“Why Does all the Girls have to Buy Pink Stuff?” The Ethics and Science of the Gendered Toy Marketing Debate

The gendered marketing of children’s toys is under considerable scrutiny, as reflected by numerous consumer-led campaigns and vigorous media debates. This article seeks to assist stakeholders to better understand the ethical and scientific assumptions that underlie the two opposing positions in this debate, and assess their relative strength. There is apparent consensus in the underlying ethical foundations of the debate, with all commentators seeming to endorse the values of corporate social responsibility and gender equality. However, the debate splits over three critical points of empirical disagreement: whether gendered toy marketing influences children’s toy preferences or simply reflects boys’ and girls’ fundamentally different interests; whether the effects of gendered toy marketing are negative, neutral or beneficial; and whether a shift to gender-neutral marketing would be economically viable. We assess the three points of disagreement against the available evidence and shared ethical principles underlying the debate, and conclude that current defences of gendered toy marketing fail.     

一炮而红的皮皮熊火啦

<正>皮皮熊开创了数字化智能玩具的先河,实现了从"中国制造"向"中国创造"的转变,并因此一炮而红。做中国的米老鼠"鼻子压扁了,把我抱起来。"当记者走进深圳市皮皮熊玩具有限公司董事长扈蓝天办公室时,发现一只憨态可掬的毛绒     

电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定水晶泥中可迁移元素硼含量

本文参照EN71-3黏稠性玩具样品处理方法,建立了电感耦合等离子体质谱法(ICP-MS)测定水晶泥玩具材料中硼元素迁移量的检测方法。对该方法的同位素选择、线性范围和检出限、加标回收率和精密度、实际样品测试等进行了讨论。结果表明,该方法的线性范围宽,ICP-MS测定硼元素线性相关系数可达0.9996,该方法加标回收率为90.60%,相对标准偏差在4.40%。建立的ICP-MS法测定水晶泥玩具材料中硼元素具有检出限低、精密度高、简便快速等优点,可用于水晶泥玩具材料中硼元素迁移的定量分析。     

The risk of sensorineural hearing loss from noisy toys and recreational activities in children and teenagers

Abstract

The present paper is a review of toys, playthings, games and recreational activities of children and teenagers implying dangerous sound levels and risk of hearing loss. One way of estimating the risk is by sound level measurements, another is by hearing tests, preferably related to noisy activities. One problem with this issue is the unknown sensitivity of children's hearing for loud sounds. This fact and the aggressive behavior of many children when using toys indicates the importance of information on these matters and a generally cautious and conservative attitude, particularly towards toys emitting impulsive sound, e.g. toy guns and firecrackers.     

Effects of violent television programmes on advertising effectiveness among young children

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of violent TV programmes on the effectiveness of advertising aimed at children. Using an experimental method, this study found that violent programmes elicit a high level of excitation among kindergarten attendees, which substantially enhances their advertising effectiveness. When advertising was viewed within a violent programme, children showed better ad recall and more favourable attitudes towards the ad than when advertising was viewed in a non-violent programme. Higher purchase intention and brand preference were also found among subjects who viewed the ad embedded in a violent programme.     

玩具发热和非正常工作的温升测试方法研究

通过对比分析电玩具标准差异,对玩具发热和非正常工作的温升测试方法进行研究,并选取玩具样品进行测试验证。最后总结温升测试不合格的常见原因及对策,为检测机构和玩具企业提供参考和建议。     

Learning from toys: Reflections on the 2007 recall crisis

The year 2007 will be remembered as the year the toy industry was shaken by a seemingly endless stream of recalls. The scope of this recent wave of recalls associated with lead‐tainted toys coming from China has focused the attention of parents and others responsible for ers who sell these toys, companies who import these toys, and numerous government officials on the problem of toys that have been painted with lead‐tainted paint. Much of the focus of this crisis is on China and its contractors. This is counterproductive and reactive. The problem of lead‐tainted imports is not new. The fact that China is currently in the crosshairs is to a large degree a function of their growth in importance as a preferred site for outsourced manufacturing. It is a volume issue. Lead‐tainted imports have many causes, and these will be explored in this article. This article concludes with a discussion of lessons that managers can take from this crisis. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Consumption and the retail change process: a comparative analysis of toy retailing in Italy and France

