Introduction
The goal of every business organisation is to maximise profits through the sale of products or services. To achieve this goal, most organisations employ different promotional mechanisms for their products, and most organisations have employed advertising as one of their major promotional tools.
Advertising refers to a non-personal communication of information, which is normally well structured and composed. Such information is usually persuasive in nature and directed towards a given target group. Advertising assists customers to understand the price of a given product, its potential benefits as well as the place to find it (Cronin et al. 20010, pp. 30).
Due to recent technological advancements, the electronic media has become a major means of advertising, e.g. television, radio and internet-based social networks (Kletchemer 2004, pp. 42).
This paper focuses on the various issues concerning advertising to children, including: firstly, the factors that have led to increased advertisement to children; second, the impact of advertising to children, including the positive and negative; thirdly, the regulation of children’s advertisements; fourthly, the considerations that marketers should have in children’s advertising.
Factors that have led to increased advertisement to children
Recently, the potential number of clients in the children market for advertising has increased. Research has shown that the American children’s market represents approximately $500 billion per year. This amount consists of about $200 billion that children spent on personal items such as snacks, soft drinks and entertainment (Roberts et al. 2005, pp. 17).
The remaining portion is spent on buying other items that are essential to the whole family that the children influence their parents/ guardians to buy. Since many organisations produce these products, which tend to have similar characteristics, they have to persuade customers to choose a particular product over the rest. Owing to this, advertising to children has become a major marketing strategy that different organisations employ.
Advertising to children not only concerns them but their parents as well. The advertisement of some products to children is an indirect means of capturing the attention of their parents who are the buyers of the product in question (Kunkel 2001, pp. 102). This is a unique feature of the children’s market.
However, the children’s market is not the only market segment where the purchasers of the products are not necessarily consumers of the product – it also applies to pets and gift receivers (Fletcher 2004). The main difference is that unlike pets, children are able to respond to such advertisements by vocalising their desires.
On the other hand, gift receivers rarely respond to the adverts. By communicating their desires to their parents/guardians, children persuade the parents to purchase the products in the advertisements (Martin et al. 2006, pp. 601). This translates to an increase in sales for the producers, which is their ultimate goal.
The children market undergoes many changes as the children (up to 12 years of age) undergo different developmental stages. With the transition to the next developmental stage, the preferences of children change: for example, children lose their desire in certain products. This is not only true for toys but also for clothes, foods and confectionery (Ajzen 2008, p. 528).
Research has shown that from the age of five, children begin to express their product preferences in a stronger manner than they did previously. Therefore, marketers have to reach children in different developmental stages in their childhood, leading to the development of advertisements geared towards the different sub-segments within the children’s market.
The impact of advertising to children
There is a positive impact of advertising to children for the wider society, as discussed by Arens et al. in the essay question. As mentioned above, advertising to children provides important information not only to the children but also to their parents, enabling both to understand the products that different producers offer. Additionally, most adverts contain information concerning the price of the product in question as well as the location where the buyers can purchase the product.
With such information, both the children and their parents can make informed decisions about the product that best suits their needs (Cardona 2004, pp. 20). Therefore, advertising to children enables parents to save money and save the time that they would have spent searching for a given product or service. By making informed decisions, the parent buyers are able to use their money in an effective manner.
In effect, advertising to children is a price regulatory tool that prevents consumers from being exploited by producers and service providers. One of the major aspects that attract potential customers to a given product is the set price for the product. Consequently, producers embark on research to find out the price of their competitors in the market.
Such information is essential in enabling the producers to tailor the price of a given product to be able to compete effectively in the market (Farache & Keith 2010, pp. 238). On the other hand, consumers will also enjoy the provision of goods for a reduced price.
To the producers and service producers, advertising to children leads to an increase in the organisation’s profits. By advertising their products, especially through the media, organisations are able to reach potential customers within a very short time.
Many people may purchase the advertised product, leading to an increase of sales to the company, which in turn generates more profits for the company. Therefore, the comment by Arens et al. that advertising increases “productivity by both management and labour” also applies to children’s advertising.
