child consumerism essay

The Child Consumer

Cat Lincoln and Laurel Pascal

Children’s Well-being: The effects of Child Consumerism

By Laurel Pascal

There has been serious concern today that child involvement in consumer culture has had a major effect on children’s well-being and their relationship with their parents. Marketers have essentially become the source of contention between the two parties as they create conflicts between the parent and the child. Marketers have developed advertising strategies, which aim to create this “utopian” (160) space for children in a rule-free zone in which parents essentially become the enemy. Through these antiadultism strategies, the main question becomes “Do children who are directly influenced by the marketers techniques experience more negative feelings towards their parents? Do they see their parents as the target getting in their way of acquiring the things they want?” Studies have proved that there is a direct causal link between higher levels of consumer involvement by children and poorer relationships between parents and children. Those kids who are much more involved with media tend to fight and disagree with their parents much more because their parents become the obstacle in their way of attaining goods. The study also suggests that as the relationship between parents and children become worse off, this leads to a negative effect on children’s well-being. When a child is not connecting with their parents, they face a much higher risk of facing depression, anxiety, lower self-esteem, and more psychosomatic complaints. Thus, consumer culture affects children both directly and indirectly.

The American culture is one that is centrally based off of consuming and spending. This creates many problems within society as people are constantly comparing and contrasting what they are consuming or in fact what they are not consuming. As society continues to progress and revolutionize, the age at which kids start thinking about consumption becomes lower and lower each year. Children are constantly exposed to various advertisements and become victims of marketers advertising strategies and messages. Every child wants the new best thing on the market. However, through constant exposure to media, each “new best thing” becomes old fast. Before you know it, new toys or foods or products are invented, and suddenly children feel as though what they have is no longer “cool” anymore. Children start nagging their parents for more and more and when the parent refuses to buy the item, the child sees the parents as the enemy. Thus, this drive and need for attaining the next new cool material good has left children feeling inadequate about themselves and their backgrounds.

Conclusively, in our world of constant exposure to the media, marketers have found a new market to target, which is the child population. The child market has become a greatly successful market as marketers take advantage of children’s naivety and their intense need to attain certain products. In an environment driven by consumption and the need to attain material goods, this has created troublesome relationships between kids and their parents as well as kids and themselves. The parent has become the target in kid’s way of getting what they want and see in the advertisements. Additionally, kids exposure to new products on a daily basis has driven them to suffer from self-esteem issues and feeling like what they have will never be enough.

SOURCE: Schor, Juliet. Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer. New York: Scribner, 2004.

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Children as Consumers

Author and page information.

by Anup Shah
This page last updated Sunday, November 21, 2010
This page: https://www.globalissues.org/article/237/children-as-consumers .
https://www.globalissues.org/print/article/237

Even in industrialized societies, where governments and campaigners fight for better child advertising standards and regulations, or improved food quality, industry fights back preferring self-regulation (which rarely happens, or is intentionally weak), and arguing that it is individual choices and parents that are the issue.

Advertising to children is big business, encouraging and increasing childhood consumerism, advertising to children considered harmful, manipulating children’s views of the world, banning ads and the fear or unintended consequences, can industry be trusted to self-regulate, taxing junk food, corporatization of education, a small example of effects of child consumerism, parental versus corporate influence., commercialization of childhood itself.

Consider the following:

Children are a captive audience: The average American child watches an estimate between 25,000 to 40,000 television commercials per year. In the UK, it is about 10,000
$15-17 billion is spent by companies advertising to children in the US. Over $4 billion was spent in 2009 by the fast food industry alone.
Teens in the US spend around $160 billion a year
Children (up to 11) spend around $18 billion a year
Tweens (8-12 year olds) heavily influence more than $30 billion in other spending by parents, and 80 percent of all global brands now deploy a tween strategy.
Children (under 12) and teens influence parental purchases totaling over $130-670 billion a year.

So what? Isn’t that good for business? As we will introduce here, while this might be good for business, there are also important economic, social, health and environmental and other costs to be considered.

As mentioned in the previous section looking at the rise in consumption, larger houses were an example of the things promoted to increase consumption. So too was the encouragement to provide more toys and other items for children:

The [U.S.] federal government played a major role in defining childhood. In 1929, Herbert Hoover sponsored a White House Conference on Child Health and Protection. The conference report, The Home and the Child , concluded that children were independent beings with particular concerns of their own.… The report advised parents to give their children their own [furniture, toys, playrooms etc]. Generally a sleeping room for each person is desirable , it noted.… Take them shopping for their own things and let them pick them out for themselves. Through such experiences personality develops… [These] experiences have the advantage of also creating in the child a sense of personal as well as family pride in ownership, and eventually teaching him that his personality can be expressed through things . (White House, 1931, [Emphasis added by Robbins]; See also Leach 1993:371-372)

Thus in the space of some 30 years, the role of children in American life changed dramatically; they became, and remain, pillars of the consumer economy, with economic power rivaling that of adults.

Children wield enormous purchasing power, both directly and indirectly (indirectly in the sense that they are able to persuade and influence parents on what to buy).

Observe a child and parent in a store. That high-pitched whining you’ll hear coming from the cereal aisle is more than just the pleadings of single kid bent on getting a box of Fruit Loops into the shopping cart. It is the sound of thousands of hours of market research, of an immense coordination of people, ideas and resources, of decades of social and economic change all rolled into a single, Mommy, pleeease! If it’s within [kids’] reach, they will touch it, and if they touch it, there’s at least a chance that Mom or Dad will relent and buy it, writes retail anthropologist, Paco Underhill. The ideal placement of popular books and videos, he continues, should be on the lower shelves so the little ones can grab Barney or Teletubbies unimpeded by Mom or Dad, who possibly take a dim view of hypercommercialized critters.

And advertising to children isn’t just for purchasing children’s items; they influence other items:

The minivan was created, for example, because children demanded more room. Then they decided the three-door behemoth was uncool, helping give rise to the SUV. Every auto manufacturer has a strategy to target children, [James McNeal, a market researcher who specializes in the children’s market] adds.

This has long been understood:

The renowned behaviorist was also vice president of the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency and a spokesman for the idea, then novel, that marketing is not just about peddling products that people need; it's also about creating a society of consumers ever eager for more. Famous for claiming that any child, conditioned early enough, could be turned into anything— a doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even into beggar-man and thief —he left a key vocation out. If shopper had been on his list, it would have been a prescient boast.

(The other key point in the quote above is that markets here are not meeting needs, but creating needs.)

Heavy advertising targeted at children

Marketers see children as a future — as well as current — market and hence brand loyalty at a young age helps in the quest of continued sales later.

The Journal of the American Medical Association has said that children between the ages of two and seventeen watch an annual average of 15,000 to 18,000 hours of television, compared with 12,000 hours spent per year in school. Children are also major targets for TV advertising, whose impact is greater than usual because there is an apparent lessening of influence by parents and others in the older generation.… According to the [Committee on Communications of the American Academy of Pediatrics], children under the age of two should not watch television at all because at that age, brain development depends heavily on real human interactions.

In the European Union, by 2001, revenues to television networks and producers have reached between $620 and $930 million . Revenues since have increased further.

Sweden, since 1991 has banned all advertising during children’s prime time due to findings that children under 10 are incapable of telling the difference between a commercial and a program, and cannot understand the purpose of a commercial until the age of 12. (See previous link for more details.)

In the US, research from the American Psychological Association (APA) shows that children under the age of eight are unable to critically comprehend televised advertising messages and are prone to accept advertiser messages as truthful, accurate and unbiased. This can lead to unhealthy eating habits as evidenced by today’s youth obesity epidemic. For these reasons, a task force of the American Psychological Association (APA) is recommending that advertising targeting children under the age of eight be restricted.

The research on children’s commercial recall and product preferences confirms that advertising does typically get young consumers to buy their products.… Findings show that children recall content from the ads to which they’ve been exposed and preference for a product has been shown to occur with as little as a single commercial exposure and strengthened with repeated exposures. Furthermore, … these product preferences can affect children’s product purchase requests, which can put pressure on parents’ purchasing decisions and instigate parent-child conflicts when parents deny their children’s requests…. … there are concerns regarding certain commercial campaigns primarily targeting adults that pose risks for child-viewers. “For example, beer ads are commonly shown during sports events and seen by millions of children, creating both brand familiarity and more positive attitudes toward drinking in children as young as 9-10 years of age. Another area of sensitive advertising content involves commercials for violent media products such as motion pictures and video games. Such ads contribute to a violent media culture which increases the likelihood of youngsters’ aggressive behavior and desensitizes children to real-world violence,” said Dr. Kunkel [senior author of the task force’s scientific report].

As detailed further on this site’s section on Media and Advertising , manipulation of imagery, fake news and more are so prevalent that young people in particular are vulnerable to a lot of influences from all angles.

With such constant bombardment of images of what beauty, perfection etc are all supposed to be, it is no wonder that many related health issues are increasing in younger children, from anxiety and stress to bulimia and anorexia.

Bans, regulation, self-regulation, media-literacy

Advertising is in all areas of children’s lives, from television commercials, to ad placement within programs (and video games), to toys, the Internet, mobile telephones, and more.

The concerns of the impacts on children has led to many trying to control advertising in some way.

Writing in a publication from the Nordic Information Centre for Media and Communication Research (Nordicom), Ulla Carlsson summarizes some of the options and approaches:

After going into these in a bit more depth, Carlsson concludes that no one measure is necessarily effective on its own,

… the approaches to protecting minors from harm and offense in media content largely boil down to three kinds: law and regulation, self-regulation and co-regulation of the media. No one instrument of regulation is sufficient; today and in the future some form of effective interaction between all three kinds of media regulation—that is, between government, the media and civil society—will be required to reach satisfactory results. All the relevant stakeholders—within government, the media sector and civil society—need to develop effective means by which to collaborate.

