advertising to children prof. andrea almeida abstract€¦ · however, advertising “brings a...

ELK ASIA PACIFIC JOURNAL OF MARKETING AND RETAIL MANAGEMENT

ISSN 0976-7193 (Print) ISSN 2349-2317 (Online) Volume 3 Issue 3 (2012)

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ADVERTISING TO CHILDREN

Prof. Andrea Almeida

Assistant Professor, Sri Sri Institute of Management,

Goa, India

ABSTRACT

Keywords: Children, Advertising, Influence, Psychology, Impact, Regulatory Framework

Introduction:

Advertising to children is seen as a very successful way to build a concrete customer base, so as to create

a desirable image in the minds of the young consumer and thus to secure a lifetime of consumer purchasing. The

rise of products, promotions and advertising that has been targeted to children is of concern. Children are viewed

as a primary market of consumers that spend their own money on their own wants and needs, as an influence market

directing the spending of their parents’ money for their own benefit, and a future market for all goods and services

that if cultivated now will provide a steady stream of new customers when they reach market age for a particular

firm. Thus when considering these three markets together, marketers have come to understand the potential of this

huge segment and thus have started targeting this segment. Advertising to children has been particularly effective

since advertisers are basically making use of child psychology in designing advertisements, promotion and media

mix. There are many ways companies can advertise to children. Television however has become an important

socializing agent because of its enormous presence in children's lives. Children are exposed to a number of

advertisements from an early age and with age also gradually participate not only in the routine purchase decisions

and the products to be consumed by them but also for the products not intended to be used by them. Along with the

growth in advertisements for children have come some stringent laws set by different regulatory bodies in the

interest of safeguarding children against the out lash of advertisers. There is a general consensus with regards to

advertising to children that even if children understand the purpose of promotional messages, marketers must take

special care in advertising to them because of the amount of time children spend in viewing TV and online. Though

there may be positive effects on advertising to children for the company, it may have a negative impact on children

in the long run.

Marketing and Advertising

According to the American Marketing Association, marketing is “an organizational function and a set of

processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer

relationships in ways that benefit an organization and its stakeholders.” 1 Marketing is sometimes referred to as

Advertising is an omnipresent influence in the lives of children. Children are exposed to a number of

advertisements on a daily basis, be it on television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, internet and a

range of other media. The rise of products, promotions and advertising that has been targeted to children is

of concern. Advertising to children has been particularly effective since advertisers are basically making use

of child psychology in designing advertisements, promotion and media mix. Advertisers analyze children's

behavior, motives, lifestyle, and leisure activities at various ages and develop effective marketing strategies

and advertisements that can catch and hold their attention. Through this paper an attempt is made to

understand the use of child psychology in advertising and the impact of advertising on children. This paper

will also look at understanding the manner in which children process advertisements and the use of various

influencing appeals and tactics by marketers to target children. An attempt is made to understand the

regulatory framework in place and the need for media literacy by parents is put forth. This paper will give

insight to researchers to conduct further research in this area. It will also be beneficial by bringing about an

understanding about the existing scenario.

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the ‘4 P’s’: product, place, price, promotion. However, advertising “brings a product to the attention of consumers

and may be delivered through a variety of media channels, such as television, radio, print, billboards, personal

contact, and the Internet” 2. Advertising isn’t a new phenomenon in today’s world but can be traced back to the

early beginnings of recorded history where town criers announced the sale of animals and crafted items or the

painting of walls by the Romans to announce gladiator fights. Modern advertising however is a far cry from these

early efforts. Although advertising is usually done by business firms, a number of non-profit organizations,

institutions and governmental agencies also resort to advertising to promote their causes to various target

audiences. If we go through various literatures, we have a range of definitions for the term advertising.

Advertising is basically a good way to educate, inform and persuade the people. An advertisement is basically

defined as a paid-for communication, addressed to the public or a section of it, the purpose of which is to influence

the opinions or behaviour of those to whom it is addressed.3 Advertising is the non-personal communication of

the information usually paid for and persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors

through the various media.4 It is basically making your products known to the consumers so that on any given

day, they would prefer purchasing your product over that of its competitors. Popularization of a company’s

products is thus, the basic aim of advertising.