Set in the context of a review and critique of the retail change literature, this study conceptualizes the importance of cultural diversity in consumption practices, and their dialectical interplay with retail structures. Underpinned theoretically by concepts located in Critical Theory and Bourdieu's studies of 'Distinctions', a grounded approach at a macro-level of analysis is applied to the comparison of the French and Italian toy retail sectors, which serves as an empirical illustration of the conceptual categories and relationships posited. In the comparative analysis of the French and Italian toy retail industry, the links between market structures and macro-economic and demographic factors, on the one hand, and localized consumption habits, on the other, are discussed, highlighting the interplay of the properties of the emergent retail activity and consumption categories of analysis. The impact of global sourcing and market entry of international retailers is assessed. Conclusions point to the importance of the forcefield between localized meaning and the dynamics of toy retail capital. It is argued that the commodity form of toys, together with the values attached to them and the role they play in childhood, is influencing the structures of national toy retail sectors which are also dependent on the overall retail system and broader environmental factors. In this, retail change processes take place as a result of the interactions between the different spheres and their particular expressions cannot be generalized across borders as they depend on the specific dynamics within each system.     

玩具出口：春天临近

2010年玩具出口增势有望延续,但增速可能出现波动。     

从出口数据看福建省玩具产业的近年发展情况

福建玩具产业外延不断扩展,近年来的出口金额、数量和产品单价不断增长,出口市场数量逐年增加,在欧盟、美国、东盟、日本和英国等重点市场的出口数据及其在该市场的玩具进口总额中所占份额持续走高,充分说明福建省玩具产业近年来在寻求发展和寻求突破中取得了较好的成效。     

From filthy to healthy and beyond: finding the boundaries of taboo destruction in sex toy buying

ABSTRACT

The liberalisation of Western society has led to the destruction of certain taboos, but on the individual level, taboo destruction may be curtailed by opposing conventions. This study investigates the boundaries of taboo destruction in relation to buying products that were once considered as taboo but are increasingly subject to liberalisation, namely, sex toys. Adopting an exploratory mixed-method approach, which combines a consumer survey with expert interviews, this study establishes a framework suggesting that self-protection and status maintenance are the core forces behind individual-level taboo construction. Additionally, consumers may voluntarily construct taboos regarding sex toys as the controlled violation of a taboo is associated with sexual excitement. Implications about how the results diverge from societal taboo destruction, on which sex toy retailing is currently built, are discussed.     

The program-length commercial: A study of the effects of television/toy tie-ins on imaginative play

A study was done examining the impact of toy-based television programs and program-related toys on children. One hundred and ten first- and second-grade children participated in an experiment which focused on imaginative play. The results indicated that, in general, the combination of watching a toy-based cartoon, followed by playing with a set of cartoon-related toys, produced stories that were more imitative of the immediately preceding experience, whereas watching the cartoon alone or playing with the cartoon-related toys alone led to more imaginative productions from other sources. However, for certain aspects of imagination at a more advanced cognitive level, the cartoon, especially when combined with cartoon-related toys, actually stimulated the imaginative processes of the younger children, thus serving as a learning tool at a transitional stage of cognitive development.     

Playing with class: Middle‐class intensive mothering and the consumption of children's toys in Vietnam

This article explores the way in which Vietnamese mothers purchase, gift and share toys with their children. The study utilises a qualitative design comprising semi‐structured interviews with 10 Vietnamese middle‐class professional working mothers of children aged between 5 and 9. This research highlights the way in which toys defined as “good” by mothers need to fulfil a number of important practical and social functions: they act as an investment in the child's future, as a reward, and as a means for mothers to buy time for themselves. The findings illustrate how these functions are influenced by Confucian and Western discourses of intensive mothering, generating a localized style of middle‐class intensive mothering, characterized by what we have called the ideal of the triple excellent and intensive mother.     

