IMPACT OF ADVERTISING ON CHILDREN

A Project Submitted to

University of Mumbai for partial completion of the degree

of B. M. S (Bachelor of Management Studies)

Under the Faculty of Commerce

By
Mr.Nitin Shankarlal Saini

Roll no.176

Under the Guidance of

Dr.Sadhana Kapote

B. K. Birla College of Arts, Science and Commerce (Empowered Autonomous), Kalyan

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr.Nitin Shankarlal Saini of B. M. S (Bachelor of Management

Studies) Semester V (2023-2024) has successfully completed the project on “Impact of

advertising on children” under the guidance of Dr.Sadhana Kapote.

PROJECT GUIDE:

COURSE INCHARGE:

INTERNAL EXAMINER:

EXTERNAL EXAMINER:

PRINCIPAL

Seal of the
College

Date of submission:
 Declaration by Student

I, the undersigned Mr.Nitin Shankarlal Saini hereby, declare that the work

embodied in this project “Impact of advertising on children”, forms my own

contribution to the research work carried out under the guidance of Dr.Sadhana

Kapote is a result of my own research work and has not been previously submitted to

any other University for any other Degree/ Diploma to this or any otherUniversity.

Wherever reference has been made to previous works of others, it has been clearly

indicated as such and included in the bibliography.

I, here by further declare that all information of this document has been obtained and

presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct.

Mr.Nitin Shankarlal Saini

To list who all have helped me is difficult because they are so numerous and the depth
is so enormous.

I would like to acknowledge the following as being idealistic channels and fresh
dimensions in the completion of this project.

I take this opportunity to thank the University of Mumbai for giving me chance to
do this project.

I would like to thank our Director(Education) and Principal for providing the
necessary facilities required for completion of thisproject.

I take this opportunity to thank our Course Incharge, for her moral support and
guidance.

I would also like to express my sincere gratitude towards my project guide

I would like to thank my College Library, for having provided various reference
books and magazines related to my project.

Lastly, I would like to thank each and every person who directly or indirectly helped
me in the completion of the project especially my Parents and Peers who supported
me throughout my project.
 INDEX

S.NO. CONTENT PAGE

NO.

1. Chapter-1: Introduction

2. Chapter-2: Review of Literature

3. Chapter- 3: Objective and Methodology

4. Chapter-4: Data Analysis

5. Chapter-5: Conclusion

6. Chapter-6: Bibliography

7.

Chapter-7: Appendix

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 Chapter 1

Introduction

The hour today is the hour of mass communication as people nowadays can present their

thoughts and values to the general public. These people are often termed as the ‘precious stones

for the mankind’. Due to the privatization, people have started their own venture and for the

progress or inclining the attention of their potential customers towards there organization, they

play numerous tactics. One of those tactics are refereed as ‘ADVERSTISING’. Advertising is

considered as useful entity not just for the advertisers but also for its consumers. It does provide

the advertiser an itinerary or mechanism to interreact commercially, economically and

conveniently with their target audiences which are their potential customers. It does provide

the consumer the knowledge about the products and the launch of new products.

In the busy life of the city, people often lack time to sit with there children’s and enjoy. Even

the children’s these days are not getting the required time with there parents. So, the solution

which is found to address this issue is that children often involve themselves in watching

television and enjoying of their own. While getting in-touch with television and social media

sites they get the exposure of several advertisement. The factor of concern arises when these

children are categorized under the teenager’s category. Being children of small age group and

not having time for themselves, they often find it difficult to understand the true meaning of

what an advertisement is stating and how to decode the desired information.

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Advertising plays a crucial role in developing the thought process of Children’s and

Adolescents as Children experience advertising in many forms, starting from Television,

Radio, Internet, YouTube, Social Media and much more. In particular, it has now become an

indispensable mode of communication in the market. The general definition of Advertising is

‘It is the means of communication with the users of a product or service’. As we can witness

that the importance of advertising is growing steadily as you can find brands who rely heavily

on media for various marketing objectives such as increasing sales, creating knowledge and

awareness in the market.

It becomes very easy for the marketers to target children’s or adolescents for there product, as

they often end up buying those products. It often plays very crucial role in shaping the ever-

changing norm of society both naturally and globally. Advertising has different impact on the

children. How children’s or adolescents’ reasons to an adverting depends on various things,

starting from their age, knowledge and experience. With the growth of advertising and

commercials in the lives of the people, attention now is being paid to various negative as well

as positive effects of advertising. There are always two stories of a coin and so it is there in the

Advertising world. A huge number of criticisms regarding the role of advertising in our society

have emerged.

Researches indicate that young children’s- from age group 8 to 10 years are cognitively and

psychologically defenseless against advertising. They are unable to understand the notion of

Intent to sell and frequently accept advertising claims at face value. There are some countries

like Sweden and Norway who restricts the advertising of children’s younger than 12 years.

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It is no less than a fact that Youth people are the future of any country, and there is a

considerable ambiguity in the definition of young people and terms like young, adolescents,

adults, young adults are often used interchangeably. World Health Organization which is the

highest and the governing body defines ‘adolescents’ as age spanning 10 to 19 year. Youth are

those in 15-24-year age group and these two overlapping age groups as ‘young people’

covering the age group of 10-24 years. Adults include a broader age range and all those in 20-

64 year. Adolescents is further divided into early adolescents (11-14 yr.), middle adolescents

(15-17 yr.) and the adolescents (18-21 yr.). Individuals in the age group of 20-24 are also

referred as young adults. The National Youth Policy of India (2003) defines the youth

population as those in the age group of 15-35 years.

The effect of advertising is increasing on the children’s gradually, as nowadays even a 10-year-

old kid have the knowledge of what he/she is watching up to a certain extend. Critics argue that

Media in particular advertising have never played a more crucial role in a teenager’s socio-

economic development and well-being. Many researchers often state that the children are

especially vulnerable to advertising because they lack the experience and knowledge to

understand and evaluate critically the purpose of the persuasive advertising appeals. There is

also a never-ending discussion on how pre-school children cannot differentiate between

commercials and programmers and cannot distinguish between reality and fantasy. Critics

charge threat advertising to children is inherently unfair and deceptive and should be banned.

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On the Contrary, some researchers believe that advertising is a part of life and children must

learn to deal with it in consumer socialization process of acquiring the skills which are needed

to function in the market place, as these skills are developed over time. Moreover, it is very

much important for the parents to guide their children about everything and they should sit with

them and interpret advertising and can refuse to purchase products they believe are undesirable

for their children’s. While some factions of the society consider it the role of parents to restrict

and channel the effects of advertising in a positive direction other believe it is the duty of the

government to control the content in order to protect children morals and naiveté. It is very

obvious that children will be attracted towards a product by looking at the advertisement, but

it becomes the responsibility of their parents to make them understand how useful that product

is going to be. The issues of advertising directed to children have been receiving great attention

recently. There is also a growing concern over how advertisers are using internet to

communicate with and sell to children.

