Abstract
It is safe to say that the marketing practices of today are very different than the marketing practices of say 30 or 40 years ago. A growing concern is developing concerning companies focusing on children as a target market. Not all efforts at targeting children are negative. Many companies such as Colgate with their toothpaste or Cheerio’s with their healthy cereal are not seen as harming children, yet on the other hand some believe and view certain marketing practices to be harmful to children in many different aspects. The concern is that more and more children are growing up with a confused view on real needs and artificial needs, basic needs and actual wants. If we look at the basic need of clothes, we need clothes to serve the sole purpose of protecting our bodies from the environment. In reality, we only need one type of shirt, one type of shorts, one type of pants, and one type of jacket. Looking at many children today, if they are not wearing the latest and greatest fashion they will mentally and physically feel out of place, looked down upon, unaccepted in society. These feelings create a false sense that the newest fashion is a need instead of a want.
Marketing to Children 3
Table of contents
Table of Contents 3
Introduction 4
Literature Review 4
Research questions 8
Discussion 10
References 12
Marketing to Children 4
Introduction
“The advertising industry spends $12 billion per year on ads targeted to children, bombarding young audiences with persuasive messages through media such as television and the Internet” (Dittmann, 2004). Since the advent of cable TV and the internet, marketers have began a push toward children as a target market. It is said that the average child watches more than 40,000 commercials in one year. Along with television commercials, children are exposed to marketing through the internet and even in their schools through business sponsored teaching...