1.0: Introduction:
Advertisement can be conceptualized as one of communication that emanates from the producer targeted at the consumer. The aim is to prevail over the consumer so that he can consume or purchase the specific product that is been offered by the producer. The producer, when embarking on the advertisement campaign, has one goal on mind; to stimulate demand for his product or service. That is perhaps the reason why the advert has to be as persuasive as possible and tailored for the consumption of a certain target clientele.
This practice has become an integral part of our everyday life. It is hard to conceptualize any publication or any event that is devoid of at least one form of advert. Television programs together with cinema or movie programs are peppered with commercials that are trying to capture the attention of the viewer. The effect of this practice in the society cannot be downplayed. Advertisement has considerable effects on the adult consumer. These range from adjustment of lifestyle, increased consumption amongst others. But perhaps the greater influence or effects of these practice is to be found among the children, especially those who are below the age of fifteen years.
There has been a spike in the number of adverts and other commercials that are targeted at the child consumer. Producers have awoken to the fact that there is a whole basket of unexploited consumers out there amongst the children. That is why they have come up with adverts that tailored for this specific consumer. Apart from these commercials that are targeted specifically at them, children also fall prey to the adverts that are targeted at their parents or for adults in the society. This has raised concerns on the effects of advertising on children. These effects range from behavioral, psychological and cognitive. This literature review is going to examine these effects and whether they are positive or negative. The extent of these impacts will also be examined.
1.1: Objectives of the Literature Review
The writer will be guided by one major objective throughout the literature review: The psychological and behavioral impact of advertising on children. The analysis will be those adverts that are targeted at the child consumer and also those that are targeted at the adult consumer but in one way or the other, the children become exposed to them. To achieve this objective, the writer will be guided by several specific objectives as listed below:
Understanding of advertising intent amongst the adolescents
Level of exposure to advertising in children
Health effects of advertising to children
Effects of advertising on children’s cognitive development
Psychological effects of advertising on children
Purchasing behavior
Increase commercialization
Effects of age, gender and parental influence advertising
Recommendations
Impacts of advertising on children
There are several means through which producers can market their products and services. But advertising is the most favored and most common form of marketing technique (Nawathe, Gawande and Dethe 2001). In the year 2004, commercials placed in the print media in the United States increased by 14.7%. Those that were placed in Television grew by 13% (Robertson, 2006). This is a huge growth by all means. The upshot of this is that children continue to be increasingly exposed to adverts both in the print media and in electronic media like television and cinemas.
It is safe to presume that adults are aware of the fact that the intention of the adverts is to manipulate their feelings and emotions and make them consume the product or service been advertised. The same cannot be said for children who are aged eight years or below (American Psychological Association [APA]: 2005, 11). A task force that was set up by the American Psychological Association to carry out a study on the effects of advertising on children in the year 2005 was the one that came up with these findings. The task force was convinced that “it is obvious that children below the age of eight are not aware of the persuasive intent of advertisement. This makes them, an easy target for this form of persuasion” (APA, 2005). This is of great concern given the type of products that are marketed to these kids. They include unhealthy foods such as candies, sweets and sodas (Wallace, 2009). This, according to the task force, is an issue of public health concern dimensions.
People who are opposed to advertisement that is aimed at children are of the view that it has several undesirable effects on them (Moniek, 2000). They contend that these effects range from those afflicted on their moral fabric, belief and value systems (Spencer, 2001).
2.1: Understanding of Advertisement Intent in Adolescents
As indicated earlier, adults-at least majority of them- are aware of the persuasive intent of advertisement. But is this the case amongst adolescent and especially children? The truth is that this segment of the “consumer” is not aware of the intentions that are behind the adverts they are exposed to (Ugur and Abdulla, 1993). They are easily influenced by these commercials. The major reason is that children and adolescents at this age are trusting and accept uncritically what is propagated by their adults (Moniek, 2000).