Advertising in Different Media:

There are a variety of media which companies use for advertising, such as television, internet, radio,

newspapers, direct mail, magazines, outdoor etc. Each medium has its advantages and limitations. Thus, selecting

one or a combination of these media depends on a range of factors such as the target audience, the reach, frequency

and impact of each medium, the message effectiveness and cost to name a few. The mix of media used by a

company needs to be regularly examined. For a long time, it was observed that television and magazines dominated

the media mixes of national advertisers. The advantage of television over the other mediums is that it is perceived

as a combination of audio and video features; it provides products with instant validity and prominence and offers

the greatest possibility for creative advertising.6 Children and adolescents view 40 000 ads per year on TV alone.7

Much of children’s viewing occurs during prime time, which features nearly 16 minutes/hour of advertising.8

Movies are yet another common form of advertising. A federal trade commission investigation found that violent

movies, music, and video games have been intentionally marketed to children and adolescents.

Also, movies that target children usually feature branded product whose names are prominently displayed

and also feature fast food restaurants.10 According to the Consumer’s Union, more than 160 magazines are now

targeted at children.11 However with the advent of the internet and change in technology, advertisers are now

embracing new methods of connecting and communicating with their target audience. An increasing number of

Web sites try to entice children and teenagers to make direct sales. Teenagers account for more than $1 billion in

e-commerce dollars and the industry spent $21.6 million on Internet banner ads alone in 2001.12 However,

television still holds a high percentage share of media spent viz-a-viz the other media. Advertising, a form of mass

communication, basically is meant to target a particular set of audience so as to change them from an unknown

state to a desired state and ultimately leading to an action, that is, to purchase the product or service. Some of the

major functions of advertising are as follows: it educates and informs the consumer about the product or service,

thus enticing them to try it out. It also informs the consumer about the benefits that the consumer could gain from

using the product or service. It is a major weapon to fight against competition and helps a company strengthen its

brand image in the minds of the consumers. This results in retailers being ready to stock a large number of variants

of well-known brands and consumer being more open to try out products or extensions from a well-known brand.

Companies are now trying to innovate and be creative in their advertisements and promotions to hold the attention

of consumers and to speak out a loud message amongst the clutter created by other brands who are also vying for

the same set of consumers.

Advertising to children on the other hand as defined by national legislation and advertising standards is

the act of marketing or advertising products or services to children. This has been an area of debate with regards

to the advertisers influencing children’s consumption and making you of children in advertisements where they

are not the target audience. Most countries have rules on advertising to children which have evolved in recent

years; this topic will be dealt in depth later in the paper.

Use of Child Psychology in Advertising:




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Before venturing into this area, it is important to have some consensus with regards to “who qualifies to

be called ‘child’?” There is no fixed age limit and there is no uniformity of approach all across the globe.

From a biological point of view, a child is a person who is not of age to have children. The development

of a child is a process more or less continuous that passes through several stages:

28 days to 2 years, infant

2 to 6 years, early childhood

6 to 13 years, childhood, the term preadolescent is also commonly used

Beginning at 13 years of age, puberty marks a period of transition from childhood to adulthood.

However with the vast cultural differences which exist across countries worldwide and also based on the

significant physical and emotional changes that occur among individuals across the globe, there was a need for a

global definition for a ‘child’ that could be applicable to every child irrespective of the location.

Thus, the United Nations thus drew up a definition of the child so that all countries having ratified the

international Convention of the Rights of the Child share the same reference, which is laid down in Article 1 of the

Convention:

“A child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child,

majority is attained earlier”

Also UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, defines early

childhood as ages 0– 8 years)

Besides, each national jurisdiction has its own definition of children for the purpose of advertising law. On the basis

of academic research, twelve years is commonly used as a cutoff point as by the age of twelve, children have

developed their behaviour as consumers, effectively recognize advertising and are able to adopt critical attitudes

towards it.

Children and adults vary in not only age but mainly in the way they think, react, process and

behave.Children are observant, creative, sensitive and have different emotional, social and developmental needs at

different stages. Since the 1950’s there had been a lot of research especially focused on consumer behavior, it was

the 1960’s that acknowledged that children also play a role in the consumer market. Some researchers such as Berey

and Polay15 studied the influence of children on family purchase decisions. From the 1980’s onwards there was

subsequent research done on children as children rapidly gained spending power during this period. In the early

1990’s, McNeal and Yeh16 postulated and tested five stages in the development of consumer behaviour in

childhood.

