Effects of Advertising on Children Today

No matter where children are or what they are doing they’ll always find some sort of advertisements. It can be when their casually watching television, reading a magazine or just playing games on their computer. Advertisements are different forms of communication whose purpose is to make their product known to the public. Marketers aren’t partial to certain people; they target anyone and every age group, but recently there has been an upsurge of advertisements aimed towards children. In Eric Schlosser’s article, Kid Kustomers, he demonstrates how child advertising has boomed by the tactics marketers use to get children to want and demand certain companies’ products.

In today’s media obsessed society, youth is greatly influenced by advertising. For example, Marketing to kids gets more savvy with technologies is how they ,“Online games like Webkinz show ads on the site draw youth to buy the product or just to look at it for ‘money’”. Because this tactic works, the ads are an excellent at make youth to talk about this and be annoyed. In Facts about Marketing to Children, it says, “Children pack 8.5 hours of media a day’, is what the Facts about Marketing to Children says.” Because children are on the media so much it is easy for marketers to advertise and get children to buy the product. “ Anne Lappe says that when her daughter grows up, and goes to a movie, the character might have a soda or fast food.”

One of the most successful marketers is quoted in the article “Get kids to nag their parents and nag them well”(260). In the initial few sections, he discussed the present time effects of the advertising on youngsters. Through this he contend that, previously, there weren't numerous child based marketing organizations that concentrated exclusively with respect to children and have their own kids' divisions, while now, they have huge amounts of organizations that makes a whole advertising division for the

Some companies even target little children just because they know that they are innocent and that they are most likely going to go to their parents to buy them the product that they want. In some occasions the parents are going to buy the product because they want the best for their children; which might not be the right thing in these type of situations. Most parents do not know that the companies are targeting their children and they give no importance to what they are doing. The only thing that the parents are thinking are that they are choosing the best for their children by satisfying them. Most children in this century already know what each brand is or what is trending before even learning how to add or subtract. In this type of situation I strongly agree on what Barber said that “... parents can refuse to relinquish their gatekeeping roles and let marketers know they won't allow their kids to be targeted anymore.” Moreover it explains that parents should not let their children believe what social media or producers say that they need. It is their job to teach children to know what they need on their own and not what producers tell them they

Abstract Previous studies have suggested that advertising exposure affects materialistic orientations among youth. However, this causal effect has not been investigated among 8- to 11-year olds, who are in the midst of consumer development. Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying this relation have not been studied. In order to fill these lacunae, this study focused on the longitudinal relation between children’s advertising exposure and materialism. We investigated two possible mediators: advertised product

The film, “Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood” takes a closer look at how the negative impact advertising and marketing is having on the children who are the main targeted audience especially because they are easy to manipulate. The United States is a country that cares a lot about consumers. People are around advertisement and marketing all the time in every place they go. In fact, people live to buy, people need and want things constantly and it will never stop. In the American economy consumerism may be a leading role. Most would say the advertisements are a way to promote information about services and products, but in most cases, it involves deception and manipulation. For years now consumerism has been the trademark of the American way of life and now that society has embraced it so fully, it seems that even children are being born and raised with the same mindset. The kids influence their parents buying decicions and they’re the adult consumers of the future.Our bank account might be affected by advertisement, but many adults don’t realize the ways are brain are affected by it. Parents have to teach their kids that many of the things advertise are not good, by not always buying what their kids want. Government regulations need to put a stop to corporations that live, breathe and sell the idea of consumerism to children.

Children are easily influenced, and this can be taken advantage of in the commercial industry. Thy have the desire to fit in and do what is considered “cool”. Many people believe that people use this desire to their own benefit in order to create profit. While it’s true children are easily manipulated by commercials, these commercials and be beneficial to the child's development. Commercials can be used to bring good ideas and good life skills to children that will lead them to being a successful adults. Commercials aimed at children are ethical because they can reinforce positive behaviors and good ideals. This is shown through articles, press and reports.

