Parental influence upon children's diet: the issue of category

Food and drink are distributed via corporate institutions in categories, such as ready meals or carbonated drinks. Within these categories, a minority of brands advertise, capitalizing upon the popularity of the categories. The issue of childhood obesity and health has led to a focus upon these advertised brands in terms of their being targeted at children, but nothing has been done about the categories they represent. Furthermore, parents have an influence upon their children's diet, as their expenditure accounts for the majority of their children's consumption. This paper accounts for UK children's perceptions of the effect of advertising and marketing of food and drink upon their parents, and concludes that the children see advertising as having very little influence. Rather, they see that their parents' involvement with certain categories have become, over time, their norm. Children do not see that the regulation of advertising of food and drink to them will have any significant effect upon their diet, as their parents will continue to consume from within the categories supplied by the retail sector, which in their view constitutes the most influential aspect of food and drink marketing. Given the international focus upon the advertising of food brands, this paper draws attention to other, potentially more influential issues.     

Contextual advertising in games: Impacts of game context on a player’s memory and evaluation of brands in video games

Contextual advertising is growing in digital marketing communication. Previous research on traditional media has shown that the surrounding context affects advertising effectiveness. Similarly, the context in a game may influence a player’s processing of brands advertised in that game. To examine the effects of contextual advertising in games, the present article affords two independent experiments investigating how positive and negative game contexts influence players’ memories and attitudes with respect to brands advertised via billboards in games. Drawing from literature on the limited capacity model, the authors demonstrate that positive and negative game contexts decrease brand memory since they require a high level of cognitive effort. The authors also find that varying a game context influence the perception of brands advertised in the game via the contextual priming mechanism and that positive contexts generate more positive brand attitudes than negative or neutral contexts. The findings have important implications for consumer researchers and marketers, as they indicate how contexts in games can be utilized to establish brand awareness and increase positive brand perceptions in contextual advertising using games.     

Children's brand symbolism understanding: Links to theory of mind and executive functioning

Against a background of research suggesting that brand symbolism understanding does not develop until 7 to 11 years of age, two studies investigate various aspects of preschool children's brand knowledge. While children's recognition of child‐oriented brands is found to be significantly greater than their recognition of brands that are marketed primarily to teens and adults, these young children do recognize brands. In a second study, children's ability to form mental representations of brands is assessed, along with their understanding of brands as social symbols. Cognitive ability, theory of mind, and executive functioning are assessed as predictors of these brand‐related outcomes. Theory of mind and executive functioning are both significant predictors of the ability to form mental representations of brands. Children's brand symbolism understanding shows a significant link with theory of mind. It is concluded that 3‐ to 5‐year‐olds have emerging knowledge of brands that are relevant in their lives. The impact of individual differences in theory of mind and executive functioning on children's brand knowledge aligns with current theories of child development. Methodological contributions and societal implications are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A Metacognitive Model of the Effects of Susceptibility to Persuasion Self-Beliefs on Advertising Effects

This study postulates that people's beliefs about their own susceptibility to persuasion efforts can influence advertising effects. It thus represents the first explication of the process by which self-beliefs determine advertising effects, through their influence on the subjective experience of the ease of being persuaded. Integrating three research streams (metacognition, persuasion knowledge, and cognitive correction), the current study proposes a model of three influence patterns, which are contingent on whether people perceive the advertising message to be high in manipulative intent and whether people are motivated to be accurate in their judgments. If advertising messages are low in manipulative intent, such that the persuasion seems acceptable, susceptibility self-beliefs influence people's attitudes toward the advertised products or issues (i.e., expected effects). If advertising messages are high in manipulative intent, such that persuasion seems unacceptable, people exhibit suppression (no effects) if they have weak accuracy motives, but they exhibit overcorrection (opposite effects) if they are strongly motivated to be accurate. Five studies test these predictions and reveal some demographic characteristics associated with self-beliefs about susceptibility to persuasion. The findings thus have important implications for advertising practitioners.     