Consumer socialization is the process by which children acquire skills, knowledge and attitudes pertaining

to their functioning as consumers in the marketplace. This is based on child development -how age related patterns

emerge across children’s growing sophistication as consumers, including their knowledge of products, brands,

advertising, shopping, pricing and decision-making. Below are the five stages which a child goes through during

his or her growth as a consumer

Observation:

This first stage consists of children with a median age of two months being exposed to market place for

the first time and thus coming in close contact with a number of products, brands and advertisements and making

first time sensory contact. Until now the child has only experienced products through his or her parents. In this first

stage the child is only able to respond to market stimuli in his or her presence, it is only after repeated such market

stimuli that the child is able to recall some of them and ask for them later

Requests:

It is in this stage that parents are bogged with numerous requests from their children for a variety of

consumables and parents happily fulfilling their desires. Together, the parents and children unknowingly begin

to construct a "filiarchy" in which the children will be central decision makers in their household s.16 Children

thus are introduced to the marketplace as a routine and thus develop representations of stores, products and

brands in their minds. Many products being used at home, especially products which the child uses such as

cereals, milk, chocolates make impressions on children. It is at this stage that parents start allowing their children

to view TV and children come across a range of products and brands through advertisements. The median age

for this stage is 2 years.




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Selecting:

The next logical step after making requests and as children grow in age, they next try to retrieve items

themselves. Subconsciously they try to retrieve cues from their memory based on the exposure to various print and

media advertisements. Once they accompany their parents on shopping trips they would gradually search for their

favourite products, take it from the shelf and put it in the shopping cart or consume it over there itself or would

cause a tantrum in case their parents refuse. This stage is the first major physical act toward becoming an

independent consumer. However at this stage this act occurs usually after asking their parents for permission,

however by this stage where the child would be of an average age of 3 and half years, the child is well aware as to

how to navigate through the store. Therefore, in this stage the number and intensity of requests also rapidly increase.

Co-purchasing:

After going through the process of assisting their parents to select various products, most of which are

used for their personal consumption, children also observe their parents paying for the products. Thus with desire

to perform similar exchange roles we observe that children gradually assist their parents in giving the money to the

cashier. Though the child may not understand the value of the money, however the child is allowed to perform the

complete consumer episode of wanting, searching, purchasing, and using a product. Thus, in stage four at a median

age of 5 and half years children begin functioning as primary consumers.

Solo Purchasing:

The final stage is when the child is confident enough to make a purchase on his/her own. This is a gradual

process which takes place only after numerous experiences of parental assisted purchases. During this period

children further understand the value of money and the exchange process, they mature physically and mentally so

as to convince their parents that they are capable of making a purchase on their own. At an average age of 8 years

a child is capable of walking into a store on his/her own and making a purchase by himself/herself. Initially these

purchases may be of small economical value in terms of snacks, a meal, toys or chocolates, but gradually over a

period of time these purchases tend to get more complex for example household purchases.

Thus it is of utmost importance that an advertiser should first understand how children of different age

groups react to marketing. Many companies now resort to using child psychology to help them to effectively

advertising to children. They need to have thorough knowledge about children and their needs at different ages.

Advertising definitely has an impact on children. They nag their parents which in turn make the parents carry out

the purchase for the child. Advertisers must analyze children's behavior, motives, lifestyle, and leisure activities at

various ages so as to develop effective marketing strategies and advertisements that can catch and hold their

attention.

Understanding How Children Process Advertisements

Applying the well-known AIDA model (attention, interest, desire and action) to advertising, effective

marketing campaigns are those that induce children to pay attention to an advertisement initially, and then generate

interest towards the product or brand, express desire to own the product or brand and eventually make the purchase.

Thus the success of a campaign lies in the fact that children should understand the content of the advertisement and

ultimately induce a purchase.

Attention:

It is observed that advertisements which are designed to hold the attention of children are illustrated by

lively action, sound effects, and loud music. 17 Bright colours, animated characters and fun loving jingles are what

catches and holds the attention of children. Also making use of children in advertisements is another strategy which

advertisers use. A study found that younger children paid more attention to commercials full of action, sound

effects, and loud music than to more low-key commercials.

Interest:

Once the advertisers are successful in gaining the attention of children towards their advertisements, the

next important step is to generate further interest and make sure that they recognize the brand and are able to

recollect it. Repetition is one tool used by advertisers as it augments children’s memory of the content as proved




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by a study wherein children when shown the same commercial repeatedly, are more likely to remember the product

advertised.

Desire: So as to make children desire a product or brand it is important that they first comprehend the

advertisements. Children below eight years usually do not understand that the very purpose of advertisements is to

persuade consumers to buy one product over another. Moreover they are usually under the impression that the

various advertisements are means of informing them about the large number of attractive products that they can

buy. To an extent as discussed earlier advertisements do give consumers an understanding of various products and

choices available but it leads to confusion in the minds of children who believe that they need to try out each brand

that is being advertised.

