Children in Advertising
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Social Ethics, Children in Advertising Introduction Advertisements are powerful and influential construct in today’s society. The market of advertising is aimed at influencing children is worth approximately 700 billion dollars annually worldwide. The phrase “hook them young have them for life! is commonly used throughout the advertising industry. The “nag factor! is a term used to describe children’s effect on the adult consumer market. There are a variety of different groups which either support or oppose the rights to market towards children. 1. "arketing Advertising and the image of children conveyed to the public by corporations and companies have changed drastically over the years. The view of a child’s place in a family changed substantially with the introduction of television programs designed for children such as #oo dy $oody in %&'7. This seemingly small development for its time changed the way advertising was marketed and them became the birth of an ex clusive demographic worth billions of dollar s in today’s society. This initial change brought about a revelation in marketers globally after (ames "c)eal identified a consumer market for kids in %&*&. The traditional family image before this changed was enacted was of dutiful and respectful child listening to the authority of the house the father and bowing down to his final word. Television advertisements during the %&70s started to convey a different message to the public about a child’s position in a family. The view of children as an inclusive part of the family to be cherished and made happy was the new perspective that advertisers were pushing forward. +,0 0* #ow the -ids To ok ver/ There are several issues regarding exactly how the advertising industry is targeting young people and to the extent to which they shape their development. ith over 700 dollars aimed at marketing products towards children it is only natural for the morality of such advertising to be under scrutiny. A large portion of this advertising focuses on the Tween! age group. This particular age group is 71%, years old and uses a staggering %0 billion dollars in the advertising industry in Australia alone. ith such a lucrative market to exploit advertisers use the highest form of research available to capitalise on profits. 2sychologists and anthropologists are used to obtain key interests of young people in order to market to their wants desires and needs. “Tweens! are a very select marketing demographics and the products designed for them to match their desires are not always globally accepted as appropriate products. 3exuali4ation of children wearing adult replicated clothing is 5ust one example. +www.bluecard.6ld.gov.au / #owever the progression of this industry did not merely stop at one view change. The market was much more volatile for manipulation. n %&77 8eorge 9ucas released 3tarwars and embarked on a risk taking venture to market his film not only as a box office best seller but also as groundwork for merchandise sales. 3uffice to say his risk payed off in dividends a nd the merchandise sold profited 5ust as much as the movies themselves. This form of marketing took the world be storm and soon television shows specifically designed to sell toys and child appealing products were appearing everywhere. “#e "an! and “:arebears! are 5ust a couple of strategically designed television shows to sell products.
Transcript of Children in Advertising
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Social Ethics, Children in Advertising
Introduction
Advertisements are powerful and influential construct in today’s society. The marketof advertising is aimed at influencing children is worth approximately 700 billion
dollars annually worldwide. The phrase “hook them young have them for life! iscommonly used throughout the advertising industry. The “nag factor! is a term usedto describe children’s effect on the adult consumer market. There are a variety ofdifferent groups which either support or oppose the rights to market towards children.
1.
"arketing Advertising and the image of children conveyed to the public bycorporations and companies have changed drastically over the years. The view of achild’s place in a family changed substantially with the introduction of television
programs designed for children such as #oody $oody in %&'7. This seemingly smalldevelopment for its time changed the way advertising was marketed and them
became the birth of an exclusive demographic worth billions of dollars in today’ssociety. This initial change brought about a revelation in marketers globally after(ames "c)eal identified a consumer market for kids in %&*&. The traditional familyimage before this changed was enacted was of dutiful and respectful child listening tothe authority of the house the father and bowing down to his final word. Televisionadvertisements during the %&70s started to convey a different message to the publicabout a child’s position in a family. The view of children as an inclusive part of thefamily to be cherished and made happy was the new perspective that advertisers were
pushing forward. +,00* #ow the -ids Took ver/
There are several issues regarding exactly how the advertising industry is targetingyoung people and to the extent to which they shape their development. ith over 700dollars aimed at marketing products towards children it is only natural for themorality of such advertising to be under scrutiny. A large portion of this advertisingfocuses on the Tween! age group. This particular age group is 71%, years old anduses a staggering %0 billion dollars in the advertising industry in Australia alone. ithsuch a lucrative market to exploit advertisers use the highest form of researchavailable to capitalise on profits. 2sychologists and anthropologists are used to obtainkey interests of young people in order to market to their wants desires and needs.“Tweens! are a very select marketing demographics and the products designed forthem to match their desires are not always globally accepted as appropriate products.
