INTRODUCTION
Advertising, a persuasive venture, is a complex phenomenon. It is
today an intrinsic part of society, culture, history, and the economy — defying
any simple or single definition. Some aspects of it are universal, while others
are culturally specific. It is personal salesmanship metamorphosed into
mediated communication. Most academicians agree that it sometimes provides new
information, often cajoles, and always attempts to persuade. In addition to
selling messages, advertising encodes cultural values and social ideals.
Further, depending on one’s point of view, it is a positive or negative force
in society and the economy.
In general, there are two ways that persuasion occurs, either
through a rational, analytical process or through an instinctive, reactive process.
The key features of the rational process include active listening, active
thinking, focusing on the issue at hand, weighing the pros and cons, and reason
and logic which dominate the process. In contrast, the key features of the
instinctive, reactive persuasion process include passive listening, not
thinking at all, not focused on the issue at hand, not analysing the arguments,
and instinctive and mindless reactions dominate.
Raymond Williams (1997) recognized the historical role of
advertising as a means of getting attention and providing information, which is
the essence of James Laver's definition (De Vries, 1968, p. 6). Raymond
concentrates on looking at advertising as a modern institution and a profession
that evolved around 1800s in Britain and elsewhere, its commercial function,
and its persuasive power.
In economics, there are two contradictory approaches to the role of
advertising in the economy. One school of thought believes that advertising is
a source of information for consumers who can use it to make better-informed
decisions in the market place. This school of thought believes that advertising
increases market efficiency by providing information about alternatives (Mitra
& Lynch, 1995).
The alternate school of thought was made popular by Harvard
economists such as John K. Galbraith. Galbraith, in his book, The Affluent
Society, stated that advertising is manipulating the public by creating
artificial needs and wants (Galbraith, 1958). Economists catering to this
school of thought argue that advertising adds to cost, encourages consumers to
perceive new wants and desires, and redirects the distribution of their scarce
resources to acquire highly advertised products. Other disciplines too have
their own priorities, for instance, Psychology emphasizes persuasion, Political
Science - regulation, Sociology and Cultural Studies stress on gender, race,
and class while Anthropology is concerned mainly with culture. Consumer myths,
marketplace mythology, and mythmaking are central concepts used by advertising
academicians and advertising professionals today. They define advertising as a
form of mythmaking (Randazzo, 1993).
To sum up, Advertising is about desires, aspirations, and values. It
identifies them, describes them, and offers satisfaction through the purchase
and consumption of consumer goods. But, whose are the desires, aspirations, and
values that advertising talks about? This definition of advertising suggests
that the core values in most advertising copy are those of the middle class, or
those who would aspire to be a part of it (Deresiewicz, 1998). Advertisers use
advertisements for various purposes with diverse possible effects. However, the
core motivating factor for the producer-manufacturer-corporate establishment to
use this mode on consumers is the persuasive power of the medium.
TELEVISION ADVERTISING
The term ‘Television’ has come to refer to all aspects of television
programming and transmission as well. The medium, similar to any contemporary
means of communication, acts as a link in the living rooms - like a magical
bridge opened to the world. More than anything however, Television, perhaps is
the most influential form of media as a primary storyteller (Oulette, 1997).
According to George Gerbner, stories teach us ways of thinking about the world
that stay with us for a lifetime. Storytelling has taken different forms
throughout history; however, with the advent of the electronic revolution and
the introduction of the electronic storyteller the process of storytelling and
television has changed, and thereby the process of enculturation (Jhally,
1997).
CHILDREN’S EXPOSURE TO TELEVISION ADVERTISING
Children’s exposure to television advertising is often
conceptualized as a simple by-product of their time spent watching television.
In the late 1970s, a research team estimated that children viewed an average of
about 20,000 commercials per year (Adler, et al., 1977). The formula was
simple, average number of advertisements per hour multiplied by average number
of hours a child viewed television during a day, and all this multiplied by 365
days. It was estimated, using the same approach, that children typically viewed
more than 30,000 product commercials per year in the late 1980s (Condry, Bence,
& Scheibe, 1988). This estimate rose to 40,000 television advertisements
per year for children by early 1990s (Kunkel & Gantz, 1992). Indeed, with
the growing proliferation of 15-second spots, even these enormous figures may
be a gross underestimation of the true number of commercials viewed by children
in the new millennium (Comstock & Scharrer, 1999).
Advertisements are growing not only more prolific but are also being
made more appealing for children by many of the advertising and marketing
campaigns who use popular children’s television and movie characters to attract
and retain children’s attention. For many children thus, advertising media has
become a normal part of life. Anderson et al. (1986) had raised a serious
concern over time spent by children and young ones using or watching television
being upped to between 20 and 30 times greater than the time spent associating
with their family. The latest trend, taking into account the nuclear structure
of the family and working parents, indicates that children in the United
Kingdom and the United States may, on an average, spend between four and five
hours a day, outside school time, watching some form of electronic media
(Cooke, 2002). This may expose children to much potentially harmful material.
