Friday, November 21, 2008

Marketing to Youngsters


Wow, it's amazing what could happen in the fast-moving chaos of life. Speaking of fast-moving, companies are no longer wasting precious time when it comes to creating consumers. With over sixty-million members within Generation Y, marketers are taking a look at these members--some of the oldest members barely in college--to see how they can take advantage of the young market (Neuborne, 1999). These members are buying cars, clothes, toys and are taking advantage of their parents wallets.

However, there is a question that has been circulating the ethics department of marketing to younger audiences. How young is too young? This question has been disputed over and over by numerous experts and others such as CEO's of companies, child researchers, reporters, and even psychologists. In order to develop an accurate opinion on the matter, the pros and cons of marketing to children need to be analyzed and each argument needs to be heard.

Against Child Marketing

As consumers, many of us do not have a problem differentiating between products that are worth buying and products that are best left on the shelf. While some adult consumers do fall for gimmicks such as "lose 10 pounds in 2 days on the Hollywood Diet", many of us know that advertisements tend to exaggerate. After all, Axe bodyspray does not cause women from within a 30 yard radius to leap on the wearer and rip his clothes off of his body (though, it might not chase them away either unless you wear too much or to little). Also, wearing a shade of lipstick that is endorsed by a supermodel will not make you look like a supermodel (though, it might make your lips a pretty shade of red). Many consumers know this information because they have knowlege and experience to scrutinize this type of advertising.

The problem is that childrens minds--until they reach a certain level of understanding--may not be able to differentiate as easily between advertisement claims and actual results. Ken Viselmann, CEO of Itsy Bitsy Entertainment, even believes that marketing to children under 5 is improper since they lack the cognitive abilities to understand advertising (Hood, 2000). Along with the cognitive inability to scrutinize these advertisements, there are other downfalls to child advertising that impact children more than the companies believe.

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin believes that advertising and marketing “is a factor in childhood obesity, in eating disorders, precocious irresponsible sexuality, youth violence, underage drinking” along with becoming mini-shopaholics (Couric, 2007). For example, thirty percent of kids between the ages of 6 through 19 are considered obese, which this number is double the amount of kids listed as obesed twenty years ago. What has caused this sharp rise in obesity rates? One of the factors included was the seditary lifestyle that children have developed. Children are more likely to sit in front of the telvision or computer and immerse themselves in all sorts of shows, music, and advertising rather than going outside to play. Also, kids that tend to watch more television also tend to eat more fast food and other unhealthy foods (Drucker, 2004).

What does advertising have to do with the rise in obesity? According to Brian Wilcox, psychologist and Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center on Children, Families and the Law at the University of Nebraska, kids are being bombarded by over 40,000 television commercials a year and this information is worriedsome because "the most common products marketed to children are sugared cereals, candies, sweets, sodas and snack foods. Such advertising of unhealthy food products to young children contributes to poor nutritional habits that may last a lifetime and be a variable in the current epidemic of obesity among kids” (Willenz, 2004).

Another impact of advertising is the forceful desensitizing and sexualizing of younger children. Marketers are even taking part in convincing tweens (8-12 year olds) into buying sexy stuff through “age compression”, or pushing adult products and teen attitudes onto younger children (Buying into sexy: The sexing up of tweens, 2005). Teens and tweens are becoming more and more sexualized and desensitized to the adult content that is on television.



Pro Child Marketing


With all of these negatives, why should marketers consider marketing to young children? First of all, there's a large market when it comes to younger children. Markets that sell material suited for 0-3 year olds make over $20 billion dollars a year (Couric, 2007). Even though this is a lot of money, the money that parents spend on children or because of the opinions of children boosts the marketing potential toward children to a new high. According to the National Institute on Media and the Family, "children 12 years and under, directly and indirectly, influenced the household spending of over $600 billion" (Fact Sheet, 2002). With these numbers, it is no wonder why marketers and advertising companies would want to market to such a young audience.


Another argument for marketing to this type of audience is because of the way these kids are growing up in today's society. The kids of today are now becoming more aware of television and other forms of media. In fact, Alvin Poussaint, a psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School, states that kids over the age of eight can analyze and distinguish between what commercials say and what the reality is behind these products (Hood, 2000). Children growing up in a society where television has always been around and they can not remember not having the internet are supposedly more socialized when it comes to commericals and the media in general. Therefore, the children of today should not be compared to the children of the past.


Who Wins?


It depends on your opinion. I certainly do not have the answer, just my own opinions on the matter. This discussion could go on forever, but I will allow you--the reader--to distinguish between ethics and marketing intelligence. Some say that Barbie and Bratz dolls are poison to girl's self-esteem. Others who grew up playing with dolls and end up feeling self-confident as adults do not see the harm in imagination or these dolls. They are just toys, right? Feel free to comment with your own opinions or evidence.

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Couric, K. (2007, May 14). The hard sell: Marketing to kids. CBS Evening News. Retrieved November 21, 2008, from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/14/eveningnews/main2802643.shtml

Buying into sexy: The sexing up of tweens. (2005). CBC Marketplace. Retrieved November 21, 2008, from http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/money/sexy/index.html

Drucker, R. (2004). To your health--CHRC Newsletter. Palo Alto Medical Foundation. Retrieved November 21, 2008, from http://www.pamf.org/health/toyourhealth/child_obesity.html

Fact sheet. National Institute of Media and the Family. Retrieved November 21, 2008, from http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_childadv.shtml

Hood, D. (2000, November 1). Is advertising to kids wrong? Marketers responds. Kidscreen. Retrieved November 21, 2008, from http://www.kidscreen.com/articles/magazine/20001101/30304.html?print=yes

Neuborne, E. (1999, February 15). Generation Y. BusinessWeek. Retrieved November 21, 2008, from http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_07/b3616001.htm

Willenz, P. (2004, February 23). Television advertising leads to unhealthy habits in children; says APA task force. American Psychological Association. Retrieved November 21, 2008, from http://www.apa.org/releases/childrenads.html

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