What kinds of products are marketed to children these days? Why would airlines or hotels target ads at children? Why are marketers are so keen on making a character and/or brand associations so early in life?
Child marketing has grown tremendously over the past few years. Marketers use children to market and sell a variety of products and services. Some of these products include; toys, DVDs, video games iPods’, books, songs, cell phones, food commodities, the Internet, car companies, hotels, and airlines. Airlines and hotels target kids when advertising simply because children have are the most influential in the marketing field.
The influence caused by children adds up to one trillion dollars per year. Marketers are keen to introduce a brand at an early age to children to instill their brands into children’s minds while they are still young (“Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood”). At this early age, children are at the formative stage. At this stage, children begin to form all their values and attitudes. This makes it quite crucial to target them in advertising. The advertisers target to turn children into lifelong consumers (“Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood”). They are creating a generation of super consumers.
Commercialization of Childhood g is turning out to be a serious problem. The mode at which the marketers and advertisers are studying kids raises many questions about ethical consideration. This is a systematic and cultural problem. The lack of policies to govern child marketing has driven family interest to look after the children as they grow. As a result, Children develop serious health care issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and a shorter life expectancy (“Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood”).
This hinders the future of children. There is a substantial need to protect children from cooperating in marketing. It is about time that the issue should be analyzed further. Advertisers need to have a proactive approach to determine how kids’ commercialization changes the environment and environment. Concern should be taken to ensure children’s emotional, social, cognitive, and spiritual development takes precedence from training them to be consumers (“Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood”).
VALS test – the Values and Life-Styles program that categorizes people for marketing and advertising purposes
According to the Values and lifestyles program test, my primary VALS type is Experiencer (“Values and Lifestyles Program Survey” par. 1). My secondary type is a Maker (“Values and Lifestyles Program Survey” par. 1). These types do represent my character accurately. THE primary VALS type shows my dominant life approach whereas the secondary signifies the emphasis of that approach. This implies that I am motivated by self-expression. Mostly seeking excitement and savoring new commodities is my preference. The area of interest in fashion, entertainment, and socializing.
Advertisers and marketers can use these psychographics to determine consumers’ expectations, attitudes, and influences (“Understanding U.S. Consumers” 24). They use this segmentation to look into several potential buying behavior influences. This will benefit the consumers since they will be able to get their desired product and services at ease. This approach has benefited the consumer since brand loyalty and value is enhanced (“Understanding U.S. Consumers” 40). The consumers can know their lifestyle with the profiling done by marketers.
This segmentation approach can harm the consumer because marketers tend to exploit the customer. Marketers target specific consumers. They end up ignoring the broader market segment. Wrong profiling of consumers may lead to selling inappropriate products and services to consumers. This approach also digs into more private information on consumers. This infringes the privacy and security of the consumer. Besides, segmentation splits consumers’ prospects and preferences. The segmentation may overstep cultural values and personal preferences.
Works Cited
Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood. 2008. Web.
Understanding U.S. Consumers, Menlo Park, CA: Strategic Business Insights, 2010. Print.
Values and Lifestyles Program Survey. n.d. Web.