Kunkel (2001) suggested that today’s children in the United States might view
more than 40,000 advertisements every year. The huge number of advertisements
on television means that many children spend a significant proportion of their
lives watching advertisements. Although it seems to be an issue of concern for
most academicians, a study by R. K. Gupta et al (1994), also found that
television viewing enhances cognitive development, and conveys knowledge,
skills and information to the child. It motivates learning and imparts general
awareness.
Recent developments in advertising for children indicate a tendency
of marketers and advertisers to employ some form of animation in children's
television advertising. This helps them to catch children's attention during
commercial programming. The technological advancements, especially in computer
graphics, allow a greater flexibility, variability, and creativity in the
elaboration of advertisements. On the other hand, the practice of taking
advantage of the improvements in computer animation and special effects seems
to suggest that marketers may be experiencing an increasing challenge to
capture children's attention. They are therefore compelled to be even more
creative, requiring new and improved ways of reaching them, particularly
because children of the 1990s grew up accustomed to technology, consumer
electronics, and video games.
One aspect of today’s media dominated society that is of particular
concern is that the advertising industry aggressively seeks to understand,
anticipate, and influence the perceived needs and desires of young consumers.
By taking an increasingly disciplined approach to market research, marketers
have gained a wealth of information about children. Successful marketing relies
on correctly representing customer lifestyles and making products relevant to
their lives. The range of advertising styles, techniques, and channels used,
reach children and youth to foster brand loyalty and encourage product use.
Some of these approaches are market segmentation; television advertising; sales
promotions at schools, stores, and sporting events; multimedia exposure; celebrity
endorsement; kid’s clubs; product placement; and advertorials. In addition,
retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers, the media, schools, and corporate donors
are creating mutually beneficial partnerships to gain access to and capture the
attention of young consumers. One of their long-term goals seems to be to
develop a market for tomorrow’s adult consumers.
ADVERTISING, CHILDREN AND LAW
The pervasiveness of marketing to children is of particular concern
because of their inherent vulnerability to commercial persuasion. Children
under the age of eight do not recognize the persuasive intent of ads and tend
to accept them as accurate and unbiased (Kunkel D., 2001). It was also found
that a 30-second commercial can influence brand preferences in children as
young as two years old. As young children have not developed the cognitive
skills and abilities of older children and adults, they do not grasp commercial
messages as do mature audiences, and, therefore, are susceptible to the
persuasive intent of advertisements. Many researchers have documented evidence
that there is an age-related difference in children’s understanding, and,
thereby, the way television advertising affects them. Such evidence has formed
the basis for a wide range of policies in the United States intended to protect
children from advertising.
It is obvious that Advertising enjoys an unfair advantage over
youngsters due to their limited comprehension of the nature, purpose, and
intent of commercial appeals (Kunkel D., 1990); (Young, 1990); (Kunkel &
Roberts, 1991). These policies form the foundation of a broad societal
consensus that children require special treatment and protection from the
unbridled efforts of the economic marketplace (Kunkel, Wilcox, Cantor, Palmer,
Linn, & Dowrick, 2004). In some western nations, the authorities have tried
to protect children by establishing age limits and ratings. However, all
children and their parents do not always understand the ratings, or they tend
to belittle their value. The year 1874 saw the English Parliament enacting the
Infants’ Relief Act to protect children “from their own lack of experience and
from the wiles of pushing tradesmen and moneylenders” (James, 1965, p. 8). The
Infants’ Relief Act is one of the earliest known modern-day governmental
policies recognising children’s vulnerability to commercial exploitation. The
core issues underlying this 20th century policy remain much the same today even
more than a century later.
Advertising in India falls under the purview of statutory and self-regulatory
authority. Regulatory authority of all broadcast media (cable channels and
ground stations operating within and directed at India) is the responsibility
of the Information & Broadcasting Ministry of the Government of India.
Special protection for children is included briefly in the India Cable
Television Networks (Regulation) Act (1994) and in the self-regulatory code of
the Advertising Standards Council of India (Hawkes, 2007, p. 34). However,
there is still serious concern that the basic tenet of advertising regulation –
that it should not mislead – is not being observed. One legal expert stated
that “children in India seem to be particularly vulnerable to the infringement
of these regulations which is unfortunately a common occurrence” (Vadhera,
Quarter 4, 2004). Two efforts are being made to address this situation, one
statutory and one self-regulatory. Yet, it is apparent that there is plenty of
room to improve to protect young impressionable minds from commercial
exploitation.