Youth are considered as the passive audience who watch all the information getting on the

television or any mode of communication and try to grab it as it is. Marketing officials and the

advertisers know the fact that earlier kids learn about a brand, and more likely they’ll be to buy

the product later or force their parents to buy it. For the young teenagers, Television is the

dominant medium of communication and entertainment. After studies they like to spend most

of there time by watching television and there, they get a lot of exposure towards advertisement.

The Adolescents are more prone to accept and orient their views according to what they see in

an advertisement on television or internet. At the same time, some children are often smart and

they portray the message wrongly in the way of misleading the advertisers. There are many

brands who target specially target the youth of any country. In countries like India, youths are
5|Pa g e
easily targeted and most advertising has little relevance to their buying behavior. Without

having a second thought, if the adolescents find something interesting or relatable in

advertainment they end up buying that product without analyzing its positive and negative

concerns.The widely used and targeted medium of communication for the youth nowadays is

Television and Internet. They like to spend most of their time just watching, and spending time.

The impact this advertisement has on them depends on many factors such as – how much they

watch, their age and personality, whether they watch alone or with adults and whether their

parents talk with them about what they see. Advertisers spend many billions and trillions per

year making sure their products get in front of their eyes, and they have more places to capture

their attention, television, the internet, games, movies, apps. Advertisers know the fact that kids

greatly influence their parents, buying the products. It is counted under the most significant

aspects of marketing to preteens, that now ‘they can talk back’. Teens are considered as the

most important demographics for marketers. Teens exert strong influence on their parents,

spending, they have enough money to spend. As per a study, 25% of the teens access the

Internet through Mobile Devices and companies are targeting them where they hang out: in

apps, in games, and on websites that stream music and video and offer other downloadable

content. The brand which are teen-focused they use two techniques the first one is based on the

combination of traditional marketing techniques and new communication methods to influence

product preference.

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As Advertising is a process which includes influencing the decision-making process of a

particular target market. This influencing of the consumer is a behavior-oriented pursuit, where

the business would like the consumer to perform a certain behavior. This behavior will create

a relationship between the business and the consumer. Influence is a big part of marketing and

advertising, and consumer influences and decision-making processes are central to smart

advertising.

At certain point of time, we all have acknowledged and wondered that advertising helps to

transmit models: life, work, people etc. Advertising has played a major role in setting up the

fundamentals which are there and then required for promoting and creating some trends as per

the brand and the advertiser. They magically create this either by making visible and revealing

new realities so that they can be easily accepted by the public. They create new social roles,

industry standards of beauty or values in general.

There are infinite number of media, through which children’s get the exposure to watch the

advertisement. Stating the first media which is none other than Television.

1. Television

As per a study it is stated that Children’s and adolescents view almost 40,000 ads per

year on just the Television itself. In many western countries, there is a law which has

been implemented stating the Children’s Television Act of the year 1990, this act limits

the advertising on children’s programming to 10.5 minutes/ hour on weekends and 12

minutes/hour on weekdays. However, much of children’s viewing occurs during prime

time, which features nearly 16 minutes/hour of Advertising.

While watching a movie, advertisement is normal which gets flashed. So, children are

exposed to the advertisement at that time also. It is often noticed that Violent ads, and

video games have been intentionally marketed to children’s and adolescents. For

instance, M-rated video games, which according to the gaming industry’s own rating

system are not recommended for children younger than 17 years, are frequently

advertised in movie theaters, video game magazines, and publications with high youth

readership. Also, movies targeted at children often prominently feature brand-name

products and fast-food restaurants.

3. Print Media

Print Media is one of the versatile media, we have so many variants under print media,

which starts from Newspaper, Magazines and Newsletter. According to Consumer’s

Union, study more than 160 magazines are targeted at children across the globe. Earlier

Young people were exposed to 45% more beer ads and 27% more ads for hard liquor

in teen magazines than adult’s do. Though we know that children aren’t very fond of

reading but still for the images and graphics, they go across these sources.

4. Internet

It’s no longer a myth but it has become a fact that the increasing number of websites

try to entice children’s and teenagers to make direct sales. Whether it be any social

media website, we all can find numerous advertisements popping out one after the

other. Some advertisement is mandatory to watch while on the other hand there are

8|Pa g e
 some advertisement which we can even skip now. But it depends totally on the viewers.

Teenagers account for more than $1 billion in e-commerce dollars, and the industry

spent $72.6 million on Internet banner ads alone in 2010. More than 100 commercial

Web sites promote alcohol products. Content of these sites varies widely, from little

more than basic. Most of the online websites use cliché promotional techniques to target

young people.

In 1998, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (Pub L No. 105–277) was passed,

which mandates that commercial Web sites cannot knowingly collect information from

children younger than 13 years. These sites are required to provide notice on the site to

parents about their collection, use, and disclosure of children’s personal information

and must obtain “verifiable parental consent” before collecting, using, or disclosing

their information.

5. Marketing Techniques

From a long time now, advertisers have used techniques to which children’s and

adolescents are more susceptible, such as product, placement in movies and TV shows

between movies and fast-food restaurants, tie-ins between TV shows and toy action

figures or other products, and celebrity endorsements. Some of the advertising genres

starting from Tooth pastes, soaps, mobile services etc. are currently being marketed to

6-12 years old with the potential thought of directing specific advertisers to children’s

and preteens. For your reference, Coca-Cola reportedly paid Warner Bros Studio a huge

amount of $150 million for globally marketing Coca-Cola in all their promotions in the

movie, ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’. It states that nearly 20% of fast-food

ads now mention a toy premium in their ads. Advertisers also offer huge range of

9|Pa g e
Interactive games and promotions on digital TV which have the ability to lure children

away from regular programming, encouraging them to spend a long time.

Many studies have used different methodologies to find the impact of children from ads

to which they’ve been exposed. Product preference has been shown to occur with as

little as a single commercial exposure and to strengthen with repeated exposures. Most

importantly, studies have shown that product preferences affect children's product

purchase requests and that these requests do influence parents' purchasing decisions.

Multiple studies found a substantial relationship between children’s viewing the ads of

tobacco, alcohol, body shaming and the effects of skin tone in the world of advertising.

Children find many such commercials attractive and consequently have high brand

awareness of such products and positive attitudes toward them. These products and

their spokes-characters have been found to be featured in programming and

publications frequently viewed by minors, and reviews of this research conclude that

advertising of them contributes to youth smoking and drinking.