Adverts, been created and directed by the adults, are accepted uncritically by the children. They also lack the obligatory cognitive skills that are necessary to screen and criticize stimulus that they receive from their surroundings (Gunter, Oates and Blades: 2008, p23). Adults, having developed their cognitive skills, are able to screen the stimulus from their surrounding enabling them to selectively internalize those stimuli. This is not the same for children and adolescents. They internalize every stimulus that is directed at them from the external environment. These stimuli include the adverts and commercials beamed via the radio, television and other forms of media. Children internalize every aspect of the advert. They take every message from the advert as been the truth. As such, they are easily convinced that licking on the glucose powder been advertised will give them the powers of superman.
This malleability of the opinions and values of the children is what the advertisers take advantage of. They are fully aware that this target population will consume every shred of information, misinformation and disinformation that is purveyed through the adverts (Gunter et al, 2008). To achieve this, they make use of images and characters that the children can readily identify with. It is a fact that even adult adverts contain relevant images and characters. But the portent of this form of advertising in children is that they will tend to believe in those characters and images (Tomang, 2009).
The advertisers are aware of the fact that children are fond of cartoon characters and clowns like Santa Claus. That is why most adverts make use of cartoon characters like Spiderman and Mickey Mouse. Most toys that are targeted at boys are advertised using the image of Spiderman and Superman. These characters have the effect of appealing at the fantasy of the children, and as such, they will be forced to buy these products (Robertson, 2006).
The same technique is used in adverts that are aimed at the teenagers. It is important to note that this segment of the population has a fairly developed cognitive skill relative to that of the children (Nawathe et al, 2001). As much as this is the case, their cognitive skill is not differentiated to the level where they are able to unmask the true intent of adverts. They still have remnants of fantasies and malleable opinions. The advertisers use characters and images relevant to this age group in their advertisement campaigns. They make use of pop stars and other idols that are literally worshipped by the adolescent in order to brainwash them.
The above facts should not be construed to mean that children are not able to differentiate between adverts and programs (Macklin and Carlson, 2009). In fact, studies have shown that by the age of five years, they are well aware of the difference between these two aspects of mass media (Viroqua, 2008). The only problem is that they have a different conceptualization of the intents of the adverts. They view them as source entertainment and statement of unbiased truths.
2.2: Level of Exposure to Adverts on Children
The exposure that the children have to adverts and TV programs in the 21st century is unprecedented. Children of nowadays are more exposed to adverts far more than children from the 20th century (Nawathe et al: 2001, p8). This has been brought about by the change in the lifestyle of their parents and guardians. Hitherto, parents had a lot of time that they used to spend together with their children. It was the norm, rather than the exception those days, to have families that have members who are close and intimate with each other. However, this aspect of the family institution and the society as whole has changed in the 21st century. Parents have become exceedingly busy in the workplace driving themselves to the limit in order to provide for the family. Even women, who were hitherto left behind at home to look after the family, have no time today for the same family. This is because they have taken jobs in order to supplement what the husband brings home and also to establish their emancipation from the man in the society. The upshot of this is that the children are nowadays left more or less alone. They do not have the guidance of their parents as they grow up. The lucky ones are left under the care of the house helps, who have come to take the role that the mothers used to play in rearing the children.
Given the scenario above, it is clear to understand that the children have a lot of time that they have to spend alone away from their parents. One way of spending this time is in front of the television. Since the parents have no time for these children, they even encourage them to watch television in order to keep them occupied and leave the parents with extra time to tend to their work. In the process of their interaction with the mass media, the children are bombarded with adverts and commercial more than ever before (Griffin, 1990). Producers, true to their character, have pounced on this opportunity to increase the exposure of their products and services to these free and gullible children.
Another factor that has accelerated the exposure of children to commercials and adverts is the technological revolution that the world experienced in the run-up to the 21st century. More than ever before, it has become easier now to access information from various sources. And this is all type of information. The same is true for the advertisers and producers: They have more channels of communicating to their audience and passing over the messages. It is in the 21st century that the world experienced explosive growth in information technology whereby more people can now access internet and mass media (Bandyopadhyay, Kindra and Sharp, 2001). This includes the children. Children of today can access internet and other forms of mass media like television and radio. This means that they do come across adverts that are purveyed by the producers through these means. Advertisers, waking up to the realization that children are increasingly becoming mass media consumers, have come up with adverts specifically aimed at them. A Canadian child is exposed to approximately 350,000 adverts before he is through with school (Nawathe et al, 2001). The amount that he spends in class is roughly equal to that spent in front of the TV.