Despite the above-mentioned positive impact of advertising to children, it also has certain negative impacts to the society. According to American Academy of Pediatrics, most children watch television for around four hours a day (Terry 2009, pp. 380). Research has shown that within that period, children see more than 25,000 commercials a year. Most of these commercials advertise products that are harmful to the health of the consumer children (Cardona 2004, pp.20).
For instance, they advertise high-sugar and high-fat foods or poorly nutritious snacks. Such adverts increase the consumption of unhealthy foods among children, which has led to the increased prevalence of overweight and obese children in those nations where advertising to children is practiced. Children who are overweight during their early stages of growth and development tend to become obese in their adulthood.
For instance in Canada, between 1983 and 2001 the prevalence of obesity in children increased by 200-300% (Tjepkema 2006, pp.23).The healthcare costs that are associated with the disease, either directly or indirectly, are approximately $4 billion, which represents 2.2% of the entire healthcare expenditure of Canada (Prince, 2009, p.31). This phenomenon has also occurred in America where the prevalence of overweight and obese children has tripled over the last six years.
Regulation of children advertisements
A significant reason for the regulation of advertising to children is that children lack cognitive skills, especially those that are below eight years of age. Therefore, they are not able to perceive or understand the persuasive intent of the most advertisements. They are not able to draw the line between advertising and other editorial messages, which make them unduly susceptible to all forms of persuasion that come with adverts.
To curb the problems associated with consumption of unhealthy foods, most regulatory bodies have embarked on a strategy to deal with the advertisements that promote the consumption of such foods to children. As earlier mentioned, a large percentage of children advertisements seek to promote the consumption of unhealthy foods, such as sugarcoated cereals, high-fat products at fast food restaurants and confectionery.
It is evident that the consumption of such products has had a direct impact on the development of weight disorders. Therefore, regulation of advertisements for children will lower the prevalence of such disorders, which in turn will reduce healthcare costs within any given population.
Due to the above-mentioned concerns, several governments have constituted bodies to tackle the issue. Furthermore, some nations have completely abolished the practice of advertising to children for the well-being of society. A good example of such a country is Sweden, which has banned all forms of television advertisements targeting children below twelve years of age. The Swedish government considers children as a minority group that requires special care and protection.
In the US, members of the Congress have passed bills that seek to protect children from the negative effects of faulty advertisements. The bills limit the time of children’s programming in the media and mandates the provision of educational programs. Additionally, the bills seek to restrict the time allocated to commercials in television.
In the US, several bodies are concerned with the quality of the contents of children advertisements. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires that all advertisements, especially those that target children, must be substantiated by a reasonable basis. It calls for all marketers to expend their resources to ensure that all their advertisements comply with the government’s rules and regulations concerning advertising to children.
The Children Advertising Review Unit (C.A.R.U) plays a pivotal role in monitoring advertisements to ensure that marketers comply with the set rules. It was founded in 1974, and its main objective is to enhance marketer’s responsibility in children’s advertising. It was established through a collaboration of the major advertising trade associations through the National Advertising Review Council (N.A.R.C).
It has several duties among which are evaluating child-directed advertisements as well as monitoring all forms of promotional material in the media. Additionally, it advances the consistency, truth and accuracy of all forms of children’s advertisements. In its code, one of its recommendations is that marketers should not present advertisements in a manner that blurs the distinction between editorial content and advertising (Synder 2011, pp. 478).
Synder argues that children are the most vulnerable group to misleading advertisements due to their immaturity and lack of the cognitive skills to evaluate the credibility of advertisements (2011). C.A.R.U also requires that everyone involved in the formulation of children’s advertisements ensure that the target group is able to understand the persuasive nature of the advert in question.
Some of C.A.R.U’s guidelines cover the safety of the products, sales pressure, and the presentation of the product in the advertisement. Additionally, C.A.R.U holds that while formulating children’s advertisements, the marketers should have regard to the best interest of all the parties involved. Therefore, the markets should carry out children advertisements with great care and expertise.