Sweden, since 1991 has banned all advertising during children’s prime time due to those concerns mentioned above regarding advertising to children being harmful.

The European Union is now considering issues related to advertising targeted at children and whether there should be a Europe-wide ban or regulation.

Since April 2007, the has UK banned junk food advertising during television programs aimed at children aged 7 to 9. As of January 1, 2008, that ban has been extended to all children under 16.

Some argue that this industry provides jobs for people so banning advertising would be ill-advised.

Others question the effectiveness of outright bans in advertising. For example, a ban would mean lost revenues of media outlets, as many pour a large amount of advertising revenues back into programming.

The Responsible Advertising and Children Programme (RACP) is an industry organization representing advertisers, agencies and media worldwide. They argue that education and self-regulation is the way to go (as most companies in most sectors tend to argue), and also warn of job losses if there are outright bans:

We believe that educating children to understand the purpose and context of marketing communications helps them to develop the skills to critically interpret commercial communications in the context of their daily lives. This is crucial in preparing them for interaction with the reality of a media-filled world. … advertising finances children’s programming on free-to-air television…. 94% of the net revenues coming from advertising aimed at children are reinvested in children's programmes. In the digital economy, there is no alternative method to ensure investment in original children's programming and in the acquisition of programme rights. … Not only does marketing communications help to guarantee quality children’s programming, it also aids competition in the wider economy, creates jobs and enhances consumer’s choices of goods and services. In return, advertisers are active and enthusiastic supporters of strong self-regulation ensuring that we meet the expectations of parents, regulators, and society at large. Education and self-regulation deliver effective and responsible marketing communications.

With less programming for children, they may end up watching more adult content, as Juliet Schor notes, also writing in the Nordicom publication mentioned earlier. However, she seems to disagree with the view above, that there is no alternative to advertising for financing children’s programming:

Bans also raise the possibility of negative unintended consequences. For example, if a ban on advertising to children were to be enacted, it would reduce the financing available for children’s programming. If the quantity and quality of their programming declined, children would be likely to watch more adult media. This, in turn, would expose them to other types of inappropriate advertising and content. At the very least, government regulations on advertising need to be coupled with adequate financing mechanisms for quality children’s programming.

Schor also notes that one exception to the above concerns would be in schools, where the additional concerns with bans (legal, logistical, pragmatic) are not as difficult in a controlled environment such as school.

In addition, a study for the European Commission finds that,

restrictive national regulatory measures do not necessarily have a direct negative impact on advertising investment for children’s products. This being the case, the different situations that exist in the European Union countries do not appear to favour the adoption of uniform regulatory measures via a Directive. National provisions or self-regulatory measure codes appear to be more adequate.

A paper in Pediatrics , the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, notes that media education has been shown to be effective in mitigating some of the negative effects of advertising on children and adolescents .

Schor also makes the interesting point that while education may be important (also one of the things suggested above by the RACP), it doesn’t always work when needed:

Industry practitioners point to [a study showing children] mistrust [advertising] as proof that children cannot be influenced. But the available research finds that the presence of skepticism does not affect desire for the advertised product, even for nine and ten year olds. Despite expressing doubts about ads, kids remain vulnerable to their persuasive powers. Furthermore, although media literacy has been encouraged as a solution to some of the problems raised by children’s inability to watch ads critically, at least some research finds that it does not affect children while they are actually watching ads. In one study of nine and ten year olds, exposure to a media literacy film did not subsequently affect their thoughts while they viewed advertisements, because they did not retrieve the consumer knowledge they learned from the film.

In food advertising, for example, Schor notes that Decades of studies show that food marketing to children is effective (p.108. See also Pediatric Studies Link TV Advertising with 'Global Fattening' from the W. P. Carey School of Business, University of Arizona, March 29, 2006).

In addition, food advertising is contributing to major changes in eating habits, leading to concerns of obesity epidemics in the US and elsewhere. Over the long term, food marketing is likely to prove to be the most harmful commercial influence on children, because it will affect so much a large fraction of children, with such serious consequences for their health and well-being. (p.109).

Schor also find claims of self-regulation by food companies to be dubious and is quoted again:

The food corporations have also tried to control the discourse by making some concessions, and through skillful use of public relations concerning those concessions. For example, Kraft recently got wide coverage for an announcement that was interpreted as a commitment to stop advertising a subset of its most unhealthy products to children, although the actual change will likely be less significant than was widely interpreted… McDonald’s garnered widespread positive attention for an announcement that it was abandoning the use of trans-fats, a shift it has failed to carry out. The Center for Consumer Freedom, a group originally funded by Philip Morris, which also receives funding from restaurant chains, soft drink companies and other food corporations, has engaged in substantial public relations, advertising, research and lobbying activity in order to discredit food industry critics.… In January 2005, industry formed the Alliance for American Advertising (AAA), a new organization whose purpose is to protect companies’ rights to advertise to children. The Alliance includes Kellogg, General Mills and Kraft, and has openly questioned the link between advertising and obesity, a reprise of tobacco strategy. The formation of the AAA should be interpreted as a sign that the critics are making progress—however, the current political environment is hardly favorable.

Since writing the above, a number of food companies have said they will volunteer to cut ads directed towards children , as reported by the International Herald Tribune (December 11, 2007). The companies, Coca-Cola, Groupe Danone, Burger King, General Mills, Kellogg, Kraft Foods, Mars, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Ferrero and Unilever, agreed not to advertise food and beverages on television programs, Web sites or in print media where children under age 12 could be considered a target audience, except for products that met specific nutrition criteria.

While such an announcement seems welcome, given Schor’s concerns above, some skepticism may be wise. With public awareness of such issues in Europe increasing in recent years, companies may have a harder time avoiding such responsibilities, self-imposed or not, so maybe critics of advertising have that to hold on to as hope that this is indeed a positive move.

3 years on from the above announcement, The Food Advertising to Children and Teens Score (FACTS) — an organization developed by Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity to scientifically measure food marketing to youth — found that some of the pledges to reduce advertising to children had actually reversed.

In a detailed study, it found that the fast food industry continues to relentlessly market to youth. For example,

The average preschooler (2-5) sees almost three ads per day for fast food; children (6-11) see three-and-a-half; and teens see almost five.
Children’s exposure to fast food TV ads is increasing, even for ads from companies who have pledged to reduce unhealthy marketing to children.
Children see more than just ads intended for kids. More than 60% of fast food ads viewed by children (2-11) were for foods other than kids’ meals.

Some $4.2 billion was spent in 2009, a fifth of which was by McDonald’s alone. TV accounted for the bulk of the advertising (86%) though Internet marketing was increasing. (See p.51 of their main report, Evaluating Fast Food Nutrition and Marketing to Youth (November 2010), for the details)

The organization suggested changing the industry-defined definition of television programs that require restrictions on the type of advertising aimed at children. Rather than restrictions only applying when the program is created solely for children, it wants a broader standard, such as the total number of children that watch a program. That would extend the reach of child friendly advertising guidelines to such broadly popular shows as American Idol and Glee . (See p.14 of the report)

As of January 1, 2008, the UK has extended the April 2007 ban of junk food ads aimed at 7 to 9 year olds to ban junk food ads for all children under 16 . However, campaigners feel the ban is flawed as it only applies to children’s programming, not say family shows. They want the ban extended to all programs before the watershed (9pm).

In addition, the concerns raised above by Schor and others about less ad revenue and thus reduced quality programming are all surfacing here. A BBC news television broadcast reporting on this also noted that some broadcasters are considering advertising from other sectors, even car manufacturers. If this occurs, then this will be using so-called nag factor marketing, where such advertising aims to get children to nag their parents to buy a product/service (discussed more below).

A Channel 4 broadcast in the UK (January 8, 2008) also noted that some companies, rather then directly advertising to children, are sponsoring children’s programs so that their branding is still prevalent and increasing advertising on the Internet.

In that same broadcast, the reporter interviewed the Chief Executive of the Advertising Association, Baroness Buscombe who said that this type of advertising is responsible, and its fun! its entertaining! It is hard to tell what is more surprising, that she said it was fun and entertaining, or that the reporter didn’t challenge her as to what that had to do with advertisers trying to skirt around the ban and still target children.

Another type of approach that has been taken to address some of these concerns are counter-ads. These have been reasonably successful in campaigning against tobacco use by children, for example. But it has not been as successful on wider issues as Schor once again is quoted:

To date, this strategy has been stymied by the fact that truly powerful anti-ad messaging is difficult to get on the airwaves and almost impossible to sustain. The Truth campaign was ended quickly. The networks have repeatedly refused to show Adbusters anti-consumerist ads, in part on grounds that they will offend their advertisers. Surprisingly, there are no First Amendment rights for groups that want to promote an anti-consumerist message. Media outlets are corporate entities that depend on other corporate entities to earn profits, and they have historically resisted messages that jeopardize that relationship.

Some studies suggest that economic instruments (such as price rises or taxation) of unhealthy foods might have an effect, but it is not guaranteed. For example,

This review found no direct scientific evidence of a causal relationship between policy-related economic instruments and food consumption, including foods high in saturated fats. Indirect evidence suggests that such a causal relationship is plausible, though it remains to be demonstrated by rigorous studies in community settings.

What is not clear from such studies is does it measure the impact of habituation? That is, once you open Pandora’s box, is it harder to close? Does this mean that different measures could apply to different age groups? E.g. if price rises or some kind of regulation on advertising to older children and adults has limited effect, does that necessarily apply to younger children? And if younger children have less advertising targeted at them in early ages, will such regulation be needed as they grow older or would cultural norms just result in less of it, naturally?

