Advertising to Children

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that children react to advertisements similarly to the way adults react (1) by absorbing subconsciously sensory data, such as slogans or jingles, and (2) by associating certain emotional responses with certain products; however, children, especially young children, do not possess cognitive skills sufficient to understand fully the impact of advertising on their impulses. The author points out that three children frequently peppered their interviews about products, which the children had seen advertised recently on television with "I want..[a specific brand]..", demonstrating that television commercials stimulate the consumer instinct and create brand awareness. The paper relates that advertising draws children's attention away from those products that are not advertised on television.

From the Paper:

"Advertising does create awareness of products that the kids might not have otherwise known about. The nine-year old, for example, said, "Oh, oh, I want the Barbie radio!" When I asked her if any of her friends had the product she said no, that she just saw it on television. Wanting was expressed linguistically and straightforwardly by all three children: all three used simple language to convey that they coveted or craved items they had seen on television. Even negative responses to television commercials were expressed through language of "wanting." A few of the three children used the word "need" in conjunction with what they had seen on television, except for the nine-year old who said that she "needed" some accessory toys for her doll, but not because she had seen them in a commercial. The twelve-year old, when talking about the Play Station commercials she had seen said that she "needed" to get a new game console because hers was old."

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