In the year 2001, programs targeted at children experienced an unprecedented growth in the US (Macklin and Carlson, 2009). They made up a considerable chunk of 20% of all television viewership in that year (Wallace, 2009). But perhaps the revenue that the producers of children’s licensed products and services raked in the year 2002 will vividly explain why this segment cannot be left alone in a capitalist system. In that year alone, $132 billion was the worth of this segment (Gunter et al, 2008). The only way that this trend can be maintained is through advertisement. That is the reason why advertiser will relentlessly pursue these consumers, regardless of the criticism and opposition that is leveled at them.
There is one major reason why advertisers will continue advertising with the children as their primary target. This is because in most economies, children “represent three distinct markets” (Nawathe et al, 2001). Studies conducted in Canada in 2002 are perhaps the best indicators of the segment that these consumers represent in this market. First of all, children make up a considerable segment of primary purchasers. In Canada, they account for $2.9 billion per annum as primary consumers (Macklin and Carlson, 2009). Primary purchasers mean that these children purchase directly these products. For instance when they buy candies and sweets using the money that they have been given by their parents, this can be referred to as primary purchases. The second form of market that they make up is that of future consumers (Viroqua, 2008). And perhaps this is the important aspect of these advertisements. They child has to be coached so that he remains loyal to that product or service in the future. This way, the producers are assured of a perpetuation in the consumption of their products and services. Children are also very important as purchase influencers (Pediatric Committee on Communication, 2006). What this means is that they influence the purchases that are made by the adults. This form of purchase contributes to at least $20 billion per annum in Canada (Gunter et al, 2008). This happens when the child prevails over the parent or guardian to buy for him something that he saw on a TV advert.
People are more concerned on the type of adverts that these children are exposed to. It has become obvious that the type of products that are advertised here are the ones that have the most negative effects on the child if at all they are consumed (Kelly, Smith, King, Flood and Bauman, 2006). They are mainly adverts for junk food and alcohol. In New Zealand, records for these food adverts have shown that they are on the rise. They have risen from “eight per hour in 1997 to twelve per hour in 2006” (Robertson, 2006). This means that children are more exposed to adverts that extol the virtues of junk food, leading to unhealthy consumption.
2.3: Effects of Advertising on Children
It is obvious from the above discussion that advertising has profound effects on the children. This is the uncontested fact. What is controversial is the extent and type of effect-positive or negative-that these adverts has on the child. There are several effects that are obvious when the adverts are analyzed in the context of the child. There are the intended effects and consequences of these adverts (Net Industries, 2009). These are the effects that the producer or advertiser had in mind when he was designing and beaming that particular advert. For example, when an advert about a candy is aired, the producer intends to push up the sales that are made for that particular candy. If the child happens to shop for that candy based on the information that he got from the advert, it is said that the advert has attained its intended effect. However, there are other effects that are unintended, meaning that the designer and funders of the advert did not have this intention or he did not plan for this consequence (Wallace, 2009). This is all referred to as the covert or secondary effect of the advert. For instance, a scuffle might arise between the child and the guardian when the latter refuses to buy the product that the child is demanding based on what he saw on the advert. The producer did not intend for the child to fight with his parent.
Intended or unintended, the advert can also have negative or positive effects. In other words, the intended or unintended effects of the advert can either be positive or negative (Net Industries, 2009). When the sales of a particular candy brand rise as a result of an advert campaign, this is a type of a positive and intended effect on the side of the producer. However, if the sales rise at the expense of the kid fighting with his parent, and the producer was aware of the likelihood of this happening, then this is a negative intended effect. There is also negative unintended effect of the advert. For example, when the kids increase the uptake of junk food fueled by the adverts, this may lead to obesity and is a type of negative unintended effect.
