Impact of advertising on children (Social)

Welcome to the Impact of Advertising on Children!

Ever wondered why toy commercials for action figures sound so loud and aggressive, while commercials for dolls sound soft and sparkly? In this chapter, we explore the social side of child psychology. We will look at how the media influences children’s behavior, the stereotypes they learn from TV, and a famous study that investigated the "gendered voices" used in advertisements. Don't worry if you feel overwhelmed by all the terms—we’ll break everything down step-by-step!

1. Background: Why Does Advertising Matter?

Children are a "special" audience for advertisers. Because their brains are still developing, they often find it hard to distinguish between a TV show and a commercial. This leads to several social impacts:

The Influence of Television Advertising

Advertisements are designed to be persuasive. For children, this often results in pester power (also known as "the nag factor"), where children repeatedly ask their parents for products they’ve seen on TV. Research suggests that younger children don't understand the persuasive intent of an ad—they think the commercial is just giving them helpful information rather than trying to sell them something.

Stereotyping in Advertising

Stereotypes are oversimplified ideas about groups of people. In advertising, toys are often heavily "gendered."
• Boys’ ads often focus on themes of action, competition, and destruction.
• Girls’ ads often focus on themes of nurturing, beauty, and domestic life.
By watching these ads, children learn "social scripts" about how they are expected to behave based on their gender.

Quick Summary: Advertising isn't just about selling toys; it's about teaching children social values and gender roles through repetition and persuasion.

2. Key Research: Johnson and Young (2002)

The core study for this chapter is Johnson and Young (2002), titled "Gendered voices in children’s advertising." This study focuses on how the language and sound of ads reinforce gender stereotypes.

The Aim

The researchers wanted to see if the language used in toy commercials was different for boys and girls, and how voiceovers (the narrator's voice) were used to create gendered "personalities" for toys.

The Method

This was a content analysis. The researchers recorded 478 toy commercials from local channels and Nickelodeon in the USA. They categorized the ads into five types:
1. Toys aimed at boys
2. Toys aimed at girls
3. Toys aimed at both (mixed)
4. Examples of "Boy-oriented" ads with some girls present
5. Examples of "Girl-oriented" ads with some boys present

What did they look for?

They analyzed several features, including:
• Verb elements: Were the actions about "action" (e.g., battle, jump) or "feeling" (e.g., love, care)?
• Voiceovers: Was the narrator male or female? What was their tone?
• Adjectives: Did they use words like "powerful" and "fast" (boys) or "beautiful" and "glittery" (girls)?

Key Findings

• Voiceovers: Male voices were used in almost every boy-oriented ad. Female voices were used in almost every girl-oriented ad.
• Exaggeration: Male voiceovers were often "loud and aggressive," while female voiceovers were "soft, gentle, and high-pitched."
• Verb choice: Boys’ ads used "power" verbs \(82\%\) more often than girls’ ads (e.g., "beat," "crush," "control"). Girls’ ads focused on "nurturing" and "appearance" (e.g., "style," "magic," "dress up").
• Competition: Words related to competition (e.g., "win," "battle") were significantly more common in ads aimed at boys.

Conclusion

Johnson and Young concluded that advertisers use gender-polarized language. This means they intentionally create a "boy world" and a "girl world," which teaches children that certain behaviors (like aggression for boys or appearance for girls) are normal for their sex.

Memory Tip: Think of "Johnson and Young" as "Junior and Youth." It’s all about how the "Voices" (V) in ads shape "Young" minds!

3. Application: Strategies to Reduce the Impact

How can we stop advertisements from having such a strong influence on children? The syllabus requires you to know a strategy to reduce this impact.

Strategy: Media Literacy Training

One of the most effective ways to reduce the impact of advertising is to teach children Media Literacy. This is often done in schools or at home by parents.
• How it works: Children are taught to deconstruct an ad. They are asked questions like, "What is this ad trying to make you feel?" or "Is the toy actually moving by itself, or is that special effects?"
• The Goal: By helping children understand the persuasive intent (the fact that someone is trying to take their money), they become more critical and less likely to be influenced by stereotypes or "pester power."

Alternative: Government Regulation

In some countries (like Sweden or Norway), advertising to children under the age of 12 is banned. This removes the "social pressure" entirely by ensuring children aren't exposed to these gendered messages during their favorite cartoons.

4. Issues and Debates

In Component 03 (Applied Psychology), you must be able to link the research to wider debates. Here are the most relevant ones for this chapter:

Situational vs. Individual Explanations:
The impact of advertising is a situational explanation. It suggests that a child’s behavior and their understanding of gender are shaped by their environment (the TV ads they see) rather than something they are born with.

Ethical Considerations:
Is it ethical for companies to use psychological tricks to sell toys to children who aren't old enough to understand they are being manipulated? Many argue that targeting vulnerable children is a breach of responsibility (a key BPS ethical principle).

Usefulness of Research:
Johnson and Young’s research is very useful because it alerts parents and policymakers to the "hidden" messages in ads. It can be used to argue for stricter rules on how toys are marketed to ensure children aren't forced into narrow gender roles.

Psychology as a Science:
Johnson and Young used content analysis, which is a systematic and objective way of turning qualitative data (TV ads) into quantitative data (frequencies of words). This makes the research more scientific and reliable.

Final Key Takeaways

• Social Area: This chapter falls under the Social area because it looks at how the media (a social agent) influences individual behavior.
• Stereotypes: Ads reinforce "boy" and "girl" roles through specific language and voice tones.
• Johnson & Young: Proved that "gendered voices" are real and used to polarize children's play.
• Application: Media literacy is the "shield" that helps children defend themselves against persuasive advertising.

Note: For other chapters in this section, such as "Development of attachment," please refer to the specific notes for those topics.