In today’s globalised scenario, some researchers argue, the opening
of regional and local markets to international business has increased
consumerism and created an appetite for what is American in many developing
countries. The spread of American television and the general spread of Western
mass media programming to the developing world have acted as a catalyst in
increasing people’s consumerist appetite. Writing on this process, Schiller
(1991) says that the goal of Western media is the creation of good consumers. Exposure
to Western media, including advertising, has increased consumerism and created
the desire to possess advertised goods. This aspect of globalisation affects
everyone, but it may have its largest impact on children. According to D’Silva
et al (2007), advertising forms, a significant part of American television
programming, both overt and embedded, because advertisers constantly seek an
effective means of influencing consumer behaviour. This trend is now spreading
to Indian shores. A number of studies show that children who are heavy viewers
of television consume more advertised foods and want more advertised toys than
do children who are light viewers of television (Atkin C. K., 1982); (Goldberg
M. , 1990); (Robertson T. S., Ward, Gatignon, & Klees, 1989).
Most of these studies focus on American children, and it is
important to find out whether such behaviour is or is likely to be replicated
by children in countries like India. A quick glance at Third World & Indian
television programming makes it obvious that embedded advertising is pervasive.
Imported programming, particularly from core countries, forms a substantial
part of the programming in India. Of particular interest, therefore, are its
influences on the vulnerable segment of Developing Societies population –
children. Although children generally are very perceptive and intelligent, the
fact is that they are considerably less informed - as compared to adults – and,
thereby, are a largely vulnerable audience for hard advertising. Advertising converts
a child's natural energy into a permanently heightened state of
acquisitiveness. It moulds the self-concept of a child on material
acquisitions. Some toy manufacturers use selling strategies, which make
children who do not have their products feel ‘un-cool’, or ‘inferior’. In 2004,
the Information & Broadcasting Ministry (of India) began to monitor
actively and decide on violations of its television advertising codes for TV as
per the Cable Television Act’s Rules (The Cable Television Networks (Regulation)
Act, 1995).
In 2002, they set up an inter-ministerial committee, which has since
been reviewing complaints, issuing notices to television channels, and deciding
whether advertisements violate the rules. A bill was introduced on the floor of
the parliament, which was passed as the Cable Television Networks (Regulation)
Amendment Act 2002. However, in 2006, the Ministry set up another 30-member
committee “representing diverse interests” to rewrite the programme and
advertising codes for the Cable Television Act and its Rules, and to develop a
mechanism by which to enforce the codes, a process which is far from complete,
till date. It is reported that the codes developed by the committee are
primarily adapted from the United Kingdom’s Ofcom codes, with specific
sub-sections on children and food advertising (Hawkes, 2007, p. 34); (Express,
2005).
In 2008, the Central Government amended the Cable Television Network
Rules through a gazette notification to ban ‘surrogate advertisements” in order
to prevent tobacco and liquor brands from circumventing the law. According to
the notification, no advertisement would be permitted which encourages
“directly or indirectly sale or consumption of cigarettes, tobacco products,
wine, alcohol, liquor or other intoxicants.” The Ministry of Consumer Affairs
also recently set up a committee to make recommendations to confront misleading
advertising (Joshua, 2008).
ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISING
The growth and development of modern-day advertising as a social
system, an important component of mass media, connects with the growth of an
economy into industrial, mass, and affluent society. The more a society
develops wider circulation of information through nongovernmental agencies,
mass production of goods & services, high degree of reliance on technology,
and highly specialized division of labour.
People in developed and developing societies rely on the established
Industrial Order or the system called “the market” to satisfy their needs.
People no longer produce what they consume. In fact, they earn wages by selling
their labour so that they can buy the goods produced by others for consumption.
It is here that we see advertising’s principal function – to inform and
persuade consumers - come into play. Today, advertising is all-pervasive and a
part of our daily environment. Advertisements aired on television are now a
measure of a programme’s success (Jamieson & Campbell, 2000, p. 156).
To survive, maintain and sustain itself Advertising seeks to
generate profits, which in turn requires attracting sizeable audiences. Mass
media audiences fulfil this requirement of sizeable audience. Advertising,
therefore, is subject to various influences. Changing demographics have also
had an impact on advertising. Today, target audiences are referred to by
advertisers as ‘upscale’ or ‘downscale’. Some nations can also influence and
control their media greatly. In addition, powerful corporations have enormous
influence on mainstream media. Further, the market pressures that affect these
companies, affect the media as well and hence, the media itself is largely
driven by the forces of the market.
However, the niche and segmented audiences also consume mediated
messages but negotiation of text from mass media remains a major source for
most advertisers. Thus, it is of little surprise that television and
commercials (advertisements) on television remain a major source of debate for
impact studies. Some of our fear and distrust arises from a belief that the
mass media are monolithic, owned and / or controlled by ever fewer people who
tend to speak in one voice (Jamieson & Campbell, 2000, p. 9).
The emerging ownership pattern, which also seems to fuel our
suspicion, is that fewer media conglomerates own more and more media outlets.
The concentrated ownership of mass media seems to work against alternative
sources of opinion / diversity of opinion; this seems to work against
democracy. The fact that a broadcast signal is no respecter of geo-political
boundaries means that a message from one society finds its way into another
with diverse traditions, patterns of social, economic & cultural life,
needs and possibilities, unhindered. Increasingly, national broadcasting is
being replaced by an international medium through satellites, making it
available to people in different countries across the globe. The Cable News
Network entered into an agreement with the Soviet Union in 1986 to use the
Intersputnik satellite to increase its effective footprint to the Indian
sub-continent & adjoining arena. Along with its use of Pan Am Star
transponder, CNN is today transmitting its signal to over 85 sovereign states
over and above the United States of America (Tuch, 1990, p. 122); (Carmody,
1989).