Action: The whole intent of an advertisement is to make the end consumer buy the product, be it children who

directly purchase the product due to their purchasing power or be it children who make sure that they indirectly get

the product through frequently used influencing tactics such as are ingratiation, consultation, rational persuasion,

upward appeal to name a few. Strategies such as repetition or offering free toys and treats increase children’s

product requests.

Advertising Techniques Used By Marketers

The main intent of marketers is to make sure that they can attract consumers to purchase their brands to

be loyal to them. To do so, they use a number of advertising gimmicks or tactics so as to ultimately increase product

purchases. The traditional techniques used were television and print advertisements, hoardings, repetition of

advertisements, use of brand characters, celebrity endorsements, loud display of product features, premiums or free

merchandise with the main product, to name a few. However with the changing behaviour of the customer base and

with the advent of the internet and technology, advertisers have begun to experiment with new techniques such as:

Stealth Advertising:

The basis of this technique is that marketers try to conceal the intent of an advertisement. It attempts to

present a new product or service by cleverly creating and spreading “buzz” in an obtuse or surreptitious manner. 21 Basically stealth advertising is done in such a way that consumers don’t recognize it as advertising. Thus

marketers make use of this technique to smudge the line between the advertisement and the content.

Ambient Communication:

This is a complex form of corporate communication that uses elements of the environment, including

nearly every available physical surface, to convey messages that elicit customer engagement. In the current

ambient communication environment, three media types are used in terms of spatial dimension, these are 2-D

traditional and innovative print media, 3-D artifact based media and 4-D motion based interactive media. These

are basically tools to engage the consumer and over a period of time would help in creating brand loyalty.

Product Placement:

This basically involves integrating the brand very subtly in the program content of a movie, TV serial,

music video, video games, online gaming etc. Such marketing exposure increases a consumer’s familiarity with a

product and can result in a favorable opinion of a brand. Product placement goes back to the 1980’s wen the

character E.T. in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 movie of the same name ate Reese’s Pieces, resulting in a national spike

of 66 percent in product purchases.

Advergames: These are online video games with a subtle commercial message where the use of product placement is

common. Marketers ensure that the consumers are eyes are on the embedded advertisement and also engage the

consumer throughout the game and thus subconsciously pass on implicit messages to the gamer. This not only

keeps the gamer engaged throughout the game but at the same time increases brand visibility and awareness and

leads to loyalty over a period of time.




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Viral Marketing:

This is the creating of a “buzz” when people talking about a product to one another either in person or

virtually through blogs, websites, emails etc. The term “buzz” came into existence as each person would tell the

other about the product and thus it would multiply ultimately creating a buzz in the market place. Viral marketing

is especially effective with teens, particularly if it involves big discounts, attractive products, and meaningful

freebies.

Integrated Marketing Strategies:

Another important strategy is to integrate all the various techniques in such a way that using them all

together will increase the overall outcome as opposed to using each of those techniques individually.

Some of the traditional advertising techniques still being used are as follows:

Repetition: This involves repeating the advertisement over and over again. There is the famous three hit theory in

advertisement which states that ideally an advertisement needs to be aired just three times. The first time being to

introduce the product, the second time to instill the message in the minds of the consumer and the third time to

induce a purchase. This however is very vague and subjective as a marketer will find it tough to know when each

of its target consumer has viewed its advertisement three time and also to know the effectiveness of this in terms

of sales. The basic purpose of repetition is that familiarity with a product increases the likelihood of purchasing

and using it.

Loud displays of product features:

This is an age old technique used by marketers wherein they try to get a consumer to opt for their brand

or product mainly by attractively displaying product features in the advertisement which are usually focused in

children’s television advertisements, which include eye catchy colours, action and movement, loud jungles and

attractive sound effects

Brand Characters:

Many marketers have successfully increased sales of their brands by using branded characters which are

mainly designed to appeal to the target segment. Commonly used characters are Moppet of Amul, Sunny of

Sunfeast, Ronald of McDonald etc. Many times these characters are also a source of additional income to marketers

which are many times licensed for a fee to various companies. These characters also help the target segment to

related to the brand and over a period of time through clever strategies leads to brand loyalty

Celebrity Endorsements:

This is a common technique used by marketers to promote their products and increase sales. However, an

important aspect to be mind is having a right fit between the product endorsed and the celebrity. Children who like

the celebrity endorsing the brand are expected to purchase the product. A well-known example would be the well-

known Indian cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar endorsing Boost.

