Television Food Advertising to Children †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Television Food Advertising to Children. Answer: Introduction: The influence of Social media websites has been growing substantially, but still, television advertisements are the most influential medium in customers purchasing behaviour. The benefits of television advertisement include large demographic audience, significant impact on views behaviour, cost-effective and it compliments other mediums of advertisement. Modern television advertisements are influencing the behaviours and attitude of children. There have been several studies on the negative impact of television advertisements over children behaviour. As per Boyland and Halford (2013), organisations use sound, pictures, actions and vibrant colours in their commercials to attract the attention of its viewers. Children have low reasoning abilities, which is why they take impulsive decisions based upon television advertisements. Children are an important demographic for corporations because other than their purchasing power they also influence the buying decision of their parents. In recent times, children are more vocal regarding their demands, and they nag their parents into buying items for them, this is called Pester Power. According to Lawlor and Prothero (2011), many corporations prefer to target children for their advertisement because they are easy to influence. Most of the children watching television advertisement did not have logical abilities to understand its impacts; therefore, they confuse the television with reality and demand for the products from the advertisements. Thus, corporations target children because it is easier for them to influence them into purchasing their products. To attract children into purchasing their products, companies are required to influence their interests. According to Kelly et al. (2010), organisations invest in the research of understanding the psychology of kids and other factors such as development, social and emotional requirements. Marketing professionals can use the data acquired by companies from the research for making advertisements which target the interest of children. The marketing experts use many strategies to influence the behaviours of children, such as product placement, cross-promotion, or celebrity endorsements. As per Calvert (2008), one of the most influencing advertisement strategies is product placement by the corporations in movies and TV shows. The enterprises research most favorite films and TV shows of children and place their advertisement in them which easily influence the behaviour of children, for example, Reeses Pieces placement in E.T. movie and Coca-Cola KFC placement in Superman movie. Many corporations use influencing the power of celebrities to attract children into buying their products. Usually, children follow the stars they like blinding and want to become just like them. As per Kelly et al. (2008), the children saw their favorite celebrities on TV promoting a particular product, and they ask their parents to buy such product, to become like them. Many corporations use cartoon or characters from children favorite TV shows or movies to influence them into buying their products, for example, SpongeBob SquarePants, Superman, Batman and Dora the Explorer. Many corporations use cross-promotion to attract children, for instance, Coca-Cola enters into a $150 million deal with Warner Bros Studios for the global marketing right of their famous movie Harry Potter and more than 20 percent of fast food chains use toy character to promote their products such as McDonalds happy meals. Many studies have been conducted for understanding the effects of television advertisement over children. A survey conducted by Ogbu, Tarnongo, and Alakali (2013) over 800 children provided that television advertisement arouses the interest of children. In this study, more than 75 percent children desired to be like the character of television advertisement and buy their products. The influence is significantly storing in children below the age of 11 years, and they made choices based upon advertisements. Many critics believe that advertisements promote unhealthy habits, violent behaviour, alcohol and cigarette usage, nagging and sexual content in between children behaviour. Fast food chains use the influence of beloved cartoon character and celebrities to promote their products for children, for example, McDonalds advertise happy meal with popular toys. These advertisements create an obesity problem in between children because they encourage the usage of fast food in their daily eat ing routine, instead of healthy foods. As per Henry and Borzekowski (2011), many children nag their parents to get the product they watch in a television advertisement, which adversely influences their attitude and behaviour. The sexual and violent content shown in advertisement negativity impact the response of children which affects their day-to-day life. The rules regarding television advertisement for children has been updated by various countries because advertisement negatively influences the studies and future of children. It is necessary that government implement strict regulations to avoid any adverse influence of advertisement over childrens lives to promote healthy life choices in between children. References Boyland, E.J. and Halford, J.C., 2013. Television advertising and branding. Effects on eating behaviour and food preferences in children.Appetite,62, pp.236-241. Calvert, S.L., 2008. Children as consumers: Advertising and marketing.The future of children,18(1), pp.205-234. Henry, H.K. and Borzekowski, D.L., 2011. The Nag Factor: A mixed-methodology study in the US of young children's requests for advertised products.Journal of Children and Media,5(3), pp.298-317. Kelly, B., Halford, J.C., Boyland, E.J., Chapman, K., Bautista-Castao, I., Berg, C., Caroli, M., Cook, B., Coutinho, J.G., Effertz, T. and Grammatikaki, E., 2010. Television food advertising to children: a global perspective.American journal of public health,100(9), pp.1730-1736. Kelly, B., Hattersley, L., King, L. and Flood, V., 2008. Persuasive food marketing to children: use of cartoons and competitions in Australian commercial television advertisements.Health Promotion International,23(4), pp.337-344. Lawlor, M.A. and Prothero, A., 2011. Pester powerA battle of wills between children and their parents.Journal of Marketing Management,27(5-6), pp.561-581. Ogbu, E. I., Tarnongo, M. O., and Alakali, T. F., 2013. Impact Of Television Advertisments On Children: A Case Study Of Makurdi Town. 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