volume 1, Number 2, 2005, Intellect Ltd.