Premiums:

Many marketers give free merchandise with the main product so as to increase product purchases. A few

examples would be the toys in the Cheetos Chips which became a craze among children who would pester their

parents to buy a Cheetos pack mainly to have the entire collection of toys, McDonalds Happy Meal.

Although television is still the governing venue for advertising, marketers are now open to exploring new

ways to market to children and adolescents through online media and wireless devices. Marketers carefully

investigate, track and analyze children’s interest patterns to design and create effective advertising strategies

directed at specific target segments.

Advertising Appeals used by Marketers

An advertising appeal is basically a means by which an advertiser tries to appeal to the desired target




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segment. Many a time’s advertisers try to appeal to the emotions, social preferences, or other aspects of their target

demographics. They cleverly use words, images, and music to reveal how using their products would change the

way people perceive them. There are a number of advertising strategies that are intended to appeal to different

aspects of one's character. Some advertising appeals are meant to be for the entire population however there are

some appeals that are audience specific.

Some of the commonly used general appeals are as listed below:

Emotional: These are linked to the Maslow’s hierarchy and are associated with human desires for

happiness, safety, care, comfort, social recognition, fear of rejection and danger. Emotionally charged words,

phrases or jingles are used to subtly imply that the product advertised could satisfy the above mentioned normal

human desires. For example, a child unwell and suffering from common cold and the mother giving her child a

branded syrup and the child gets instant relief. The message that the advertisement tryes to subtly portray is that

mothers who care for their children will use this particular syrup. Such advertisements play on the minds of the

consumers.

Rational: These advertisements are used to appeal to people who think in a rational manner. They provide

lot of hard facts, data and research material. They often use respected people as spokespersons such as doctors or

an expert. Commonly used phrase words in advertisements using such appeals are, “95% of Indians use this”.

Humour: This kind of advertisement links the product or service with a humourous message as the audience may

remember it for a longer time. Such appeals are common with children as well as adult products

Fear: This kind of appeal creates a fear in the minds of the consumers. It implies that the consumer may

be faced with such a situation and to avoid that situation it is best that they purchase and use the advertised brands.

Romance: This is a common advertising appeal and advertisements suggest that using the product or

service will make one more attractive and successful in romantic pursuits. This could lead to a negative

understanding in the minds of children and the illiterate.

Persuasive: Advertisers usually associate children’s products with fun and happiness and many a times

ignoring hard facts and data. Many fast foods limit their advertisements to their brand characters if any or largely

portray the store wit fun and happiness. This generally misleads young children.

Patriotism: This is a common appeal wherein certain advertisers revolve their advertisement around a

patriotic theme to appeal to one’s sense of patriotism, be it with the colour theme, the wordings, the jingle of the

tag lines used.

Halan opines that “marketing to kids is no longer kid stuff”. A focus study by Kids-Link, the market

research group of Kid Stuff Promos and Events, highlighted that children have a lot of information because of

exposure to television, other media, and friends. They reflected that parents sought their children’s opinion even in

making purchase of products not directly related to the children, such as cars, because of their higher knowledge of

brands, models, and the latest trends. Thus keeping in line with the research findings, a trend commonly used by

advertisers is making use of children in advertisements of products directly as well as not directly related to children.

For example a life insurance plan or an educational plan or consumer durables like refrigerators, AC’s, Laptops,

TV’s and even cars.

Impact of Advertising on Children

Understanding the impact of advertising on children has always been a sensitive issue. When it comes to

advertising to children there will obviously be pros and cons involved. As companies constantly bombard the

consumer’s with information from various media sources, it is but obvious that children start learning at a very

young age. They are well aware of the different brands presents in product categories of their interest and as a result

this could lead to brand loyalty at a later stage in their lives. Another pro would be the vast array of information

that advertising provides about a range of different brands and thus providing children with information to choose

and decide on a particular brand. Advertising can also be used to bring about positive changes with respect to

behaviour of children. On the other hand critics believe that exposing children to advertisements can have a number

of repercussions, some of which are briefly mentioned below:

As suggested by the model created by Valkenburg and Cantor 26, “pester power” seems to be a preferred

tactic of young children. Most of the advertisements being aired today encourage children to pester their parents to

purchase the advertised product or service. Many a time’s parents may be unable to afford it and are burdened by

such requests made by their children.




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Display of a number of stunts and violence or showing children in a negative light may encourage some

children to emulate such advertisements. As a result immature minds get lured to all such habits. As shown in Table

1, is a list of TVC’s which were forced to either change or remove their advertisements off air due to such cases.

Certain advertisements suggest that children not using the advertised products are seen in a negative light.