The food industry will of course be against measures such as taxing junk food, instead preferring things like exercise and individual responsibility instead (though an individual — often poor on time — versus professional marketing usually suggests an imbalance in available information and decision-making).

In mid-November, 2010, the BBC’s Panorama explored this notion of taxing the fat , saying that Britain is the fattest nation in Europe, and wondered whether it was time to consider such a tax as it may help the National Health Service afford the various costs associated with this problem.

The documentary also went to Denmark — the first country in the world to implement such a tax — to see how it was working there, and to the US, where it explained how a proposal to tax sugary drinks like Coca Cola has met with fierce opposition.

It found that there were signs of young people losing weight in the already heavily taxed Denmark, although older adults were still gaining weight.

The documentary also implied that the current UK Health Secretary wasn’t keen on the idea and that his view was in line with the fast food industry, as targets and other measures may be lowered, as well as funding for current health campaigns for more active lives.

Exercise and individual responsibility has been the food industry’s preferred alternative to regulation (it avoids extra costs on the industry, which industry representatives claim would cost jobs and competitiveness, and while it transfers extra burden and cost onto consumers, they are often ready to sell more in relation to that as described further below).

However, the documentary also noted that more and more studies are showing that while both diet and exercise are crucial to healthy lives, the balance isn’t necessarily 50-50. Instead, diet appears to have a much larger bearing on people’s health and obesity. In addition, the numerous amounts of calories now available in fast foods are so high that the levels of exercise needed to burn the excess off is immense. Many people wouldn’t have that time.

One potential use of the tax would be to subsidize healthier foods such as fruits and vegetables. But, a potential problem with taxing junk food is that many fruits and other healthy ingredients are often used in unhealthy foods such as sweets and sugary drinks, and even cosmetics and other products such as shampoos. So how can you ensure the tax proceeds are used appropriately?)

The education system in the USA, for example, has turned into a hugely profitable business estimated to be worth around $650 billion. From commercial-filled Channel One which many students must watch, sponsored and selective educational material , to commercialized school field trips the school system is bombarded by commercialism.

As well as children being targeted via the education system in the USA, as mentioned above, there is increasing concern at ad campaigns that are increasingly targeting children to be consumers and overly conscious about materialistic things, perhaps even at the expense of human qualities. One of the main reasons for such a fascination in children in this way is because of the potential purchasing power that children have.

In my practice I see kids becoming incredibly consumerist, said Kanner, who is based at the Wright Institute, a graduate psychology school in Berkeley, Calif. The most stark example is when I ask them what they want to do when they grow up. They all say they want to make money. When they talk about their friends, they talk about the clothes they wear, the designer labels they wear, not the person’s human qualities. … In the 1960s, children aged 2 to 14 directly influenced about $5 billion in parental purchases, McNeal [professor of marketing at Texas A&M University] wrote [in an April 1998 article in American Demographics]. In the mid-1970s, the figure was $20 billion, and it rose to $50 billion by 1984. By 1990, kids’ direct influence had reached $132 billion, and in 1997, it may have peaked at around $188 billion. Estimates show that children’s aggregate spending roughly doubled during each decade of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, and has tripled so far in the 1990s.

And possibly as an example of a more bizarre sounding use of resources to get children to become more active, in Britain, a chocolate company was promoting sports equipment in return for vouchers and coupons from chocolate bars. The more you ate, the more sports equipment you would get, presumably to burn off the excesses eaten! The UK’s Food Commission called this absurd and contradictory and pointed out that if children consumed all the promotional chocolate bars they would eat nearly two million kilos of fat and more than 36 billion calories.

The BBC, reporting on this ( April 29, 2003 ), commented the following, amongst other things:

One set of posts and nets for volleyball would require tokens from 5,440 bars of chocolate
This would require spending £2,000 (about $3,500) on chocolate and wolfing their way through 1.25 million calories, some 2 million kilos of fat.
A basketball would be 170 bars of chocolate, which, if it were to be burned off, a 10-year-old child would need to play for 90 hours.

While the confectionary companies suggested that children were going to eat these anyway, others raised concerns that this is promoting more unhealthy eating. The chairman of the UK government’s obesity task force, Professor Phil James, said: This is a classic example of how the food and soft drink industry are failing to take on board that they are major contributors to obesity problems throughout the world. They always try to divert attention to physical activity.

What is more, as most British media outlets also highlighted, then Minister for Sport, Richard Caborn, endorsed it.

But this is not the only example. For years, other companies have linked their foods to such schemes for educational or sports equipment for schools. What they get for selling this is branding and future consumers.

This has also been an example of controversial school commercialization which was unanimously condemned at a large teachers union conference in England around the same time.

And towards the end of 2007, as the UK Government launches an inquiry into the possible harmful effects of advertising on children , the BBC reports examples of companies in the classroom , such as a sweet company’s products being used in science experiments, and documentaries being funded in part by commercial agendas.

Candy and sweets are often put on stands in shops at the eye level of children. While it would be healthier to have foods, like fruits and vegetables in those places, the bright colors and packaging used to sell sweets are more likely to attract children’s attention.

The dictum of consumerism and corporate capitalism dictates that social good comes through subtle greed and meeting demands of people. Yet, putting candy at the eye level of children creates a demand that otherwise may not have been there, or not have been there in as much intensity. Likewise, highly caffeinated soft drinks that are being consumed more and more, have negative health effects .

In a later section, we will see a deeper pattern of waste of which this is a part. That is, the sugar and related industries, such as confectionaries, soda drinks etc, expend many resources (natural resources, labor, capital etc) on something that is so costly to society (which requires spending even more resources to deal with those costs). Yet, within our current system, all these expenditures are counted towards GDPs! Hence, this waste is not recognized as it is built into our system!

And the influential impact on children provides a longer lasting effect that can continue these cycles.

What is most troubling is that children’s culture has become virtually indistinguishable from consumer culture over the course of the last century. The cultural marketplace is now a key arena for the formation of the sense of self and of peer relationships, so much so that parents often are stuck between giving into a kid’s purchase demands or risking their child becoming an outcast on the playground. Children consumers grow up to be more than just adult consumers. They become mothers and fathers, administrative assistants and bus drivers, nurses and realtors, online magazine editors and assistant professors—in short, they become us who, in turn, make more of them. Childhood makes capitalism hum over the long haul.

To some extent, the criticisms leveled at parents for not being responsible for their children is well-placed. There are many children who appear not to be adversely affected by all these things, so perhaps their parents have instilled good values in them. Yet, at the same time, parents are contending with many commercial entities which all have professional psychologists, sales and marketing experts as well as corporate lawyers and lobbyists to help continue such trends.

Parents also have a hard time providing guidance and influence on their children when there are so many conflicting influences from outside:

Kids not only want things, but have acquired the socially sanctioned right to want—a right which parents are loath to violate. Layered onto direct child enticement and the supposed autonomy of the child-consumer are the day-to-day circumstances of overworked parents: a daily barrage of requests, tricky financial negotiations, and that nagging, unspoken desire to build the life/style they have learned to want during their childhoods.

It is especially hard for parents if they themselves grew up with aspects of that consumerist culture:

The children’s market works because it lives off of deeply-held beliefs about self-expression and freedom of choice—originally applied to the political sphere, and now almost inseparable from the culture of consumption. Children’s commercial culture has quite successfully usurped kids’ boundless creativity and personal agency, selling these back to them—and us—as empowerment, a term that appeases parents while shielding marketers. Linking one’s sense of self to the choices offered by the marketplace confuses personal autonomy with consumer behavior. But, try telling that to a kid who only sees you standing in the way of the Chuck-E-Cheese-ified version of fun and happiness. Kids are keen to the adult-child power imbalance and to adult hypocrisy, especially when they are told to hold their desires in check by a parent who is blind to her or his own materialistic impulses.

Juliet Schor, cited earlier, also takes issue with the approach that many companies take when faced with criticism for their advertising: to imply that it is parents responsibility to oversee what their children do and see.

In response to the critics, industry has been vigilant about fending off government regulation and control. In cases where industry accepts the need to ‘protect’ children (e.g., alcohol, violence and other adult content), it has turned to ‘self-regulation’ and voluntary ratings schemes. Typically, these rely on parental oversight. (This is consistent with an over-arching industry position, which is that the responsibility for protecting children lies mainly with parents, not corporations or the government.)

However, companies have far more power and influence generally:

Today, the bulk of advertising to children is done by a small number of multi-billion dollar corporations. … These corporations not only have enormous economic power, but their political influence has never been greater. They have funneled unprecedented sums of money to political parties and officials. … The power wielded by these corporations is evident in many ways, from their ability to eliminate competitors to their ability to mobilize state power in their interest.

Schor also takes exception to what seems to be companies’ attempts to limit accountability by shifting extra burdens and responsibilities to parents:

Corporate and state abdication of responsibility is rationalized on the grounds that responsibility for adverse child outcomes (e.g., obesity, psychological disorders) lies with parents. Both the ad agencies and their client companies take this point of view. The corporation’s mandate is to make money, the government’s is to help them do so. While sometimes corporations act in superficially pro-social ways which might seem to indicate responsibility (e.g., funding exercise programs or positive nutritional messages), they are usually quite open about the fact that they are acting to forestall regulatory action, and avoid adverse publicity, rather than because they are willing to accept responsibility for the consequences of their actions. However, the industry position relies on an excessively ‘heroic’ view of parents, and their ability to prevail against the corporate giants. Indeed, parents are losing control over their children’s environments in profound ways. This is due to a number of factors, including the concerted attempts of the corporations to wrest that control. At the core of the corporate strategy is the attempt to undermine parental authority, through direct targeting of children, so-called ‘nag factor’ marketing, deliberate anti-parent messages, and infiltration of parent-free environments such as schools. … Economic pressures, such as the need for households to work many more hours to support themselves have also undermined parental control.