The effects that the adverts have on the child positively depend on the age of the child (Bijmolt, Claassen and Brus, 2009). This has been explained by Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. The premise of this theory as it relates to the child and adverts will be looked in detail later in this paper. From this theory, it can be deduced that children who are below the age of eight years are affected to a greater extent than their older counterparts. The reason for this is that these children who are younger have an underdeveloped cognitive capability. They assimilate the messages of the advert uncritically, unlike their older counterparts who have a fairly developed cognitive capability (Net Industries, 2009). As much as age has a positive effect on the impact of the advert on the child, many researches have concluded that the gender of the gender does not affect this impact (Bijmolt et al: 2009, p5). It is a fact that there are considerable differences between boys and girls. For instance, the processing of information (the style of processing) greatly varies between the two sexes. However, there is no significant different between the two when it comes to deciphering commercials and the intentions of the same (Spencer, 2001).
2.3.1: Health and Wellbeing Effects of Adverts on Children
Many health implications of adverts as far as children are concerned involve the promotion of the culture of consumption of unhealthy or junk food. Adverts aimed at children have several contents. Toys and snacks are the major contents of these adverts. The foods that are advertised on these television commercials are unhealthy, as they tend to contain a lot of sugars and unhealthy calories (Pediatric Committee on Communication, 2006). Fat and salt are other unhealthy contents of these foods. Rarely will you get an advert that is promoting a type of food that is healthy for the consumption of the child or even for the adult.
The frequency with which these adverts are placed on television and generally on the mass media raises concern. According to Young Media Australia [YMA] (2007), “25-48% of all commercials on Australian TV are food adverts aimed at the child consumer”. What effect this has is that the “children are consuming non-nutritious foods and not enough children consuming healthy foods” (Pediatric Committee on Communication, 2006). As if this is not enough, those commercials that promote unhealthy foods “range from 50-84%” of all of these adverts (YMA: 2007, P1). These foods include hamburgers, soft drinks, candies and chocolate. These are the same foods that are hyped on television adverts when the kids are watching.
Another covert effect of adverts on the child’s health is based on the fact that many children find these adverts entertaining. This means that they will spend more time in front of the TV watching these “entertaining adverts” (Lifestyle Lounge, 2009). A study that was conducted in the year 2006 found that “for each hour of additional TV viewing, the kid’s dietary intake increased by 167 Kcal (Robertson & Rossitter: 2007, p34). This is alarming considering the fact that this constitutes “9% of a kid’s recommended daily intake” (Lifestyle Lounge, 2009). Of more concern is the fact that most of these foods that are consumed as the child is “vegetating” in front of the TV are the same that are advertised in the commercials.
The above scenario is a recipe for obese children. In other words, children adverts have the negative effect of increasing the chances of a child been obese. The obesity is brought about by the increased intake of calories. These calories are not utilized by the body since the child does not partake in physical activities. He sits the whole day in front of the TV and this increases his chances of been obese. The little pocket money that the child is given by the parents is used to buy unhealthy foods that are promoted by commercials like ice creams and candies (Ugur and Abdulla, 1993). It is no wonder then that America and other industrialized countries are experiencing a generation of fat and obese kids. It is the unhealthy eating habits of these kids- fueled heavily by the adverts- that are contributing to this “ballooning” generation. The diagram below will help in illuminating the connection between food advertisements and unhealthy eating.
Figure 1: Food Adverts and Obesity
There are other health implications that stem from the obese condition of the child. These include heart conditions and high blood pressure. Conditions and diseases that were hitherto the preserve of the aged are now been increasingly found amongst the young. The number of kids that are suffering from heart conditions related to obesity is increasing by the day. Other conditions are dental and weak bones (Lifestyle Lounge, 2009). The excessive levels of sugars in the foods and drinks that are hungrily devoured by these children courtesy of adverts leads to dental diseases and conditions like tooth cavity and tooth aches. The preservatives that are found in the sodas and other sweet drinks promoted by the adverts have the negative effects of reacting with the calcium to be found within the bones. At the end of the day, the bones of the child are weakened.