Advertising makes people aware of an organization, that can be your brand or your

brand. If there’s no awareness of the product or service, there is absolute 0 business. It

doesn’t matter, if you are well-known or not you always have to make your consumers

and potential customers aware whenever you launch a new product. It can attract

customers. Creating awareness is important, but its not that much enough. Customers

surely have to choose to visit your store or website and Advertising helps with that.

Below listed are some of the methods which Marketers use to reach young kids,

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1. Hooking them young: Getting the product in front of target audience as much as

possible strengths company’s ability to capture customers ‘from cradle to a grave’.

For example, Cartoon characters on diapers.

2. Dividing and targeting genders: Brands try to establish a preference for gendered

toys as early as possible. The sooner the child has a desire, for ‘Boys’ toys or ‘Girl

‘toys the sooner he or she becomes a customer. That opens the door for even more

gendered products.

3. Developing taste preferences: Junk-food marketing to kids is a huge industry.

Cartoon characters appear on cereal boxes, toys appear inside boxes and characters

shill for brand on TV.

4. The need for stimulation. If you're wondering why commercials for tweens look

like they were filmed by a caffeine-addled jackrabbit, it's because tween brains

crave -- and respond strongly to -- stimulation. If something is exciting, they take

notice.

5. The desire to engage. Brands bury their sales pitches to this age. Preteens are

swayed by experience, not lectures -- hence games, apps, contests, and other

interactive gimmicks to attract and hold their attention.

6. The craving for emotional connection. If you have a tween, you know that kids

at this age are not entirely rational. They LOVE a specific dress, they MUST HAVE

a particular song, they're OBSESSED with a certain game. Marketers use strategies

that stir up emotions so kids identify with a product.

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In this research it is advised the need to educate children and teenagers about the effects of

advertising (media literacy). The need to teach young people to become critical viewers of

media in all of its forms, including advertising. Media education seems to be protective in

mitigating harmful effects of media, including the effects of cigarette, alcohol, and food

advertising. This research therefore tries to throw some light upon this existing controversial

debate regarding the responsibility of advertising. The researchers also aim to offer suggestions

through which the negative effects of advertising may limited by analyzing the problem

through three different perspectives, that of the children, the parents as well as the

psychologists. It is often a subject of debate, relating to the alleged influence on children’s

consumption. Advertisement are made in such a way to attract the children and they do not

understand that it is a Marketing Strategy. Children in India constitute 18.7% of the world kids’

population and one-third of the country’s population is under the age of 15 years. Thus, In India

children form a massive 30% of the total population and this segment is growing at the rate of

4% per annum. This means a huge market of 300 million is available to the advertisers and

they are already focusing on the kid’s channel.First, advertising is, by its very nature, a form

of expression of ideas, opinions and information. As such, it must be viewed as a fundamental

and, therefore, constitutionally protected freedom. Legislative initiatives to ban advertising

altogether, including child advertising, are hardly compatible with a free and democratic

society, as they violate basic principles of the Federal Constitution and, in fact, ultimately

hamper free access to ideas and the formation of social convictions. The forms of advertising

and marketing on the web differ significantly from television commercials. Advertising to

children has become one of the most relevant issues in Indian Society and not without reason.

Were it not for the child-consumption relationship, in itself a fundamental theme, the requires

the indispensable protection of the infant during the early stages of educational.

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 Chapter 2

Review of Literature

1. Sheikh Prasad & Rao have mentioned in their research that a variety of research reviews

have appealed in the literature at several moments in the history. Early review already

concluded that advertising generates moderate to strong effects on young TV viewers. The two

aspects of child susceptibility more frequent address are the outcomes of advertising on the

children’s attitude and behavior and comprehension of commercials stand the persuasive intent

of commercials and can they distinguish them from programs. These early reviews generally

concluded that children younger than ages 7 or 8 experience difficulty identifying commercials

and are therefore more susceptible to advertising appeals than are adults. Another recurring

finding in the early reviews is that advertising elicits product request by young children. A

number of studies included in the review suggested a high degree of parental yielding to

product requests, especially if parents were not product were not product users.

As research on advertising and children became more frequent and more sophisticated in the

year 1980s and 1990s. Van Evra, stated that ‘Even when they are able to discern differences

between programs and ads, however a young child still shows very limited knowledge of the

commercials and their purpose’. She also found that 8 to 14 years old are more susceptible to

celebrity are used in live action commercials. As in the case with the majority of literature

review in this area the paraphrased general conclusion is that advertising has powerful effects

on the consumer behavior of young children and adolescents. These effects are powerful

because commercials directed to children’s use powerful multimedia techniques to attract

attention, children’s have less ability to discriminate between commercials and programs than

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do adults, and children’s have not developed adult cynicism about advertising, nor do they

possess the critical viewing skills that adults gain by experience.

Unnikrishnan and Bajpai (1996) presented a review of advertising and children studies from

several nation and used the review to design an 8-month study of how television would affect

a large sample of India children and adolescents aged 3 to 15. Their conclusion from reviewing

relevant literature and from a qualitative and quantitative study of 730 research application was

summarized as, ‘Our experience with these children strongly indicates that their innocence and

lack of defenses against the influence of advertising make them particularly easy prey.

Although both selective and comprehensive reviews of research literature may contribute to a

greater understanding of advertising effects, both of these traditional approaches pose

limitations for policy analyst. In the scientific debates about the dangers of second-hand

cigarette smoke, policy and significant relationship between tobacco and lung disease. It is

widely assumed in academic and policy circles that younger children are more influenced by

advertising than are older children. By reviewing empirical findings in relation to advertising and

children’s food choice, it is argued that this assumption is unwarranted. The findings do not suggest

that young children are more affected by advertising than are teenagers, even though the latter are

more media literate. This article critically examines the theoretical gap in the literature regarding the

relationship between advertising literacy and advertising effects. By applying a dual process model of

cognitive persuasion, it is shown that the evidence is more consistent with the argument that different

processes of persuasion are effective at different ages, precisely because literacy levels vary with age.

Recommendations for future research on the effects of advertising on children, together with the

implications for policies of regulating advertising to young children and of media literacy interventions,

are identified.

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2. Program Commercial Separation

The FCC and the NAB have recognize that children may have difficulty in distinguishing

commercials from program material. The NAB code now requires broadcasters to use "an

appropriate device" to separate commercials from surrounding programs in children's program

hours.

A number of studies have documented that children under eight years of age have substantial

difficulty in comprehending the difference in purpose between commercials and programs. One

apparent indicator of this is that younger children's visual attention declines less when

commercials appear than does that of older children Visual attention measures, however, are

not a sufficient indicator of children's distinguishing abilities; other, more direct measures must

be used during actual viewing of televised sequences. Audio and video separation devices used

by the major networks have not been tested, although; study of a verbal announcement as a

separation device (used by some Post-Newsweek stations) found that It did not alter rung

children's visual attention patterns. The effectiveness of various separation devices in aiding

children's ability to distinguish commercials from programs is an open question at this point.

