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Article
Publication date: 31 December 2004

Sachiko Muto

Looks at recent research into children’s media consumption, highlights the importance of media literacy, and reports on an industry‐related media education programme; the research…

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Abstract

Looks at recent research into children’s media consumption, highlights the importance of media literacy, and reports on an industry‐related media education programme; the research is tending to show that children are deciding what and when they watch television and other media. Develops, on the basis of these findings, a model of self‐supervised media engagement which is characterised by a lack of adult mediation. Argues that media literacy is important because it helps children become critical viewers of advertising and programming on their own; media literacy involves information processing skills and as such may be the most important life skill in the age of the internet. Introduces the UK Media Smart programme, which is industry funded and since 2002 has provided educational materials to help children think critically about advertising and other media issues.

Details

Young Consumers, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 December 2003

Birgitte Tufte

Reports a five‐year Danish study into levels of consumer socialisation among children, showing how they have been affected by new and proliferating communications media; issues…

2933

Abstract

Reports a five‐year Danish study into levels of consumer socialisation among children, showing how they have been affected by new and proliferating communications media; issues include their spending and saving abilities, brand awareness, media use, interests and activities, while advertising was examined in relation to consumer socialisation. Outlines the methods of this research, which consists of qualitative and quantitative data obtained from a questionnaire survey, observations, interviews with 120 children and their teachers, etc. Finds that: media and communications equipment is central to the families’ everyday lives, with television the most important medium; brand awareness exists at an early age; gender differences are significant in the type of product purchased; new digital media are breaking down the barriers between content and advertising; and children are about 12 years old before they understand the purpose of advertising, although they realise the difference between programmes and advertising by age seven.

Details

Young Consumers, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

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Article
Publication date: 1 September 2002

Rachel Cooke

Uses historical data to examine emergent trends in media aimed at children; the intention is to detail the globalised “Bedroom Culture” phenomenon which has been identified in the…

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Abstract

Uses historical data to examine emergent trends in media aimed at children; the intention is to detail the globalised “Bedroom Culture” phenomenon which has been identified in the UK and USA as signifying a move from outdoors to indoors and from active to passive pursuits. Shows how the growth of the Internet and mobile phone has not led to a reduction in television viewing, but instead to fragmentation and diversification of the children’s media market, aided by the dramatic explosion in satellite and cable TV; children interact with the different media forms in very different ways, each of them contributing to their entertainment requirements, and they can now communicate outside their traditional peer networks. Concludes that new communication channels are merely a way to reach consumers more efficiently; websites and mobile phones require high investment to induce children to use them, and must avoid appearing to be intrusive.

Details

Young Consumers, vol. 3 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

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Article
Publication date: 1 September 2005

Barbie Clarke

Interviews Paul Jackson, chairman of Media Smart, which is a UK media literacy programme founded in 2002 and focusing on advertising; it is aimed at schoolchildren aged six to 11…

Abstract

Interviews Paul Jackson, chairman of Media Smart, which is a UK media literacy programme founded in 2002 and focusing on advertising; it is aimed at schoolchildren aged six to 11, is funded by the media industry and supported by Ofcom, the UK government and the European Commission. Introduces the Responsible Advertising and Children group, which Jackson also chairs and which represents European advertisers, agencies and media; it believes that media literacy for children is more effective than outright advertising bans. Outlines the Media Smart programme, which consists of three modules with materials and a DVD, and includes an introduction to advertising, commercial advertisements aimed at children, and non‐commercial advertising; perhaps the most interesting section is on controversies. Notes Jackson’s intention that Media Smart stay focused on advertising, rather than widening its scope in the way that Concerned Children’s Advertisers has done in Canada.

Details

Young Consumers, vol. 6 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

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Article
Publication date: 12 June 2019

Katharine Jones and Mark Glynn

This paper aims to investigate how social media usage by children determines their interactions with consumer brands. The paper also examines the nature of the processes evident.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate how social media usage by children determines their interactions with consumer brands. The paper also examines the nature of the processes evident.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative approach was implemented using both paired and single in-depth interviews of New Zealand children (both boys and girls) in the age group of 11-14 years. The data were analysed by thematic analysis of the interview transcripts.

Findings

The study demonstrates that children use three main processes – discerning, reacting and forming – when interacting with brands on social media. Each of these processes has different levels of interaction episodes depending on the amount of social media activity by each child. Discerning has noticing, a lower level of interaction and identifying which uses already internalised brand knowledge. Reacting consists of describing and evaluation which involves more active interaction resulting in opinion formation. Forming can involve a distant “watching” interaction or a more active relating behaviour when children are using multiple social media platforms.