Schor also asks why it is that governments typically acknowledge their own role when parents fail to prevent or engage in violence, neglect, and abuse, yet when it comes to addressing harm induced from commercialism, governments are less visible in their actions. (p.117)

Baroness Buscombe, Chief Executive of the Advertising Association in UK, was mentioned earlier when talking of companies trying to work around the UK ban of junk food advertising during children’s programs. She also voiced the line that Schor finds typical from such associations and related interest, saying that it is not advertising that is affecting the volume of food they are eating, it is parental responsibility

So, if advertisers claim it is parental responsibility and advertising has little or no effect on children, then why are they doing it?

Commercialization of public and religious holidays helps promote sales as well. Christmas time in numerous countries, such as the United States, sees a very high amount of consumerism. The toy industry for example depends on Christmas quite a lot. The promotion of St. Nicholas/Santa Claus/Father Christmas and an almost benign factory (or workshop) of elves and so forth producing toys for free, was a boost to commercialize Christmas, especially for children.

The recent hype and success of Harry Potter, as well as other children’s characters has led to further sales for toy manufacturers. But as well as perhaps bringing joy and fun to children, as a report from U.S.-based National Labor Committee says, for workers who have to make these toys, these can be Toys of Misery. Quoted from that report here at length, is part of the preface:

When you go into a Wal-Mart or a Toys 'R' Us store to purchase Harry Potter or Disney’s Monsters Inc ., Mattel’s Barbie , Sesame Street , Hasbro’s Star Wars or Pokemon do you ever think of the young women in China forced to work 16 hours a day, from 8:00 a.m. to 12 midnight, seven days a week, 30 days a month, for months on end, for wages of 17 cents an hour? Workers forced to work overtime, but cheated of their pay? Do you ever imagine women working all day long in 104-degree temperatures, handling toxic glues, paints and solvents, women fainting, nauseous, sick to their stomachs? Women housed 16 to a dorm room and trying to get by on four hours of sleep a night? Workers whose bodies ache, who are exhausted from racing through the same operations 3,000 times a day, day in and day out? Women who are fired when they get sick? Workers who have no rights, and who--if they try to defend their most basic, internationally recognized human and worker rights, will be immediately fired and blacklisted? Workers who are worn out and used up by the time they reach 30 or 35 years of age and are removed to be replaced with another crop of young teenagers? Unfortunately, this is the real world behind the toys we purchase in the United States. And we do purchase a staggering number of toys each year: 3.6 billion toys in the year 2000 alone—76 million dolls, 349 million plush toys, 125 million action figures, 279 million hot wheels and matchbox cars, 88 million sporting goods items and so on. This is big industry. We spend $29.4 billion a year on toys. Eighty percent of all the toys we purchase are imports, and 71 percent of those are from China. More than one out of every two toys we purchase in the U.S. is made in China. We purchase hundreds of millions of toys each year that are made in China, but when was the last time we heard from a toy worker in China about their working conditions and lives? Even once? Ever? Isn’t it a little strange that we know so little? In 2000, U.S. toy companies spent $837 million on advertising. The companies do not want us to know or to think, just to buy.

Another example related both to children as well as the more general culture and media, is that of Disney, as mentioned on this web site’s media ownership section.

No one’s really worrying about what it’s [advertising to children] is teaching impressionable youth. Hey, I’m in the business of convincing people to buy things they don’t need.

Schor is concerned about the implications of all this:

The unchecked growth of corporate power, and its fusion with state power, has led to a situation in which children’s interests and well-being cannot be adequately ensured . What children eat, the programming they watch, the toys they play with, the curriculums they learn in schools, perhaps the name of their school gymnasium (or school), and even the books they read … are provided by companies whose commitment to their welfare is minimal or absent.… Public policy to protect children, which for decades has been the basis of society’s response to problems generated in the market, will not be forthcoming. This is the new reality that children’s advocates must confront.

Some may still argue that there is not anything wrong with businesses trying to make sales and profit. However, the effects of things like mass consumption, the intense advertising, and targeting to children and its impacts over so many aspects of daily lives is of concern.

The effects of constantly buying things while discarding older but often functioning things, also increases demands on the world’s resources for this consumption, resulting in more waste to be managed and even more exploitation other people to labor over this (in some cases, poor children are producing items such as toys that rich children play with), and so on.

From a different perspective altogether, the labor employed by the advertising industry directed towards children could be another example of wasted labor , (which therefore wastes capital and resources), and that labor could be used more effectively and efficiently elsewhere. (We will look at this notion of wasted labor a bit further on in this section on consumption and consumerism.)

And all this while many still go hungry and poor because their lands are being used to export away food and other resources for producing products to be consumed elsewhere. It is in this way that the pressure and drive for profits has led to an over-commercialized consumerism, which has wider effects around the world and on the unseen majority peoples of the world, which we look at next.

Image credits: Variation in body fat , by Walter Siegmund ; Kyoto arcade , by Ethan Hein ; McDonald’s Happy Meal by Christina Kennedy

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Children and Consumer Culture

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Children and Consumer Culture by Daniel Thomas Cook , Natalie Coulter LAST REVIEWED: 19 July 2021 LAST MODIFIED: 23 March 2012 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199791231-0006

Social research on children as consumers (in the case of this article, up to teenage years) arose in the 1970s but did not take hold as a field of study until the 1990s. The child consumer is most often understood as an emergent social phenomenon that did not exist to any great extent prior to the 20th century, although studies in material culture and literature find evidence of goods for children’s use manufactured and sold as early as the 1700s in Europe. Hence, historical work is a particularly strong thread of inquiry in this area in which scholars, focusing almost exclusively on the US context, investigate how childhood became a site for commercial-consumer activity. Theoretically and conceptually, two problems inform the study of children’s consumer culture, historically or otherwise: One problem centers on the issue of what constitutes children’s consumption , since children rarely are purchasers of their own goods. This article focuses on those studies and discussions whereby the author(s) foreground and address the specifically commercial meanings, activities, and contexts arising in and through interaction with the marketplace in some manner. Hence, many studies of children’s material artifacts or culture are not represented here, mainly for purposes of definition and focus. A second problem in the study of children’s consumer culture revolves around determining the extent to which children are understood as victims or dupes of commercial promotion or, alternatively, are seen as actively engaged in commercial life. Long a formative dichotomy in the scholarly and public understanding of the child consumer, this “exploited versus empowered” distinction often divides scholarship on the topic. It underlies the theories, methods, histories, and topical areas of the subject and implicates the place and role of parents in the consumer dynamic.

Buckingham 2000 offers a thorough critique and overview of the presumptions underlying the tension between good and bad media, particularly as it is manifested in concerns about the disappearance of childhood as ushered in by electronic media. Kline 1993 demonstrates how commercial interests, education, and entertainment have converged historically to produce a context in which children’s culture has become children’s consumer culture. Seiter 1993 focuses on the parent–child tensions that are implicated historically and in contemporary media culture as children’s desires were in the process of gaining both public and domestic legitimacy. Schor 2004 delves into the practices and motivations of the contemporary children’s market research and advertising industries, exposing some of the deep pathologies of market culture. Cross 2004 offers a history of the transformation from the “cute,” wondrous child who was indulged materially by her parents to the “cool,” defiant child who has emerged from consumer culture, in opposition to her parents. Sammond 2005 , through the author’s study of Disney, provides a template for investigating how the efforts of various actors—commercial, academic, governmental—have unwittingly combined to construct a model of a “generic” child, which, in turn, has taken on the character of a natural subject informing subsequent action by market actors, educators, and others on behalf of the child. Pugh 2009 suggests that children are concerned less with the goods themselves than with the social “dignity” the goods provide by enabling them to belong to a social world, finding that much of parents’ efforts are directed at managing their children’s ability to belong. Buckingham 2011 is a recent work that contextualizes contemporary theories and debates surrounding children’s consumption, reframing these debates in light of children’s ability to make their own meanings with consumer goods.

Buckingham, David. After the Death of Childhood: Growing Up in the Age of Electronic Media . Cambridge, UK: Polity, 2000.

A review and critique of a variety of approaches to assessing the relationship among children, electronic media, and the commercial world at large—a significant challenge to Neil Postman’s “disappearance of childhood” thesis—questioning simple notions of “good” and “bad” media and consumption by and for children.

Buckingham, David. The Material Child: Growing Up in Consumer Culture . London: Polity, 2011.

Written by a leading scholar in the field, this book offers a comprehensive and critical overview of the debates and issues related to contemporary children’s consumption, punctuated with case studies on obesity, sexualization, media, and education.

Cross, Gary. The Cute and the Cool: Wondrous Innocence and Modern American Children’s Culture . Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

In this study, Cross theorizes and demonstrates the tension between constructions of the “cute” child invoked by marketing and nostalgically sought by parents and the “cool,” distant child also produced by commercial means. Historically, he argues, the “cool” has been displacing the “cute” in popular culture.

Kline, Stephen. Out of the Garden: Toys and Children’s Television in the Age of TV Marketing . London: Verso, 1993.

An in-depth and sweeping treatment of the historical interlacing of children’s literary and popular culture with the rise of consumer culture and television. Kline’s book, in an examination of advertising and the rise of character-based toys and their impacts on children’s play, set the key terms of the study of children’s consumer culture.

Pugh, Allison. Longing and Belonging: Parents, Children and Consumer Culture . Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009.