3. Source Effects and Self-Concept Analysis

Many audio-visual techniques in commercials are simply aimed at gaining and holding

children's attention, policy issues arise over effectsit" other than attention. Visual techniques

which have drawn regulatory attention are those which tend to misrepresent the appearance of

children's products of exaggerate product performance. Descriptions of product characteristics

(e.g., energy claims) and children's understanding of required disclaimers or accessory

disclosures are also at issue. Visual or verbal misrepresentations and exaggerations are
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regarded as deceptive per se and their use prohibited accordingly, without any need to

document actual deception experienced by children. However, little is known about children's

comprehension of product claims presented via techniques that are easily understood by adults.

Even older children have been shown to have difficulty understanding certain types of claims:

notably superlatives, comparatives, and parity claims. Research on audio and video disclaimers

report the predictable but important findings that video disclaimers alone are insufficient for

younger, nonreading children, that dual audio-video claims communicate most effectively,

even for older children; and that simplified wording significantly affects comprehension. This

research should lead to tighter regulation of disclaimers, an area which is already quite well

regulated.

4. Violence and Unsafe Acts

Although violence and unsafe acts appear infrequently in commercials directed to children,

they warrant special attention because of the potential seriousness of the effects that may be

involved. A major issue is whether cartoon or make-believe violence, the types most likely to

be used in commercials, are harmless compared with realistic violence. A largely unrecognized

issue is the potentially interactive role of commercials during violent programs. The main issue

concerning unsafe act portrayals is whether they are justified in certain circumstances, such as

safety messages or public service announcements.

Children as young as four years old seem to be able to distinguish realistic from make believe

or cartoon violence. Despite many neutral or equivocal outcomes, and despite a tendency for

weaker effects when the violence is animated, post viewing aggression has sometimes been

demonstrated with all three types of portrayals. Although the extent of antisocial behavior

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attributable to television violence is still unclear, there seems to be sufficient risk in this type

of content to support current code prohibitions on appeals to violence in commercials directed

to children Commercials, in general, may also interact with violent programing. Some recent

research suggests that commercial interruptions may heighten viewer arousal through

children's television advertising Critics allege that the food products advertised represented a

limited range of foods and that, due to the effectiveness of lood commercials, children's eating

habits and nutritional-values are being adversely biased toward the products advertised. It is

further alleged that promotional characteristics such as sweetness, enjoyment, and premiums

encourage children to use nutritionally irrelevant criteria in making food choices The FTC is

currently considering a rule requiring expanded disclosure of nutritional information in

commercials for food products Evidence Empirical evidence attests to the general effectiveness

of. Jod advertising to children. While various statistics have been cited by parties concerned

with the nutritional health of the U.S. populace, including children, no evidence directly links

televised food commercials to these statistics since the appropriate studies have not yet been

conducted to examine the alleged linkage. The same is true of the allegation that food

advertising messages encourage children's use of nutritionally irrelevant criteria in making

food choices. There is evidence that children are capable of learning nutrit ional information

when included in commercials, and preliminary research has been undertaken to develop

graphic devices to communicate nutritional content of foods, further research is needed to

ensure that this information is adequately comprehensible to children. At a broader level is the

value judgment of whether food advertisers should be held accountable for dissemination of

nutritional information beyond that intrinsic to their own products.

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 5. Volume and Repetition

Critics of children's advertising are concerned about the cumulative effects of commercials on

children. These concerns reduce to four main issues long-term effects (with age); heavy

viewing effects (within age groups), clustered versus distributed placement of commercials

within programs; and the effects of repetition of single commercials.

The clearest findings in research on children and advertising are that children's understanding

of commercials increases with age (and thus with cumulative exposure) and that children's

liking of commercials decreases with age. Despite this increased understanding of commercials

and increasingly negative attitude toward advertising, behavioral evidence suggests, especially

when age commercials (with age) have been shown to be accompanied by increases in the

number of brands know n in advertised product categories and by an apparent decrease in

perceived differences between brands. However, since neither of these effects was associated

significantly with-television viewing levels within age groups, it is impossible to conclude that

advertising alone was responsible for them Unfortunately, attempts to measure consumer skills

of other than brand awareness and differentiation have involved little attention to valid and

reliable measurement and have revealed mixed relationships usually neutral but as often

negative as positive between television advertising exposure and acquisition of these skills

Attempts to measure children's values and attitudes toward consumer behavior, e g materialism,

have suffered similar measurement problems. In summary, the role of advertising in consumer

socials, anon has not been adequately documented. Better measures are required as well as

sophisticated research designs capable of isolating the contribution of television commercials

among other socialization forces.

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 6. Adler at 2004

The advertising sectors deliberately tones down the influence and possible adverse influence

of the product they are advertising. They tend to portray an innocent aspect of daily life in their

commercial and hope that this innocent aspect of life would not only attract the attention of

potential customers but would also influence them (Adler et al., 2004). Children have been

enjoying an unmatched level of attention from marketers and marketing researchers. Young

children are more influenced from the TV advertisements as compared to other age groups.

And they generally believe in what advertisements have to say about the products. If the

advertisements are not very complex, and it says something new, then, likelihood of attracting

children’s attention would increase (Rice et al., 1988). Children up to five years old are

generally fond of hearing the same story again and again. This repeated transmission usually

enhances their attention towards the ads, and in a few cases, it was found that the children tend

to lose interest due to repeated transmission of the TV commercials. A direct relationship was

found in the repetition of commercial and ability to attract children’s attention (Wellman,

1990). The advertisers prefer to advertise their products to children due to its deep impact. In

view of the children’s importance of influencing purchase decisions the advertisers not only

target them at home through television but also target them through advertisements in class

rooms and As stated earlier, children’s attention towards the advertisements is highly

dependent on factors, that it must be simple, and second is that it must contain something new

for the children. As children start viewing TV from early childhood, then, it becomes difficult

to explain them that primarily they should eat for the necessary nutrients not for just pleasure.

