Effect of Advertisements on Children with Special Reference to Confectionary Products

Abstract

Advertising to children is the act of marketing or advertising products or services to children, as defined by national legislation and advertising standards. Advertising to children is often the subject of debate, relating to the alleged influence on children's consumption. Rules on advertising to children have largely evolved in recent years. In most countries, advertising for children is now framed by a mix of legislation and advertising self-regulation. Advertising to children can take place on traditional media television, radio and print as well as new media (internet and other electronic media). Packaging, in-store advertising, event sponsorship and promotions can also be means to advertise to children. There is no universal definition of a child (although UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, defines early childhood as ages 0 8 years). Children are otherwise defined according to national jurisdictions. For the purposes of advertising law, the definition of a child varies from one jurisdiction to another. However, 12 is commonly used as a cut-off point, on the basis of the widespread academic view that by the age of 12 children have developed their behavior as consumers, effectively recognize advertising and are able to adopt critical attitudes towards it. There is no global data on ad spending directed at children, only data for specific sectors. According to the Federal Trade Commission, food and beverage companies (44 companies reporting to the FTC) in the US spent approximately $1.6 billion in 2006 to promote their products/services to children.
Objectives of the Study

Through this report we want to find out how children are influenced by the advertisements especially of confectionary products. So the statement of this project would be Effect of Advertisements on Children with special reference to confectionary products' The research process goes within the following confectionary products: Biscuits Chocolates Wafers Noodles

 Sauces Health Drinks The subject matter for this Project is to study the effects of advertisement on children. Following are the main objectives of this report. To know the children's awareness about confectionary Products & their advertisements. To study the impact of advertisement of confectionary Products on children. To know whether is there any connection between TV watching habit of children and their medium of study or not. There are mainly two of sampling methods which are being used by the marketers: 1. Probability Sampling (Random Sampling) 2. Non probability Sampling Probability sampling is a method for drawing a sample from a population such that all possible samples have a known and specified probability of being drawn. Non probability sampling is a sampling procedure in which the selection of population elements is based in part on the judgment of the researcher or field interviewer.The sampling method for this report would be probability sampling because here each sample has equal chance of being selected and again it would be stratified random sampling Media Literacy Media literacy is a relatively new discipline, aimed at teaching individuals and children in particular to understand and use the media to their advantage. Media literacy is increasingly recognized by governments and international organizations such as the European Union and the World Health Organisation as a key tool to help children understand and deal with today's complex media environment. Media Smart is an established media literacy education programme focused on advertising. Launched in November 2002, Media Smart is a non-profit media literacy programme for school children aged 6 to 11 years old. Media Smart develops and provides, free of charge and on request, educational materials to primary schools that teach children to think critically about advertising in the context of their daily lives. Media Smart materials use real examples of advertising to teach core media literacy skills. Media Smart is funded by the advertising business in the UK and is supported by the UK government and EU institutions. Since 2002, Media smart has been launched in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Portugal and Hungary. Is it fair to advertise to children unless they fully understand the intent of the advertisers? If

young children do not understand that intent, then when do they develop that ability? Is television an effective way to market products to children? Are the products (such as food and toys) typically aimed at children, the type of products that children should be encouraged to buy? Are children encouraged to buy or try unsuitable products (such as alcohol or tobacco) from viewing advertisements even when those advertisements are not aimed at them? Does advertising encourage a more materialistic attitude in children? Or is it appropriate that children learn to be effective consumers from an early age? Does encouraging children to buy products lead them to pester their parents and cause family disputes? Does television advertising present an accurate or misleading image of the world to children? Should advertising aimed at children be regulated? If so, how strict should that regulation be and, in a global market place, should regulators draw up common guidelines across different countries and cultures? Should we educate children about advertising, and if so, who should take on the role of educator? These are the questions that require to have a proper look at. Children aging around 15 in India are having spending power. It is from their own allowances and earnings. Almost 30 percentage of Indian population belongs to this age group, and called to be the future of India . But the fact is that out of every rupee the government spent, only five paisa went to child related programmes. In Bihar, spending on per meal per child is about 15 paisa. Now can anyone explain that what kind of nutritious food can be supplied at that rate? When we talk of the Indian economy it is vastly segmented in different age groups with different spending powers. Most of the Indian people live under the poverty line. But the others are having a huge spending power with large amount of selection in the product basket. The children from these segments are being targeted by the companies to generate the sales. The market for selling products to children is potentially immense, and it is not surprising that in those countries that have established traditions of advertising, much of that advertising is aimed at children, often via television and other media Children and TV Advertising In the 1940s and 1950s children were not considered consumers in their own right but only extensions to their parents purchasing power. With the advent of television and other mass media, children have come into their own right as consumers and, consequently, they have become an important target market for the business. Advertisers are the first to recognize children's value as consumers who are capable of making decisions about spending. The 1950s dates the modern era of children's television programming, when a deal between struggling television network ABC and Disney brought The Mickey Mouse Club and Disneyland into children's afternoon television programming. Advertising at that time appealed generally to the personal gain of the consumer in the case they decided to purchase the sponsored product. Over the next 15 to 20 years, children's television became an industry by itself.

Throughout this history of children's television advertising, researchers have criticized in different ways the use of television commercials directed to children (Tseng, 2004). In the late 1970s, a research team funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) estimated that children viewed an average of about 20,000.- commercials per year (Adler in Singer, 2001). There was so little study on this topic during the 1950s, the majority of the studies on children's television advertising environment goes from the 1970s onward (Alexander et al. 1998). Four types of products advertised to children during the 1970s were limited: toys, cereals, candies and snacks, and fast foods. Male voiceovers accounted for the great majority of ads coded, and animated characters seldom appeared (Barcus in Tseng, Eliana Shiao; 2004). While marketers and advertisers heightened their interest in the child market during the 1980s, research on children's television advertising of that period consisted mainly on replications and extensions of previous studies (Tseng, 2004). hildren's television advertising is rapidly becoming a major concern to government agencies, citizens. groups and researchers in many areas of the social sciences ( Resnik, Stern and Alberty; 1979).Children who watch a lot of television, want more toys seen in advertisements and eat more advertised food than children who do not watch as much television (Strasburger, 2002).
Reference :

http://www.agencyfaqs.com http://www.wowessays.com http://www.media-awareness.ca/.../advertising.../kids_advertising_rules http://www.c-i-a.com/( Computer Industry http://www.Itu.com (Intrenation Telecommunication http://www.internetworldstats.com/asia/in.htm www.wikipedia.org www.seminarsonly.com

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