Expert answer:write an essay
Expert answer:Write a 1200 words’ essay about the bad influences that advertisements have on children, and try to explain the reason from three aspects: Children ,parents and marketers. The resources(not limited) and instructions are uploaded.
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Journal of Negro Education
Children and Commercial Culture: Expanding the Advocacy Roles of Professionals in
Education, Health, and Human Service
Author(s): Susan Linn
Source: The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 72, No. 4, Commercialism in the Lives of
Children and Youth of Color: Education and Other Socialization Contexts (Autumn, 2003),
pp. 478-486
Published by: Journal of Negro Education
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3211198
Accessed: 30-11-2017 19:47 UTC
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Children and Commercial Culture:
Expanding the Advocacy Roles of
Professionals in Education, Health,
and Human Service
Susan Linn
The impact of commercial marketing on children raises important questions for profes
caring for children. This article explores the role of professionals in education, healthca
human service as advocates given the explosive trend in marketing to children. This marke
designed not only to sell products, but also to influence children’s existing and future li
Trends reflect marketers’ growing access to children through various media technologie
sion, movies, and the Internet. Mounting empirical, clinical, and anecdotal evidence indicat
immersion in commercial culture can negatively affect childhood. Challenges and opport
for professionals, who are concerned about the negative impact of marketing on children
implications for professionals of color, are described in efforts to mobilize for action.
The African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child” is a common and evocative means
for arguing the necessity of community involvement in childrearing. Care for children
has to extend beyond immediate family boundaries. Children’s experiences, beyond families, in neighborhoods and communities, can have a powerful impact on their growth
and development. These days, electronic media, an ubiquitous, commercially driven force
has transformed the village raising our children. Children are bombarded from morning
to night by messages designed not to make their lives better-but for the sole purpose
of selling products and services. Most professionals in education, health, and human
service have long known that family, peer group, and neighborhood values all influence
a child’s behavior, growth, and development. Now we have to consider the influences
of Madison Avenue and the commercial world as well. The impact of marketing and
other commercial influences on children raise important questions for professionals in
charge of their care.
This article explores the expanding advocacy roles of professionals in education, health
care, and human services for children in light of the escalation of marketing to children.
First, a brief overview of children’s exposure to marketing is presented, including some
issues relating specifically to children of color. Second, the role of some professionals,
namely psychologists, who work in marketing that targets child consumers, is described.
Third, recommendations are presented for the roles that professionals can play in protecting children from manipulation by corporate advertising and marketing.
Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 72, No. 4 (Fall 2003)
478 Copyright a 2003, Howard University
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Children’s Exposure to Marketing
The amount of marketing to which children are exposed should not be underestimated.
The average American child spends almost 40 hours a week outside of school consuming
media, most of which is commercially driven (Roberts, Foehr, Rideout, & Brodie, 1999)
and sees more than 40,000 commercials each year on television alone (Kunkel, 2001). Even
public broadcast service (PBS) television allows commercials before and after programming. In addition, product placement-advertising that takes place within the context of
a program-is common practice in television programs and films. Further, many children’s
television programs, including those on PBS, are funded through licensing, a practice
that allows companies to market toys, clothing, and other products based on characters
associated with a program.
Children are often alone when they watch television, meaning that no adult is present
to help them process the marketing messages permeating the medium. Thirty-two percent
(32%) of children ages 2 to 7 have televisions in their bedrooms, as do 65% of children
ages 8 to 18 (Roberts et al., 1999), and 26% of children under 2 (Rideout, Vanderwater,
& Wartella, 2003). While television is the most prevalent medium in children’s lives, their
access to the Internet-where the lines between content and marketing can be significantly
blurred-is growing (Roberts et al., 1999).
There are specific issues relating to poor children and children of color. For example,
poor children, a population in which children of color are disproportionately represented,
watch even more television than their middle-class counterparts (Roberts et al, 1999).
Regardless of class, African American and Hispanic American children watch more TV
than Caucasian children (Roberts et al., 1999). School systems in poorer neighborhoods
are more likely to use the services of Channel One, a daily news program consisting of
10 minutes of content and 2 minutes of commercials (Morgan, 1993).
The Lure of Lifetime Brand Loyalty
Coinciding with the proliferation of electronic media over the past decade, a shift has
occurred in marketing strategies for children’s products. Because they have virtually
unfettered access to millions of children, corporations market aggressively to them directly
instead of targeting parents and other caregivers. From 1992 to 1997, the amount of money
spent on marketing to children doubled from $6.2 billion to $12.7 billion (Lauro, 1999).
By 2002, it increased to $15 billion (Barboza, 2003) and marketing to children is no longer
confined to toys or sugared cereals.
