Advertising to Children: Research Paper - CMNS 223 Final Project

This research paper explores the multifaceted world of advertising directed at children, examining the strategies employed to capture their attention and influence their purchasing decisions. The paper delves into the psychological aspects of child consumers, considering their short attention spans and impressionability. It analyzes the use of color schemes, messaging techniques, and product presentations designed to appeal to children while also addressing the concerns of parents. The research incorporates insights from prominent works on advertising and consumer culture, including studies on brands, child psychology, and the impact of television advertising. The paper investigates specific examples from major brands like Mattel, Kinder, and H&M, evaluating their past advertising campaigns. It also explores the ethical considerations and the dos and don'ts of advertising to children, with the ultimate goal of providing a comprehensive understanding of this specialized field of marketing. The assignment includes a practical application, where the student attempts to advertise an existing product based on the research conducted, demonstrating a clear understanding of the course content.

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ADVERTISING
Advertising is an integral process involved in marketing any product. It is the very
method of promoting the existence of the product, allowing exposure for the product to gain
the interest of prospective customers. Every product has certain demography to cater hence, it
is important that the advertising is such that the target demography feels the need to attain it.
In this paper this phenomenon of advertisements will be explored through advertisements that
are targeted towards children. These advertisements are of products specialized for them.
Children are usually very impressionable and gullible. One might even say that they
are the easiest people for companies to target and win over because they are highly
impressionable. However, in reality a lot of planning and programming goes into making
such advertisements for children because they tend to lose interest very quickly. The
advertisements need to keep in mind the short attention span of children and make sure that
the advertisements are bright and catchy enough to make them want a particular product.
These products also have to ensure that they are attractive enough for parents to consider
buying them for their children, the advertisements cannot be limited to plain fantasy, and it
needs to be useful in convincing the parents the value of the product in their children’s lives.
This paper will take into consideration various advertisements by manufacturers of
toys, consumables targeted towards children and clothing brands meant for children. The
companies that will be taken into consideration will include Mattel, Kinder and even H&M
for kids. The information regarding Advertising will be presented from the book Captains of
“Consciousness: Advertising and the Social roots of the Consumer Culture” by S. Ewen and
the book “The Consumer Society Reader” by J. B. Schor and D. B. Holt. Other articles along

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the same line like “Brands on the Brain” by Ambler, Tim, Andreas Ioannides, and Steven
Rose, "Television food advertising to children: a global perspective” by Kelly Bridgette, "The
wonder of Barbie: popular culture and the making of female identity” by Lenore Wright and
“Television Advertising and Children” by Brian Young will also be used to understand child
psychology and the various modes of advertising that will ensure the deliverance of the
message to prospective buyers. The research will be done on these brands through articles on
the internet.
This paper will be answering the questions about the kinds of advertisements that help
capture the attention of children, along with the color schemes and messages that are required
to do the same. It will also search for the kind of advertisements that ensure parent
satisfaction and makes them willing to buy the product for their childe. Along with the
burning questions the dos and don’ts of advertisements meant for children will be explained
while exploring the various kinds of products that are meant for children. This will be done
by going through past advertisements of similar products and the methods used within them
to be successful.
The research will be followed up by an attempt to advertise an existent product in the
market according to my personal understanding of the selected product and my understanding
of the advertising techniques used. The paper will be an amalgamation of the scenarios learnt
in classes and the general ideas acquired from the same to ensure through research that the
course content successfully helped in achieving a clearer idea about the world of advertising.

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References
Ambler, Tim, Andreas Ioannides, and Steven Rose. "Brands on the brain: neuro‐images of
advertising." Business Strategy Review 11.3 (2000): 17-30.
Ewen, Stuart. Captains of consciousness advertising and the social roots of the consumer
culture. Basic Books, 2008.
Schor, Juliet, and Holt Holt, eds. The consumer society reader. The New Press, 2011.
Kelly, Bridget, et al. "Television food advertising to children: a global
perspective." American journal of public health 100.9 (2010): 1730-1736.
Wright, Lenore. "The wonder of Barbie: popular culture and the making of female
identity." Essays in Philosophy 4.1 (2003): 3.
Young, Brian M. Television advertising and children. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990.