The ability of mediated messages to flow across international
boundaries has had an impact on the politics of many a nation. Today, the world
has witnessed the rise of global media and with it the rapid fall of
informational barriers though economic barriers tend to be more tenacious. In
fact, television commercials do not even require the audience to be either
literate or multi-lingual. There is a steady decline in the use of text or copy
in advertisements and the increase in display and illustrations, as pointed out
by Daniel Boorstin (1962); Guy Debord (1975); Jean Baudrillard (1975);
(Baudrillard, Simulations, 1983) and Leiss et al. (Leiss, Kline, & Jhally,
1991), concerning the increased importance of images in contemporary culture.
And with this trend, yet another important issue of concern has emerged, a
shift of emphasis within advertisements away from communicating specific
product information towards communicating the social and symbolic uses of the
products.
Consumer society has caused a "profound transformation in
social life" involving "the change in the function of goods from
being primarily satisfiers of wants to being primarily communicators of
meanings" (Leiss, Kline, & Jhally, 1991). In the consumer society,
individuals identify themselves as consumers and obtain gratification from
consuming products. Hence, marketers and advertisers by associating their
products with certain lifestyles, symbolic values, and pleasures generate
systems of meaning, prestige, and identity.
According to the Critical theory of Advertising, advertising plays a
key role in the transition to a new image culture where discursive concepts are
replaced by aesthetic figures as a mode of cultural communication and power
(Jhally, 1987); (Leiss, Kline, & Jhally, 1986). In today’s environment,
advertising is playing increasingly important roles in subtly shaping consumer
needs and continuing to channel desire into various products, fashion, and lifestyles
(Kellner, 1989a).
ADVERTISING AND GLOBALIZATION
Connecting and stratifying peoples around the world, globalization
shrinks time and space, and intensifies awareness of the world as a single
place (Robertson R., 1992). Globalization and consolidation are also leading to
rapid changes in the advertising industry (Levitt, 1983); (Kennedy, 1993);
(Legrain, 2003); (Mittelman, 2000). Clearly a process involving the compression
of international time and space, and intensification of trans-national
relations is taking place (Hargittai & Centeno, 2001).
Scholars often examine “change,” and its closely kindred concept
“difference,” as a vehicle for getting into the particularities of a culture
(Nederveen, 2003); (D'Silva, Futrell, & Reyes, 2007, p. 254). While some
researchers focus on cultural change, others confess that some things have
remained the same. In particular, many deeply held cultural beliefs persist
even in the face of momentous changes. To a large extent, globalization is
about the negotiation (sometimes referred to as a “clash”) that occurs between
change introduced from outside a culture and the conservatism that sustains a
culture.
ADVERTISING AND DEMOCRACY
Advertising, it is argued, represents a free flow of information and
helps people exercise choice – a valuable instrument of democracy. On the other
hand, it can be said that advertising’s current role in society is to a degree
exploitative, wasteful, and manipulative (Ewen, 1988). It indirectly represents
a form of domination that perpetuates capitalist hegemony (Leymore, 1975) and
obstructs participatory democracy and the development of individual autonomy
(Schudson, 1984); (McChesney, October 2000). From a historical, developmental
perspective, advertising can be said to erode traditional social structures of
meaning, which it replaces with ideals and images of privatized commodity
consumption.
In a Capitalist Democracy, advertising attempts to assure and
assuage its audience and to promote the belief that individual commodity
consumption is the solution to all problems (Haug, 1986). Advertising also undermines
the psycho-cultural base for a public sphere and democratic participation in
social life (Best & Kellner, 1991) A close examination of the relationship
between increasingly concentrated and powerful corporate advertisers and
increasingly fragmented and isolated consumers/citizens reveals that
advertising's practices and trends contradict democratic ideals and goals
(Ewen, 2001).
ADVERTISING AND ECONOMIES
Advertising has often been charged with promoting consumerism in
developing societies. Concurrent with the development of consumerism has been
the creation of new and sophisticated types of marketing and advertising. While
these effects of consumerism benefit a developing society, the weight of the
argument concerning the effects of consumerism lies heavily with the
alternative approach. From an alternative approach, Sterns (2001) suggests that
consumerism describes a basic function of our society that is populated by
people who are no longer concerned with subsistence, but desire to acquire and
accumulate goods.
It has been argued often that western-style marketing and
advertising are causing the spread of conspicuous consumption with negative
consequences for developing countries. While some argue that globalization is
raising the standard of living in low income countries, “more than one-fifth of
humankind still lives in acute poverty” (Mueller, 1996, p. 250), critics point
out that even the poor have become subsumed by consumerism and that, “local
governments in developing countries must consciously decide where valuable
resources are to be spent” (Mueller, 1996, p. 256).