Based on in-depth ethnographic research, this book argues that contemporary children’s consumer culture becomes manifest in an “economy of dignity,” wherein children manage their social relations and to which parents often adjust and attend.

Sammond, Nicholas. Babes in Tomorrowland: Walt Disney and the Making of the American Child, 1930–1960 . Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2005.

A study of how the generic notion of the “normal child” arose out of commercial and academic discourse. Sammond places particular emphasis on how both the Disney corporation and Walt Disney the man and figure helped make popular entertainment confluent with, or at least nonthreatening to, the imagined child.

Schor, Juliet B. Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture . New York: Scribner, 2004.

A social economist powerfully dissects the infiltration of marketing strategy in the lives of contemporary children and families, outlining the psychological and health risks of unchecked consumerism as well as possibilities for alternatives.

Seiter, Ellen. Sold Separately: Children and Parents in Consumer Culture . New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1993.

Combining historical analyses of advice to mothers and the marketing of toys to children and parents with a detailed examination of commercial videos aimed at children, this book opened new avenues of inquiry by reorienting the debate on children’s consumer culture to incorporate children’s understandings of goods and advertising and parents’ role in the marketing mix.

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The Marketing of Children’s Toys pp 1–19 Cite as

Critiquing Children’s Consumer Culture: An Introduction to The Marketing of Children’s Toys

Rebecca C. Hains 3 &
Nancy A. Jennings 4
First Online: 31 March 2021

1301 Accesses

2 Citations

As a multi-billion-dollar industry, toys and their marketing warrant sustained scholarly critique—a task this volume, The Marketing of Children’s Toys: Critical Perspectives on Children’s Consumer Culture , undertakes. This book applies a critical/cultural perspective to better understand how the social, political, economic, and cultural conditions of the times impact children’s socialization, childhood, and children’s play through toy marketing. We find these aspects worthy of study and share these perspectives as they relate to larger socializing practices. This book’s first few chapters focus on the marketing of broad product categories—toy firearms, grotesque toys, minimalist toys, and international toys—followed by chapters that interrogate specific brands’ marketing tactics and strategies.

Children’s toy marketing
Children’s consumer culture
Children’s toys and play

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Hains, R.C., Jennings, N.A. (2021). Critiquing Children’s Consumer Culture: An Introduction to The Marketing of Children’s Toys . In: Hains, R.C., Jennings, N.A. (eds) The Marketing of Children’s Toys. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62881-9_1

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Home > Books > Consumer Behavior - Practice Oriented Perspectives

Children’s Consumer Behavior

Submitted: 16 November 2016 Reviewed: 13 April 2017 Published: 21 November 2017

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Children’s consumer behavior is a field that has lately been given attention by marketing, psychology, sociology, and pedagogy. The reason is the understanding that a child is an important part that has an influence on family’s shopping. At the same time, there is a concern about the abuse of natural child naivety and trustfulness. That is why the experts turned their focus on the knowledge about child’s cognitive development and all manners of consumer socialization and economic socialization. It is possible to accept protective measures to ensure the safety of the child consumer only when we know how the consumer develops. The chapter is therefore focused on these essential topics, and the research demonstrates the consumer and economic socialization of the children in preoperational period of the cognitive development from the perspective of the children and their parents.

consumer behavior
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economic socialization
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Blandína šramová *.

Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia

*Address all correspondence to: [email protected]

1. Introduction

The marketing and media communicators’ interest in child consumers has been increasing recently. The idea of marketing to young consumers is not new but the ways of integrating children into the marketing place are [ 1 ]. Marketing includes not only the product, its price, and point of sale but also the promotion and package design. According to Young, most of the people do not differentiate between advertising, marketing, and promotional activity [ 2 ]. In any case, the marketing in Western countries began to focus on children mainly in the 1960s [ 3 ]. This is understandable, given the fact that children and young people are known to be an important consumer group. Marketers began to be aware of the increasing children’s power of persuasion on their parents’ buying behavior. Children and the youth, not being a strong and economically powerful group, are attractive for the marketers for their ability to convince and persuade their family environment. In developed economies, this fact is certainly tied to sufficiency of money in the families, to the vast range of merchandise available on the market, as well as to children’s own financial resources (pocket money, gifts, and summer jobs).

However, it was not always the case when, for instance, advertisements for child toys were designed to fit adult TV viewers, not children (e.g., in 1950s, in Ref. [ 4 ]). It does not mean that children in that era did not influence the purchase behavior of their parents, and as the author points out, it rather means that marketers were to discover the marketing value of children later. This knowledge was displayed in massive marketing pressure, using children and youth, on consumer behavior in households. Cradle-to-grave marketing is therefore highly spread because marketers are aware that the sooner the child is “caught into their nest,” the sooner they start to raise their future loyal customer [ 5 ]. This strategy proved to be cheaper than the strategy of building a loyal customer in the adulthood or in the senior age. In this context, marketers often use knowledge of cognitive and social development of child [ 6 , 7 ] and the communication strategies are adapted to this knowledge (more in the theoretical foundations).

Therefore, this chapter is focused on the process of the child becoming a customer (i.e., how they learn the consumer behavior). We will discuss the main sources influencing a contemporary child in their socialization behavior, economical behavior, which psychological theories is marketing communication mainly based on, and so on. Moreover, the research part is focused on findings of the main social factors influencing the consumer socialization of preschool children. Knowledge of these factors serves us not only to concentrate better on the child consumer but also to protect them against the negative effects of consumerism. Literature provides a large source of studies warning against this negative influence on children. The negative effects mainly concern the relationship between food marketing and child obesity, between online activity and passivity in lifestyles, between game violence and aggression, and finally between commercialization of childhood and bad parent-child relationships [ 1 , 8 , 9 ]. However, we have to stay aware of the fact that correlational relationship between observed variables does not indicate causal relationship. Let us take the example of the relationship between obesity and food marketing. It is clear that adverts for products with no nutritional value are tempting for children. Nevertheless, children obesity is not influenced purely by food marketing but also by insufficient physical activity, undesirable eating habits prevailing in the child’s family, and so on [ 10 ]. Noble et al. propose “the paradox of modern parenting,” by which they mean that parents know what is good for their child but provide them with less healthy options [ 11 ].

A large part of the debate on marketing to children has focused on advertising which is propagated mainly by TV and online. Marketers find themselves in dichotomy in order to increase the focus on child consumer and to serve as an educator and adviser. Commercial organizations are integrated in programs focused on consumer literacy [ 12 ], they bear moral messages in social marketing, and so on.

Another reason why it is necessary to look at the child consumer is the fact that while the marketing develops, the consumer develops as well. Communication channels that were valid in the past are becoming outdated and no longer address consumers. Society-wide development contributed greatly to this situation. The development includes globalization, open market, 24/7 online service, growth of social sites, new communication technologies that enable personalized marketing approach, and many more.

It is not possible to look at the child consumer through the lenses of adult consumer behavior, as the child has specific needs, requirements, values, and attitudes. Similarly, the characterization of consumer behavior of children and young people should reflect the present day, meaning the time where these individuals grow up and by which they are formed. It is known that each generation has its own unique collection of values and that they are shaped by cultural and political environment where they grow up and which is then reflected in their values, attitudes, and opinions. In this context, we talk about the generation’s approach to the consumer behavior. The current generation of kids and youths has access to better health care, better education, higher quantity of toys, and better toys [ 13 ] and also to wide variety of professions, unlimited access of information, and fast connection to the whole world. This is the Generation Z (people born after 1993) also as called the Global Generation. This generation is consisted of so-called digital natives [ 14 ] that cannot live without new technologies. They are also often described as Gen Google as they use this site to look for any information and do not think about context and links between the facts and events. On the other hand, it is a generation that uses these modern technologies for their personal growth and education [ 15 ].

Brands are an integral part of contemporary childhood, especially in the case of Generation Z [ 16 ]. Thus, it is not surprising that the advertising budget of fast food and drink products aimed for children has increased in the past few years [ 17 ]. Studies show that a child is able to recognize the brands at a very early age (18 months–3 years) and later attribute a meaning to them [ 18 , 19 ]. Orientation in brands increases more considerably when the child becomes a part of the social environment filled with their peers (e.g., in kindergarten). The influence of the peers is very strong and can be explained in the context of consumer culture theory. The pressure of the social group has an impact on how the child perceives what is cool and refuses the products that are labeled as “minging” by the group. Members of the Generation Z (especially young teenagers) are idealistic, ecologically and socially sensitive [ 2 ], what we can observe on various portals and social sites. They are not afraid to “fight” the political structures and those with power when they witness injustice done to someone else or to the environment.

One of the first social links is family. Thus, in consumer socialization process, it is important to observe the child-parent relationship. Parent-child relationships are less confrontational and more collaborative these days. Advertising reacts to that and puts the parent in a position of an adviser (e.g., when choosing a bank to open an account). Moreover, in some countries, we witness a decrease of commercials focused on products linked to obesity and unhealthy lifestyle (e.g., fast food, snacks, products high in sugar, breakfast cereals) and an increase of commercials promoting alternative products: fruit juice, water, fresh fruit, and vegetables [ 3 ]. However, the aforementioned decrease could be related to the restrictive measures in these countries. For instance, in the United Kingdom, there was no advertising of products high in fat, sugar, or salt on children’s TV channels [ 3 , 13 , 20 ]. Where such restrictions are not in order, we do not observe a step forward in the process of promoting healthy lifestyle but quite the opposite [ 21 ]. Based on what we have mentioned so far, we formulated the following research question: what are the main social factors of the consumer socialization of children in the preoperational period of development?

2. Theoretical foundations

2.1. children, consumption, and consumerism.

