MEDIA ADVERTISEMENT AND UNDER-AGED
MEDIA
ADVERTISEMENT AND UNDER-AGED
BY: Sahid Abiola
1.0
Introduction
“Whoever controls the media controls the
culture”. Allen Ginsberg, Poet.
The quote above suggests that the media
is so powerful that it can control everything that makes up the culture of a
society especially people irrespective of age.
The average child age 8 or older spends
more than seven hours a day with screen media, watching TV, using the computer,
playing video games, and using hand-held devices (Rideout et al., 2010). Even
much younger children, age 2-8, spend nearly two hours a day with screen media
(Common Sense Media, 2013). And through virtually all these media, children are
exposed to advertising.
2.0
Who are the Under-aged?
For easy understanding, this paper looks
at the under-aged as children who fall within the age bracket of 3 to 17 years
old. This is because the recognition of advertisements starts from this age.
Within the Nigerian context, 18 years and above are considered adults.
3.0
What is an Advertisement?
While advertising is the activity of
explicitly paying for media space or time in order to direct favorable attention
to certain goods or services, advertisements are packaged messages for the
purpose of advertising. For better understanding, television advertisement has
been used as a point of focus because children pay more attention to
audio-visual medium (Television) than any other with an average of
approximately one hour a day among 2- to 8-year-olds (Common Sense Media, 2013)
and more than two-and-a-half hours a day TV among those 8 and older (Rideout et
al., 2010).
4.0
Media Advertisement and Under-aged: The
Link
Many companies are now incorporating
their products into the programming that under-aged children are viewing (cartoons,
movies) or playing (games). Instead of featuring a company’s product or brand
in a separate, distinct advertisement, companies pay to have their products and
logos appear during the children’s program itself.
This explains that particular attention
is paid to under-aged audiences by focusing media advertisements to them.
There are four related issues involved
here:
1.
Are
under-aged children capable of recognizing that advertisements are
advertisements and do they understanding that the aim is to sell them
something?
2.
Should
they be regarded as a legitimate target for advertising?
3.
Because
the way in which most advertising to children has to work is through 'pester
power', is it right that advertisers should be encouraging children to put
pressure on their parents in this way?
4.
Specific
to nutrition, is the argument that the concentration of food advertising on
'junk' food (of a variety of kinds, according to current theories, or who is
doing the complaining) leads to the development of a whole range of ailments.
A number of studies worldwide have noted
a correspondence between the products children like and request and those
advertised on television (Galst & White 1976; Caron & Ward 1975). TV
advertising does appear to be effective in creating positive attitudes and
behavior toward advertised products. Television advertising does go a long way
in changing perceptions of the product in the course of shifting the relative
salience of attitudes, especially when the purchaser is not particularly
involved in the message.
At the same time, a key concern
underlying child advertising is the extent to which children have the ability
to discuss, interpret and cope with advertising. It is generally perceived that
younger children lack the guile and sophistication to adequately address the
overtures of advertisers (Moses & Baldwin, 2005; Chan & McNeal, 2004;
Bartholomew & O'Donahue, 2003).
In a study of Honk Kong children, Chan
(2000) found that children preferred advertisements of food, drinks, toys and
mobile phones. Research using an experimental paradigm has tended to support
the view that the influence of commercials targeted at children is
considerable. Galst & White (1976) report a high degree of influence
between children’s purchase influence attempts and the foods that are heavily
advertised on television.
A study conducted examined children’s
recall of advertisements from a variety of perspectives. When experiments
measure recall of advertisements immediately following viewing, more than half
of the children studied, tend to remember advertisements for products such as
toys, cereals, and ice-cream even when it is shown just once during a program
(Gorn & Gooldberg, 1977, 1980; Zuckerman, Ziegler & Stevenson, 1978).
When children are asked where they learned about toys they would like to have,
they most often identify television commercials as the source (Caron &
Ward, 1975).
Television has become an important
economic socializing agent because of its massive presence in children’s lives.
Children are exposed to numerous advertisements from an early age and are most
likely the ideas advertising promotes. A study by Mittal (2009) shows that
television advertisements were found to be more effective in creating a desire
among children to own the advertised product. Also, celebrity endorsements are
found to be more effective among children.
From the advertiser’s perspective, the
ultimate intended effect of airing a commercial is for their product to be
subsequently purchased by viewers. Both Atkin (1978) and Galst & White
(1976) found that the amount of prior television viewing was a significant
predictor of children’s product purchase requests at the supermarket. Even
cross-cultural research comparing families from Japan, UK and the United States
has demonstrated a positive relationship between children’s amount of
television viewing and their product purchase requests (Robertson, Ward,
Gatignon & Klees, 1989).
Children do, in fact, learn to recognize
advertisements as advertisements from quite an early age. Research by both
commercial and academic researchers shows that they are well aware, as young as
four or five, of what an advertisement is, and what it is trying to do. The
Code of Practice aims to control the effects of advertising by (for example)
ensuring that advertisements make clear to children the size and capabilities
of, in particular, fantasy toys.
