Effects of Advertisements on Children

Effects of Advertisements on ChildrenAn advertisement makes a consumer awargon of avail subject products which seat then be used to influence a consumers buying behaviour through intellection using creative content. Advertising to children is a good deal categorised, with solid food and toys existence the products mainly depended towards them. However, this category is get ahead ontogenesis to encompass music, games and technology. Advertising towards children is a large demographic for the trafficker, ascribable to them encompassing three different merchandising opportunities, they are consumers, influencers on their leavens buying behaviour and the future. McNeal (1987) suggested that the future consumer provides a larger merchandise potential than the current consumer. Due to the marketer being able to create future brand devoted consumers, create brand knowledge and arrive purchase behaviour.The marketer seeks to target children through publicise strategies such a s the meshing. Also advergaming, where a game involves an advertisement for a product. Due to the internet being an intact part of untried culture, the marketer attempts to build a relationship between them and the consumer. This is completed through viral advertisements and behavioural targeting. Unlike television, the internet is unregulated and practically children are left alone on the internet with no parental supervision. However, the easiest way to advertise to children is through television. Broadcasters Audience Research Board (2011) baseball club that children decrepit four to nine watched on average septetteen hours of television a week. Further more than, Smith (2001) be that in the UK two-thirds of children have a television in their bedroom as well as their tablets and mobile phones with online friction match up television.One main concern around advertising towards children is whether it exploits them due to the advertisements aim to persuade the vulnerable. This exploitation provoke be referred to as the seducers upon the innocents as stated by Gunter, Oates and Blades (2005). Young children are unaware or so the intent of advertisements as reported by Oates et al. (2003). The knowledge and brain of advertising develops gradually and children are scarcely born with no knowledge and generalizeing ready to be evolved and manipulated as stated by Furnham (2000). Therefore, it is all important(predicate) to establish the different ages at which children achieve a mature go throughing of advertisements in order to comfort them.In order for children to be able to empathize and evaluate advertising Young (1990) stated they must have two processing skills. First the capacity to recognise glib intent and secondly be able to recognise the difference between an advertisement and a programme. Piaget and Cook (1952) found that a childrens stage in cognition determines their ability to comprehend advertising. They identified four stages of development, sensorimotor (birth to two years), pre-operational (two to seven years), concrete operational (seven to eleven years) and formal operational (eleven to self-aggrandizinghood), with each stage characterised by received cognitive abilities.Distinguishing an advertisement from a programme is viewed as a vital first stage in registering advertising as recognised by Gunter and Furnham (1998). It was suggested by Blatt, Spencer and Ward (1972) that children in the preoperational stage are able to distinguish advertisements from programs. They reported that children view advertisements as informative, truthful and entertaining and are not aware of the coaxing intent of advertising. Furthermore, Levin, Petros, and Petrella (1982) found that children as young as three years were able to make this distinction. Which was further supported by Blosser and Roberts (1985) found that by the age of five the majority of children have developed the ability to differentiate between advertisements and programmes.In contrast children in the concrete operational stage have been found to have developed a develop understanding as they grow older and are slight likely to believe the advertisements. Dorr (1986) found that it is between seven and nine years old that children begin to understand that advertisements are trying to get people to buy something. Smith (2001) found that as children begin to understand persuasive intent they also begin to appreciate the use of several techniques such as credit endorsement, choice of words, and tone of voice. Once children have reached ten years old they have developed large understanding to appreciate the persuasive intent of advertisements as found by Bever et al. (1975). When children crowd out understand the persuasive purpose of the advertisement, they are able to be critical and capable of resisting to change. Although, until children have developed this understanding and the decent cognitive defences advertisement s have a strong influence on a development and thoughts.Nevertheless, due to children being a large demographic, the marketer takes advantage of their lack of understanding. They do this by designing marketing strategies to retaliate the needs of the children. These are then applied to their advertisements in order to target children hard-hittingly. Firstly, pester power content children harass their care givers to purchase products for them based on advertising they have seen as stated by Proctor and Richards (2002). The marketer is aware that their advertising produces desires for different products and this has been found to reach out to pester power inwardly children. Parker (2001) found that parents in the UK spend more when shopping in supermarkets with their children than without. Pester power keep be used over long periods of time with children forming requests and demands in advance for their birthday and Christmas. Crouch (1999) found that children had often instigat ed their Christmas list before October. This pestering has been found to lead to family arguments when parents are unable to afford the products or accommodate them as unsuitable as stated by Atkin (1978). It was reported by Adler et al (1980) that if a parent states that a toy is not appropriate, children with less viewing of advertisements were more likely to listen to their parent than children who had seen the advertisements. This is due to the advertisement enhancing the toy and persuading them it is a necessity.Secondly, techniques such as exaggeration are used by the marketer to further persuade the consumer and enhance their products. Claims such as the best and better than can be innate and misleading. Bandyopadhyay, Kindra and Sharp (2001) stated that children are unable to recognise such techniques and effectively fall for the misleading information. on a lower floor the age of seven, children are more heavily affected by product factors and do not understand that appea rances can differ from reality. Young