Consumer kids: how TV advertisers get into the minds of children
What parent hasn't worried at some time or another about how much TV her child watches? Such worries may come to the fore when "pester power" is exerted. Pester power is when your three-year-old throws a tantrum in the supermarket because you won't buy the breakfast cereal (that comes with a free gift) that your kid saw advertised on TV. Or your teenager will only wear the brand of celebrity-endorsed trainers, which happen to cost twice as much as all the others. Children are taught to be consumers from a very early age and our research has looked at how advertisers find their way into the minds of children.
An enduring challenge for psychologists has always been how to measure the effects of advertising on children. We found a novel way around this that has uncovered some interesting findings. In our research we have looked closely at what children ask for in their letters to Santa and how many request toys advertised on TV.
We've also monitored toy advertising on TV in the six weeks prior to Christmas to see what is advertised. And we've interviewed the children in our studies about how much TV they watch, and which TV channels (the BBC channels in the UK still do not carry advertising though there are many commercial channels). Then we've looked at the links between these elements.
Our studies show that the more TV children watch, the more toys they ask for in their letters to Santa. Children age four or five ask for more toys but don't usually mention "brand" names. So they'll ask for a "baby doll" but not "Baby Annabel" by name. By the time kids are six to eight years old, though, they not only ask for the advertised toys by brand name, but also they even tell Santa which stores he can buy them from and the retail prices.
In both studies, girls asked for more than boys. This statistic may be because they are more verbal than boys at this age. Or because they are better senders and receivers of emotional messages, so are more able to process the persuasive content of adverts. Or maybe girls are socialized from an early age to shop and to believe that "you are what you own." Advertisers certainly target girls more than boys; twice as many adverts for girls' than boys' toys appeared during the time period we studied.
Our research shows that advertisers' messages are getting through loud and clear to young children. Kids know what they want and where to get it from. What they don't know, though, is something very fundamental about advertising and something that distinguishes us, as adults, from young children.
Kids Don't Know that Advertisers are After Your Money
Children are not consumer literate until the age of about 10 to 12. Younger children don't understand that behind every advert there's a marketing campaign and a drive for profit. These kids, when we ask them, actually think ads are a kind of "public information" service. They think ads are shown to provide a comfort break between programs, or simply to tell us about what's in the shops.
We asked 180 children aged four to eight about the purpose of adverts. Only one child mentioned the selling motive of the advertiser. The rest all quoted the benign and harmless reasons mentioned above.
Add to this children's trust in adults and an unshakeable belief that adults are always right, and their vulnerability to persuasive messages comes into sharp focus. No kid is going to question the veracity of a statement delivered by an authoritative adult.
They're also prey, just like you and I, to ads that suggest they'll be more popular if they own a particular product. Advertisers exploit this by showing the child with the toy playing with a happy group of friends. Children also look up to, and want to be like, older children. That's why advertisers will often show a child slightly older than their target market playing with the toy.
Cartoons are ubiquitous in ads, too. Kids love their fast, bright, snappy style and advertisers know this. Even though research has shown cartoons can diminish a child's attention span in the longer term, advertisers will always put their sales figures before your child's welfare.
We must not overlook, too, the passive state that television induces in viewers. As they sit back, relax and absorb, people also become more unresisting.
Sociologist Bernard McGrane, from Chapman University, California, goes so far as to say that TV:
* Trains the mind to shorten its attention span
* Makes ordinary life appear dull
* Injects a hypnotic quality into ordinary awareness
* Coerces us into its reality
All of these are undesirable states for the young mind, because they will inhibit thinking and dampen the drive to pursue direct experience. It is direct experience that promotes healthy development in children. Psychologists as far back as Jean Piaget in the 1950s have known that children learn by discovering things for themselves. They need to interact with their physical environment, not passively watch it portrayed on a screen. But with TV such a dominant force in today's society, what can parents do to immunize their children against its effects and protect them from the allure of advertisers?