The broader issue is the one of
involvement in the market, and how this affects parents. I do not see how
children can avoid the market. It therefore makes sense that they should learn
how to deal with it. This will (inevitably) mean that they meet with disappointments,
when they have believed too much of the (inevitable) hype. You can argue that
they should not have to cope with this until they reach a certain age--but what
age makes sense? Eight? Ten? Fifteen? Some people already remain incurably
naïve until they reach their dotage. It seems to me that—almost—the earlier you
learn not to believe everything in the advertisements (just as you should learn
not to believe everything you read in the papers or see on TV) the better.
It is also of note that under-aged
children can also engage in the production of advertisements placed in the
media. This is because some products’ advertisements are better understood when
under-aged children are employed. For example, Pampers and Huggies baby
diapers, baby wipes, toys etc.
5.0
Why Advertise to Under-aged?
Immersion
as Attentional Inertia
Observational studies of children
watching TV indicate that for much of the time they do not actually watch the
screen. In one study 54% of all looks at the screen were for less than three
seconds. However, if a look lasts longer than about 15 seconds, a child is very
likely to become progressively ‘locked in’ to the program. After about ten
seconds, the researchers often noted that the child’s body relaxed, the head
tended to slouch forward and the mouth to drop open. This phenomenon is called attentional
inertia, but at least one writer has related it directly to the ‘hypnotic
or trance-like quality of television watching’. This ‘attentional inertia’ is
not confined to children. It has been documented in samples of college-aged
adults as well. (Sutherland and Sylvester, 2000). This takes us to the pester
power situation.
Pester Power – Children have learnt to wield power
over their parents and get what they want. Pester power is a weapon under-aged
children use on their parents to get them to buy things they want. They watch
commercials on television, like the brand featured in them and ultimately want
to buy them. Since, in Nigeria, children do not have the independence to make
all their purchase decisions on their own, they need to seek the permission of
their parents. Permission is not always easily granted by the parent. The child
takes recourse to pestering the parent to buy the same. Consequently, the child
demonstrates pester power that he is able to wield over his parents. Ultimately
it boils down to the child watching commercials on television and developing a
liking for the brand featured in the advertisements. He may use pester power to
purchase the preferred brand. This is a phenomenon well understood by
advertisers and often identified among parents. Examples of media
advertisements that encourage pester power are: Indomie Noodles, Honeywell
Noodles, fast food restaurants etc.
6.0
Effects of Media Advertisements on
Under-aged: Positive/Negative
Our behavior can be influenced by
observing what other people do, or imagining what they would do in the same
situation. We identify with them and model ourselves on them. The closer our
identification, the more likely it is that our behavior will be affected. In
other words, the more similar we feel the other person is to us the more likely
this modeling or copying influence will take place.
Children who are terrified of dogs can
be greatly affected by watching another child play happily with a dog for 20
minutes a day. In one experiment, after only four days of observation, 67 per
cent of previously phobic children were willing to climb into a playpen with a
dog and stay there alone petting the dog (Sutherland and Sylvester, 2000).
Role-play:
Children’s games are
full of role-playing. Kids pretend to be firefighters, truck drivers, doctors
and nurses. They imagine themselves in the role of their favorite TV or movie
characters: Superman, Ben10, Spiderman, Cinderella. Television allows us to
role-play in the same way. When we watch TV, we have the opportunity to ‘try
on’ other people’s identities. We do this with TV serials and soaps, our
favorite movies, and even advertisements. Advertisements that use this process
to get a message across are sometimes called ‘slice-of-life’ advertisements. They often portray stereotypical
situations in which an individual experiences a problem and finds a solution.
The solution is linked to the advertised product. In this way, we indirectly
experience the self-relevant consequences associated with using or consuming
the brand. We learn how the brand or product is (purported to be) instrumental
in attaining the desired goal.
Positive
Effects are: Learning about
the wider world; Learning or prosoical attitudes and behaviours; Developing the
imagination; Provision of a basis for social interaction.
Negative
Effects are: An increase in
social isolation; Reduction of time and attention to homework; Increased
passivity; Reduced time for play and exercise; Reduced time for reading (due to
television adverts); Undermining of parental authority; Premature sexual
knowledge and experience; Unhealthy eating and obesity (McQuail, 2010).
7.0
Why Regulate Under-aged targeted Media
Advertisements?
By the mid-1920s, large numbers of
parents, social workers, and public welfare organizations were worried about
whether specific films might be negatively affecting youngsters. Invented just
a few decades earlier, the movies had become very much accepted as children and
teenagers became accustomed to movie going, adults fretted that the violence,
sexual suggestiveness, and misrepresentations of reality in many of the films
they watched might bring about a slew of problems in their lives. Among the
ills suggested were bad sleep patterns, improper notions of romance, and
violent conduct. In recent years, television programs, comic books, video
games, sports programs, the internet, and songs, as well as movies, have all
been accused of encouraging these same problems among youths.