Disclosure of Vlog Advertising Targeted to Children

Influencers can disclose vlog advertising by implementing a platform-generated disclosure or by generating their own disclosure. This study aims to investigate whether and how these two types of disclosures differentially affect children's responses toward the sponsored content and the influencer. To do so, a two (platform-generated [PG] disclosure: no PG disclosure versus PG disclosure) by three (influencer-generated [IG] disclosure: no IG disclosure versus no commercial interference disclosure versus commercial interference disclosure) between-subjects experimental study was conducted among 190 children (aged ten to twelve). The results show that both types of disclosures increased children's recognition of vlog advertising; however, children's advertising literacy (i.e. their understanding of influencer marketing and skepticism toward the ad) was less activated when the influencer specifically indicated that there was no commercial interference of the brand. In addition, besides being more beneficial for influencers (by not negatively affecting children's evaluations of the influencer), an IG disclosure also showed to be more favorable for brands, as it increased brand effects among children, whereas a PG disclosure decreased these brand effects.     

Transferring game attitudes to the brand: persuasion from age 6 to 14

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to replicate previous findings regarding the differential impact of TV advertising and advergames on children's brand attitudes and pester intentions. Using a large data-set (N = 940, M_age = 9.8, SD = 2.4), with children ranging between 6 and 14 years old, the influence of passive exposure to TV advertising is compared to active exposure to an advergame. In addition, the potential moderating effect of age is explored. In a between-participants experiment, Flemish children were randomly assigned to watch a TV ad, play an advergame, or a no marketing control condition. Results revealed that children who had played the advergame reported significantly more positive brand attitudes compared to children who had watched the TV ad and children in the no advertising exposure control group. Children's pester intent was significantly higher for the advergame compared to the TV ad, but not compared to the no advertising exposure control group. The findings further showed that children's attitudes towards the ad format mediate the impact of the advertising format on pester intent. The advergame was indirectly more persuasive than the TV ad since children reported more positive attitudes towards the advergame compared to the TV advertisement. Moreover, this mediation effect did not differ by children's age. Persuasion knowledge did not mediate the influence of the advertising format on pester intent since children's persuasion knowledge was not significantly related to pester intentions regardless of children's age.     

Hong Kong children's understanding of television advertising

This study examines Chinese children's understanding and comprehension of television advertising. A quota sample of 448 children made up of 32 girls and 32 boys from kindergartens and grades 1-6, were personally interviewed in May 1998. The results indicated that children in grade 2 (aged 7-8 years) were beginning to understand what advertising was and were aware of the persuasive intention of television advertising. Over one-third of older children from grade 4 understood that television stations carried advertising for money. Like children in the West, the main reason for liking and disliking commercials depended on their entertainment element. An understanding of television advertising, recall of brands from slogans and comprehension of advertising content were consistently related to the cognitive development of children. Brand recognition from liked and disliked commercials was strong. Comprehension of the key messages of advertising content varied greatly by children's cognitive development and the style of presentation. Ethical issues and public opinions of Hong Kong consumers regarding advertising to children were discussed.     

Children and advergames: the role of product involvement,prior brand attitude,persuasion knowledge and game attitude in purchase intentions and changing attitudes

The central aim of this study is to build upon previous research by investigating the role of product involvement, prior brand attitude, persuasion knowledge and game attitude in the brand attitude changes and purchase intentions of children after playing an advergame. In all, 279 respondents between the ages of 10 and 12 years participated in the study. First, they were asked to complete a pre-test survey addressing product involvement and prior brand attitude towards several products and brands. Two weeks later, the respondents were asked to play an advergame and complete a survey addressing brand attitude, purchase intention, persuasion knowledge and attitude towards the game. Our analysis reveals that a positive attitude change is more likely when the game player has already evaluated the brand positively. Furthermore, game attitude is positively related to attitude changes towards the advertised brands, consistent with affect transfer theory. Counterintuitively, a higher level of persuasion knowledge is associated with a higher intention to buy the advertised product. Finally, children who had a more positive attitude towards the game were more likely to report higher purchase intentions, indicating that games which provide good experiences positively influence behavioural intentions. We conclude the paper by discussing the study's limitations and suggestions for future research.     