Considerations that marketers should have in children’s advertisements
Marketers should ensure that the advertisements are persuasive, just like adverts made for adults, while ensuring that they are operating within the set rules and regulations. They should understand the preferences of their audience, including both children and their parents.
For instance, in advertising food products, children and parents have different preferences. Parents look for certain qualities in food products that include the nutritional composition of the foods whereas children seek foods that are tasty irrespective of their nutritive value. In other categories of products, parents look into the moral acceptability of the product as well as its safety to children.
n contrast, children show more interest on the amount of fun they derive from using such products as well as the peer acceptability. According to Terry, marketers should never overlook the parents when formulating children’s advertisements since the parents are the sole decision makers in the family (2009).
Marketers should also consider the media they intend to use when reaching their audience. For most children, the television is the main tool for accessing advertisements. Few children are aware of the presence of advertisements on other media, such as newspapers and magazines (Schor 2004).
However, social networking sites and other electronic media have become an essential part of children’s lives, especially those brought up in the urban areas. Boys form a large proportion of the users of such media and most children consider advertisements as a form of entertainment. Therefore, marketers should employ the media that the target group enjoys most. For instance, boys between the ages of eight to 12 years can be reached through special adverts incorporated within their computer games.
Considering the various groups of children that exist, marketers must capture their specific interests to ensure that they attain their advertising goal. It is essential for the marketers to get not only the level of childhood knowledge of the target group but also its level of sophistication. As children grow, several aspects change, including their taste and their vocabulary. Therefore, marketers should carry out research on the vocabulary that a certain age group employs as well as the visual aspects of the media that they like most.
This will enable them to tailor the advertisement in order to persuade the target group effectively. However, it is important to mention that this is one of the most costly and difficult issues for most marketers. Additionally, marketers should be careful to avoid any forms of misunderstanding with the children and their parents.
Advertising ethics and social responsibility
Advertisements have a profound impact on people’s perception of life thus the need for marketers to adhere to advertising ethics and assume their social responsibility: ‘the moral obligation of advertisers’ as stipulated by Arens et al. in the essay question. All advertisements should be truthful. Advertisers should not exaggerate the information about the attributes of a given product or service since exaggeration acts as a form of deception. Additionally, advertisements should not withhold certain facts about the product.
Advertisements should seek to uphold human dignity. The techniques employed in advertisements should neither manipulate nor exploit any form of human weaknesses such as greed and lust among others especially within the vulnerable groups e.g. children. Most of children advertisements try to exploit suggestibility with the marketers hoping to make children to pressurize their parents to buy products that may be of no importance to them (Duff 2004).
Such adverts offend not only the rights but also the dignity of the parents and children. They intrude upon the relationship between the children and their parents. They also manipulate the relationship to attain their own goals without any consideration of the negative effects that such might cause to the family.
Advertisers ought to put into consideration their contribution to the social and ecological well-being of the society. They should not promote lavish lifestyles that promote the wasteful use of natural resources. Advertising as a social process must follow all the norms in any given society. Advertisements should not expose pornography: should be decent. They should not encourage the materialism but should enhance both the cultural and economic development of the target group.
Conclusion
Advertising to children has unique features when compared to advertising to any other market segment. Firstly, the essay exampled the factors that have led to increased advertisement to children. Most children do not purchase the products being advertised; their parents do. Therefore, the marketers should have both the interests of the children and parents at heart; for example, children’s advertisements must be appealing and meaningful to parents.
Secondly, the impact of advertising to children was discussed. The positive impact includes the ability of firms to reach important segments of the population and therefore increase sales, whilst the negative impact was that most advertisements promote products that are harmful to the health of consumer children. Thirdly, the regulation of children’s advertising was examined. As the most vulnerable group to faulty adverts, they are protected by law.
Therefore, several bodies have taken the responsibility of protecting the interests of children and their parents as far as advertisements are concerned, including the C.A.R.U and N.A.R.C. The essay dealt with the considerations marketers should have in children’s advertisements, including that they are persuasive, the media they intend to use and type of child they target.
Finally, the essay detailed advertising ethics and the social responsibility of advertisers: Products should fulfill the advertisement claims and enhance the social and economic development of the community.
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