Link
What parent hasn't worried at some time or another about how much TV her child watches? Such worries may come to the fore when "pester power" is exerted. Pester power is when your three-year-old throws a tantrum in the supermarket because you won't buy the breakfast cereal (that comes with a free gift) that your kid saw advertised on TV. Or your teenager will only wear the brand of celebrity-endorsed trainers, which happen to cost twice as much as all the others. Children are taught to be consumers from a very early age and our research has looked at how advertisers find their way into the minds of children.
An enduring challenge for psychologists has always been how to measure the effects of advertising on children. We found a novel way around this that has uncovered some interesting findings. In our research we have looked closely at what children ask for in their letters to Santa and how many request toys advertised on TV.
We've also monitored toy advertising on TV in the six weeks prior to Christmas to see what is advertised. And we've interviewed the children in our studies about how much TV they watch, and which TV channels (the BBC channels in the UK still do not carry advertising though there are many commercial channels). Then we've looked at the links between these elements.
Our studies show that the more TV children watch, the more toys they ask for in their letters to Santa. Children age four or five ask for more toys but don't usually mention "brand" names. So they'll ask for a "baby doll" but not "Baby Annabel" by name. By the time kids are six to eight years old, though, they not only ask for the advertised toys by brand name, but also they even tell Santa which stores he can buy them from and the retail prices.
In both studies, girls asked for more than boys. This statistic may be because they are more verbal than boys at this age. Or because they are better senders and receivers of emotional messages, so are more able to process the persuasive content of adverts. Or maybe girls are socialized from an early age to shop and to believe that "you are what you own." Advertisers certainly target girls more than boys; twice as many adverts for girls' than boys' toys appeared during the time period we studied.
Our research shows that advertisers' messages are getting through loud and clear to young children. Kids know what they want and where to get it from. What they don't know, though, is something very fundamental about advertising and something that distinguishes us, as adults, from young children.
Kids Don't Know that Advertisers are After Your Money
Children are not consumer literate until the age of about 10 to 12. Younger children don't understand that behind every advert there's a marketing campaign and a drive for profit. These kids, when we ask them, actually think ads are a kind of "public information" service. They think ads are shown to provide a comfort break between programs, or simply to tell us about what's in the shops.
We asked 180 children aged four to eight about the purpose of adverts. Only one child mentioned the selling motive of the advertiser. The rest all quoted the benign and harmless reasons mentioned above.
Add to this children's trust in adults and an unshakeable belief that adults are always right, and their vulnerability to persuasive messages comes into sharp focus. No kid is going to question the veracity of a statement delivered by an authoritative adult.
They're also prey, just like you and I, to ads that suggest they'll be more popular if they own a particular product. Advertisers exploit this by showing the child with the toy playing with a happy group of friends. Children also look up to, and want to be like, older children. That's why advertisers will often show a child slightly older than their target market playing with the toy.
Cartoons are ubiquitous in ads, too. Kids love their fast, bright, snappy style and advertisers know this. Even though research has shown cartoons can diminish a child's attention span in the longer term, advertisers will always put their sales figures before your child's welfare.
We must not overlook, too, the passive state that television induces in viewers. As they sit back, relax and absorb, people also become more unresisting.
Sociologist Bernard McGrane, from Chapman University, California, goes so far as to say that TV:
* Trains the mind to shorten its attention span
* Makes ordinary life appear dull
* Injects a hypnotic quality into ordinary awareness
* Coerces us into its reality
All of these are undesirable states for the young mind, because they will inhibit thinking and dampen the drive to pursue direct experience. It is direct experience that promotes healthy development in children. Psychologists as far back as Jean Piaget in the 1950s have known that children learn by discovering things for themselves. They need to interact with their physical environment, not passively watch it portrayed on a screen. But with TV such a dominant force in today's society, what can parents do to immunize their children against its effects and protect them from the allure of advertisers?
Link