ADVERTISING AND TECHNOLOGY
Satellites, force multipliers, have profoundly influenced
advertising. Today millions across the globe watch a single television
commercial. This has brought into play ‘International Advertising’ (Jones,
2000), where the global players do not advertise on a regional basis but the
goods and services in a worldwide market. Technological innovations have also
influenced the production design. Computer aided animation has captured fantasy
into a smooth flowing reality on screen. The success of computer creatures led
to an explosion of Computer-Generated Imagery or CGI in all media. Manipulation
of digital pictures is a valuable technology enabled tool for producers of
advertising content. The ability to alter motion pictures and visuals by
computer software and technology can be considered a serious threat to the integrity
of the profession because it distorts the historical record of a culture.
On the other hand, advertisers themselves use technology as a
signifier in advertisements such as those of Mobile phones, Notebook computers,
and cars (to name a few) in appealing to the fantasies and dreams of consumers
to become part of the elite class. Portrayal of images of successful
businesspersons and elitists suggests the luxury of mobility that comes from
using the advertised company's product. Such advertisements tend to lead
consumers to falsely believe that the globalization process is having a
positive effect on everyone and eventually we will all become richer.
STEREOTYPING IN ADVERTISING
Media’s stereotypical portrayal of women reflects society’s
male-dominated view. Women are often portrayed as sex objects designed only for
man’s pleasure, as wives whose chief duty is to serve their husbands, and as
mothers who must often singlehandedly bring up their children. Women are
portrayed as “being less intelligent than men, being inferior” (Lester, 2000,
p. 90). Stereotypes in media are also often culturally biased. Often, the only
place where people regularly and over a long time come across other cultural
groups is in the pages of newspapers and magazines, on television, and in the
movies. However, when most of those media images are misleading, viewers often
accept them as reality and fail to realize their prejudices. To change people’s
mind about diversity may require far-reaching changes in the entire culture.
FALSE AND MISLEADING INFORMATION IN ADVERTISING
False advertising, in essence, is the passing off goods or services
as something or someone’s they are not. It is the usurpation of good will and
sales by unfair means. False advertising is prohibited and actionable in most
societies by various state statutes, which prohibit deceptive trade practices
and unfair competition.
ADVERTORIALS — ADVERTISEMENTS DISGUISED AS NEWS!
Sometimes, news stories or editorials are subtle product
advertisements, giving rise to new terms in critical circles, such as
advertorials. Advertisements designed to simulate editorial content, also known
as infomercial, offer commercial information to prospective clients -the
underlying idea being that people give more credibility to editorial content
than to paid advertisements, since all producers would claim their product to
be the best. Editorial content, however, would suggest that an outside agency
has endorsed the product or service.
ADVERTAINMENT — ADVERTISEMENTS DISGUISED AS ENTERTAINMENT!
Advertainment is where advertisers focus on creating entertaining
branded content. This does not mean simply placing your brand in the context of
pre-existing programming. Advertainment instead creates entertaining content
and weaves a brand message into it. This type of advertainment represents a
trend in television advertising: creating advertising that is so entertaining,
people want to watch.
FREE MEDIA CHANNELS HAVE A COST – COMMERCIALLY PERSUASIVE MESSAGES
With the growth and evolution of mass media, advertisers have used
this means of communications to inform a large number of people about their
products, thereby, allowing a free flow of innovative ideas and concepts.
However, over time, as advertising methods and techniques became sophisticated,
enticing, shaping and even creating consumerism and needs where there had been
none before or turning luxuries into necessities, became the order of the day.
Various public and free media, such as the numerous channels
available in most countries, sought subsidization of their running costs with
advertising. However, as corporate competition increased, so too has the need
for returns on massive expenditures on advertising. Producers of goods and
services spend millions to win the hearts of their audiences and influence
their choices towards their products and ideas. The sheer amount of money this
brings to media companies is significant and, in many cases, forms their main
form of support. Hence, if something is reported that the advertiser does not
like, the media company risks losing much needed revenue to stay alive.
ADVERTISING AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF CHILDHOOD
Commercialization of public and religious holidays helps promote
sales as well. Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Deepawali, Id, Holi, Makkarsankranti
or Independence Day (15th of August) in India, like in numerous other
countries, sees a high amount of consumerism. The purchasing power of children,
and their purchasing influence, has forced marketers and advertisers to
deliberately adopt focused strategies in an attempt to influence those dollars
(Barbaro & Earp, 2008).
TELEVISION ADVERTISING AND ITS IMPACT ON CHILDREN
Throughout the history of children's television advertising,
researchers have criticized in various ways the use of television commercials
directed towards children. Winick et al. (1973) argued that while advertising
directed towards children stimulated their materialism and consumption, it also
encouraged conflicts with their peers and parents for the same materialistic
issues. They further advocated that, because children have not yet fully
developed reasoning abilities, they are unable to evaluate the conveyed
message, which could contain non-rational or unrealistic information that could
be deceptive. Children, therefore, should be protected from advertising.