Children’s comprehension of advertising messages is dependent on factors like, their ability

and skill to make a distinction between commercial from non-commercial content and also,
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they must be disbelieving towards the persuasive intent of advertising within the limitation of

their knowledge. This process of assessing TV commercials is known as cognitive growth and

intellectual development (John, 1999). The growth stage of a child plays a role in the effect of

commercials. Children do not understand what and why sales pitch is used. So, one of the major

reasons for television advertising is to change the attitude and behavior of the audience. Adults

while watching television advertisements understand them through a process known as

cognitive filter. This process is inclusive of the following: the viewers suppose that there is a

different perspective between the source of the message and the receiver of the message the

intentions of the source are always persuasive there is bias in all the persuasive messages and

interpretation strategies must vary from biased message to unbiased message But, once the

children reach a level of understanding advertisements through all these four process es of

interpretation, they have developed mature comprehension process of interpreting advertising

contents. Children below 7–8 years group don’t have the ability to understand the TV

commercial’s cognitive development method. Egocentrism is the common trait of this age

group, which means that this age group lacks the ability of perceiving another person

perspective. Children have a propensity to believe what they are told through advertisements

and may even presume that they are rundown if not provided with the products advertised. For

a lot of preschool children, it is not easy to make differentiation between a program having

basic purpose to amuse or entertain and a commercial designed to sell.

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7. North & Millard, 2003, Children are particularly useful as a vehicle to create emotional

appeals in commercials. They are more credible because of their innocence, and on the societal

level they can be used to transmit positive values. It can be expected that a child will identify

more easily with a child model depicted in a social situation than with an adult. If children of

both genders and both races (e.g., a black girl and a white boy) are depicted in the same

advertisement, the social implications of these kinds of advertisements can be far reaching

(North & Millard, 2003).

8.Malik & Guptha, 2013, The opinion leadership of children is increasingly becoming

powerful and influencing, parents also recognize the active role of kids in the buying process,

and most parents just give in to the tantrums of their children. Kids also create positive feelings

towards brands, connect the user to the brand and are perceived by consumers as more

entertaining. Using kids in advertising or for any other type of communication for brand

building is likely to positively affect the consumers’ brand preference, brand attitude, brand

association and purchase intentions.

Marketers believe that their marketing messages can be conveyed effectively to the target

market when children of the right age, gender and race are depicted in the advertisement. Child

models in advertising are a very popular method that advertisers apply to communicate with

parents and other children. The major issues are whether television advertising to children is

inherently unfair, whether it causes children to make poor product decisions, whether it

increases parent child conflict, and whether it results in the undesirable socialization of

children.

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9.Viser 2009, Results indicate significant increases in the number of advertisements

containing children, findings also show the majority of those advertisements to be for “adult -

oriented” products. Although consumption, marketing and advertising play a key role in the

shaping of individual identities, it must be emphasized that the specific forms of consumer

culture and notions of childhood itself are embedded in differing contexts. Working-class black

children’s shopping behavior demonstrates how they spend money in order to cement their

position within households by buying practical items for themselves and gifts for family

members. Through interviewing the study tries to explore the respondent’s reaction about

presence of children in “adult-oriented” products. Results indicate significant increases in the

number of advertisements containing children, findings also show the majority of those

advertisements to be for “adult-oriented” products. Although consumption, marketing and

advertising play a key role in the shaping of individual identities, it must be emphasized that

the specific forms of consumer culture and notions of childhood itself are embedded in

differing contexts. Working-class black children’s shopping behavior demonstrates how they

spend money in order to cement their position within households by buying practical items for

themselves and gifts for family members. Through interviewing the study tries to explore the

respondent’s reaction about presence of children in “adult-oriented” products advertisements”.

The study has used many brands or products endorsed by kids to extract the exact influence of

the role of children in the advertisements.

The recordings were carefully listened to after each interview and transcribed word by word

including all intermediary responses like pauses, laughter etc. The transcripts and recordings

were then analyzed and reviewed, the expressions in the transcriptions were matched with the

noted expressions of on-going interviews to rule out any mismatch of data.

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A repository of all transcripts and recordings was created so as facilitate some re-checking or

for the same to be referred to in future. The questionnaire was constructed to particularly

measure how different/similar are the opinions of elderly members, young couples and children

in a family on presence of children on advertisements, also to know whether they appreciate

the advertisements featuring children or they like the products/services being advertised, how

their decision-making processes are facilitated and how and why they alter their purchase

decision etc. Quotes from the interviews have been referred in the following sections by the

coded names of the interviewees.

“Over a number of years in the past, several models and constructs have been discussed in the

marketing and advertising literature, each with the objective of trying to understand the

processes used by consumers to make brand or product judgments when they are exposed to

advertisements”. There is great concern about children as viewers of advertisements primarily

because young children are exposed to thousands of commercials each year in India (George,

2003). Hence it is important to analyze and understand the impacts of the commercials on

children and how their purchase behavior is influenced by the advertisements.

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 Chapter 3

Objective

The main objective of conducting this research on the topic, Effects of advertising on children

and adolescents are listed below:

1. To find the root cause of the problem

2. To examine the positive and negative effects of advertisement on children and

adolescents

3. To make appropriate suggestion to get relief from harmful effects of advertising on

children’s mind.

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 Chapter 4

Methodology

The methodology chapter explains how the research has been conducted, allowing readers to

evaluate the readability and validity of the research.

While conceptualizing or conducting any research on the topic which is very much familiar

with the general public, its always a good option, to deal the real-life problem by finding the

data at hand, and it becomes necessary to collect and analyze the data which is actual and based

on the facts and figures. While conducting any research, one finds different ways of collecting

the appropriate data which differ considerably in context of money costs, time and other

resources at the disposal of the researcher.

The language used was English because the audience were very much comfortable in that

language, moreover they themselves responded in English. Questionnaire was decided

thoroughly with much care to be effective enough to explore all nuances of emotions or to

evoke true responses. Interviewees were thoroughly observed while being interviewed and all

the visible emotions and expressions were noted down. The interview proceedings were

recorded for future reference and analysis.

There are two types of data which are used at the time of research. The most basic and difficult

one is the ‘Primary Data’ which is extracted by the researcher and the information included in

that data is 100% authentic. Primary data can be collected either through experiment or through

survey. If the researcher conducts an experiment, he observes some quantitative measurements,

or the data, with the help of which he examines the truth contained in his hypothesis. But in the

case of a survey, data can be collected by any one or more of the following ways:
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1. Quantitative Methods

Quantitative method of research lies in the Primary Data, and this method emphasized

on objective measurement and the statistical, mathematical or numerical data which we

can either collect through polls, forming surveys or by conducting personal interview.

In the quantitative research for valid generalizable results, the methods which are taken

are enough to detail for another researcher to replicate the study. Quantitative research

focuses on gathering numerical data and generalizing it across groups of people or

to explain a particular phenomenon.

If compared there are a wide range of statistical techniques which are available to

analyze the quantitative data, starting from the simple graphs to show the data

through test of correlations between two or more items. There are numerous

activities which are involved under the category of Quantitative Methods of

Research.

a) E-mail Outreach

Before starting the actual research, I had created a hype for this topic which helped

me somewhat to identify and analyze the interest of the audience for this topic.