社会网络对农民工生育观念的影响——来自深圳调查的发现

利用西安交通大学人口与发展研究所2005年深圳市农民工调查数据,从社会网络视角实证分析了流动后农民工生育观念的影响因素。生育讨论网的弱关系和网络成员的生育行为,以及个体在城镇的滞留时间、初次流动时的年龄、受教育程度等因素对流动后农民工的生育观念产生了影响。     

The influence of model age on children's reactions to advertising stimuli

Two studies are reported that explore the role of age of model as a nonverbal cue in advertising directed to children. Conventional advertising wisdom holds “older is better” when casting for commercials directed to children. The purpose of the current work is to focus on the merits of this wisdom. Three different age ranges of models were paired with either toys (Study 1) or foods (Study 2). Preschoolers' attitudinal (affective, evaluative, and behavioral intent) responses to the products were measured. Study 1 (n = 36) with toys suggested support for the conventional wisdom. Study 2 (n = 36) was a replication of procedures from the first study with substitution of food items for toys. Study 2 resulted in no statistical differences at the traditional .05 level, but a trend appeared on behalf of the older- and younger-age models outperforming the same-age ones. The second study's results suggested that the nature of the product may moderate the effects of the adage, “older is better.”     

软泥类玩具材料中硼酸和硼酸盐含量检测方法研究

本文研究了软泥类玩具材料中硼酸和硼酸盐含量的检测方法,用0.07 mol/L盐酸溶液提取试样,电感耦合等离子体质谱KED模式分析同位素11B,通过硼元素的含量换算成硼酸和硼酸盐来确定软泥类玩具材料中硼酸和硼酸盐的含量。硼元素浓度在2~1000μg/L与其响应值呈线性关系(R^2=0.99984),硼元素、硼酸、硼酸盐的检出限分别为0.042 mg/kg、0.240mg/kg和0.369 mg/kg,定量限分别为0.100 mg/kg、0.572 mg/kg和0.883 mg/kg,加标回收率为87.5%~105.3%,相对标准偏差(RSD,n=7)小于5%。该方法准确度高、精密度好,满足软泥类玩具材料中硼酸和硼酸盐的测定。     

DeLozier,M. Wayne. The Marketing Communications Process. New York: Met-Raw-Hill Book Company, 1976

Abstract

This study examines such variables as program type, (drama vs. games). program time, viewing frequency, number of persons in the room, and the viewers sex as they affect the daytime television viewer's ability to recognize products which were (or were not) advertised on television programs viewed immediately prior to interviews conducted with a random sample of viewers from the Dayton, Ohio, metropolitan area. Results of this study indicate a number of statistically significant differences triggered by these variables-differences which have potentially large practical implications for television advertisers.     

Make my memory: How advertising can change our memories of the past

Marketers use autobiographical advertising as a means to create nostalgia for their products. This research explores whether such referencing can cause people to believe that they had experiences as children that are mentioned in the ads. In Experiment 1, participants viewed an ad for Disney that suggested that they shook hands with Mickey Mouse as a child. Relative to controls, the ad increased their confidence that they personally had shaken hands with Mickey as a child at a Disney resort. The increased confidence could be due to a revival of a true memory or the creation of a new, false one. In Experiment 2, participants viewed an ad for Disney that suggested that they shook hands with an impossible character (e.g., Bugs Bunny). Again, relative to controls, the ad increased confidence that they personally had shaken hands with the impossible character as a child at a Disney resort. The increased confidence is consistent with the notion that autobiographical referencing can lead to the creation of false or distorted memory. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Preston,Ivan L., The Tangled Web They Weave: Truth,Falsity, & Advertisers,Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1994

Abstract

In an experiment, children in three grade levels (second, fourth, and sixth) viewed four advertisements. The children were shown advertisements with either metaphors in both pictorial and verbal form or a literal equivalent. The sixth graders interpreted more metaphors correctly than the fourth and second graders. In terms of recall of advertised content, the sixth and fourth graders recalled brand names, products, and additional copy better than the second graders. Within each grade level, metaphors did not enhance children's recall of advertised content or perceptions of the understandability of the advertisements and liking of the advertised products. The authors speculate that metaphors are most likely to enhance recall under conditions in which the metaphor serves as a direct representation linking the metaphor to the advertised product. Their findings suggest that advertisers should be aware that young readers may have difficulty interpreting metaphors and that metaphors may not be more effective in terms of children's recall and perception of understandability than literal versions of advertisements.