Marketing to Children

Definitions
“Today’s kids have more autonomy and decision-making power within the family than in previous generations, so it follows that kids are vocal about what they want their parents to buy.” (Fleshman & Hillard, 2001)

“The emergence of a child-centered society in which parents prioritise the wants and needs of their children means that many parents are focused on pleasing their children” (Pocket Money, Mintel, 2008)

Background
From reading an article entitled “Children and Advertising” it seems that views concerning the ethics of advertising aimed at children diverge widely in Europe. In Sweden it is considered unacceptable and is banned for children under 12 and the majority of the population approve of this. In France advertisements are seen as part of preparing children for future life in a consumer society. Greece has a ban on advertisements for children's toys between 7 am and 10 pm and a total ban on advertisement for war toys. In the UK, restrictions exist on ads that 'might result in harm to children physically, mentally or morally' and on ads employing methods that 'take advantage of the natural credulity and sense of loyalty of children'.

Out of the 15 EU countries, only 4 (France, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK) do not consider advertising aimed at children as harmful, and Spain alone considers a ban on advertisement unfair. (Children and Advertising, the European dimension)
What effect does marketing to children really have?

Children's reactions to advertisement can be very different from grown-ups, i.e. If adults see a product advertised and don't find it when they go shopping they forget about it. As children begin to recognise and understand ads and their purpose they start making demands. If these demands are not fulfilled they might start screaming or throwing themselves to the floor. It is difficult to explain to young children the reasons why they cannot have everything which - according to advertising - is 'for them'.

This relates to the stages of intellectual development proposed by Piaget which are related to major developments in brain growth. The fact that during the Preoperational phase (aged 2-4 years) toddlers can think about something without the object being present by use of language, suggests that after seeing an advertisement, they will remember it if someone talks about it. From this age the ‘nag factor’ may be present. 2001’s Kidfluence cites a 1998-1999 survey which said that between 20 and 40% of all toy, fast food and apparel sales were the result of successful pleas to parents. According the book, pestering or nagging can be divided into two categories—“persistence" and "importance." Persistence nagging (a plea, that is repeated over and over again) is not as effective as the more sophisticated "importance nagging." This latter method appeals to parents' desire to provide the best for their children, and plays on any guilt they may have about not having enough time for their kids.

Pocket money
Mintel (2008) states that “all children have seen falls in terms of the amount of pocket money they receive as parents and grandparents have to deal with sharp rises in the cost of living driven by increases in food costs, energy bills and higher mortgage repayments.” Mintel also outlines the fact that different age groups spend their pocket money on different things as kids aged 7-10, are the most likely to like save money they tend to regard themselves as good at it, whereas over four in ten of those aged 11+ admit ‘I spend money without thinking’.
Take a look at the graph below which outlines how children aged 7-10 spend their pocket money.

The video below is of ‘The late late toy show’ which is aired on RTE at Christmas time each year. The show consists of children trying out the latest gadgets and toys which are likely to be the latest ‘craze’. In this case it is the Nintendo Wii. It is programmes like this which spark the ‘nagging’ factor in children whereby they feel they ‘need’ the product of they wont be as cool as their friends.