Apart from these foods that have been expounded on here, adverts that promote cigarettes and alcohol lead to spiked consumption of the same amongst the children (Winter, Matthew, Donovan, Robert, Fielder and Lynda, 2008). According to estimations made by the Centers for Disease Control in the year 2004, America has a problem of cataclysmic extent on its hands as far as her future generation is concerned. This is because “4,000 children under the age of eighteen start smoking everyday” (National Institute on Media, 2009). This has the implication that “(more than) 6 million children living today will die early as a result of tobacco related complications” (Lifestyle Lounge, 2009). At least 80% of adult smokers in America picked this habit in their adolescent years (National Institute on Media, 2009). The same scenario applies to alcohol consumption. All of this is accelerated by the adverts that are carried out in the media. The fact these adverts are not intended at the youth is uncontested. But this does not mean that the children and adolescent are not exposed to these adverts for alcohol and tobacco and ends up been consumers of the same products (Winter et al, 2008). Given the under developed immunity of this age group, they face a risk of suffering from conditions emanating from consumption of these products. This includes respiratory conditions as a result of tobacco consumption and liver cirrhosis brought about by the consumption of alcohol.
2.3.2: Effects of Advertisements on Cognitive Development of Children
To understand the effect that advertising has on the cognitive development of the child, it is important to understand the stages that the children go through as they develop their cognitive skills. Piaget, a cognitive development theorist, came up with four stages through which children pass as they develop their cognitive abilities. These are the stages that determine the effects that advertisement has on children as far as cognitive development is concerned. At every stage, the effect of advertising is different (Macklin and Carlson, 2009).
The first stage is the sensorimotor which covers the period between birth and two years of the child’s life (Webb, Taylor and Valrie, 2003). Preoperational stage covers the period between two years and seven years of the child’s life. The third stage is the concrete operational stage which is between seven and eleven years of the child’s life (Macklin and Carlson, 2009). The last stage, according to Piaget’s theory, is the formal operational stage which takes place from the eleventh year to adulthood (Wilcox, Cantor, Dowrick, Kunkel, Linn and Palmer, 2004).
At the first stage (sensorimotor) the child is not able to distinguish the stimuli that he experiences from the environment around him. This is the reason why this stage is not of importance to the advertisers, because the advert will be lost on the child, adding up to a lost investment (Moniek and Patti, 2000). The other three stages are the ones that are very critical when it comes to advertising. During the preoperational stage, the “symbolic thought of the child is starting to develop” (Wilcox et al, 2004). This means that when it comes to adverts, they are able to differentiate between them and other programs aired on TV. But they are still excited by the “perceptual properties of the stimuli” (Lifestyle Lounge, 2009). This means they are excited by the pictures and sounds that are found on T.V. At this stage, they find the adverts to be very entertaining. It can then be said that advertisement affects the cognition of the child at this stage by exciting it. At this stage, the child is undergoing “centration. This means that he is unable to focus on more than one dimension of stimuli” (Wilcox et al, 2004). What this means is that the child is unable to comprehend both the entertainment and influential intent of the advert. He is only aware of the entertainment aspect of the advert.
At the third stage of concrete operational, the child “do not accept perception as reality but can think about stimuli in their environment in a more thoughtful and critical way” (McNeal, 2008). From the age of eight years, the child is able to question the content of the advert. He is aware of the other intent of the advert: that of persuasion (Wallace, 2009). This is because he is able to “consider several dimensions of an issue” (Winter et al, 2008 p1). He is able to comprehend the entertainment and persuasive dimensions of the advert. From the formal operational stage, the children are able to think like adults. They can objectively and abstractly consider an issue (Webb et al, 2003).
Proponents of child advertisement are of the view that it helps in developing the cognitive ability of the child. This is done by providing the child with information regarding the environment that surrounds him. In other words, they opine that it helps in developing the child cognitively because it educates him. The bottom line, according to this school of thought, is that adverts are educational (Lifestyle Lounge: 2009, p1). Consider an advert for a snack that gives the nutritional formula of the contents. The child is able to realize that there are differences in nutritional formulae of various food items. But critics of child advertisement, as much as they concede that the adverts are educative, they are of the view that they nudge the cognitive development of the child in the negative direction (Pediatric Committee on Communication: 2006, p13). The adverts are misleading as they are misinforming. This is why they affect the cognitive development of the child in a negative way. They make the child to be materialistic. Consider the same advert of a snack, which misleads the child to think that a sugary and fatty snack is healthy, while the truth is to the contrary (Bandyopadhyay et al: 2001, p25).
