Search results

Looks at the influence of television on children’s development as consumers, beginning with a literature review of consumer socialisation which establishes the importance of television as an influential model for children’s expressions of nonverbal behaviour and emotion. Explains the results of a survey of Malaysian schoolchildren which considers demographic variables such as gender and family income, and also personality traits, in relation to television viewing habits and consumer behaviour, including propensity to buy, time spent watching television, preferred type of programme etc. Discusses the results, which indicate the importance of family income as a predictor of differences in socialisation; gender is less influential, and of the six personality traits studied, the aggressive ‐ passive is the most influential on socialisation.

Explores the attitudes of children in Malaysia’s competitive children’s market towards TV advertising, and how this affects their spending; children influence the market as immediate consumers, as influencers of their parents and other people, and as future adult consumers. Outlines the objectives and methodology of new quantitative research conducted into predictors of children’s attitudes, which also includes the effect of children’s attitudes on parents; the current research involved two primary schools in the Jitra town area, with a total of 252 children. Gives the background of child attitude research since Piaget, and explains the Rossiter scale. Identifies children’s preferences in products, themes and types of TV advertising. Finds that children’s awareness of advertising, and the influence on parents’ purchase decisions, are important predictors of child attitudes to advertising; the influence of TV advertising does impinge on consumer behaviour, whether of children or of their parents as a result of pestering, and younger children and children from lower social classes are especially susceptible to TV advertisements.