Consumer socialization is a part of the overall socialization that takes place in the development of the individual. Socialization is an expression of the gradual integration of the individual into the society by acquiring social norms and rules. Consumer socialization is a gradual learning of the rules, norms, and habits in consumer and purchase process. The result is a construction of consumer behavior patterns. According to Ward [ 22 , p. 2], the consumer socialization is “the process by which young people acquire skills, knowledge, and attitudes relevant to their functioning as consumers in the marketplace.” While in overall socialization we talk about a person being a member of the society as the result of the process, consumer socialization results in the individual being a member of the purchase and consumer processes, thus a part of the marketing. Consumer socialization is important for understanding how the culturally induced social norms are perceived by the consumer and how the consumer adapts and transforms them into the consumer behavior.

According to numerous statistics, marketing focused on children is very financially lucrative. Income from the products designed for children and youth ranges in billions of dollars in the USA and pounds in the UK [ 8 , 13 ]. Here, we also must take into notice the income from the products not directly issued for children (e.g., clothing, drinks, toys, fast food, sweets, magazines, movies, music and computer software, breakfast cereals, family cars, computers, house, holidays) but in the purchase of which they have an important say [ 23 – 27 ]. That is the reason why many studies over the years paid attention to the consumer socialization of children and adolescents [ 28 – 30 ]. Socialization is a life-long process touching equally the children and their parents [ 31 ]. The process of socialization demonstrated by the acquisition of new social roles and statuses that takes place in the development of the children is equally present in the adulthood. Even though we often find generalizing information in literature that should be true for every child, we should know that each child is unique [ 32 ] and that this fact is demonstrated in the consumer socialization.

Economic socialization is a part of the consumer socialization. It is important to notice the children’s knowledge, understanding, and behavior in the economic world. Economic socialization is a process which goes through stages as the child grows up and is not created only in the specific educational environments. In literature, the term “naive economics” is used, denoting the economics non-specialists [ 33 ]. Still, it is important to know that whether we want it or not, children are pulled into the macroeconomic world from the very early age. As they are a part of the family where they grow up, they share its social-economic problems such as unemployment, low income, inflation, economic crisis of the country, and so on. Furthermore, the family teaches them the value of money, how the bank account works, what the credit and debit cards are for, and so on. As was already mentioned above, a child from economically advanced country plays an active part in the economic world because they have their own money they can spend. Whether the money come as a gift from the relatives, from holiday or part-time jobs, or in the form of pocket money is not important.

Economic socialization includes processes by which the individuals develop their competence in dealing with the economic world [ 34 ]. The author highlights that this competence is gained through their experience of using money to purchase items, as well as through persuading others to buy or exchange a product, so the child learns to better understand the importance of the budget. Therefore, economic socialization represents not only knowledge, but also behavior, opinions, and attitudes that are necessary for the world of economy [ 34 ]. Numerous evidence points to the fact that if a child learns to work with money (e.g., by having their own pocket money they can use according to their needs), they learn to understand the value of money [ 34 , 35 ]. If they desire something they have to save up money for, they learn to put money aside for future purchases and not spend it immediately. Furthermore, a child owning a (fictional) credit card spends more money than if they have (fictional) money [ 35 ].

Evidence confirms the predictions that financial education depends on the social class, age, social-cultural background, and gender. The middle-class children are more familiar with banking vocabulary and professional prestige in comparison with children from the working class [ 34 ]. Girls are more active in shopping and activities linked to consumption than boys [ 36 ]. It is therefore in place to stress the importance of the economic education in the family environment, as well as in the school. This is what is missing in the Slovak educational system, although the public would welcome economics as a school subject.

A number of studies documenting children´s economic socialization focused on how children understand the economic world of adults [ 34 , 37 , 38 ]. Moreover, we can find studies that were focused more on the explanation of the children´s economic behavior through observing how children solve economic problems [ 39 , 40 ]. However, P. Webley warns that little is known about bargaining, bartering, and swopping, which are present with children and are in direct connection to the economic socialization [ 41 ]. It is widely known that children exchange football cards, games, books, toys (e.g., from Kinder Surprise, McDonald’s Happy Meal ), or toy cars, sweets, and stamps and this custom perpetuates collecting, as well. Swopping is a typical activity of middle childhood but it can be seen in preschool age, too. There are three reasons explaining this behavior, according to Webley: (1) swopping is enjoyable; (2) friendship support; and (3) economic justification (it is better, cheaper, and so on) [ 41 ].

2.2. Theories and consumer development

In this section, we present the main theoretical concepts forming the basis of marketing communication focused on child consumer. Although theories such as Piaget’s theory of cognitive development [ 6 ], behaviorist learning theory, theory of social learning [ 7 ], or cultural and historical approach according to Vygotsky [ 42 ] did not explain consumer development, their theories have found their place in the marketing theory.

Purchase and consumer processes are dependent on the level of mental and physical development. Thus, to understand consumer socialization of children and young people, it is important to consider psychological developmental theories. These theories enable the understanding of development of children’s abilities as consumers.

The cognitive-developmental approach of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget is often applied to economic thinking of children [ 6 ]. Piaget explains the development of cognitive functions as the process of adapting to the outside world [ 6 ]. This process of adaptation is composed of two processes: accommodation (adaptation of the organism to the environment) and assimilation (organism adapts the environment to fit its needs). The author studied children’s understanding of physical world through children’s experiments via direct interaction with the environment. According to Piaget, there is a transactional process during the development, in other words, equilibration which links children’s cognitive stages to their experience of the world [ 6 ]. This process produces a balance between the cognitive level of child at a specific moment of the child stage and their experience of the environment.

When we look at the development of the consumer and economical socialization through Piaget’s theory, it is clear that the child embraces information and organizes it into particular contexts dependent of the level of child’s cognitive development. We can say that the consumer behavior begins at birth and the consumer behavior patterns develop in stages. Piaget’s theory denotes the following four stages of cognitive development:

the sensor-motor period of development lasts from birth to age 2. Children in this stage of development do not have symbolic representations yet but so-called schemas or mental structures that are based on children’s actions. However, near the end of this stage, children start to develop a general symbolic function, which means that they know that a doll represents a person, for instance [ 34 ]. Children explore the world around them, thanks to grabbing and looking, and they become egocentric individuals [ 2 ];

the preoperational period (age 2–7) is typical of formation of the concept of the world surrounding the child, based on what the child likes. They look at the world from their point of view. Young points out that this stage is dominated by appearance [ 2 ]. Additionally, symbolic thinking and language develop [ 34 ]. Similar to the first stage, the child in this stage is egocentric and convinced that everyone has the same view of the world as they do. They are also convinced that everything is possible, even acting against the laws of nature. They perceive TV commercials as funny, entertaining, and trustworthy and demand the advertised products [ 5 , 43 ];

A child in the concrete operational period (age 7–11) understands that other people may have different views on things. Thinking is in a concrete and demonstrative position. The child starts to apply negotiation and persuasion in social interaction with others. Children are critical and distrustful of advertisements [ 5 ]. New forms of advertising such as product placement, or suggestions from bloggers and vloggers, are however not perceived as advertisements by the children in this stage, so it can have control over them;

The last stage of cognitive development, the formal operational period (age 11 and older), is characteristic by the child being able to think systematically and to work with abstract terms. In other words, they are capable of all forms of abstract thinking. Even though residual egocentric thinking is still present, allocentric behavior (i.e., behavior centered on others) starts to develop [ 2 ]. A child in this stage can already understand the persuasive content of advertisement. They tend to have a critical and even rejecting attitude toward traditional forms of advertisements (especially TV, billboards, and so on). However, new forms of advertising, like product placement in video games and recommendations from influential people (e.g., bloggers, vloggers, sportsmen, singers), have more power to engage children’s attention. These means of advertising are used not only by commercial marketing but also by social marketing.

According to J. Piaget, all children pass through four stages of cognitive development in the same order but at different speeds [ 6 ]. Thus, the cognitive development approach to children stresses intraindividual difference as the child grows up [ 34 ], although it is criticized for not taking the individual variability into consideration. It is important to remember that individual variability is conditioned by the structure of the personality and also by the social and cultural environment where the child grows up.

The cognitive development approach can also be found in the context of the brand perception. A study from New Zealand showed that while 7- and 8-year-olds perceive the product itself (i.e., its perceptual features), and 10- and 11-year-olds orient themselves more on the brands (i.e., perception in symbolic level is in process) [ 44 ]. It is evident that the development of brand perception is closely related to the cognitive development. Therefore, we can easily understand how the brand perception develops in child from feature-based appreciation of logos and product features to the understanding of the brand symbols that are linked to certain social stereotypes.

Economic thinking, meaning the understanding of the world of economy, requires the logical structure of the mind that is dependent on the economic knowledge. Economic thinking develops in accordance with the development of the cognitive processes. Economic information that the child acquires during the development is organized into relationships by the child. Economic thinking is the basis of economic knowledge. To understand the world of economy, the child needs to reach the abstract level of cognitive processes. During the development of the children’s economic socialization, the following information sources are essential: (1) active information (purchasing or choosing a school orientation); (2) entertaining information (advertising, news, films, TV series); and (3) social information (peers, friends) [ 45 ].

Behaviorist learning theory on the other hand stresses the effects of the environment on children’s behavior [ 7 ], and the given model describes interindividual variations in children of the same age [ 34 ]. This theory explains the behavior of the individual. The child gains experience and skills through positive reinforcement of their behavior by being rewarded and through avoiding punishment (related to negative emotion) for their behavior. A functional behavior of children is imitated because it is reinforced.