2.3.3: Psychological Effects of Advertisement on Children
The connection between the advertisements that are aimed at the children and their psychological effects on their audience cannot be denied. As common to all forms of advertisements, the ones aimed at children aims at creating a need within the child. The major goal of creating the need having been attained, the advert then embarks on the next step; that of positioning the product or the service as the ultimate solution to the need (Lukas: 2008, p1). For example, when the advert is about a toy that is aimed for boys, the first task of the advert is to stimulate or create the need for that toy. The child feels the urge to own that particular type of a toy. The advert goes ahead and convinces the child that for him to satiate the need for that toy, he has to buy the particular one been advertised.
What the creation of need creates within the child is a psychological effect of inadequacy (Robertson, 2006). The child feels that he is incomplete and cannot exist without the particular product that is been advertised. This is made worse especially when the child is aware of the fact that every child around him has that particular item. For instance, an advert for a video game might hype it so much to the extent that every kid in the neighborhood has one. This particular kid who does not have one will feel that he is inadequate and does not fit with the others till he gets a video game too.
These adverts also have the psychological effects of making the child be unhappy. This is because the adverts has already stimulated the need and urge to posses the item. It is important to note that as much as the child is a very important factor when it comes to stimulating sales, he has no disposable income of his own that he can use in buying the item. He relies on handouts from the parents and guardians to make the purchases (McNeal: 2008, p29). The problem is there are times when these handouts are not forthcoming, meaning that the child cannot afford the item been advertised. He will be forced to do without it, leaving him with a sense of unhappiness.
Another psychological effect is that the child gets predispositions, either positive or negative, concerning some attributes of his surroundings (Valerie: 2009, p16). This is because as indicated earlier, the adverts are taken as the presentations of undoubted truths propagated by the adults to the child. The child will tend to believe whatever is said on the advert (Viroqua: 2008, p15). If this happens to be negative, the child will tend to have a negative predisposition. For example, some of the adverts especially for toys meant for boys are peppered with scenes of violence, the aim been to show the boy that to be macho, he must have the toy. The child will grow up with a predisposition towards violence, since he witnessed it been glorified on the advert (Dollan and Macbeth, 2005,).
But the psychological effects are not solely negative. There are others, albeit few, that are positive. For example, an advert that depicts a villain who is defeated by a hero will have the effect of making the child have the positive predisposition of realizing that as a rule, good always triumphs over the evil (McIntyre: 2007, p599).
2.3.4: Purchasing Behavior and Adverts in Children
The aim of the advert is to stimulate purchase and influence the purchasing habits of the target audience (read the child). The effectiveness of the advert is gauged by the degree to which it influences the behavior of the audience.
Apart from purchasing behavior, there are other forms of behavior that are affected by advertisements in children (Wallace, 2009). For instance, adverts that depict violence will tend to influence the behavior of the child such that he is likely to be violent in future. Children also adopt a demanding mien towards their guardians when they are asking for the items that are advertised on the TV. This demand is expressed in form of tantrums and fits of revolting behavior. This is because the child will not be satisfied until the parent or the guardian buys him what he wants. Scenes of children throwing tantrums in supermarkets as they demand for toys and sweets are the norm rather the exception in many places in America.
When it comes to teenagers, they are likely to adopt behavior characteristic of a negative lifestyle. For instance, adverts that glorify alcohol, drugs like tobacco and sexual acts tend to have a negative effect on the life of the teenagers. They will adopt cigarette smoking, imbibing alcohol and premature sexual activities.
Adverts affect the purchasing habits of both the adults and the children as well (Hotchkins, 2006). For instance, children engage in impulse buying in order to acquire the item that they saw on the TV advert. These buying are unplanned for and hence have a negative effect on the financial well being of both the child and the parent. Some of the purchases are unnecessary. They amount to wastage of meager income that is enjoyed by the parents and the children. For instance, when the child rushes to the shops to buy a certain design of cloth, leaving behind the ones that were bought by the parent but do not conform to the design seen in the adverts, this amounts to wastage of resources.
