Marketing has a huge effect on children's wants, desires, and preferences. For instance, candy is branded with children's favorite characters, like SpongeBob and Dora the Explorer. Even when a television ad does not exist to showcase a specific type of food, the packaging uses children's favorite television shows to influence their choices. This creates strong desires in children to have tangible pieces of their favorite alternate world of a television program.
Packaging is created in fun colors and designs to appeal to children, and foods are colored and flavored so that children will desire unhealthy and extremely processed foods. For example, McDonald’s latest marketing campaign for children is disguised as a literacy promotion where books are given to children for reading. These books feature characters from McDonald’s Happy Meals and are designed to promote brand loyalty.
Are Children Targeted By Ad Campaigns?
Children are targeted by television ad campaigns. There is currently legislation working its way through the World Health Organization and branches of governments worldwide to curb this marketing trend. Children under the age of 13 are not yet developed enough to make informed decisions about advertisements, so marketing to small children must stop. Children love pretty colors and shapes, and so even some cigarette ads and designs attract children.
Effects of Ads
Since Quebec banned advertisement to children, the fast-food business there is down 13 percent. Advertisement generally reaches 28 percent of the intended market, but advertising to children in schools reaches a full 80 percent, which for companies seems like good business. Many question if it is socially responsible to market anything to children.
Are Children Easily Swayed or Unaffected?
Children's minds are not developed to the point where they can reason through if they really need something or not. Thus they are defenseless against advertisements and are easily swayed to strongly desire or even agonize over feeling a need for something in an advertisement. Marketing to children usually leads children to believe that they will be more socially accepted or will have more fun by enjoying whatever is advertised.
Surveys show that four percent of children younger than two years old watch television every day. The effects of advertisements going into these very young and impressionable minds may lay dormant for many years or may come out right away, but the children are being exposed to advertisement without any defense or ability to choose wisely. Children as young as two years old can develop ideas about specific brands because of television advertisements.
Food Choices
Studies show that advertisement has a direct impact on children's food choices. Parental input is also effective, but does not undo the impact of an advertisement on a child’s mind. In a study where some children watched advertisements for French Fries and some watched advertisements for apple slices, the ones who watched the advertisement for French fries without parental influence chose the fries 71 percent of the time. Children who watched the French fry commercial and whose parents influenced them away from the fries still chose French fries 55 percent of the time. Children who watched the apple commercial and their parents remained neutral chose French fries 46 percent of the time, while children who watched the apple commercial and had parental influence only chose the French fries 33 percent of the time. Examples like this one show that advertising has a direct, often negative, impact on children’s food decisions.
This article was provided by Samantha Greenbaum, social-conscious mother of two and marketing professional. If you're also in marketing and need help finding new clients, Samantha suggests you generate leads with LeadMD.com
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