Encouraged by studies showing that children ages 5 to 14 directly and indirectly
influence purchases valued at about $600 billion per year (Packaged Facts, 1999), companies traditionally associated with adult consumers, such as Ford Motor Company and
the Boston based Fleet Bank, market to children as well (Dobrow, 2002). In addition to
capturing a share of the current market, a common rationale for corporate advertising to
children is the dream of life-long devoted consumers as shown in the following quote:
We have living proof of the long-lasting quality of early brand loyalties in the cradle-to-grave marketing
at McDonald’s, and how well it works… .We start taking children in for their first and second birthdays,
and on and on, and eventually they have a great deal of preference for that brand. Children can carry that
with them through a lifetime.” (Stabiner, 1993, p. 12)
Child-targeted marketing continues to flourish, even though recent evidence suggests
that advertising to young consumers does not necessarily “hook” them for life (Suroweiki, 2002).
For professionals who devote their lives to promoting children’s well-being, the corporate view of childhood as nothing more than a market segment is appalling. By interest,
The Journal of Negro Education 479
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training, and work, such professionals generally place the well-being of children and
families above all else, including financial gain. But putting aside our philosophical or
visceral outrage, there is mounting evidence that this avalanche of marketing is causing
children harm (Levin & Linn, 2004; Linn, 2004).
Harms Associated with Marketing to Children
Childhood obesity (Brownell & Horgan, 2003; Nestle, 2002), family stress (Atkin, 1978),
increased materialistic values (Greenberg & Brand, 1993), and discontent about body
image (Field et al., 1999) have all been associated with marketing. In addition, children
with particular concerns also have certain vulnerabilities to commercial manipulation.
For instance, obese children may be more susceptible to feel good messages in food
commercials (Lewis & Hill, 1998) and girls with eating disorders may be more susceptible
to the influence of super thin models (Toro, Salamero, & Martinez, 1994). Finally, children
of color, as indicated in this volume, also are faced with certain vulnerabilities to commercial influences.
THE ROLE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICE PROFESSIONALS IN MARKETING TO
CHILDREN: THE CASE OF PSYCHOLOGISTS
There are several groups of professionals in the behavioral sciences who use their
skills to commercially market to children including anthropologists, sociologists, and
psychologists (Osborne, 2002). Psychologists will be the focus of this section because
recent activities have raised public awareness about their role in commercial marketing
to children (Hays, 1999). It is ironic, especially for mental health professionals, that child
and developmental psychologists are central to the success of marketing campaigns that
target children. The 1992 Ethical Standards of the American Psychological Association
state that psychologists should “apply and make public their knowledge of psychology
in order to contribute to human welfare” (American Psychological Association, 1992, p.
1599). Yet, psychologists who are employed by companies to market successfully to
children, routinely employ principles and practices of psychology-from developmental
theory to diagnostic techniques-for the sole purpose of increasing corporate profits.
For instance, developmental psychology-the study of how children develop and
change over time-traditionally provides the underpinnings for policies and practices
designed to protect children or promote their well-being. In recent years, it has also served
as the foundation of what the advertising industry calls “market segmentation,” or “target
marketing.” The work of leading psychologists in the areas of cognitive and psychosocial
development, such as Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson, are cited in treatises on marketing to
children with titles such as What Kids Buy and Why: The Psychology of Marketing to Kids
(Acuff, 1997). Acuff, who is president of a market research company, Youth Market
Systems, expounds on the relevance of child development principles to marketing and
product development:
We have divided or segmented the youth market in accordance with a wide variety of scientific research
such as that of Piaget [and] Erikson… It is an in-depth understanding of the child consumer that provides
the only real access to approximating a “winning formula” for the development of products and programs
that succeed with kids. (p. 16)
Piaget’s studies of children’s understanding of the world are the cornerstone of countless
school programs and teaching methods (Furth & Wachs, 1974). Erik Erikson’s constructs
of psychosocial tasks and the consequences of failure to successfully navigate those tasks
provide the foundation for parent education, especially in early childhood education
(Pacioreck & Munro, 1998).
480 The Journal of Negro Education
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Both Erikson and Piaget wrote about children with such care and respect that it seems
the height of cynicism-not unlike commercials featuring images of Ghandi to sell Apple
computers-to use their work to hone marketing techniques for what advertisers frequently call the “kid market.” In fact, in today’s cut throat competition for “share of
mind” (Pollack, 1999), marketing experts are practically evangelical in using principles
of developmental psychology to understand the segments and nuances of the youth
market. For instance, based on developmental differences, the marketing techniques
employed to attract young children are different from those used to capture preteens.
Those used to attract preteens are different from those used to capture teens.
Tim Coffey, CEO of WonderGroup, a youth consultancy in Cincinnati, said, “Only a
decade ago, advertisers lumped all kids into one broad category. Now they realize age
segmentation is essential” (Rice, 2001, p. S2). The red-hot “tween market,” a term that
refers to children ages 8-12 by marketers, is subsegmented. “After all,” says Mr. Coffey,
“a 12-year-old is 500/o older than a kid who is 8” (cited in Rice, 2001, p. Si).