The moderating effect of self-esteem on consumer responses to global positioning in advertising

The study investigates consumers' responses to global positioning in advertising from the perspective of self. It is suggested that consumers' attitudes toward the brand advertised through global positioning are influenced by their ideal selves and cosmopolitan orientations and these influences are moderated by one's self-esteem level. Study 1 shows that attitudes toward the globally positioned brand are more positive for those with ideal selves that are more congruent with personal traits associated with globally positioned brands, but only for those with high self-esteem. Interview results from study 2 suggest that low self-esteem informants make use of the global brands associated with ‘Western’ as a means of signaling their social selves in order to obtain social approval and that high self-esteem informants attend to ad content, whether the ad employs global or local positioning.     

Children's relationships with brands: “True love” or “one‐night” stand?

Group and individual interviews were conducted to examine relationships developed between children and brands in the family setting. Children's stories about brands suggest that they develop relationships with a wide range of brands and these relationships are imbedded in the social environment where children live and grow. Interpersonal relationship metaphors were utilized to describe different forms of child–brand relationships. The article concludes that children's relationships with brands serve important functions in their lives and have significant implications for marketers. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Green apparel buying behaviour: A study on Indian youth

Changes in demographics and availability of global clothing brands have brought several changes in Indian apparel industry. Green or organic clothing brands are becoming popular among Indians and likely to contribute to the revenues of apparel sector. Global and national apparel manufacturers have introduced organic clothing lines to cater to ecological conscious consumers. The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence (CSII), past green behaviour, green peer influence and green apparel knowledge on Indian youth's green apparel buying behaviour. A mix of convenience and random sampling was used for data collection. The sample (n = 981) comprised of youth of age group 18–24 years. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings suggest that past green behaviour influenced green apparel buying behaviour. Green peer influence and green apparel knowledge had no impact on green apparel buying behaviour. Moreover, CSII had no influence on green apparel buying behaviour. The findings differ from earlier studies that suggest influence of social norms and peer group had an effect on green buying behaviour. Practical implications of the present study are discussed.     

The effects of an advertising retrieval cue on young children's memory and brand evaluations

Young children's memory for television advertising is important in order for children to recognize brands in stores and/or to recall the brand name in making a purchase request. Two experiments showed that the use of visual advertising retrieval cue (a green frog as the brand character) improved memory performance and brand evaluations. Study 1 (n = 40) showed promise in the cue's assistance in children's recalling the brand name (cued recall) from the ad memory trace. Study 2 (n = 40) contained multiple exposures to the ad, which resulted in greater free recall and in support for the cue's assistance in better access of the brand name from the ad memory trace (cued recall). Affected ad memory resulted in more favorable brand evaluations and intent to request the brand's purchase. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Comparing measures of persuasion knowledge adapted for young children

Young children under 8 years old are viewed as especially vulnerable to marketing communications because they do not have sufficient knowledge about the purpose of persuasive advertising messages, also known as children's persuasion knowledge (CPK). However, a review of 25 studies that have tested CPK effects, on primarily older children, finds inconsistent or no support for CPK. The lack of support depends on the effect studied, and a measurement challenge because of young children's limited capabilities in reading and responding to questions from interviewers. Thirteen measures of CPK have been tested but not compared for CPK effects. These measures were simplified to nonverbal options for young children and tested on a sample of 4‐ to 7‐year‐old North East Chinese children (n = 233). These measures were each tested in relation to the children's age (positive), their skepticism toward advertising (positive), their disbelief of false claims in a TV commercial (TVC) (positive) and their affect toward the TVC (negative). Only two measures of CPK show any expected associated responses with “knowing the source” of advertisements the best measure. Perceived marketer intentions had no expected associations, nor did the age of the child. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of theory, measurement, and applications for marketers and public policy.     

Advertising and Product Quality: Are Heavily Advertised Products Better?

It is often conceded that heavily advertised products cost more than those that are not advertised extensively. But there is considerable disagreement concerning what this difference means. Advertising's critics often claim it is evidence of monopolistic control over supply and prices, while advertising's defenders generally contend it reflects the higher quality of advertised brands. Surprisingly, there has been almost no research into whether or not heavily advertised goods are of better quality. As a preliminary inquiry into this interesting question, this paper attempts to examine the relationship between advertising expenditures and product quality.     