Media is all together a huge world, and advertising is no longer left behind, so by

sending the E-mail outreach, I tried to make sure that people are prepared for filling

this survey and somehow if I can connect with any of the audiences. Connecting

with my audience will help me to learn and analyze their experience and thoughts

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 on my research topic. The researcher and the respondents do come in contact with

each other if this method of survey is adopted. It is very much important to know

the behavior of your respondents for conducting a better research.

Email outreach is the process of getting in touch with other people via email. In

content marketing, the goal is typically to promote a piece of content, to request a

backlink, or to attempt to form a partnership/collaboration with an influencer.

Sending out an email is the easiest way of conducting a survey. The respondents

are targeted and there is higher chance of response due to the the respondents

already knowing about your brand. You can use the Question Pro email

management feature to send out and collect survey responses. You can conduct a

telephone or email survey and then make a selection of respondents for a face to-

face interview. Survey data are sometimes also obtained through questionnaires

filled out by respondents in groups, for example, a school class or a group of

shoppers in a shopping center.

2. Online Survey

Survey research is conducted as the collection of data which gets attained by asking

individuals questions either in person, on paper, by phone or online. A Survey is defined

as a research method used for collecting data from a pre-defined group of respondents

to gain information and insights on various topics of interest. Conducting the surveys,

us one of the forms of primary research, which is the gathering data first-hand its source.

An online survey is set of structured questions, that the respondent completes over the

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internet, generally through filling out a form. An online survey is an easier way to reach

out to the respondents as it is less time consuming than the traditional way of gathering

information through one-to-one interaction and also less expensive.

Conducting survey is one of the primary researches. While conducting the online

survey, I found the data attained by asking individual questions in person or through

preparing the questionnaire. The information collected may also be accesses

subsequently by other parties in secondary research. Through online survey, I got to

know the beliefs and values of selected group of individuals, whom I have chosen for

the demographic sampling. These demographics include age, gender, ethnicity or

income levels.

By conducting the survey for my desired topic, I studied and analyze beliefs of the people

regarding my topic. It is the most extensively used method in various economic and

business surveys. Before applying this method, usually a Pilot Study for testing the

questionnaire is conduced which reveals the weaknesses, if any, of the questionnaire?

Questionnaire to be used must be prepared very carefully so that it may prove to be

effective in collecting the relevant information.

The data is usually obtained through the use of standardized procedures whose purpose

is to ensure that each respondent is able to answer the questions at a level playing field

to avoid biased opinions that could influence the outcome of the research or study. A

survey involves asking people for information through a questionnaire, which can be

distributed on paper, although with the arrival of new technologies it is more common

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 to distribute them using digital media such as social networks, email, QR codes or

URLs. The online survey which has been conducted was the most effective and doable

choice to study the attitude of people towards advertising.

Population- All the student, and people related to advertising background, parents and

teachers.

Sample Size- 101

Sampling Technique- Probability Sampling

Research Method- Online survey

Tool of data collection- Questionnaire

3. Existing Data

This is the secondary form of research, where we take the existing data on our topic and

make the desired changes to make it a part of our research. The secondary data or desk

research is a research method which do involves using already existing data. Existing

data is summarized and collated to increase the overall effectiveness of research.

The Secondary Research does include research material which gets published in

research reports and similar documents. Nowadays these documents can be easily found

on the internet. Gone are the days, when the information was only restricted to the

public library’s websites, and data obtained from already filled in surveys etc. Some

governmental and non-governmental agencies also store data, which can be used for

research purpose and can be retrieved from them.

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PROBABILITY SAMPLING

It is also called random sampling or chance sampling. Under this, every item of the universe

has an equal chance of inclusion in the sample. e.g.: a lottery. Probability or random sampling

states that if on an average the sample chosen is a random one, the sample will have the same

composition and characteristics as the universe. It is the best technique of selecting a

representative sample. Random sampling allows each element in the population an equal

probability of getting into the sample and all the choices are independent of one another. It

gives each possible sample combination an equal probability of being chosen.

Quota Sampling: In stratified sampling the cost of taking random samples from individual

strata is often so expensive that interviewers are simply given quota to be filled from different

strata, the actual selection of items for sample being left to the interviewer’s judgment. This is

called quota sampling. The size of the quota for each stratum is generally proportionate to the

size of that stratum in the population. Quota sampling is thus an important form of non-

probability sampling. Quota samples generally happen to be judgment samples rather than

random samples.

Probability samples are the mainstay of modern survey research because they allow the

researcher to control the margin of error. Probability samples, perfectly constructed and

implemented, all other things being equal, produce unbiased estimates. However, rarely is it

the case that construction and implementation are perfect, and when they are not the potential

for bias arises.

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 Chapter 5

Data-Interpretation

1. Gender

As this survey was circulated to maximum number of people, but it ended up with this ration.

Where the women audience found themselves more intact with my topic and submitted their

answers.

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Q2. Age

This demographical representation shows, that I have targeted the people mostly from the age

group of 20-30. As it is easier for them to relate with my topic. The young adults and the mid

adults have a wider approach towards life and they have interpreted the meaning of each

question is a really effective manner.

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Q3. Occupation

As I have previously told, that I have targeted Young adults and Mid adults. Young people,

often see the ads with different narratives and they are the active audiences of maximum

advertisement. So, it’s very clear that maximum of them is still pursuing their Masters and PhD

in the desired subjects. So, they have mentioned themselves in the list of students.

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Q4. Where do children see the maximum number of advertisements?

The demonstrated graph shows the somewhat equal comparison between two modes of

advertisement. The television got 54.5% of voting’s and the Internet got 40.6%. We all can

accept the fact, that primarily Television has the maximum exposure for the children and then

the adolescents. Maximum time, while watching cartoons or their favorite animated movie,

children get a lot of exposure towards the advertisement. In country like India, there are still

some parents who restrict their children to use internet on their mobiles, and they are not even

provided with personal mobiles. So, this how Internet becomes the secondary mode of exposure

for advertising.

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Due to the advancement in technology, even kids these days are very much indulged on social

media and there they get the exposure. Mostly all the adolescents have their Social media

account and that’s the reason they are very much indulged in Internet where they get maximum

amount of Advertisement exposure. Technology has been a boon and a curse for the future of

children’s and adolescents.

The remaining three modes which are Radio Ads, Magazine and Newspaper were opted by

very few individuals, which states that children get the slightest exposure of advertisement

from these modes. As due to the advancement in technology, the young generation has never

developed any equation with newspaper and magazines. Everything is available on the internet.

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Q5. Do you think the effect/influence of advertising is increasing on children?