3exuali4ation of children wearing adult replicated clothing is 5ust one example.+www.bluecard.6ld.gov.au/
#owever the progression of this industry did not merely stop at one view change. Themarket was much more volatile for manipulation. n %&77 8eorge 9ucas released3tarwars and embarked on a risk taking venture to market his film not only as a boxoffice best seller but also as groundwork for merchandise sales. 3uffice to say his risk
payed off in dividends and the merchandise sold profited 5ust as much as the moviesthemselves. This form of marketing took the world be storm and soon televisionshows specifically designed to sell toys and child appealing products were appearingeverywhere. “#e "an! and “:arebears! are 5ust a couple of strategically designed
television shows to sell products.
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;urthermore the target demographic is ever changing still despite the multi1billiondollar industry it is today expansion is continuing. The latest targets are baby
products. <aby products are the pinnacle of reinforcements for the phrase “hook themyoung have them for life! These products are designed to appeal to parents willing todigitalise their baby’s in or educate them with television programs. 2rograms such as
<aby "o4art and Teletubbies are the hallmark of product marketing masked aseducational. The conse6uence of such child development strategies is childreninstinctively looking towards a screen for insight and reasoning which are exactly thetraits marketing are looking for in kids. The prospect of “cradle to grave brandloyalty! is a daunting feature of the scope corporations are taking in order to ensuretheir continued products.
2.
Graphs in Appendix
The significant factor to notice about :hildren in Advertising is the way in whichadvertisers manipulate the current generation of children into obtaining products. The
nag factor is crucial to an advertisers campaign when analysing a product from anexternal source for example= parents and grandparents. The success of the nagging iscrucial from an advertising>marketing perspective. "arket researchers to identify theinner workings of the child consumer use a significant amount of resources.
The surveys taken to achieve the results concerning children in advertising were froma sample of ,0 parents of varying ages and ,0 children between the ages of * and %,.the results found in the survey were not shocking or outstanding when compared toexisting documentation and articles. The four main items children desired were= toyscloths games and 5unk food. t makes sense that these items were most prominent inthe graphs as they are the most fre6uently used items a child a child has access toeveryday. The graphics show very slight differentiation between desired items with a7? increase in @games’ and ? in @toys’ from a child’s perspective compared to the
parents. The methods in which children nag are slightly different but overall have asimilar trend. t is not surprising that children are more reserved about expressingtheir nagging methods and might not own up to bad behaviour openly. This shows inthe results with an B? reduction in @bargaining’ %? increase in @promising to begood’ from the child’s point of view compared to the parents.
Two surveys 6uestions “$o you nag your parents to buy thingsC! and “#owsuccessful are youC! were not show as graphs this section as the comparisons were
negligible. As an almost unanimous result both parents and children feel that naggingtakes place @sometimes’ and not @always’ or @never’. 3imilarly They both feel that t hesuccess rate is “sometimes! which coincides with the results from studies done
professionally that confirm a 70? success rate admitted from parents.
3.
Advertisements are directly linked to products and these products originate from acorporation designed to make profits for their owners and employees. t is around this
basic principle which all advertising revolves around that there is much debate. Theethical debate 5ustifying the realms of advertising regarding their audience is ongoingin today’s society.
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The impression and manipulation of children is one of the main points coalitions suchas :ampaign for A :ommercial1;ree :hildhood +::;:/ advocate as detrimental.Those who support this notion 5ustify it by moral ground of manipulating innocentchildren before they have reached an age of ade6uate cognitive intelligence. Thisdegree of cognitive recognition is based around the age in which children can actively
identify and determine the persuasive nature of advertisements and understand theirintent. 3tudies show that under the age of * advertising is automatically believed.,? of the time whereas by age %% that percentage has dropped to a mere *.7?.These impressions pro5ected at children at such a young age can contribute to
problematic portions of society. There are a plethora of issues that are brought up tosupport these claims. besity 3exualisation encouraging paedophilia underagetobacco use and eating disorders relating to anorexia can all be attributed toinappropriate advertising to children.
#owever on the other side of the argument there are an e6ually large if not largersupporting group for the value of advertising. 2sychologist can bee seen on both sides
of the issue. This is partially because of the moral and ethical beliefs and partially dueto employment opportunity. :lotaire Dapaille is a ;rench anthropologist whospecialises in what he calls @reptilian brain functions’. :lotaire Dapallie’s work paysextremely well at approximately E,F0 000 per consultation. :orporations are morethan willing to pay such a handsome wage to someone who can exponentiallyincrease their profits.
n conclusion the debate concerning the social issue of advertising towards childrenis not finalised by any means. The moral standing for a safer and more nurturingenvironment for children to be raised in will always be in the minds of those of highethical standards. n the other hand corporations will insist that that financial
progression is paramount and economics are the issues the world endures as well.hether or not society is moving in the right direction is up for interpretation buteveryone strives for a better world.
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Appendix AGraphs
What do children nag for?
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How do the nag?
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Who !ives in the "ost?
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