Today, researchers have explored a whole plethora of topics
reflecting the child as a consumer, its knowledge of products, brands,
advertising, pricing, decision-making strategies, and parental influence and
negotiation approaches. In addition, the social aspects of the consumer role,
exploring the development of consumption symbolism, social motives for
consumption, and materialism have been examined in detail.
On the whole however, behavioural studies tend to focus on the
extent to which children are persuaded by advertisements. They focus on
children’s preferences for certain products over others and/or by the requests
made for products in response to advertising. Studies on the behavioural
effects of advertising, notably, find that television has a major effect on the
products children ask for and that increased television-watching leads to
increased requests for advertised products.
In addition, television advertising creates misconceptions among
children about the nutritional values of foods and ways to maintain positive
health. Health experts believe that constant promotion of high-calorie food
significantly contributes to the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United
States by encouraging preferences for junk food and encouraging poor eating
habits.
However, according to George Gerbner, the mass media cultivate
attitudes and values, which are already present in a culture: the media
maintain and propagate these values amongst members of a culture, thus binding
it together. He argues that television tends to cultivate middle-of-the-road
political perspectives. Gerbner and his colleagues (Gerbner & Gross, 1976)
& (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorelli, 1986) contend that television
has a small but significant influence on the attitudes, beliefs, and judgments
of viewers concerning the social world. The focus is on ‘heavy viewers’ (Miller
K., 2005). People who watch a lot of television programmes are likely to be
more influenced by the ways in which television programmes frame the world than
are individuals who watch less, especially regarding topics of which the viewer
has little first-hand experience. Light viewers may have more sources of
information than heavy viewers. Judith van Evra (1990, p. 167) claims that due
to inexperience, young viewers may depend on television for information more
than other viewers do.
In addition to immediate obvious advertising, there is also the
persuasive influence in television shows (The National Readership Studies
Council, 2006). Commercially crafted words and images promoting from unhealthy
foods to toys and commercial vehicles confront today’s child wherever the child
may choose to turn, in fact even commodities & services like paints &
distemper to vacations that children cannot directly need are targeted at them
in the hope that they may act as a pressure group for parents. Advertising
messages designed to capture children’s imagination, appear on television and
radio, on the internet, at the cinema, in comics and magazines, on food labels
and even at school. Whilst most parents and many medical, health and education
professionals agree with the Government advice that fatty, sugary and salty
foods should be consumed only infrequently and in limited quantities, food
advertising targeted at children portrays these unhealthy foods as attractive
food choices. The food sector, as also other goods’ manufacturers & service
providers recognize television as a particularly powerful advertising medium,
which reaches tens of millions of children and adults on a daily basis. Some
European countries, most notably Sweden, recognize the need to protect children
from commercial pressures created by television advertising and have
well-established controls to ensure that advertisements are not targeted to
children under the age of 12 years.
EFFECTS OF TELEVISION ADVERTISING ON CHILDREN
To evaluate the effects of television advertising on children, it is
pertinent to conceptualise the impact of television advertising as intended and
unintended. Intended or “primary” effect, as Comstock and Paik (1991) call it,
of most advertisements on television is the direct promotion of the
advertiser’s economic interest, i.e., generating product purchase requests and
increasing product consumption. Although, each advertisement may have as its
primary purpose promoting the sales of its featured product, the cumulative
impact from the totality of television advertising to children may exert far
broader sociological influence. These effects are categorised as unintended or
“secondary” effects.
Advertisers are interested in outcomes such as viewers’ recall for
the product, desire for the advertised product, and (depending on the age of
the child) either purchase influence attempts or actual purchase of the
product. Certain advertising strategies tend to enhance the effectiveness of
advertising appeals to children. Finally, research also makes clear that
children’s purchase-influence attempts have a relatively high degree of
success. Frequent parent yielding to children’s purchase requests has been
reported in studies that rely on parent self-reports (Frideres, 1973) &
(Ward S. &., 1972) as well as unobtrusive observation of behaviour in the
supermarket (Atkin C. K., 1978) & (Galst & White, 1976). Thus, it will
be correct to state that television commercials, when directed at children, are
highly successful at accomplishing their intended goal of securing product
sales.
The “secondary” effects, some researchers have suggested, of
television advertising to children include increase in materialistic attitudes
(Goldberg & Gorn, 1978) & (Moschis & Moore, 1982). The influence of
television advertising on children’s eating habits is worth mentioning. Many
studies (Dietz, 1990) & (Jeffery, McLellarn, & Fox, 1982) convincingly
demonstrate the influencing/persuasive power of television advertising on
children. The general finding that eating habits formed during childhood often
persist throughout life underscores the serious implications of advertising
influence in this realm (Jacobson & Maxwell, 1994). Further, there are some
modest short-term effects of influence of commercials for sensitive products
not intended for children, including drugs and medicine as well as alcoholic
beverages (Almarsdottir & Bush, 1992); (Butter, Weikel, Otto, Wright, &
Deinzer, 1991); (Robertson, Rossiter, & Gleason, 1979) & (Rossiter
& Robertson, 1980). Children’s pestering their parents for a product they
have just seen advertised on TV is often taken as evidence of immediate
effects.
