How Kids Respond to Adverts

Children today face growing up in one of the most media-saturated periods of history. From the cradle many will be watching television, while by the time they can walk they'll already be interacting with the toys seen on favourite animated TV shows - and maybe even learning the basics of the Internet.

Because of the sheer proliferation of modern media, advertisers have more ways than ever to turn youngsters into young consumers through cleverly targeted adverts. The marketers' methods, whether through cartoon-like TV ads or interactive on-line games, seem to be working too. Psychologists have found that children who spend a lot of their time watching TV or using the Internet want more of the toys that appear in ads than children who don't experience the media as much.

But how do children actually respond to the adverts that they see every day? Depending on their age and sophistication kids take on board advertisers' messages in a variety of different ways.

Very Young Children and Ads

When they first start negotiating the world around them, children have no conception of money or buying power. Therefore they don't realise that adverts are tools designed to persuade them to want a certain product. Modern advertisers are very good at making ads that blend into the world children recognise. For instance, TV ads aimed at young kids tend to feature cartoon animals. This doesn't just appeal to toddlers because of the content (psychologists believe that children dream of animals 80% of the time) it also helps make the advert indistinguishable from the Saturday morning cartoon programming that surrounds it. This means that younger children see TV adverts as a part of their programmes, rather than an extension.

Critical Thinking

Though they may watch up to 100 adverts for every four hours of TV programming, studies show that many children under 8 have no way to critically evaluate the claims that are being made in the adverts themselves. Advertisers are excellent at producing adverts that sell their products in very emotive terms - for example surrounding breakfast cereal that an animated word that seems great fun. Children respond positively to the ads, but don't understand that the product may not be quite as exciting as the ad suggests.

Creating Family Pressures

As children grow older and start to be active in peer groups advertising changes alters its approach. Suddenly, products (especially toys) are marketed to children as 'must-have' products. Often a happy gang of kids using the product is shown - with the subtext that children won't be accepted or liked by their peer group if they don't get the product. Psychologists have documented how this can cause tension within families and the child him/herself. 'Pester power' can make parents feel guilty if they don't buy their child the product, while kids can feel inadequate and excluded if they don't have a toy their friends already have.

More Sophisticated Teens

Whereas children are relatively unsophisticated when it comes to adverts - young teens already understand the way advertising works and are often incredibly critical of the adverts that they see. Marketers admit that this makes them one of the most difficult groups to develop advertising for. While children want to be accepted by peers, teens are also driven by the desire to be part of the 'coolest' group in their school. This means advertisers have to give their products a cache of cool without being seen as 'trying too hard' (the quality that respondents in teen surveys regard as being beyond the pale).

One of the ways advertisers have gotten round this is to produce ads that don't look like ads. For instance, print ads or stickers that don't so much sell a product as direct teens to a difficult-to-find website where they can find out more. The idea is to make teens feel that they're part of an exclusive club - and are in on information that peers or parents don't know or understand. These way advertisers can use teens' naturally rebellious instincts to sell them expensive products.