The demonstrated graph shows that, 47.5% which is the maximum scale agrees with the notion

that, Advertising has a huge influence on children’s these days. On the other hand, 40.6%

people strongly agree with this question without giving it a second thought. The last graphical

demonstration shows that 9.9% are not very much clear with there answer. So, it clearly

indicates that Advertising does influences the children to buy a product or service. Many

advertisers know the fact that the more kids learn about a brand, the more likely they’ll end up

buying that product or ask their parents to do that.

The advertisers try to play with the psychology of children’s, so that they can promote their

products and end up buying the product. With the explosive growth of the Internet,

opportunities to advertise to children further expand and thousand of child-oriented Web sites

with advertising content have appeared in the past few years.

People are concerned about the different ways of advertisement, how advertising has different

format and the results of those are also very much different. Many people think from the format

of an advertiser and others are concerned about what their children’s watch and are up to. The

maximum screen time which they are getting has been increased in this pandemic.
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Q6. Do you think Advertising is important?

The demonstrated graph shows that 74.3% people agree, that advertising is important and it

should be promoted. On the other hand, 21.8% people are not confident enough, to answer this

question. The least number of people also think that advertising is not important. As this an

objective survey, so below I have analyzed various results based on stating NO. So, it’s a

probability from there side. From a startup organization to a full-fledged business, Advertising

is important in every aspect. It plays extremely important role for both m anufacturer and

consumers. These perspectives are generated on the personal view point of the people. The way

they think and critically analyze the concepts are the results of the options they have opted for.

Advertising helps the business on the whole to help the business gain more audience, thereby

increasing business turnover. The global marketplace is vicious, but when it comes to

advertising it helps the big businesses or small companies to grow and be a successful as larger

37 | P a g e
enterprise. Advertising allows firms, regardless of size, to compete on a level playing field.

Listed below are some of the reasons why advertising is important to all businesses.

Widespread concern exists about the potential effects that media portrayals of drinking, alcohol

product placements, and alcohol advertising may have on alcohol consumption and problems

among young people. Television, radio, film, and popular music are often identified as potential

sources through which young people learn about alcohol and as potential influences on young

people’s drinking and drinking problems.

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Q7. How often children watch Television/the Internet?

The demonstrated graph shows that 53.5% people believe that children’s watch the television

most often. The second commonly opted option is that children’s watch television often. In the

pre-coronavirus world, regular nationally representative parent survey by Common Sense

Media finds that children up to age 8 average an hour and 40 minutes a day. For those ages 8

to 12, it’s two and a half hours.As this pandemic have hit the nation, children are extremely

free. Due to the upgradation in the technology children are very much busy with the internet

and television these days. Schools aren’t operational and children’s and adolescents aren’t very

much studying on the online classes. So, this time they are much involved in watching

television and binging the internet, where they are exposed with different types of

advertisements. Television viewing is a major contributor to childhood obesity, which is

rapidly rising in India and internationally. Obesity can put your child at risk of developing type

2 diabetes and high-blood pressure later in life. Television negatively affects your child in other

ways, too. It can affect his academic performance. Children’s tend to sit at one place and

absolutely zero physical activities are involved while watching television or binging internet.

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Q8. How much time do Children watch television or get exposure to any social media?

The demonstrated graph shows that 39.6% people agrees that children watch television or nay

other social media for almost two to three hours. The second section of people with 30.7% of

approval says that children watch TV more than five hours. The next slot of people says that

16.8% agrees that children get the advertisement exposure for just an hour. The remaining slot

very much agrees on the fact that children gets the exposure for four hours.

The data extracted in this survey is totally independent and focuses on individual perspective.

The more people see or analyze the kids of their house, they have answered in the similar way.

Due to the pandemic, all the children’s and adolescents are getting immense time to watch

television and spare the time of their own. Apart from the effects of advertising on children’s,

generally we can observe that ideally sitting at one place while looking at television or anything

else is not good for health. When it comes to advertising then it becomes way more difficult to

identify. Considering the psychological aspects children tend to become weaker when they are

not involved in any physical activities. They just sit at one place and enjoy the internet without

taking care of their body and health.

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Q9. Do children influence their parents while buying products by seeing

advertisements?

The demonstrated graph shows that 70.3% people actually believe that children’s have a huge

influence on buying any product or services. They ask and force their parents to buy the product

which they find appealing. The next highest percentage of acceptance is 26.7% which are not

sure and goes with the option of sometimes, that children ask for the products sometimes. The

people who have opted for the option NO, and Maybeoung children are increasingly the target

of advertising and marketing because of the amount of money they spend themselves, the

influence they have on their parents spending and because of the money they will spend when

they grow up. Whilst this child-targeted marketing used to concentrate on sweets and toys, it

now includes clothes, shoes, a range of fast foods, sports equipment, computer products and

toiletries as well as adult products such as cars and credit cards.Every house has television

nowadays and a WIFI connection is also very much important. So, it is not a problem for any

kid, to watch television or YouTube. Many a times when parents are busy with their office

work or head towards outside, children like to devote their time to the internet and television

as they are free.

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Q10. What is the function of an advertisement?

The demonstrated graph shows that 71.9% people agrees with the option, that Advertising is

done for building the customer base. The secondly opted option is 17.7% which states that

advertising is done for Transferring beliefs and value to society. For some people, advertising

is made and customized for transferring the beliefs and values of a brand or an organization to

a the third opted option is 10.4% which states that Advertisement are shown and created for

Entertainment. The purpose of advertising is only Entertainment and they have nothing more

to do. These general perceptions are based on the thinking of general public.

The purpose of advertising is much different:

• Informative Advertising creates awareness of brands, products, services, and

ideas. It announces new products and programs and can educate people about the

attributes and benefits of new or established products.

• Persuasive Advertising tries to convince customers that a company’s services

or products are the best, and it works to alter perceptions and enhance the image

42 | P a g e
 of a company or product. Its goal is to influence consumers to take action and

switch brands, try a new product, or remain loyal to a current brand.

• Reminder Advertising reminds people about the need for a product or service,

or the features and benefits it will provide when they purchase promptly.

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Q11. Impact of advertisements is more on children belonging to?

The demonstrated graph shows that 43.6% of the audience is not clear that the Impact of

advertising is more on children belonging to which family background. The second slot of

audience which is 20.8% agrees that the utmost impact of advertising is on the children

belonging to the Nuclear Family. The third slot of audience with 19.8% states that Single-child

family have the impact of advertisement, as the child is only one and he/she is the favorite of

everyone. So, it’s natural to make them feel good. The last slot of people with 15.8% who

agrees that the children’s living in the joint family, have more impact of advertisement on them.

