Why Advertisers Target Children

According to research children in the UK see around 10,000 television commercials every year. Though many advertisers claim that they advertise to reach parents rather than their kids, they're not afraid to blow multi-million pound marketing budgets informing children of their latest breakfast cereal, toy or console game.

So why spend so much money on advertising to children? After all - at first glance kid's spending seems to be limited to what pocket money they receive from their parents. The truth is that by investing in children when they're young, advertisers can influence parents, get access to kid's cash and create new generations of consumers who will one day introduce their own kids to the advertisers' products.

Increased Spending Power

In the UK the average child receives £8.37 in pocket money. Start to calculate how much that is across the population and the available cash begins to stack up. Research for Childwise, a children's charity, found that UK kids collectively spend more than four billion pound every year - up from 3.9 billion back in 2005. Though not much compared to their parents annual spend, it's more than enough to make advertisers take interest.

Pester Power

Though increasingly valuable, the 'pocket money market' isn't the only way advertisers can make money out of children. For many years advertisers have known that even toddlers can punch way beyond their economic weight by what they call 'pester power' (also known as the 'nag factor'). With successful marketing techniques, advertisers know that kids can actively influence what their parents buy down at the supermarket.

Research by psychologists shows that children can start asking parents for particular products (often by brand name) when they're as young as 24 months. Most of the time this happens while out shopping with parents. The research goes on to reveal that children's most-requested purchases are breakfast cereal, drinks and toys. It's not surprising that it's these items which advertisers promote with kid-friendly campaigns.

Creating brand loyalty

By reaching children at an early age advertisers hope to create brand loyalty that will last for the rest of the child's life. Research shows that it might be working. From the age of three kids can identify different brand logos, while a basic form of brand loyalty (e.g. choosing one kind of fast-food outlet over another) starts as early as two.

Advertisers are working hard to start this loyalty process earlier and earlier. While controversial educational programmes sponsored by corporations (such as healthy eating classes featuring material from McDonalds) have been around for some time - marketers are taking steps to influence the playschool market. For example sponsored ad materials are available which communicate basic brand values through the alphabet to help influence spending decisions when children get older.

Brand loyalty can continue to be influential ever after we've long outgrown our ABCs. In the UK and America the recent trend in retro advertising (created to promote the re-release of vintage chocolate bars and crisps) convinced adults to return to the sweets and snacks of their childhood while helping introduce them a new generation.