Research limitations/implications

The study identifies three key modes of brand interaction behaviour when young consumers use social media, which each have two interactions. The implication for marketers, parents and policymakers is that there is a range of behaviours, both passive and active, that children show when interacting with consumer brands when using social media.

Practical implications

The current study offers a way to deepen the understanding of how children approach online communications with brands in the social media context. The research finds that the children’s use of social media is more active and dynamic than previously thought, giving rise to connections with brands that are meaningful to the children. Specific codes of practice for online brand marketers may be necessary so that children are helped to understand the commercial intent of brand practices on social media.

Social implications

The findings shed light on the range of interaction behaviour of young consumers, and such information provides insights into how children acquire brand knowledge, react to social media communication and decide the value of such communication for themselves. Brand marketers have a role to play in ensuring their brand communications practices avoid deception and clearly indicate commercial intent.

Originality/value

Investigating how children individually process brand information in a social media context provides insights into their interaction behaviour. These findings show differing levels of interest in both brand and social media activity amongst children.

Article
Publication date: 20 November 2017

Wonsun Shin

The purposes of this study are to examine how parents implement discussion-based parental mediation (i.e. active mediation) to influence the way children understand advertising on…

1547

Abstract

Purpose

The purposes of this study are to examine how parents implement discussion-based parental mediation (i.e. active mediation) to influence the way children understand advertising on television, computers and smartphones and to investigate factors associated with parental mediation practices.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted with parents in Singapore whose children were watching television, using computers with internet access and using smartphones.

Findings

The degree to which parents engage in active mediation of advertising is similar across different media. Active mediation of advertising is more a function of parents’ attitudes toward advertising directed to children, parents’ concerns about media influence on their children and parental self-efficacy rather than the age of their children.

Research limitations/implications

The survey was conducted in a single country and did not examine the consequences of parental mediation of advertising. Future research should consider cross-cultural perspectives and investigate the outcomes of parental mediation.

Practical implications

For advertising practitioners, this study argues that it is important to understand how parents view different forms of advertising. For media educators and policy makers, this study suggests that various parental factors should be considered to develop effective guidelines for parents.

Originality/value

This study adds novel insights to the literature on consumer socialization by investigating how parents – the primary socialization agents in children’s development of consumption-related behaviors – help children understand advertising across different media.

Details

Young Consumers, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 May 2019

Lisa B. Hurwitz, Heather Montague, Alexis R. Lauricella, Aubry L. Alvarez, Francesca Pietrantonio, Meredith L. Ford and Ellen Wartella

Social cognitive theory suggests that children may have more favorable attitudes toward food products promoted by media characters who are similar to them, in terms of factors…

Abstract

Purpose

Social cognitive theory suggests that children may have more favorable attitudes toward food products promoted by media characters who are similar to them, in terms of factors such as age, gender and race-ethnicity. This paper aims to profile the characters in food and beverage websites and apps for children and examine whether the healthfulness of promoted products varies as a function of character background.

Design/methodology/approach

This study includes two parallel content analyses focused on websites and apps that were produced by America’s top selling food and beverage companies.

Findings

There were very few child-targeted websites and apps, but those that existed were replete with media characters. These websites/apps tended to feature media characters with diverse gender, age and racial–ethnic backgrounds. However, marketing featuring adult and male characters promoted particularly unhealthy foods.

Social implications

American food companies, many of whom signed voluntary self-regulatory pledges through the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, should make a more concerted effort to refrain from featuring appealing media characters in child-directed new media marketing. Whether conscious or not, it seems as if food marketers may be leveraging characters to appeal to a wide audience of children of varied demographic backgrounds.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this manuscript is the only research to focus specifically on the demographic profiles (i.e. gender, age and race-ethnicity) of characters in food websites and the nutritional quality of the products they promote. It is also the first to systematically examine media characters in food apps in any capacity.

Details

Young Consumers, vol. 20 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 April 2017

Kristien Daems, Ingrid Moons and Patrick De Pelsmacker

This study aims to explore which media 9- and 10-year-old children and 12- and 13-year-old teenagers encounter and which campaign elements (media, spokesperson, appeal and…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore which media 9- and 10-year-old children and 12- and 13-year-old teenagers encounter and which campaign elements (media, spokesperson, appeal and message) are most appreciated by these target groups in awareness campaigns to raise their advertising literacy.