As per the analyzed report, people have different narratives on the family background. Nuclear

Family children are judged in another way, different things are for Joint Family. As per

psychology if a child is constantly alone, so he/she will end up watching something for their

entertainment and if a child is been occupied by people of his/her family or friends then they

are less supposed to get involved in something or the other.

Children are exposed to over 25,000 advertisements each year just on television. Research has

demonstrated advertising’s effect on children’s preferences and perceptions including gender

roles. With the changing structure of family now including Joint Families, Nuclear Family,
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Q12. Which of these factors influence your purchasing decision at the first look?

The demonstrated graph shows 48.5% which is the majority of people which opt for a brand if

it is a familiar brand. The second most opted option among the audience which is 36.1% states

that if an advertisement is interesting and appealing children and people will end up buying

that. The remaining two types of people belong from the category of, they will buy a product

for imitating the actor and the second one will be if there are huge number of likes.

So, we can analyze from this graphical representation, that several factors help in influencing

the purchase of a product and a service. If a marketer is referring a child or adolescent then the

marketing strategy will automatically change. While targeting a child, advertisers will look in

for the emotional appeal but when it comes to matured individuals they will approach for the

rational appeal.

Some of these factors are specific to the buying situation: what exactly you are buying and for

what occasion. Other factors are specific to each person: an individual’s background,

preferences, personality, motivations, and economic status. Because no two people are exactly

alike, it is difficult to predict how the tangled web of influencing factors will ultimately shape

a final purchasing decision.

decision in exactly the same way. People have many beliefs and behavioral tendencies—some

controllable, some beyond our control.

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Q13. In general, how confident do you generally feel using info, you see in the

advertisement to make a particular purchase?

The demonstrated graph shows that the maximum number of audiences 27.6% feel neutral

while using any product before getting influencing of an advertisement. The second mostly

focused option is 25.5% which states that they get somewhat influenced with the advertisement

before making a particular purchase. The thirdly most opted option is 13.3% which states they

get extremely influenced while watching an advertisement before making a particular purchase.

Then the last remaining slot states that they do not get influenced with an advertisement for

making a particular purchase. These opinions are based on the personal experiences.

The reason so many ad claims fall into this category of pseudo-information is that they are

applied to parity products, products in which all or most of the brands available are nearly

identical. Since no one superior product exists, advertising is used to create the illusion of

superiority. The largest advertising budgets are devoted to parity products such as gasoline,

cigarettes, beer and soft drinks, soaps, and various headache and cold remedies. Advertisers
47 | P a g e
know better. Although few people admit to being greatly influenced by ads, surveys and sales

figures show that a well-designed advertising campaign has dramatic effects. A logical

conclusion is that advertising works below the level of conscious awareness and it works even

on those who claim immunity to its message. Ads are designed to have an effect while being

laughed at, belittled, and all but ignored.

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 Conclusion

The study on the perceptions of adolescents regarding the influence of television and internet

advertisements on the selected aspects of their lives has ended on the conclusion that television

is a nucleus force in the young people's lives. The findings of the study revealed that

adolescents were watching television on an average 17-21 hours per week. The study further

showed that overall, there was high influence of television advertisements on adolescent’ lives.

Starting from getting influenced from an advertisement till forcing their parents and guardians

to buy that product It was also found that influence was high on the educational aspect of

adolescents’ lives whereas, it was moderate on their social, cultural and emotional aspects of

their lives. Television has acquired a significant place in homes and is looked as an accepted

phenomenon all over the world. India is also gaining supremacy in informational technology

frenzied by computers, Internet, Internet-phoning, satellite channels, telecommunication

system etc. Advertisers have captured advanced communication systems and are rushing to get

an access to consumers by approaching to every possible communication means available in

the modern society. Television has preeminence over other media due to its multi -sensorial

appeal. It has put captivating hold on people across the world - especially pre-teen children,

and adolescents due to their susceptible stage. Television and advertising collectively make a

dangerous amalgamation. Television is now days being considered as a combat zone for the

420 advertisers to win battle with their rival to place their products in the viewers' brains.

Young people are increasingly the target of advertising and marketing. This child-targeted

marketing not only concentrate on sweets and toys, but it now includes clothes, shoes, and a

range of fast foods, sports equipment, computer products and toiletries as well as adult products

such as cars, household products, loans/finance and even credit cards. The impact of television

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advertisements is greater on youths than we think be it daily, weekly or monthly. They are

constantly exposed; to the advertising of products, which are presented to them in the most

enticing fashion possible in order to elicit a response to, and purchase of the product being

offered. Advertising has clearly begun to root out the cultural and social differences within

individual nations, producing standard accents and attitudes, giving a sense of mutual

involvement. Television advertising has therefore become a system designed to persuade and

to dictate people’s mind and is being considered as a changing device now a day.

The functions of Advertising are defined for children and adolescents but many a times it

becomes a matter of fact, to accept what kind of content they are delivering to the large mass

of audience. The point to make here is not just that children and adolescents are such easy prey

of television advertisements. It is not just that the rushing river of television advertisements

determines the sorts of shoes they desire, the sorts of clothes and toys and games and breakfast

cereal and other foodstuffs that they must have. It is not just the discontent and frustration that

in many cases leads to aggressive violence of the worst kinds and bad habits like shop-lifting

in order to obtain that their parents will not or cannot give them. All of this is of great concern,

but the point to focus on here has to do with the question that are we vigilant enough to protect

the world of our children and adolescents from the strategies of advertisers.

The advertisers of course are not some terrible people with malevolence aim. They are just

trying to sell their products. But many a times selling a product becomes difficult and it states

some different things, which are generally not accepted by the audience.

The parents themselves should take initiative in shaping their children's attitudes towards

television and its content including advertisements. In the developed countries various

researches have shown that in families where parents watch television with their children and

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explain the contents on the screen and help them to critically view television, chi ldren learn

more positive information from television than those children who are left alone to appraise

television and its messages. In this connection it is prudent to suggest parents, media planners

and government regulators various guidelines based on the findings of the present study.

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 Bibliography

http://www.ijrrr.com/papers2/paper8.pdf

https://www.hilarispublisher.com/open-access/effects-of-advertising-on-youth-

age-group-of-1319-years-age-2165-7912-1000260.pdf

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/marketing-to-kids/what-is-the-impact-of-

advertising-on-kids

http://www.revistalatinacs.org/072paper/1202/RLCS-paper1202en.pdf

https://www.apa.org/pubs/info/reports/advertising-children

https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijrsi/digital-library/volume-5-issue-

7/93-96.pdf

https://www.mondaq.com/brazil/Media-Telecoms-IT

Entertainment/711712/Advertising-To-Children--Ban-Or-Regulate-Some-

Legal-Considerations-On-The-Brazilian-Case

https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/22321/1/MPRA_paper_22321.pdf

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APPENDIX

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