Children and advertising

Advertising is a controversial issue within today’s society concerning children and consumerism. There are numerous concerns, a major one being if children should be viewed as consumers and the influences that advertising can have on vulnerable children. Gunter, Oates and Blades (2005) deliberate on many questions, one relating to the fairness of advertising to children concerning their understanding of the advertisers’ intent. As Hind (2003) in Gunter et al (2005) comments, increase in popular television programmes, such as the ‘Teletubbies’, opens up new opportunities to sell toys and associated material to even younger children. Therefore, advertising is prevalent to much younger children than one would imagine. Children’s innocence and naivety may be taken advantage of as they may not fully understand the purposes of the advertisements, with Palmer (2006:230) suggesting that “the younger they are, the more the distinction between TV and reality is blurred”. This brings up another issue regarding children’s advertisement education which will be explored later. However, it could be seen that the makers of advertisements play on children’s naivety regarding a term associated as ‘pester power’ in that children request an advertised product to be bought for them, presumably by their parents (Stanbrook, 1997). Stanbrook (1997) suggests that advertisement for children does not actually exist as it is directed to the parents. Although advertising is not supposed to influence ‘pester power’, according to the British Codes on TV and print media advertising, it can be seen as inevitable when there are expensive products or food in which the whole household requires (Stanbrook, 1997). Consequently, children could be seen as subconscious consumers as they do not know any better at this age. However, Pilgrim and Lawrence (2001) in Gunter et al (2005) discuss the argument that ‘pester power’ could be a way forward for child-parent negotiation about what to purchase, rather than to produce conflict.

Children’s perceptions of themselves is another issue raised within advertising. Martin et al (1999) in Gunter et al (2005) concluded that magazines containing attractive models influenced girls with poor body image. These girls aim to buy the products to heighten their self-image. Girls can be vulnerable to these kinds of images in magazines which could have a negative impact, such as a want to diet. Therefore, it could be viewed that advertising does influence children’s perceptions of themselves as they are led to believe that this is the norm. However, if children are aware of the intentions, through home and school education, children may deviate from their vulnerable, innocent selves. Although there are negative aspects of advertisements on children, Furnham (2000) in Gunter et al (2005) believes that advertising has little effect on children and that banning would only inhibit their understanding and decision making. Palmer (2006) mentions that critical understanding of marketing messages only comes when children reach the ages of eleven or twelve, however by this age many have already been brainwashed. Therefore, it is notable that Sweden has banned television marketing to children under twelve. It is questionable about the impacts of such banning as it may hinder knowledge and understanding when making choices.

The evidence suggesting children’s vulnerability regarding advertising and the negative impact of such banning emphasizes the significance of children’s education about the effects and influence of advertising, both at home and school. However, Gunter et al (2005) mention the limited teaching on topics of advertising due to the pressures on the primary school curriculum. If teachers understand the ways in which children engage with advertising in today’s world, effort can be put into teaching children about the purposes of such adverts which could instil greater knowledge in children and could prevent naivety.

 

Bibiography

Gunter, B. Oates, C. & Blades, M. (2005) Advertising to Children on TV. New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Palmer, S. (2006) Toxic Childhood: How The Modern World Is Damaging Our Children And What We Can Do About It, London: Orion

Stanbrook, L. ‘The politics of advertising to children’ in Smith, G. (1997) Children’s food, Marketing and Innovation, London: Chapman and Hall