Nowadays it seems to be impossible to spend a day without coming across any piece of advertisement. It has seized the streets, TV, and radio space as well as the Global Network. Created as a tool of providing information concerning specific goods or services, advertising has recently turned into a means of influence on human consciousness. The social group that possesses the highest possibility to be susceptible to the influence by ads is represented by the young generation. Colorful pictures, joyful music, and merry faces on the screens make non-reversible effects on child’s consciousness being still in a process of formation. Advertising should be restricted from the government to children. Advertisers should stop targeting kids since they are too young to understand the intentions behind promotion.
The primary influence of advertising can be noticed in the changes of kid’s behavior. Unfortunately, these changes usually have negative consequences. Meta-analyses confirm that exposure to media violence promotes aggressive behaviors, attitudes more accepting of violence, increased hostility, and other antisocial outcomes. The idea that violence on TV screens results in the aggression in a real life is supported by the research described in the article Media and Risky Behavior. Many pieces of TV commercials contain the elements of fight that are not supposed for a view of children. Parents can control the content of films or cartoons, but advertising is shown between TV programs and practically impossible to be excluded. The research described in the previously indicated article confirms the idea that the frequent exposure to aggression on TV results in its reproduction at the grown-up age.
Apart from violence, commercials make children more vulnerable. There is a tendency for kids under 8 years old to accept all information from promotion as truth. Children of the young age are more susceptible to the suggestion of certain ideas as they have used to obey adult authorities. They are too young to understand true exaggeration motives of TV clips.
Moreover, advertisements of alcohol cause the incensement of exposure to this product among under-age. These commercials usually depict the images of successful and satisfied people being completely satisfied with their lives. Hence, developing the mind of youth may treat consumption of this product as the way to that shiny adult life. The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) has conducted an investigation of this problem. It has been found out that youth exposure to alcohol ads on TV had increased by 30% from 2001 to 2006.
Certain pieces of advertising may have a shocking effect on children’s consciousness and even scare them. The content of commercial plot is often imbued with dramatic events that may agitate kids and cause the unnecessary worrying. Advertising often appeals to the problems of home violence or parents under pressure. These advertisements contain very emotional messages such as, “I think my Mum is in the hospital, but I'm not sure. Dad says not to be afraid that she'll be better soon”. No adult will be deeply anxious with inner worrying after reading such billboard; though children are very sensitive. Hence, this description may provoke a strong feeling of anxiety regarding the health conditions of kids.
Promotion in a certain way participates in the determination of child’s needs and priorities. The direct aim of advertising is “to attend to the message, desire a specific product, recognize and remember that product, and purchase it. As it has been already mentioned children are not able to comprehend the exact message of the commercial as they focus on the attractive qualities of products and cannot keep their minds off the products for long. Hence, they start asking or even demanding from parents the purchase of certain goods that look attractive though being not necessary at all. The statistic data show that, in the US there are over 57 million school age children and teenagers who spend about $100 billion each year of their own and their family's money on sweets, food, drinks, video and electronic products, toys, etc.
Consequently, kids become more spoiled. Once they notice a new game or toy this thing may become an object of negotiation with parents. In case of getting a refusal tp buy something many children begin to demand it by crying, begging or even making threats. The other way advertising spoils them is the propagation of spoilt behavior. For instance, the ads of the campaign Parents under Stress contain some messages that demonstrate the examples of bad behavior. Thus, they may be followed by other children as well.
In fact, some recently produced pieces of commercials are actually focused on attracting attention of children as potential customers. Such child-centered approach has been apparent from the advertising design of products, packaging or showcases. “The new emphasis on children’s autonomy as consumers was also manifested in the use of more playful and ‘participatory’ approaches to marketing,” claims the author of the book The Material Child. Advertising companies allow children playing with new toys and organize different parties in shops with lots of competitions and quizzes. They believe that no child would be able to resist the temptation to entertain with ae new robot or try a brand-new play station just for a few minutes. The trick consists in the idea that once a kid has tried one of the goods advertised and enjoyed it to the fullest extent, the young customer will not want to leave this new attraction. Therefore, he or she may persuade parents to purchase that thing.