Obviously, anyone is free to read psychology books, take courses in child development,
or earn degrees in child development related fields. But since-in the world of marketingknowledge of how children change and develop over time is used (or misused) to exploit
children’s vulnerabilities, we should question the ethics of trained psychologists who,
presumably for a substantial fee, pass on their expertise to executives whose goal is to
become more effective at exploiting children for profit. For example, Saatchi and Saatchi,
a global marketing company, hired psychologists and anthropologists to conduct a study
on Generation Y, as the new crop of preteens and teens is described in the marketing
world. Reports to the industry urged companies to appeal and market to these children’s
need to belong and have a group identity:
Generation Y also has a strong need for community. In order to win these consumers, children’s business
retailers should change their goal to selling a community experience, instead of selling a product. The
retailer must move to a “community” mentality where the Generation Y consumer becomes empowered,
and they get involved… These findings, the result of an exhaustive study conducted by ad agency giant
Saatchi & Saatchi over a six-month period, have particularly significant implications for children’s business
retailers: change your goal from selling a product to creating a hip, community experience… .and you’ll
win the loyalty of what Saatchi & Saatchi calls today’s “connexity” kids. (Frazier, 1999, p. 2)
Anyone who works with preteens and teens is aware that adolescence can be a time of
change, insecurity, and rebellion. The challenge for caregivers is to help adolescents safely
navigate this transition period. But for marketers, adolescent change and vulnerabilities
provide grist for the profit mill: “Playing off teen insecurities is a proven strategy. But
even that won’t get you very far if you’ using a stale campaign and yesterday’s slang”
(Reese, 1997, p. 34). In an article on selling prom related items, the newsletter Selling to Kids
(Frazier, 1999) provides tips for retailers based on “intensive work with psychologists,”
encouraging them to exploit teenage vulnerabilities. “There’s no end to teen narcissism:
focus on the fantasy” (p. 1), is one bit of advice offered.
“Teens are an oppositional subculture, interested in shutting out the adult world,”
says Rachel Geller, Chief Strategic Officer of New York-based Gepetto Group. “However,
there are enormous opportunities for the marketer who is able to understand both the
reality and fantasy of teen life” (p. 1). The sources quoted here do not question the ethics
or the psychosocial impact of inundating teenagers with images and messages designed
to foster insecurities as the primary motivation to move them to action, that is, to buy.
Marketing agencies are as relentless in their quest for knowledge about children as any
academic institution, and they are certainly better funded. In fact, it is ironic that most
of the research being done on children and their susceptibility to advertising is in the
corporate world (Hood, 2000).
The Journal of Negro Education 481
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What is absent in market research, or how that data are used, are the questions that
should be central to all psychological research conducted with children such as: Am I
using this information to make children’s lives better? How will this application of child
psychology benefit children? Whatever their private concerns might be, it seems that no
one in the advertising industry questions publicly whether children benefit from commercial messages that play to their vulnerabilities. In fact, marketers, for the most part, say
that concerns about the impact of marketing on children are exaggerated:
“I have a high regard for the intelligence of kids,” says Tom Kalinske, president of Knowledge Universe,
a new education company, and the former CEO of Sega of America and Mattel Inc. Kalinske and others
in the industry believe that kids today are more sophisticated consumers than the generations that preceded
them, well able to recognize hype and impervious to crude manipulation. (cited in Leonhard & Kerwin,
1997, p. 62)
By championing children’s “intelligence” and “sophistication” as a rationale for the
escalating onslaught of child-targeted marketing, marketing experts reveal that their
alleged love affair with psychology is as superficial and deceptive as the ads they create.
As advertising executive Paul Kurnit reveals:
It’s a point of fact that today’s child is more savvy than ever before about what it’s like to live in a commercial
society. And what parents are telling us is that kids are requesting brands and are brand-aware almost as
soon as their verbal skills set in. (cited in Hood, 2000, p. 16)
The problem is that the industry confuses the trappings of sophistication with maturation.
That babies and toddlers request or recognize brands in no way reflects that they are
“savvy” about marketing, which implies a capacity to decode and resist advertising
messages. It merely suggests that very young children are highly susceptible to marketing,
a fact that is borne out by academic research (Borzekowski & Robinson, 2001). In fact,
children under 8 are unable to recognize persuasive intent (Kunkel & Roberts, 1991) and
until they reach 4 or 5, they have trouble differentiating between a commercial and
programming (Atkin, 1982).
The marketing industry’s embrace of the notion that children are leap-frogging through
development at breakneck speed is simplistic, potentially harmful, and self-serving. It is
true that girls are entering puberty at an earlier age (Kaplowitz, Slora, Wasserman, Pedlow,
& Herman-Giddens, 2001). There is also evidence that youth are beginning to abuse drugs,
alcohol, and tobacco at younger ages (Nelson, Brown, & Brown, 2001). There is no evidence,
however, that their emotional development is keeping pace with their bodies or their
behavior-and we do not know what meaning children make of their experience with
the trappings of maturation. For example, how does a 7-year-old understand the plastic
sexuality of Brittany Spears? How do 10-year-olds cope with pressure to dress and act
in sexually provocative ways?
According to the toy industry, proof of children’s sophistication lies in statistics showing that children are leaving some traditional toys behind at a younger age and trading
them in for video games and pop culture ico …
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