The adverts that are directed at the children also affect the purchasing habits of the parents. As previously noted, the parents are perennially busy in the office or out there working hard to provide for the family. This means that they do not have the time to interact with the media as their children do (McIntyre: 2007, p600). Even if they will have the time to interact with the media, their interaction will not be as extensive as that of their children. At the end of the day, the children are exposed to more adverts in a given period than their parents or guardians. This aspect, coupled with the fact that children have a relatively higher level of retaining information relative to their parents, means that the children are always well informed than their parents when it comes to new products in the market (Dolan and Macbeth, 2005). It is not surprising then to find out that the parents consult their children regarding a product or a service that they want to acquire. Given the ability of the media to mold the opinions and believes of the child, he will be more likely to inform the parent or guardian on the item that he saw on the advert. And so the parent will end up buying that particular product or service.
There is also another way that the adverts are able to utilize the child to influence the purchasing habits of the adults. For instance, the child will demand an item that he saw on TV. The child will have no option but to purchase the item so that the kid is satisfied and happy (Craig: 2003, p34). If the advert was not aired, probably the child will not have been aware of it, meaning that the parent or guardian will not have been harassed into buying it.
There is a positive attribute of adverts as far as purchasing habits of both the adults and the children are concerned. As a result of the adverts, the purchasing habit is likely to be well informed and directed (Kingston, 2007). For instance, as a result of the information gleaned from an advert, the parent and the child are able to purchase the clothing item for the child that is of quality and fashionable. This is because the advert informed them on the quality and fashion aspects of the clothing item. And since there are very many items that are identical in the market, the consumer is able to discern the best and thus able to make a choice from the myriad of others out there (Robertson, 2006).
2.3.5: Advertisement and the Effects on the Relationship between the Child and the Parent
Some adverts have the tendency of spoiling the relationship that exists between the child and the parent or guardian. This is because when a child demands for an item that he saw on TV, he expects the parents to comply and buy it for him (Spencer: 2001, p101). Woe unto the parent who goes against these wishes. The child will tend to throw a tantrum, and affect the mien that he hopes will coerce the parent to buy the item (Herbert: 2007, p123). This will include rebelling, disobedience and other negative behaviors that will be affected until the parent gives the kid the money to buy the item (McNeil: 2008, p140). In extreme cases, conflicts between the child and the antagonistic parent may lead to violence between the two. If the advert was not aired, the child would not have been aware of the item and so the conflict with the guardian would have been averted.
2.3.6: Increased Commercialization
Advertisement to children has led to increased commercialization of the products and services that are aimed at the child (Baldacci, 2009). The child has been turned into a consumer overnight. Children have become a market segment on their own. The adverts have stolen the innocence of the child and his dependence on the parent to make decisions regarding his purchases (Abrams: 2006, p131). The child has been assumed to have the capability of making his own decisions regarding purchases and satisfaction of needs (Kingston: 2007, p46).
The child market has been so commercialized such that there are whole departments and stores that are solely dedicated to the satisfaction of the various needs of this segment of the market (Peterson and Allan, 2006). It is not amazing to find that there are stores that cater exclusively for the child consumer. These stores, to reach their client the child, has to invest in marketing, and advertisement is such one tool of marketing that is adopted to reach out to the children (Jeffrey: 2006, p240).
There are also advertising agencies that cater exclusively for adverts that target the child. These agencies are so specialized to the extent that they are bale to determine the best way to package an item that is targeted at the child (Tomang: 2009, p25). The clients of these advertisement agencies are the companies that produce goods and services that are aimed at the child.
3.0: Conclusion
Due to the realization that children and teenagers can-and actually does- compose a market segment on their own, producers have come up with strategies aimed at addressing and communicating with this market segment. One of the strategies that they have come up with is that of advertising. They have come up with advertisements that are either targeted at the children directly or indirectly. The aim of these adverts is to create awareness about and need for the particular product or service that is been advertised. When this awareness and need has been stimulated, the logical progression of events calls for the child to purchase this item and thus, sales of that item are increased. This paper looked at the various effects that these advertisement has on the child. The adverts that were addressed were those aired on TV, radio, print media, online and other forms of mass media like bill boards. The effects observed ranged from behavioral, where by the behavior of the child is affected. Other effects that were addressed are those on the health and well being of the child, together with those on the kids’ cognitive development. It was noted that most of these effects are negative. However, there are other positive effects of advertisement on the child’s behavioral and cognitive aspects. However, these positive effects are greatly outweighed by the negative ones.
4.0: References
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