In turn children pester their parents to purchase the product. The media heavily promotes unhealthy and

malnutricious food like instant food, junk food and sachet packed food

The fast food, snacks and soft drinks that are advertised fail to display the high sugar, fat contents and the

lack of nutritional value also influence children. Concerns have been raised that food advertisements are partly to

blame for children being overweight and obese. 27

Certain advertisements display that smoking, drinking and consuming pan as cool. Also some

advertisements display children in a sexual way with attractive clothes. Viewing such content could have a negative

impact on the minds of children

Also studies have proved that exposing children to advertisements can lead to negative outcomes such as

parent-child conflict, pessimism, obesity, and possibly materialistic attitudes 26

Also in a country where cricket and bollywood is considered as a religion, marketers strategically making

use of celebrity endorsers and thus persuade their target segment to make purchases.

Regulatory Framework:

With the growth of advertising, there have been lots of concerns with respect to advertising targeting

vulnerable segments of people. Advertising to children has been a major focus of public policy and concern for

many years.

Groups such as ACT (Action for Children’s Television) and CARU (Children’s Advertising Review Unit)

have been very active. CARU was established in 1974 by the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better

Business Bureaus for the purpose of

The Children's Advertising Review Unit has designed a Self-Regulatory Program for Children's

Advertising which consists of guidelines which marketers need to follow. Below are some guidelines mentioned

in the above report:

Copy, sound and visual presentations should not mislead children about product or performance

characteristics. Such characteristics may include, but are not limited to, speed, method of operation, color, sound,

durability, nutritional benefits and similar characteristics.

Claims should not unduly exploit a child's imagination. While fantasy, using techniques such as animation

and computer-generated imagery, is appropriate for both younger and older children, it should not create

unattainable performance expectations nor exploit the younger child's difficulty in distinguishing between the real

and the fanciful.

Advertisers should recognize that the mere appearance of a celebrity or authority figure with a product

can significantly alter a child's perception of the product. Advertisers may use such personalities as product

endorsers, presenters, or testifiers, but they must take great care to avoid creating any false impression that the use

of the product enhanced the celebrity’s or authority figure’s performance.

Advertisers should recognize that their use of premiums, kids’ clubs, contests and sweepstakes has the potential to enhance the appeal of their products to children.

Advertising should not urge children to ask parents or others to buy products. It should not suggest that a

parent or adult who purchases a product or service for a child is better, more intelligent or more generous than one

who does not.

Advertisers should avoid using sales pressure in advertising to children, e.g., creating a sense of urgency

by using words such as "buy it now."

Advertisements should not convey to children that possession of a product will result in greater acceptance

by peers or that lack of a product will result in less acceptance by peers.




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Advertisers should take into account that children are prone to exploration, imitation, and experimentation

and may imitate product demonstrations or other activities depicted in advertisements without regard to risk.

Advertisers should not advertise products directly to children that pose safety risks to them, i.e., drugs and

dietary supplements, alcohol, products labeled, "Keep out of the reach of children;" nor should advertisers targeting

children display or knowingly link to pages of websites that advertise such products.

Advertisements for children’s products should show them being used by children in the appropriate age

range.

Advertising should not portray or encourage behavior inappropriate for children (e.g., z violence or

sexuality) or include material that could unduly frighten or provoke anxiety in children

In India we have the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) which is a self-regulatory voluntary

organization of the advertising industry. The ASCI, established in 1985, is committed to the cause of Self -

Regulation in Advertising, ensuring the protection of the interests of consumers. The ASCI was formed with the

support of all four sectors connected with Advertising, viz. Advertisers, Ad Agencies, Media (including

Broadcasters and the Press) and others like PR Agencies, Market Research Companies etc. Its main objective is

to promote responsible advertising thus enhancing the public's confidence in Advertising. The Consumer

Complaints Council is ASCI's heart and soul which has given tremendous impetus to the work of ASCI and the

movement of self-regulation in the advertising. The ASCI aims to achieve its own overarching goal: to maintain

and enhance the public's confidence in advertising.

There is a general consensus with regards to advertising to children that even if children understand the

purpose of promotional messages, marketers must take special care in advertising to them because of the amount

of time children spend in viewing TV and online.

Media Literacy by Parents:

It is observed that up to the age of six years most of the use of media happens within the household. The

onus lies on parents to educate their children on the use of media and especially with respect to advertisements and

how marketers target young children. Mentioned below are few guidelines which parents could use:

o your children what advertising is all about and that what is being displayed may not always be the same in reality.

the video or print advertisements

television or the internet. Also it is of utmost importance to monitor the channels or websites your child

surfs through.

