Advertising to children
The act of advertising products or services to children is defined by national laws and advertising standards.
Advertising involves using communication channels to promote products or services to a specific audience. When it comes to children, advertising raises various questions regarding its application, duration, impact on youngsters, and ethical considerations surrounding the practice of targeting children. Understanding the effects of advertising on children's behavior and well-being is a complex and evolving field of study.
Scope and form
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization defines early childhood as ages 0–8 years. For the purposes of advertising law, the definition of a child varies from one jurisdiction to another. However, the age of 12 is commonly used as a cut-off point. This cut-off point is made in consideration of the widespread academic view that by age 12 children have developed their behavior as consumers, can effectively recognize advertising, and are able to adopt critical attitudes towards it.Different types of advertising to children
Advertising to children can take place on traditional media such as television, radio, print, new media, internet and other electronic media. The use of packaging, in-store advertising, event sponsorship, and promotions can also be classified as advertising.Television
Many advertisements involve children around the same age as the viewer. The latest technology; from laptops, and mobile phones, to toys are being advertised by companies to attract customers to buy their products. Companies now have new mediums and methods to spread their advertisements as a result of these emerging technologies. Children can watch commercials with children of the same age acting overjoyed about a product, thus encouraging them to also purchase the product. Advertising has a strong hold on behavior, as children are known to act out behavior and repeat quotes heard on advertisements—even in situations contextually separate from the ad. Television advertisements can create peer attention between children which may attract them to buy the products. Companies will still use ads to target children because they are worth billions in sales.The effect is seen mainly in young children. According to a study from the UK, it states that celebrities who endorse specific foods in television commercials are a powerful influence on children, and that effect may extend beyond the advertisement itself. That study contained 181 children, and was concluded that children ate more potato chips after seeing advertisements featuring a popular UK sports figure than children who only watched commercials for toys and nuts. Jason C. G. Halford from University of Liverpool stated, "Obviously when they saw Gary Lineker in the advertisement, they ate a lot more crisps... but what was surprising was when we showed him presenting his show we found that it had the same effect as the advertisement." Many types of research indicate that children are more likely to pick foods sponsored by celebrities, even when it is just fruit. A study in 2012 found that children who were offered both cookies and apples were more likely to choose the apple, if it had an Elmo sticker on it. Researchers say that this phenomenon is worrisome, since most foods advertised on television are unhealthy, and linked to a child's health and weight long-term. Children are attracted to television advertisements, especially those featuring their beloved cartoons, which not only engage them positively but also create an intention to make purchases. For instance, McDonald's stands out as a leader in targeting young children through television ads among fast-food chains. In 2016, McDonald's allocated $32.9 million for television advertising, with a specific focus on promoting Happy Meals tailored to children. Moreover, McDonald's outperforms other fast-food brands by employing strategies such as providing free cartoon characters and animal figurines in their Happy Meals.
Social media
Advertising to children and teenagers is a large business with $3.2 billion dedicated to nondigital forms and $900 million allotted to digital advertising in the United States in 2018. This budget has been predicted to increase in value in the coming years. Digital media and mobile devices have introduced a new wave of advertising, which now includes a wide range of marketing approaches seen on the Internet, social media, video games, mobile games, and more. Sponsored content, as seen on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, as well as gamified advertising which includes commercial content, hidden ads, and incentivised ads, are newer methods for marketing messages to be delivered. These new marketing approaches allow advertisers to gather data on consumer behaviour by tracking activity and influencing users by enhancing the effectiveness of advertisements.Social media platforms such as YouTube allow for influencers to expand their consumer reach due to the large followings they have. YouTube has increased in popularity due to its alternative form of entertainment for children. According to research conducted at the Pew Research Center in 2018, 81% of parents in the United States allow their kids to watch YouTube. The format used by the platform allows for advertisements to be played before a video begins as well as being interspersed throughout. Content creators on YouTube may also promote brands directly or indirectly in their videos.
Kid influencers are a particular genre of influencer who primarily create videos and social media posts either unboxing and playing with toys or interacting and engaging in activities with friends and family. The content being generated on social media platforms include commercial content and marketing messages expressed in different ways. For example, unboxing videos show influencers actively reviewing a product to which they have a paid sponsorship with. Influencers may instead decide to discretely advertise by simply playing with a product. If promoting a brand, these influencers are often highly paid. Popular kid influencer Ryan from Ryan’s World on YouTube earned $22 million in 2018 through paid endorsements.