It is obvious that advertising uses manipulation methods in order to be successful and enlarge the number of customers. The young generation was selected as a target audience on the reason that children are not able to understand the message of advertising completely. For instance, kids younger than 6 do not know that commercials shown on TV are actually aimed at selling something. Elder children understand the purpose of promotion. However, they not always are able to comprehend the real qualities of goods displayed.
Children represent a category of potential customers that are far more truthful than adults. They place indiscriminate trust in televised advertising messages. Television and other kinds of mass media are commonly treated as the outer sources of information. Nevertheless, kids’ perception differs from the adults’. Children are still in the stage of learning the world. Their brain has not accumulated the sufficient amount of data about different things in order to be able to compare them and filter the truthful facts from the commercial exaggeration. Moreover, many advertising agencies often invite different celebrities to promote their products. Children are far more disposed to believe in the words of their idols than adults. Hence, it is easier to influence them and get an access to their parents’ wallet.
The strongest manipulation effect has the food advertising. The book Children, Adolescents, and the Media provides shocking statistics concerning this issue. American children view approximately 40,000 ads per year. More than half of them are related to food. The average child at the age of 2 to 11 watches approximately 13 ads per day on TV. The objects of food ads are often presented by the so-called junk food including fast food, sugared cereals, and high-calories snacks. Hence, such commercial promotes the products that look attractive and taste good but are beyond the measures of a healthy diet. The study described in the article “How Advertisers Manipulate Children” has focused on the poor quality of products that are widely advertized on TV and have children as the target audience. This study showed that cereals marketed to kids have 85 percent more sugar, 65 percent less fiber, and 60 percent more sodium than cereals marketed to adults. Excessive consumption of suchlike harmful products will have various negative consequences. It may cause many problems with a digestive or cardiovascular system and even lead to obesity.
However, there are also those who support advertising and claim that children may actually understand advertisements. Advertisers target kids in order to help the development of national economy. These supporters state that watching a commercial clip may have a positive impact on the young generation. The content of ads is not always scary or shocking. In some cases, it carries quite positive messages. It may display the positive role models, encouraging statements, positive interactions, positive messages for the whole commercial, advances in the research, as well as medical or health benefits. Still, in most cases, only adults may comprehend the positive component of such a clip. For kids, the whole advertising may be perceived as nothing but a good story with interesting illustrations.
The understanding of promotion by children is also under the question. There are several studies proving the idea that kids are capable of correct identification of the persuasive intent of advertisements. For instance, in one of these researches, Chinese children were asked a more structured question about the intent of promotion such as “what do commercials want you to do?” The researchers have reported that the majority of kids at the age of seven and eight recognized the advertiser’s intention to persuade the audience for buying the product promoted. Nevertheless, even shows being particularly designed for children contain the certain elements of violence. The comprehension of their content may have a negative influence of kids’ mind or behavior.
On that reason, the content of commercials should be monitored in a proper way. Unfortunately, nowadays, the importance of control over the advertising messages has been underestimated. According to Vitelli, the current federal regulations only control the amount of commercial time during the children’s programs. The actual content in commercials is only monitored by industry watchdogs such as the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of the Better Business Bureaus which have no real legal authority over advertisers. Apart from the government, the content of ads should be monitored by psychologists. The corresponding warning should precede certain clips that have the elements of violence. It is very important for parents to control the kids’ access to advertising and try to minimize its presence during watching the TV.
The last argument on the defense of commercials lies in the assumption that prompting kids ads may increase a purchase rate and boost the economy. In addition to the purchasing spend they represent and the influence they exert on their parents’ shopping decisions, children who have not yet formed their tastes, desires and preferences become an ultimate target for advertisers and remain as such throughout adulthood. However, the young generation is not independent customers. Once they have got the desire to buy something they must address their parents. It is often done not in the most polite manner as kids may nag to parents, try negotiations, bargain and even threat. In this way, promotion implants such features of character in the children’s mind that most parents try to eradicate.
To conclude, the influence of advertising on children is predominantly negative. The young mind is too fresh to comprehend the real message of commercials. It is too vulnerable to perceive the possible content. It is obvious that in order to minimize a harmful impact on kids’ mind the promotion should be under control of certain governmental and social institutions.
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