children often believe that a product is exactly as it appears and volition fail to realise that the advertisement was created to win it in the best possible way. However, as Smith (2001) found children from the age of seven start to understand techniques thereof the use of such techniques have to be vary to different age groups. Martensen and Hansen (2001) reported that children from the age of eight stated advertisements cheat in that things look better in the advertisement than in real life. This inaccurate image of the product can lead to a negative attitude towards the advertisement and the product. Rossiter (1977) stated that childrens attitude in general towards advertising is negative stating advertisements are annoying and they only state the good things and lie about the rest. What they had seen as truthful and accurate when they were younger is now portrayed to be lying and deceptive. This attitude could further develop their imag e of the world. They may feel that, what and who they deem as truthful, could be lying and being deceitful reservation them feel untrustworthy towards others.Additionally, the marketer develops brand awareness and use brand positioning towards children in order to develop future brand loyalty. This is often by using characters from programmes or celebrities to produce a good attitude and develop relationships. Brand awareness has been defined by Keller (2003) as the extent to which a consumer can recognise and is familiar with an image of a brand and the qualities associated with it. Anderson and Bower (1974) state that brand awareness can be split into two steps. First step is the cognitive process to enable brand credit and secondly brand recollection, a consumer can recall and describe the brand. Both brand recognition and recall are important when making purchase decisions. Research by Haynes et al (1993) showed that children as young as three can recognise and name brands be fore they can read and Schmidt (2003) found children as young as six months old can develop mental images of a logo. Furthermore, Hite and Hite (1995) showed that children from the age of two are able to recognise branded products and would choose these over other unbranded alternatives. Children will favour certain brands and products due to the relationship they have formed as children, creating nostalgia, as found by Ji (2002). lettered this the marketer use their advertising to develop a foundation when children are in their early stages of erudition and development.Product advertising emphasises branded products and places importance on purchasing not just a product, alone a lifestyle that this product portrays, as stated by Hahlo (1999). If these products are unable to be purchased feelings of discontentment and inadequacy develop. Branded advertising promotes undesirable social values, such as materialism. In addition, children are often taught to celebrate events such as Christmas in a commercial manner. Pine and Nash (2002) found that children who watched television asked for more branded presents on their Christmas list. The pressure to buy a particular brand leads to a harmony and can often pressure parents and make them feel guilty.Furthermore, advertising has been criticised for causing health problems within children such as obesity as stated by Dalmeny et al. (2003). A large proportion of advertising aimed at children promote food or drinks. Lewis and Hill (1998) reported almost a third, of advertisements sh admit to children are based on morbid food such as sweets. Galst and White (1976) found a correlation between the recall of food advertisements, requests when shopping and what children eat. Halford et al. (2004) stated that the majority of television advertising is directed towards children eating surgery foods such as sweets and fizzy drinks.Overall, if children are unable to fully understand the intent of advertising they may need defend from it and the techniques used. Individuals who are against advertising towards children claim that it is unethical. This is due to their lack of cognitive abilities and understanding to resist the advertising messages before the age of seven. It is said to be unethical to advertise to these children under seven until they have developed cognitive defences. In addition, children below the age of seven are unable to distinguish between advertising conceive of and reality in advertisements. Therefore this can distort their view on the world. The internet alone raises many a(prenominal) ethical issue. Various internet pages are designed so children are able to avoid adult supervision and then the underage consumer is able to be pressured to purchase products. Furthermore, ethical issues arise in call of the promotional content such as humour and violence when advertising games. What one consumer might recover interesting, fun and funny may be offensive to others and be seen as unethical. However, Furnham (2000) believe that advertising has subaltern effect upon childrens development and learning and that current regulations are sufficient. Proctor and Richards (2002) state that peer pressure, conformity and social factors are more effective and persuasive in creating the desires of a particular product than advertisements.To tighten the effects of advertising and the ethical issues this develops, children should be educated to help them understand the aim of advertising. Furnham (2000) argued coning children the aim of advertising was more effective than changing regulations that are in place. Children can be taught and further sensible about the nature of advertising and discuss products with their parents and other family members. Teaching children can enable them to be an effective consumer at a young age. In addition, parents can help them to understand advertisements motives and the difference between partiality and reality, thus neutralisin g some of the powerful messages their children are exposed to. However, relying on parents is limited due to children having their own televisions, tablets and phones. With children having their own technology parents are unable to sit with them, monitor and discuss advertisements. Though, parents are still able to teach and explain advertising intent during shopping trips or when they request products. However, this is based on the assumption that parents understand the advertising themselves and have the knowledge to teach their children.Overall, it is unrealistic to expect marketing companies to stop their advertising to children due to their consumption power. However, they should do so ethically and be aware of their responsibility as a communicator to children. As several researchers have shown children do not begin to develop understanding until they are seven and hence advertising should not be shown to children before this age. Although, parents have a duty to protect the vulnerable children and therefore teach their children about advertising intent.