Design/methodology/approach

The study applies a methodology that is commonly used in design sciences to the field of advertising. Co-creation workshops with minors and professionals are used for the development of awareness campaign stimuli. In the first study, four co-creation workshops with 19 children (11 girls and 8 boys) of the fourth grade and four co-creation workshops with 16 teenagers (10 girls and 6 boys) of the seventh grade were organised. In the second study, nine professionals who work for and/or with minors or have experience in product design or marketing participated in a co-creation workshop.

Findings

Children are best approached though traditional media, whereas social media are used best to reach teenagers. Children prefer cartoons, whereas the results for the most appealing spokesperson in teenagers are mixed. Humoristic campaigns with a short message are preferred by both target groups.

Research limitations/implications

The results offer implications for practice and public policy with respect to awareness campaign building and social media marketing campaigns targeted at children and teenagers. To further corroborate the findings of this study, more pupils from different schools and different age groups should be studied. Moreover, the method used in this study can be applied in future research on awareness campaigns aimed at minors for other causes.

Originality/value

The methodological contribution of the study is the application of co-creation tools and techniques on the development of advertising campaigns for minors.

Details

Young Consumers, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 June 2017

Blandína Šramová and Jirí Pavelka

The purpose of the study was to ascertain how preschool children consume media, which types of media content they are sensitive to and how children affect the shopping behavior of…

2209

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to ascertain how preschool children consume media, which types of media content they are sensitive to and how children affect the shopping behavior of their parents. In other words, the study aimed at revealing whether distinctions occur among the selection of the media, among preferences of media products and forms, among concepts within advertising, among the attractiveness of media contents, among the types of influence by advertising products and among the means by which boys and girls have impact on their parents.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is focused on the analyses of the perception of advertising messages and media consumption of children aged from two to seven years (N = 55) and their parents (N = 55) in the Czech Republic. The semi-structured interviews with the parents and children were used as the main research method. The children’s drawings focused on popular advertising were used as a supplementary method. The final findings were subjected to qualitative analyses – to thematic content analyses.

Findings

The analyzed interviews have revealed four key factors which frame and express the Czech preschool children’s reception and consumption of the media and their consumer behavior: media, media format and media content choice of preschool children; ritualization of the media consumption processes in preschool children; identification of advertising appeals within the media content in preschool children; and influence of media (and a social and cultural environment) on shopping behavior of preschool children. The findings are summarized in the table and visualized in thematic map.

Research limitations/implications

The sample size is small; therefore, it is not possible to generalize the results to all preschool children.

Originality/value

The study provides an explanation of the perception of media messages by preschool children from a broader perspective, from the children and their parents’ point of view.

Details

Young Consumers, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2006

Kara Chan and James U. McNeal

The current study aims to examine how media ownership, media usage and attention to advertising vary among urban and rural children in Mainland China and also to collect…

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Abstract

Purpose

The current study aims to examine how media ownership, media usage and attention to advertising vary among urban and rural children in Mainland China and also to collect information about the contexts of media usage and time spent on various activities including media usage.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey of 1,977 urban and rural children ages six to 13 in the four Chinese cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Shanghai, and in the rural areas of the four provinces of Heilongjian, Hubei, Hunan, and Yunnan, was conducted in March 2003 to May 2004. Questionnaires were distributed through 16 elementary schools and local researchers were selected and trained to administer the data collection.

Findings

Media ownership and media exposure were high for television, children's books, cassette players, VCD players and radios among both urban and rural samples. In general, media ownership, exposure and usage were higher among urban children than among rural children. However, television ownership and television exposure were slightly higher among rural children than among urban children. The urban‐rural gap between media ownership and media exposure was more prominent for new media such as DVD and computer/internet. Chinese children had low to medium attention to advertising. Rural children reported a higher attention to television commercial than urban children, while urban children reported a higher attention to other forms of advertising than rural children. Media usage by sex and by age group was also reported.

Research limitations/implications

Three of the four surveyed urban cities were highly advanced in terms of their economies and advertising development compared with all other Chinese cities.

Practical implications

The study should serve as an advertising media‐planning guideline for marketers and advertisers in China. It can help marketers select the right type of media to reach a specific age‐sex profile of urban and rural Chinese children. Television, the internet and children's print media can be good potential media for promotion to urban children. TV, children's books, cassette tapes, VCDs and radios can be good potential media for promotion to rural children.

Originality/value

This paper offers insights for designing media strategies to disseminate market information to urban as well as rural children in China.

Details

Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 23 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0736-3761

Keywords

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