Another important area of unintended effects worth considering is
the parent-child conflict that emerges when parents refuse to respond to
children’s purchase-influence attempts (Robertson T., 1979). In one study,
Atkin (1975) found that more than half of the children reported becoming angry
or arguing when a toy request was denied; in another (Atkin C. K., 1978), he
observed high rates of child disappointment and anger in response to the
majority of parent refusals for cereal requests at the supermarket. Other
studies have also confirmed these patterns (Goldberg & Gorn, 1978) &
(Sheikh & Moleski, 1977).
THE INFLUENCE OF ADVERTISING RELATIVE TO OTHER FACTORS
Messages conveyed in mass media are more effective when it comes to
calling attention to products and phenomena than they are at bringing about
long-term changes in attitudes or behaviour. It is worth noting that television
has long been the predominant medium that advertisers have chosen for marketing
products to children. Proponents of television advertising point out that it is
difficult to isolate direct effects of advertising from other interpersonal
influences.
Furnham (1996) finds it impossible to isolate the influence of TV
commercials from other influences. Furnham argues, further, that we have to consider
factors such as the age of the child, the family’s socio-economic status, the
parents’ level of education and cultural background as well as the product
category in question when we discuss influence. However, despite his conviction
it is impossible to demonstrate the direct effects of TV commercials in
isolation from other factors.
To sum up then there is consensus among researchers that family,
siblings and friends exert a stronger influence on children’s lives than mass
media in general and TV advertising in particular. This has long been
considered an established truth among mass communication researchers. All these
studies point to the hypothesis that interpersonal communication is far more
effective when it comes to influencing attitudes, conceptions and behaviour
than mass communication. The main difficulties we face when we attempt to
assess the effects of media content are (1) to specify the various influences,
independent from others and (2) to specify the interaction between interpersonal
and mass communication. Questions that need to be answered are, for example:
How do messages carried in the mass media penetrate and circulate through
groups and interpersonal networks? If a friend tells a child that he should
obtain something s/he has seen in a TV commercial, is the source of influence
the child’s friend, or the commercial?
Surveying the research on children and television, we found that
many different social and market agents having economic and political stakes in
the issue are active in the policy debate. Proponents as well as opponents of
television advertising aimed at children have initiated and financed studies,
the results of which often serve their respective interests. The fact that a
majority of the studies on this subject have been steered by extra-scientific
interests, e.g., the policy decision, whether or not advertising to young
children should be banned or regulated, means that the studies have had
different starting points and perspectives. Thus, we find that those favouring
TV advertising aimed at children prefer to cite research based on observations,
the results of which indicate that even very young children can recognize and
comprehend commercial messages. Opponents of such advertising tend, on the
other hand, to cite findings based on verbal responses that show that only
after some years can children distinguish commercials from other programme
content and perceive its intent.
CHILDREN’S COMPREHENSION OF ADVERTISING
Children are required to acquire two key information-processing
skills to negotiate meaning and “mature” comprehension of advertising messages.
First, children should be able to discriminate at a perceptual level commercial
from non-commercial content, and secondly, children must be able to understand
the persuasive intent behind advertising and adjust their interpretation of
commercial messages consistent with that knowledge. Most researchers agree that
these capabilities develop over time, largely as a function of cognitive growth
and development rather than the accumulation of any particular amount of
experience with media content (Kunkel D., 2001).Due to the similarities in
terms of production conventions and featured characters in both children’s
television programs and commercials, it is little wonder that young children
experience difficulty in distinguishing between the program and commercial
content.
There is evidence that young children often fail to discriminate
between a program and a commercial (Palmer & McDowell, 1979). Even if they acquire
the ability to correctly apply the label “commercial” to advertisements, they
do not necessarily understand that such content is separate and conceptually
distinct from the program material. (Kunkel D., 1988a), It is apparent that the
primary purpose of all television advertising is to influence the attitudes and
subsequent behaviour of its viewers. Adults use a defence mechanism, a kind of
cognitive filter, which helps them comprehend the intent and purpose of the
commercial. However, young children, by virtue of their limited cognitive
development, typically lack the ability to apply such protective and cognitive
mechanisms to their understanding of television advertising. Given the
complexities involved in appreciating the source’s perspective in the
advertising process, there is a strong theoretical basis to expect that young
children will have difficulty recognizing the persuasive intent underlying
television advertising (Roberts, 1982).
MEDIA LITERACY: EMPOWERING CHILDREN THROUGH EDUCATION
It is noted that education and democracy are highly correlated.
Education raises the benefits of civic engagement (Glaeser, Ponzetto, &
Shleifer, 2007). “The uneducated man or the man with limited education is a
different political actor from the man who has achieved a higher level of
education” (Almond & Verba, 1989, p. 316). Democracy’s mainstay,
citizenship, requires responsibility and exercise of such responsibility well
and thoroughly in turn requires the need to be able to see the world and to see
through media’s limited and inadequate representations of it (Silverstone,
2004).