Other authors add to the cognitive approach the impact of the social environment on the development of the individual, which also manifests in the acquisition of the consumer behavior. Some of the authors are [ 38 ] who argue that children are active agents in the process of learning the economic behavior. Moreover, economic socialization is the process by which the child assimilates knowledge about the consumption practices and economic world. The understanding of the economic notions depends on the cognitive apparatus of the children, as well as on their methods of interpretation of the marketplace.

Another important theory explaining how the child learns to recognize the world and to integrate it into their experience and behavior is the theory of social learning [ 7 ]. Author describes the process on the basis of two key phenomena: observation and imitation. Children adopt new behaviors through imitating or modeling. They learn the consumer behavior through these processes, which is called observation learning. Children imitate the consumer behavior of the most relevant models: parents, siblings, peers, and idols from media. Children attempt to reproduce what they observe in their environment [ 46 ]. Learning through observation is a form of cognitive learning [ 47 ]. Social learning theory is therefore grounded in the knowledge of behavioristic learning theory which works with the notions of reinforcement and punishment. So, the children are active in the learning and the reinforcement of their new habits, new patterns of behavior. We witness a reciprocal determinism, which is when the environment affects the child and the behavior of the child affects the environment [ 7 ].

The social role theory [ 48 ] explains different position of the genders in dependence of the historical division of labor between women and men. From this viewpoint, the social roles that the individual holds during the socialization process in the life play an important role in the learning of the consumer behavior, as well. Thus, the child becomes a consumer by fulfilling their social roles (e.g., pupil, daughter, son, sibling, granddaughter, and grandson). The main sources of information in this educational process are believed to be parents, family habits, peers, advertising, and the products.

Yet another approach explaining how children become active members of the consumption is a view of participation of the children in sociocultural activities, especially of how they take part in the consumption activities. The emphasis is put on social and cultural environment that forms the individual in every regard with consumerism included [ 49 ]. Social and cultural environment denotes the environment in family, school, or religion, which forms the personality of the child, primarily their language and cultural meanings. The child becomes a part of the society where they gain skills from participation in everyday social life for the individual does not develop on their own, rather than in interaction with other people and environment.

In this context, L.S. Vygotsky’s cultural and historical approach laid the basis of the study of the individual. He puts stress on the features, language, and culture playing key roles in the forming of awareness and thinking [ 42 ]. L.S. Vygotsky explains the developmental processes as the result of social interaction, history, and culture of the particular environment where the child grows up, while also considering the influence of the natural (i.e., evolutional and biological) environment [ 42 ]. Through day-to-day activities, the child assimilates a conventional language to consumption and acquires a set of social standards relating to consumption [ 50 ]. The authors argue that it mainly means an understanding of the concepts of brand, price, quality, comparisons of products, mastered references, a search for identity, and membership within a group. Furthermore, the child in social and cultural environment learns consumption practices via interaction with other members of the society (relatives, peers, teachers, and so on). The child compares their experience with others and not only in face-to-face relationships but also through institutional systems (i.e., distribution and retailing, carnivals, festivals, sales techniques, and so on) [ 51 ].

In marketing, we can see cultural differences of consumers in packaging, advertising, or taste, which as a result have an impact on different consumer experiences of children growing up in different social and cultural environments. Therefore, the child learns the consumer behavior through different kinds of guidance (parents, peers) and also through different forms of semiotic tools (language, advertising, packaging, and so on) [ 51 ]. The child is not only a passive recipient of tidings related to consumer behavior but also an active individual learning and developing persuasion skills, language, and other social skills.

The answer to a question as to when does the consumer socialization begin must be from the birth. The child acquires the first consumer experience in the family through clothing, food, toys, TV, or shopping with parents. In some sense, the child is a part of the social behavior in family even before the birth. Future parents prepare for their role very responsibly. They take care to pick product and services for the future mother (workouts, DVDs, clothes, food supplements, and so on) and for the offspring (clothes, furniture in the baby’s room, and so on). The parents can also choose to buy new, more spacious dwelling, or bigger and safer cars. Moreover, the child gains consumer experience not only from siblings (e.g., by playing the Internet games, seeing Internet advertising) but also from peers and relatives or family friends. Consumers often use the same brands as their parents used [ 52 ], where we can see a connection between the consumer model of the parents and their children. This fact is used by marketing communication in the so-called upbringing and care of the loyal customer. Here we can see the use of elements of nostalgia, that is, the return to the past, in commercials and packaging.

Evidence shows that similar to the influence of parents on the consumer behavior of their kids, the children have an impact on their parents, as well. Children influence the consumption of products for the family [ 53 – 55 ]. Their impact is notable in areas tied to new trends, technologies, products, and brands, because they have better orientation in these areas (also thanks to the peers and the Internet) than their parents do. Thanks to new technologies, the kids acquire technological skills faster and more efficiently, so their technological competence is higher than the competence of their parents. The children’s influence on the purchase behavior of the parents can also be seen in the case when the parent buys the brands of daily-life products that they know their child prefers. This applies to other generations as well, as children are not only in contact with their parents and siblings but also with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. All of these groups influence each other’s consumer behavior. The parents, close relatives, and mass media (primarily television) have the greatest impact on consumer socialization of the child [ 56 ], in contrast to adolescence, where other institutions move ahead, especially school, peers, social sites, bloggers, and vloggers.

To understand the consumer socialization processes, it is important to know how the consumer learning takes place. The society is diverse and the family is diverse too. These days, we do not have one family model traditionally based on blood or legal relations. In the current postmodern society, we meet different sorts of families. The traditional uniform model is no more. The family is now a kind of a “social network, that includes members from the formal and/or informal family” [ 57 , p. 55]. Additionally, the cross-generational co-living that was common in the past is now rarely encountered, especially in the socially and economically developed countries. This is reflected in the interaction of the family members. Family discussions and meals that can be tied to negotiations about consumption are sometimes replaced by the communication by phones, mails, or text messages. This phenomenon is translated into consumer socialization which is changing by the influence of the postmodern family co-living. Therefore, if we wish to discern the primary consumer socialization of the children that is realized in the family, we must take the family activities in the notice, specifically the family rituals related to consumption practices, consumption of media, and shopping practices. To be able of a proper focus on the children and young people, we must also know how they perceive marketing practices, in other words, how they consume the advertising and promotions.

The fundamental theoretical framework to our question of “What main social factors play a role in the consumer socialization of children in the preoperational period of development?” was the cognitive theory of Piaget [ 6 ], as well as the theory social learning [ 7 ]. The emphasis is put on the knowledge of the development of cognitive apparatus, on which the perception of media and the marketing message is dependent. Apart from the cognitive development of the individual, equally important is to consider the socialization process of the child which is underway through the observation and imitation. The child acquires consumption practices in interaction with other members of the environment. That is the reason why our research was also grounded in Vygotsky’s cultural and historical approach [ 42 ]. To find the answer to our question, qualitative research design proved to be the most appropriate. Therefore, we chose the method of semi-structured interview conducted with children alone and their parents alone.

3. Research

The aim of the research was to find out the main socialization factors of the children’s consumer socialization in the preoperational period of development (from 2- to 7-year-old) as well as how these factors are reflected in the consumer behavior. The reason is that consumer socialization is an important part of the child’s consumer behavior. We wanted to discover how the children in that age understand the advertising; what influences them to choose the products; what is their level of economical socialization; what influencing strategies they use on parents in order to get certain product/brands; what are the family activities, daily rituals, shopping rituals, and so on. The consumer socialization was looked at from the child’s and their parents’ perspective.

Qualitative research design was used for the data collection. Research sample consisted of 45 children (26 girls, 19 boys) and their parents ( N = 45) living in Slovakia.

The semi-structured interview was used with every participant as the research method [ 58 , 59 ]. To achieve the objective of the research, a semi-structured interview with a child and a semi-structured interview with a parent were conducted. Interviews were individual, recorded on a voice recorder, and then transcribed into a text form. The length was approximately 30 for children and 20 min for parents. To determine the target areas, we used an exploratory research method with emphasis on capturing the range of relevant topics concerning the researched issue in view. In the research, we used the concept of thematic analysis as an analytical tool, created by Braun and Clarke [ 60 ]. They argue that thematic methods identify and analyze the data to find information or meaning related to the themes or patterns that correlate with research questions. Thematic analysis is based on coding and consists of six phases [ 60 ]. In phase 1, the data corpus was transcribed into written form. In phase 2, “initial codes” were generated, meaning that the themes were located and their relation to the research question was described. In phase 3, the meaning of the themes was explained [ 60 , p. 20]. In phase 4, the themes were visualized in the candidate “thematic map.” The research themes and thematic map ( Figure 1 ) were established within a rough frame of asked questions and based on answers from the data corpus. In phase 5, “the “essence” of what each theme is about was identified [ 60 , p. 20]. In phase 6, the report on the base of “final comprehensive analysis” was produced [ 60 , p. 21]. We tried to provide “sufficient evidence of the themes within the data—i.e., enough data extracts to demonstrate the prevalence of the theme” (ibidem).

Figure 1.

The thematic map of the main socialization factors of the children’s consumer socialization in the preoperational period of development with four main themes and subthemes.

3.1. Socialization agents of preoperational period of development

The analyzed interviews with the children and their parents have revealed four key factors. According to the terminology of Braun and Clarke “main overarching themes” [ 60 , p. 20]. These are themes that influence the consumer behavior of the children in the preoperational period of cognitive development: (1) parents and siblings; (2) media; (3) stores; and (4) preschool institutions and peer group.