Eric Schlosser’s essay, “Kid Kustomers,” concludes and makes several strong points about the marketing on children. He starts his essay with a brief comparison that “twenty-five years ago, only a handful of American companies directed their marketing at children,” whereas today, “children are being targeted by phone companies, oil companies, and automobile companies…” He emphasizes and stresses the importance of having “Kid Kustomers,” because one important marketing strategy is to aim to “increase not just current, but also future, consumption.” Schlosser learns that ad agencies target children because they make up a majority of their sales. Throughout the essay, Schlosser not only gives marketing tips but also discusses the 7 different types

Companies are continuously in search of innovative marketing techniques by encouragingly establishing individuals to purchase their advertised products. As intelligent as marketing companies are, they are indeed aware of the fact that adults are more likely to watch an advertisement and detect why they should or should not purchase such product. In such instances where the company cannot reach the focus of an adult, parent, or parental figure, marketers will target young children and teens in their advertising campaigns. Advertising campaigns targeting the youth have significantly impacted the ethical consideration in the children’s market through media, ethics, as well as food advertising to children.

Many people believe that everything is black and white, especially when it comes to advertisements. What many don’t understand is that everything has an underlining meaning. Every advertisement has been thought out thoroughly to catch the attention of the consumers it is aiming towards. Advertisements aiming towards children has definitely been a topic that many people can’t seem to wrap their mind around. It’s been a topic that many have exposed because of the way marketers are willing to manipulate children in ways that only benefit their own. This whole issue began after the progression of marketing to children during the late 70s and early 80s with the advertisers’ intentions of making children lifelong consumers of products.

Statistics show that today companies spend nearly $17 billion annually marketing to kids. This paper will explore the effect that advertisements have on the growing mind of a child. It paper will support the view of the video “Consuming Kids” in the context that yes in fact advertising to children is a social problem and that adults should understand the seriousness of this matter; and they should also take steps to help the change the environment that their children are part of in-order to build a healthier future for them. The first section of the paper will take glimpses into early, tween and teen ages of a child and examine the social effects of technology and advertisement. The second section of the paper will discuss the

Marketing to children is not a new phenomenon; however, there have been many ethical debates on its rightness; is advertising to children a gentle persuasion of the innocent or a sinister threat to our society? There’s too much as stake if we remain silent and simply assume that marketing companies have our children’s best interests at heart; the truth is they don’t. This paper will explore to implications of marketing to children and the overall effects it has on our society. I will argue that advertising to children is a social problem. In the first part of my paper I will discuss why advertising to children is ethically wrong, I will then discuss what has changed; this will be followed by a discussion as to why it is a social problem and finally, I will conclude my paper by discussing what should be done to change it. Please note this paper is written in the first person as I have children and I have a vested interest in this topic.

Children are very important to marketers. They influence their parents and friends’ decisions. Every day children 2 to 17 years of age watch between 12-21 food commercials and that’s just on television (Haupt). They are also being bombarded by ads on the internet, video games, and smart phones. They’ve also introduced fast food into the schools. Many elementary and middle schools have Pizza Huts, Taco Bells, and various other restaurants in the schools. The fruits and

Marketing has always had an impact to the future of our children because children can be approached in easy manners. As marketing continues to digress among children, spending on them seems to increase due to the way the ads and merchandise is presented. I believe marketing towards youngsters is a positive benefit into our economy and pursuing positive behavior. Nowadays brands have developed a technique called “pester power” that’s supposed to encourage children to watch what they consume, join any sports or activities, and make them be socially aware of their well-being.

Advertising today focuses on specific targeted demographic groups. There is a direct focus on marketing products to young consumers. This age group sees the commercials, but does not really understand the directed message. This can have an adverse effect on the way children interpret and understand the message being presented to them. 'The average American child sees more than 40,000 commercials a year, and advertisers spend more than $12 billion annually marketing to them?double the amount of 10 years ago.' (APA-1) Children watching television are exposed to every channel running commercials that are sending out a mature message to an immature audience. There needs to be something done to