Explain to your children how marketers try to target people by using words such as ‘sale’,

‘limited offer only’, ‘based on a research’, ‘studies have shown’.. Also explain o you children how

companies try to cross sell products during movie releases which are usually preceded by marketing

campaigns involving tie ups with toys, books, clothes and food companies.

question, analyze and evaluate advertisements and at the same time to compare products, get feedback and make

comparisons before actually purchasing a product.

Conclusion

To conclude, it is obvious that the media and advertising done through it have a great influence on

knowledge gained by children which is essential in consumer socialization. As young children usually may not

understand the persuasive intent of advertising, they thus tend to be easy targets for advertisers. Hence, it is

important that parents educate their children about advertising so as to prevent the negative influence which

advertising can have on children in terms of eating habits, extreme buying habits etc. It is also the responsibility of

the government to develop effective laws in terms of do’s and don’ts of advertising and strict action needs to be

taken. Television to an extent gets in most of the advertising income; however marketers are still exploring new

media and ways to reach out to children. Marketers should realize that children of today are completely different

from children years ago. They are much more knowledgeable due to the easy access of vast information and have




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sizeable income due to the ever increasing pocket money which is in turn linked to the rising disposable incomes

of families. It is important for marketers to understand how children grow up as consumers and the impact of family,

societ and culture on their purchasing decisions. To successfully market their products to its young target segment,

marketers need to come out with new innovative and creative strategies beyond the usual tactics such as celebrity

endorsers, attractive product design and packaging, freebies, branded entertainment, repetition etc. They need to

give a lot of though into designing promotional content, distribution strategy and different media that could be used

to target the technology savvy young children.

References:

American Marketing Association, www.marketingpower.com/content4620.php (retrieved March 18,

2007)

Institute of Medicine (U.S.). Committee on Food Marketing and the Diets of Children and Youth. J.M.

McGinnis, J. Gootman,V.I. Kraak (eds). Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or

Opportunity? Washington: The National Academies Press, 2006, p.26,

http://www.ascionline.org/index.php/asci-codes definition of ASCI jan 11/01

Datta Srinivasa (April, 2008) “Advertisements Do They Match Consumer Preferences?” Marketing

Mastermind, pp.59-62

Ramaswami, V.S. and Namakumari, S. (2004), Marketing Management, 3rd Edition, MACMILLAN,

India.

Kavitha G. (2006) “A Study On The Effectiveness Of The Advertising Techniques Used In The

Personal Care Segment Of Women Consumers”, Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol. 36, No. 8, pp. 12-

16.

Comstock G, Scharrer E. Television: What’s On, Who’s Watching, and what it means. San Diego, CA:

Academic Press; 1999

Robins JM. Increasingly, TV’s a mess of messages. TV Guide. March 30–April 5, 2002; 41–42. Federal

Trade Commission. Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children: Report of the FTC. Washington, DC:

Federal Trade Commission; September 2000.

National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective

Responsibility. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2003. Available at: www.iom.edu/

Object.File/Master/19/780/0.pdf. Accessed October 31, 2005.

Consumers Union. Selling America’s kids: commercial pressures on kids of the 90’s. Available at:

www.consumersunion. org/other/sellingkids/index.htm. Accessed October 31, 2005

Montgomery K. Digital kids: the new on-line children’s consumer culture. In: Singer DG, Singer JL,

eds. Handbook of Children and the Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 2001: 635–650

UNESCObkk.org

The Development of a Child into a Consumer, Vlakenburg and Cantor, University of Amsterdam,

University of Wisconsin-Madison, NL and US, 2001.

Berey, Lewis A. and R.W. Pollay. (1968), “The Influencing Role of Child in Family Decision-Making.”

Journal of Marketing Research, 5 (February), pp. 70-72.

McNeal, J. U. y Chyon-Hwa Yeh (1994b), Stages of Consumer Socialization, in 1993 Proceedings of

the Social Statistics Section,Alexandria, VA: U.S. Statistics Association, pp. 856-860.

M. Stutts and G. Hunnicutt, “Can Young Children Understand Disclaimers in Television

Commercials?” Journal ofAdvertising 16 (1987): 41–46.