Kid influencers are seen as highly relatable individuals who have the ability to appeal to a diverse audience, thus making them good candidates for marketing purposes. Influencer marketing is a new phenomenon that relies on compensating influencers through paid promotion or free products in exchange for the advertisers’ ability to have control over the content being delivered. Children who follow these individuals tend to develop one-sided parasocial relationships with the influencer, with which they form an emotional connection, perceiving them as a friend. As children develop a PSR, they tend to neglect the fact that the influencer is a paid promoter of a product and instead view them as a credible and trustworthy source of product recommendations.
History
In the 20th century, the compulsory education of children was established which consequently made school-age children the target audiences of many publications.The publications in an attempt to raise potential sales, comic book promotion to the youth market rose in the 20th century. During this era, spot advertising came to be known as a prodigious way of advertising. Additionally, sponsorship arrangements became increasingly popular as an advertising medium. In the United States of America, advertisers sponsored television programs or films to promote their products through broadcast media.
With this rise in targeted advertising, concerns prevailed regarding advertising's ability to easily manipulate young children due to a limited ability to comprehend the implicit objective of advertisers. Such concerns drove the introduction of national laws and advertising standards. Through the 1970s, the Big Three television networks in the United States did not view children as a desirable target audience, because they had no income of their own.
Before national laws and advertising standards were introduced, a content creator on YouTube could promote their own merchandising during a video with no distinction between the video and the advertisement.
A late-August 2016 report indicated that various Internet streaming services, such as Netflix have prevented children of the 2010s from seeing 150 hours of commercials every year.
Effects on children
Studies estimate that children between the ages of 6 and 11 spend on average 28 hours a week watching television and are exposed to as many as 20,000 commercials in a single year. The maximum number of 30-second ads that can appear in an hour of children's television is 24 ads on weekdays, 21 ads per hour on weekends. If a child watches one hour of programming daily, it translates to nearly 160 advertisements seen per week. Since the 1970s, there has been a large amount of concern as to whether or not children can comprehend advertisements and the extent to which they do so. A study conducted by Goldberg, M. E., & Gorn, G. J. in 1983 looked at the acquisition of children's cognitive defenses and found that until the age of 8 most children are unable to understand the selling intent of televised advertisements. Between the ages of 8 and 10 children only have a partial understanding of selling intent, and it is not until at least the age of 11 that a child is able to fully understand the selling intent of televised advertisements. The study concludes that there is a large difference in a basic understanding of the purpose of advertising between children of a younger age and of older age, and as a result, different age groups have different reactions to television-based advertisements.Examples of cognitive abilities that impact a child's ability to understand the intention of advertisements and commercials are theory of mind and executive functioning. Comprehending the persuasive nature of advertisements and understanding brand symbolism are directly correlated with these cognitive skills.
There are positive and negative implications to television advertising on young children, for both marketers and the children who view the advertisements. A study conducted in 2014 found a link between advertisements and the development of materialism in children. Children who were exposed to commercials displayed a stronger inclination to acquire products compared to children who did not, which in turn reinforced the development of materialism. A positive effect that advertising can have on children is increased autonomy and personal growth, both of which are categorized as dimensions of psychological wellbeing. Many advertising aimed at children is criticized for enforcing gender stereotypes. Some countries have broadcast codes that suggest that television advertisements should not contain exaggerated claims that will mislead or deceive children, abuse their trust or lack the understanding of persuasive intent in an advertisement.
Many parents report being pestered by their children for the product they have seen on television. This phenomenon is dubbed "pester power", which means that little children pester their parents to buy things for them that they desire. A study showed that mothers are more likely to purchase a product for their children due to the emotional appeal of their children's response to an advertisement.
Critics have likewise communicated concern with respect to the predominance of promoting brutal media, for example, films and computer games, focusing on children. Three reports by the Federal Trade Commission discovered significant help for such charges, and keeping in mind that reviews have not legitimately surveyed the effect of such publicizing, revealing that such advertisements do influence children's media inclinations.