Many have argued that advertising often
has negative effects on society. As Hovland and Wolburg point out in their book
about advertising ethics, “advertising is inherently controversial.” Most
advertising historians claim that advertising developed hand in hand with a
“consumer culture.” Just like any kind of communication message, advertising
can contain falsities. In fact, it may contain true statements that are
nevertheless misleading.
Advertising can promote what some consider
the negative trait “materialism” or an excessive focus on buying and consuming
material goods at the expense of human relationships, citizenship and other
activities.
Advertising can lead to the use of
dangerous products such as alcohol, cigarettes or dangerous behaviors such as
imitating reckless driving of automobiles as they are shown in commercials.
Advertising has been accused of preying
on vulnerable audiences such as children or those likely to become addicted to
alcohol, gambling, or overeating.
Advertising is often accused of
stereotyping—women, race, children, minorities, really just about anything it
depicts.
Advertisements that segment the elderly
and children are often accused of negative stereotyping. For example, Ad Age
reported that advertisers in the United States need to keep a close eye on
the fairness and behavioral impact of targeting kids. Since the 1980s when the
Federal Trade Commission, FTC declined to regulate children’s advertising,
there have been many skirmishes over whether advertising that targets children
is appropriate market segmentation.
The article reports that advertisers are
spending $17 billion a year to advertise to children. There are many arguments
about why this tsunami of messages to kids is damaging. The fast food industry
is accused of making kids overweight or obese. Television advertising is
accused of creating materialistic orientations in the young, encouraging them
to prefer processed foods over fruits and vegetables, and making them couch
potatoes, unwilling to entertain themselves and get exercise.
As earlier mentioned, critics contend
that children are simply not intellectually capable of interpreting the intent
of these advertisements, nor are they able before the age of 7 or 8 to
rationally judge the worth of the advertising claims. This makes children’s
advertising inherently unethical. Television advertising to children is
especially questionable because children consume it in the home- with implicit
parental approval, and most often without parental supervision (Baran, 2013).
Avoidance of Harm: Advertisements should not contain any
statement or visual presentation that could have the effect of harming the
children and young people mentally, morally or physically or of bringing them
into unsafe situations or activities seriously threatening their health or
security, or of encouraging them to consort with strangers or to enter strange
or hazardous places (Hasan, 2013).
The following provisions apply to
advertisements addressed to children and young people who are minors:
1.
Advertisements
should not exploit the inexperience or credulity of children and young people.
2.
Advertisement
should not understate the degree of skill or age level generally required to
use or enjoy the product.
3.
Special
care should be taken to ensure that advertisements do not mislead children and
the young people as to the true size, value, nature, durability and performance
of the advertised product.
4.
Advertisement
should be made clear. For example, if extra items are needed to produce the
required result shown or described, it should be clarified.
5.
Price
indication should not be such as to lead children and young people to an unreal
perception of the true value of the product, for instance, by using the word
‘only’.
8.0
Conclusion/Recommendations
While some regard children as equal to
any other consumer irrespective of age that should be targeted by media
advertisement without necessarily considering their vulnerability to the
hypodermic needle prowess of the media, others on the other hand, especially
parents agitate for their protection because of fear of exploitation, exposure
to social vices such as drugs, alcoholism, smoking and premature sexual
exposure. Whichever ways you look at it, both have advantages and
disadvantages. However, because of the dysfunctional aspects such as criticism
of advertising, this paper recommends an emphatic media self-regulation on
advertisement and government should pass a bill on Children’s Privacy
Protection Act which will help combat deceptive advertising and protect
children’s privacy. Advertising regulatory agencies such as APCON should be
placed in charge of implementing the Act. Monitoring on a regular basis should
be embarked to ensure strict adherence.
References
Baran, S. (2013).
Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture. USA:
McGraw-Hill Education.
Common Sense Media
(2014). Advertising to Children and Teens: Current Practices. A Common Sense
Media Research Brief.
Hasan, S. (2013). Mass
Communication Principles and Concepts. New Delhi: CBS Publishers &
Distributors Pvt Ltd.
Khandai, S. and
Agrawal, B. (2012). Impact of Television Commercials upon the Purchase
Behaviour of Urban Indian Children. International
Journal of Marketing and Technology 2(4).
McQuail, D. (2010).
McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory. 6th Ed. London: Sage
Publications Ltd.
Sutherland, M. and
Sylvester, A. (2000). Advertising and The Mind of the Consumer: What Works,
What Doesn’t, and Why. 2nd Ed. Australia: Allen & Unwin.
Thorson, E and Duffy,
M. (2012). Advertising Age: The Principles of Advertising and Marketing
Communication at Work. USA: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Turow, J. (2014). Media
Today: Mass Communication in a Converging World. 5th Ed. New York:
Routledge.
http://adage.com/columns/article?article_id=127144 retrieved on October 30th,
2016.
MEDIA ADVERTISEMENT AND UNDER-AGED
Reviewed by IFEDAYO AKINWALERE
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