D. Greer and others, “The Effects of Television Commercial Form and Commercial Placement on

Children’s Social Behavior and Attention,” Child Development 53 (1982): 611–19

J. Rossiter, “The Effects of Volume and Repetition of Television Commercials: Policy Issues,

Perspectives, and the Status of Research,” in Children and the Faces of Television: Teaching, Violence,

Selling, edited by E. L. Palmer and A. Dorr (New York: Academic Press, 1980)

D. Kunkel and others, Report of the APA Task Force on Advertising and Children: Psychological Issues

in the Increasing Commercialization of Childhood (Washington, D.C.: American Psychological

Association, 2004)




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R. Dye, “The Buzz on Buzz,” Harvard Business Review, 78/6 (November/December 2000): 139-145

L. Mazur, “Marketing Madness,” E Magazine: The Environmental Magazine 7, no. 3 (1996).

R. Rubin, “Kids vs. Teens: Money and Maturity Guide to Online Behavior,” eMarketer, May 1, 2004.

S. Auty and C. Lewis, “The ‘Delicious Paradox’: Preconscious Processing of Product Placements by

Children,” in The Psychology of Entertainment Media: Blurring the Lines between Entertainment and

Persuasion, edited by L. J. Shrum (Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004), pp.117–33

Halan, Deepak. 2002. “Why Kids Mean Business,” Indian Management, December, 46-49.

P. Valkenburg and J. Cantor, “The Development of a Child into a Consumer,” in Children in the Digital

Age: Influences of Electronic Media on Development, edited by S. L. Calvert, A. B. Jordan, and R. R.

Cocking (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2002), pp. 201–14.

D. Kunkel and others, Report of the APA Task Force on Advertising and Children: Psychological Issues

in the Increasing Commercialization of Childhood (Washington, D.C.: American Psychological

Association, 2004)

Gary M. Amstrong, “An Evaluation of the Children’s Advertising Review Unit,” Journal of Public

Policy and Marketing, 3 (1984),

Tables: Table 1: Report of Consumer Complaints Council (CCC)

Advertiser /

Agency / Media

Claim / Description

of Ad/ TVC

Complaint ASCI Code/ CCC

(Consumer

Representational

Organisation) Decision

Havells India TVC shows “a child Depiction of child labor in May 2010 Ltd as a house servant this Ad is wrong and TVC does not come

(Havells Fans) cleaning the house derogatory, and also has no under the purview of

and a vase breaks. relevance to the product `Child Labour’, as the

Set Max The child says advertised. Advertiser has provided (4/2010) “uparwale bacha”. proof of the Actor’s age

(being 29).

Maxx Mobile Voice Over - “a child Advertisement is likely to July 2010 Exparte Communications threatens his parents create a (Comments not received

Ltd that if he doesn’t get negative feeling in the from the Advertiser). Ad

(Maxx Mobile) Maxx mobile, he will society, particularly among is not likely to cause a

run away from the minors. negative feeling in the

92.7 FM house”. society

Vadodara Station




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Bajaj Auto Ltd.

(Bajaj Pulsar)

Ogilvy &

Mather

Star Gold

(3/2008)

Visuals - “some

bikers

performing extremely

dangerous stunts on

motorbikes followed

by

the Ad slogan - `Pulsar

Mania’. The `safety

warning’ for stunts

being performed by

experts, appears at the

bottom of the Ad in an

almost transparent

font.

Claim / Description of

Ad/ TVC

(Complaint received in

3/2008).

Keeping in mind the several

instances in the past where

such stunt Ads have caused

youngsters to get carried

away and try these

dangerous acts leading to

injuries and even deaths, the

`warning’

given in the Ad is not

prominent enough to avoid

danger which may result out

of the fantasies of a young

child after watching the Ad.

Complaint

April 2008 Chapter III.3.

Actions portrayed in the

visuals depicted in the

TVC, show dangerous

practices and manifest a

disregard for safety

without justifiable reason.

TVC modified.

ASCI Code/ CCC

(Consumer

Representational

Organisation) Decision

Advertiser /

Agency / Media

Coca Cola India

Inc (Coca Cola)

TVC shows - “a

minor boy is playing with a

(Complaint received in

11/2008) By watching this TVC,

January 2009 Chapter

III.3. Visual showing “use of

McCann- fire children sparklers in a dangerous

Erickson cracker (Ful-jhadi) in may get provoked/tempted to manner”, manifests a

a dangerous way”. perform the similar act disregard for safety and




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Star Plus which is is likely to encourage

(10/2008)

IBN7

(10/2008)

against the safety standard of

using

fire crackers and harmful in

nature

for the children.

negligence.

TVC withdrawn.

http://www.ascionline.org/index.php/asci-about/65-cat-about-asci-feedback/asci-recent-

decisionbyccc


advertising to children prof. andrea almeida abstract€¦ · however, advertising “brings a...

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