When we hear the word ads or advertisements, what is the first thing that rings in our mind? Selling of products. But we must ask ourselves, is that the end of what advertising is? We all know that every month, new products release as big companies what to sell their goods and earn money. We all also excitedly search out the details and features of the new products and take a look at various ads. They, however, have minute details inside that we tend to overlook. In this article, I will be talking about the effects of these ads when targeted on children.
What are ads that target children?
Advertisements that target children are those marketing products or services in a way that is meant to appeal to children or persuade them to want to make purchases. It can either effect them or affect them.
HOW DO THESE ADS APPEAL TO CHILDREN?
There are many ways advertisements can influence these kids. Here are some of the common methods that advertisers implement so as to influence targeted children.
- CHILDREN CAN GET INFLUENCED EASILY: We all know that children are an innocent minded group of people. This makes them susceptible to many of the dangers in the outside world. Influential ads are one of them. They tend to over-exaggerate the features of the service or product they are advertising. Let me give you an example. Suppose if a kids toy company is selling their new race car, we all know that the race car will just be a normal car which has a remote control. These advertisements, however, will speed up the race car so much and add graphics like as if the car is moving on the streets at great speed that it will thrill whoever wants to buy that product.
- CHILDREN ARE NOT MATURE ENOUGH TO MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS: Like mentioned in my previous point, children can get influenced easily. Therefore, linking back to that point is the next point in which I will talk about the child’s maturity. When children make a decision to make purchase as a result of the advertisement, it is because you are exploiting their lack of needed maturity to actually choose things that may benefit them. Not only buying products, children also need parents’ supervision in deciding basic necessities like picking their school or CCA.
- THEY TARGET YOUR INSECURITIES: Yes, they do. How exactly? Well, suppose a company selling cosmetics advertises their products, it may make the child feel insecure about his looks. He may think that without the specific makeup item, he looks ridiculous and ugly unlike the people who have the item. This doesn’t only happen to kids, but unfortunately to adults also. A study in the Journal of Consumer Research found that adults who had been exposed to ads featuring beauty enhancing products tended to rate themselves more poorly in terms of physical appearance. Imagine how much worse it would be for kids!
HOW DO THEY BENEFIT CHILDREN?
Don’t confuse yourself! There are benefits to advertising for children. Here are some ways of good advertising to children.
- THE CHILD IS AWARE OF WHAT IS BEING SOLD: What is the main purpose of advertising? Selling of goods. If we do not expose the child to advertisements, he will most likely miss out on the new trends in the world and the new products that companies are selling. Yes, it is important to stay in trend and know what is happening. This is extremely important when children start learning decision making, which I will elaborate in my second point.
- THEY WILL LEARN HOW TO MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS FASTER: If we do not expose children to ads, then how will they learn decision making? It is better to train them about what they will do in a later stage of their life from an early age so that in their later life, they will not face difficulties and this will be a lifelong skill for them.
OPINION
I feel that the respective governing body should properly regulate and monitor the ads that target children because they can spoil the innocent minds of children and cause them to fight tooth and nail for the products. I feel like we should also teach them how to understand whether or not the product is worth buying or not and they will also learn to make their own decisions.
Thank you for reading!