Media literacy has often been described as a facilitation of a
greater understanding of the persuasive intent behind advertising (Austin &
Johnson, 1997a). This narrow definition presumes that by being forewarned of
the persuasive intent, both adults and children can acquire necessary tools to
effectively negotiate undesired effects of advertising in general. As the
importance of media, information and communications in society grows media
literacy has come to imply the ability to access, analyse, evaluate, and
communicate information in a variety of format including print and
electronic/digital. It includes the ability to both read (comprehend) and write
(create, design, produce). It should lead to individuals attaining competencies
develop critical thinking skills in order to question, analyse and evaluate any
mediated information/message (Considine, 1995).
Media literacy Education and training has long been proposed as a
necessary intervention in order to protect consumers, especially children, from
the negative impact of persuasive communication such as advertising and product
placement and to enable children to make informed choices before purchasing, or
requesting, products (Kennedy D. G., 2004); (Rogers, 2002); (Armstrong &
Merrie, 1988). There is some evidence that specific interventions in other
areas, particularly alcohol use, tobacco use, body image issues and eating
disorders, can be effective in changing both perceptions and behaviours and
that pre-adolescents can be successfully targeted (Gonzales, Glik, Davoudi,
& Ang, 2004); (Irving & Berel, 2001); (Austin & Johnson, 1997a);
(Austin & Johnson, 1997b). Immediate effects included an understanding of
the persuasive intent of advertising and a decreased perception regarding the
desirability of products such as alcohol.
Concerned Children’s Advertisers (CCA) is a non-profit organization
of Canadian companies established in 1990 which includes such flagship brand
owners as Coca-Cola, McDonalds Restaurants, Kellogg and Nestlé. For over
fifteen years, CCA have provided a wide range of educational programs for
children on topics such as drug use, self-esteem, coping with bullying and
media literacy. Television public service announcements addressing each topic
are aired using donated television time (Loblaw, 2001). Similarly, Media Smart
a U.K. based media literacy program focuses specifically on advertising and has
been working towards increasing the ability of children to think critically
about information from the media to which they are exposed (Media Smart 2003a
and b). They base their recommendations for intervention on Section 6.7.1 of
the British Communications Act: “This will help people to understand the
distinctions between different media services, to appraise their content
critically, to use the tools which are increasingly becoming available to
navigate the electronic world, and to become empowered digital citizens. It
will also help children to learn how to maintain critical distinctions such as
those between fact and fiction (especially in interactive environments) or
between reportage and advocacy, as well as how to assess commercial
messages" (Media Smart, 2003a p. 1).
By contributing media literacy resources, the marketing industry may
be seen positioning itself as being part of the solution to these problems and
thereby seeks to avoid wide restrictions or outright bans on marketing
communication, particularly for food products deemed to have little nutritional
value directed at children (Kleinman, 2003a); (Rogers, 2002); (Teinowitz,
2001). The need to be seen to be taking positive action primarily in order to
avert potential restrictions on advertising, says Cincotta (2005), is openly
acknowledged by some sectors of the industry itself. Further, Hobbs (1998)
suggests that such programmes are also in the interests of media organizations
that support the interventions in order to reduce criticism of the potential
negative effects of the media themselves. Considine (2002) somewhat cynically
suggests that there is also an element of exploitation of the issue of media
literacy by all parties simply for its rhetorical value.
Not much research has been done about how well adults themselves
understand online content, but small-scale studies suggest that they are often
unaware of the origin of information and may lack the skills to consider the
point of view from which that information is presented. This begs the question,
that if parents themselves are not media literate how will they help their
children understand the implications behind the advertisement? Although viewers
are well aware when they are confronted with commercial messages on television
(Sancho & Wilson, 2001), the changing conditions of advertising, sponsorship,
branding, merchandising, paid-for-content, and other forms of promotion through
broadcasting, the internet and mobile phones, set new literacy requirements.
Little research exists on adults’ critical awareness of such promotional
practices or on how better to support parental mediation of promotion to
children (Kunkel & Wilcox, 2001); (Montgomery, 1996).
Media literacy therefore needs to be addressed not only towards
children but adults as well. There are three main areas where media literacy
can contribute. In a democratic society, a media-literate individual can take
more informed decisions on matters concerning the public and political
environment. Thus, in a media-literate society an individual would be more
aware, critical and proactive in the public sphere. In a market economy
increasingly based on information, a media-literate individual would be innovative
and competitive and would be able to make positive choices. In today’s heavily
mediated environment which informs and constructs the choices, values and
knowledge that give meaning to everyday life, media literacy would facilitate
an informed, creative and ethical society.
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Paper presented at the Eighth AIMS International
Conference on Management (AIMS-8) jointly organized by Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
(www.iimahd.ernet.in) and AIMS International-The Association of Indian
Management Scholars (www.aims-international.org) January-1-4, 2011
Authors: Rashid
Narain Shukul & Bellukutty Sudhakar (Manipal University (Dubai Campus))
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