When retailers and manufacturers advertise together; examining the effect of co-operative advertising on ad reach and memorability

Retailers often feature manufacturer brands in their advertising with the aim to drive sales for those brands and, at the same time, increase in-store traffic. The adoption of such co-operative advertising strategies should reach an expanded audience base comprising of store and brand buyers. Based on empirical evidence in non-retail settings, these buyers are more likely to remember the advertising than non-buyers. This usage-bias effect implies that co-operative advertisements achieve greater cut through than would be the case if either brand advertised alone. Our paper tests this hypothesis in the context of retailer advertisements that feature manufacturer brands in the US, UK and Australia. Our results confirm that a retail brand's shoppers are more likely to recall its advertisements than non-shoppers, extending the usage-bias generalisation to a retailing context. However, while co-operative advertising does expand the buyer-base reach, any uplift in ad-memorability is negated by a reduced ability for buyers of only one of the two brands to recall the advertisement. Information overload on cognitive processing is a possible explanation for this finding, and has implications for extracting value from any investment in co-operative advertising.     

Communicating brands playfully

An online experiment was conducted to study the effects of brand placements in computer games on brand attitude as well as game attitude (N = 521; between subject design: familiar vs unfamiliar brands vs no brand). Results show that particularly unfamiliar brands can achieve a better attitude, while the attitude towards the familiar brand worsens as a result of ad placements. In any case, the game will suffer as a result of the integration of advertising: attitude towards the game worsens as a result of ad placement. However, these effects were not moderated by ad scepticism. In terms of the process of attitude formation, attitude towards the game has a direct impact on attitude towards the advertised brand.     

Consumer socialization process: The role of age in children's online shopping behavior

The aims of this research are to develop an understanding of children perception of online shopping and to explore the extent of its adoption within the retail sector. This study also endeavors to investigate the role of age in the development of children's perceptions of online purchase. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 35 children aged 8–15 years old, and 28 parents in Australia. Template analysis was carried out to analyse the data. The results show that children aged 8–11 and aged 12–15 were different in their behavior and perceptions of online shopping. The results from the interviews suggest that the level of children's online shopping varies and is influenced by many factors, such as age, parental guidance, social networks, and peer influence. The gap in the knowledge of cyberspace also resulted in the reverse-socialization and granted more power for children. In addition, social media have become an emerging influential socialization agent strengthened by early use of the Internet. In terms of the originality, the study provides empirical evidence relating to children's perceptions and behavior in the online environment as consumers, which remain under-researched in the marketing literature. Moreover, the role of children’s age was incorporated in the study, allowing more insights to be obtained.     

Effects of Disclosing Influencer Marketing in Videos: An Eye Tracking Study Among Children in Early Adolescence

This study focused on the effects of sponsorship disclosure timing on children's ability to understand that social influencer videos are sponsored. The study also investigated how sponsorship disclosure timing affects children's attitudes toward the sponsoring brand, the video, and the influencer. An experiment among 272 children in early adolescence (10–13 years of age) was conducted using eye tracking. Results show that a disclosure shown prior to the start of the videos leads to more visual attention than a disclosure shown concurrently with the start of videos. Consequently, disclosure prior to the start of videos is better processed, as indicated by disclosure memory, which then leads to a better understanding that the content is sponsored. This understanding evokes a more critical attitude toward the sponsored content in the video, and results in less positive attitudes toward the brands, the videos, and the influencers. Theoretically, this study provides insights into the mechanisms that explain disclosure timing effects among children in early adolescence. Practically, this study offers recommendations to policy makers to develop sponsorship disclosures that can increase transparency of online embedded advertising to minors.     

Children’s Responses to Traditional Versus Hybrid Advertising Formats: The Moderating Role of Persuasion Knowledge

Research on the impact of advertising on children has failed to keep pace with the rapidly changing media environment. Using an experimental approach, children’s responses towards traditional (television advertisement) versus new, hybrid advertising techniques (trailer, advergame, and their combination), and the moderating role of persuasion knowledge, are investigated. Results show that children who played an advergame have more difficulty recalling the advertised brand than children who saw a traditional television advertisement. When confronted with integrated marketing communications (a trailer followed by an advergame), children without knowledge of persuasive intent developed a more positive brand attitude than children with persuasion knowledge. The implications of these results are discussed.