(1) Parents and siblings

Parents proved to be one of the main socialization agents of the children. This fact is in correspondence with the knowledge found in literature, and we find that parents and family are important economic socialization agents [ 61 , 62 ]. They explain the basic terms of the consumer world to the kids, like what is money, what it can be used for, how do they get to it, what is the advertisement for, and so on. The children learn to understand the value of money; furthermore, they learn symbols, although it still remains in the abstraction level and they struggle to conciliate with the fact that they cannot have something they like and want (e.g., for the lack of money or correspondence to unhealthy lifestyle). This can be demonstrated by the statement of a 5-year-old boy: “ When I grow up, I will make a lot of money and will buy all the ice-cream from the store, even in the winter !”

One of the important factors contributing to the economic education is the pocket money and allowances which have an educative role [ 63 , 64 ]. Although this practice is recommended more in the adolescence [ 63 ], or from the age of 6 [ 63 ], the foundations are laid even before reaching this age. In our sample, we encountered a beginning of thinking about saving up for the desired product, which demonstrates the following statement: “ I have a lot of money in my piggy bank (from grandma, dad, and mom), and when I’ll have enough, I’ll buy the Butterfly Barbie ” (girl, age 7).

Some of the parents stated that they try to give earning opportunities for doing household chores but mainly to the older siblings of the children from the studied sample.

The older siblings pulled the children in the preoperational period to the commercial world more (e.g., by using video games, tablet, watching videos from popular vloggers), compared to the only children or those with younger siblings.

Media represent another very important part of the consumer socialization. Through the media, the child acquires models and norms, and the idea about how the world works, which is allowed and applauded not only in the society but also sanctioned on the other hand [ 5 ].

The young consumer is affected by the medial messages not only from the TV but also from billboards, posters, and websites. Media are extremely attractive to children even from the first moments of their lives [ 18 ]. Electronic media emit sounds, and images are colorful and moving; therefore, they naturally attract the attention of the children.

The children from our study are in contact with mass media that are usually represented by television and child magazines. That is reflected in the time distribution in the family. TV is most often turned on in the morning before the departure for kindergarten, in the afternoon after returning home, and during the weekend mornings when the children-oriented programs air.

The content of magazines and children’s books is consumed in the presence of the parents or older siblings, usually in the afternoon or the evening. “ What I like the most is to draw in and read “Macko Pusík” (Eng. Pusík the Bear, children magazine; author’s note) with my brother “ (girl, age of 6). Commercials have high viewership. “ We have to pay attention to the commercial breaks. Then we switch programs, because those commercial that are in the TV don’t have a good impact on kids. They are loud, belligerent, and misleading “ (mother of 3- and 4-year-olds).

Parents often delimited children‘s commercials watching, and they admitted however that TV, tablet, or games on the mobile phone are used to entertain the children while the parents work or want to have a rest. This is a risk factor, as children spending more time in front of the television or computer tend to be more materialistic and have lower self-esteem [ 65 ].

The children viewed the advertisement as funny and entertaining, which corresponds to the statement of a 4-year-old boy: “ It’s funny when they chase each other in the commercial, and make funny fools of themselves .”

The third theme emerging from the interviews was stores. There, the child meets with the media messages from clothing, magazines, packaging, or store shelves. All parents declared that shopping malls are big traps where the supply and advertising make the bargaining (related to the consumerism) with children harder. The parents stated that the children accompany them in most of the daily purchases of the basic products. The girls were more active and demanded more the products they had already seen in the commercial or a nice packaging in the shop captured their attention. This finding corresponds to Watiez’s [ 36 ] findings, when the girls took a more active part in the activities related to the consumption, compared to the boys. Some parents stated to have arrangements with their children where they agree to buy one product the child wants (usually sweets) and nothing more. However, the parents also admitted that sometimes they are unable to refuse additional demands of their children and eventually buy what they want. Another group of parents that does not have rules about shopping admitted to often deal with conflicts with the children in the shop, because the child demands certain product and the parents are unwilling to buy it. In situations like these, the children prefer to pick the product they like and that they previously saw in the commercial or that is being promoted in the store by other people. “ I like when I can taste some cookie that the ladies in the shop offer, and then mommy buys it for me ” (girl, age of 5).

TV commercials are trusted by the children, and they tend to long for the merchandise that is promoted in those commercials [ 5 ].

The interviews with the parents furthermore demonstrated that most of the family shopping is done during the weekend. Parents tend to pick a shopping center with indoor children playground with supervision. “ My son really likes the children playground, so me and my husband can do the shopping in peace, not being distracted. We even see it as a form of relax ” (mother of a 4-year-old). The shopping centers of this century became the modern centers of free time. They offer all kinds of activities like different sports or cultural programs. However, spending free time in the shopping centers takes away the time that could be spent in the nature, which was acknowledged by the parents of our child participants, as well.

(4) Preschool institutions and peer groups

Upon commencement of the preschool, the child arrives to wider contact with the peers. The peer group is therefore another socialization institution which influences the wills, desires, attitudes, and values of the child [ 5 ]. The child’s viewpoint of the world is still egocentric in this stage of development [ 2 ] and the game with their peers frequently ends up in quarrel over toys [ 66 ]. “ When Peter doesn’t want to give me the digger, I take it from him ” (boy, age of 5).

The peer pressure to own a certain product or brand was declared by the parents in our study, as well. The child wants to be a part of the social group in the kindergarten, so they put pressure on the parent to buy what they think is cool. “ We gave into pressure from our son who wanted us to buy the exact same model of a car that his friend owns, although he already had a similar one at home ” (father of a 5-year-old son).

Even though in this age of development the perception is not yet in the symbolic level [ 44 ], our study sample showed that children under the peer pressure have knowledge of the products that are regarded as cool. The children were included in the bargaining, bartering, and swopping, what could be considered as the first signs of economic socialization [ 39 ]. The economic socialization occurred mainly in the process of swapping of football cards, collectible stickers, and sweets.

4. Conclusion

Child consumer of the present day is more than ever surrounded by medial messages that influence their values, attitudes, experience, and also behavior in the consumer-oriented society. For this young generation, television advertising represents only one aspect of their consumption experience, and other media, especially the Internet, have a lot more power [ 8 , 67 ]. Apart from the TV, the child consumer is influenced by medial messages from billboards, posters, websites, clothing, text messages, magazines, packaging, radios, store shelves, video games, commercials on different types of media, or banners on websites. We also have to be aware that products reach the child in the school (e.g., on bags, notebooks, pen cases) or the playgrounds where logos of the companies investing in the building or renovation of the playground as a part of the socially responsible marketing are to be found. Therefore, in the interest of the protection of the children and young people, it is essential to know the main socialization agents that play an important role in consumer and economic socialization. These factors—main themes—were parents and siblings; media; stores; and preschool institutions and peers for the group of children aged from 2 to 7. Another study also support our findings that the biggest impact on consumer socialization in the children lives have been the parents, close relatives, and mass media [ 56 ]. Apart from these socialization institutions (i.e., media, parents, siblings, school, peers), our research exposed stores as another important socialization factor. They are places that along shopping provide fun and relaxation. Moreover, we find there the realization of different marketing communication tools, as well as of personal sale, advertising, sale support, and PR. This is the environment where children connect the product they saw in advert with that seen directly in the store and demand the purchase of said product.

A paradox from the part of the parents is evident, which we already encountered in the past, where the parents on the one hand criticize the negative influence of media on the healthy development of their child and on the other hand they prefer the use of said media in family leisure activities [ 43 ]. Additionally, they buy unhealthy products for their children, even though they are aware of the fact that those products bear no nutritional value and can be damaging to children [ 11 ]. As our research showed, the media considerably structure daily rhythm of the family and are part of their rituals. On one hand, parents want to protect their children from the media, and on the other, they use the media as a way of distracting and entertaining children. Preschool children are consumers of not only mass media (e.g., TV, children books and magazines) but also of personal media designated for older people (PC, tablet, mobile phone).

The parents are critical to the lack of the media education that is present only in some Slovak schools as an elective subject, so there is no systematic nature. The parents however can contribute to the development of the economic socialization through explaining and guiding children to work with their “own income” coming from gifts and as a reward for doing household chores [ 45 ]. Children in preschool age already understand that they can exchange money for the product and also that if they save money for the desired product, they can buy it. This is in accordance with their cognitive development [ 6 ]. However, it is surprising that in preschool age, we can already witness the first signs of economic socialization, namely bargaining, bartering, and swopping. Similarly, the pressure to buy products that are seen as “cool” by the peers is evident in our research sample.

The time of preoperational period is when the symbolic thinking and language develop [ 34 ], giving the opportunity to actively intervene and thus form the consumer behavior in children in a way of raising a future responsible consumer who is not only consumption oriented. This task is on parents, preschool institutions, media, and, as our research demonstrated, on stores, as well.

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Today, actors are both discussing and experiencing the effects of globalization and globalized consumer culture is one of the much debated issues. This is a time of objects in which individuals live according to the rhythm of what they possess. Consumption and popular culture are products of social development of modernism. New media as a phenomenon of the post-modern era transformed the way in which people communicate with each other. The main aim of this article is to reveal the role of new media in the evolution of violence in consumer society by understating the relationship between these two concepts which are strengthened by popular culture. Uncovering this relationship is important because, today the impact of war scenes is not much more powerful than ordinary boxing matches. People, who die every day, became all humdrum images. Regarding this aim, first, consumerism is explained by the use of various theoretical approaches. Following this, the relationship between violence and consumption is revealed. Consequently an answer is given to the following question: do new media encourage a culture of violence in a consumer society?

Environment and Planning A

Phillip collins

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Children as Future Consumers Essay

Introduction, materialism and consumerism, factors leading to increased consumerism, positive and negative effects of consumerism, current policies.

Materialism and consumerism may not seem like a problem to many, but it defines majority of the current population. The most gullible group is of course the children, whose innocence captures advertisers and marketers, who in turn force parents to spend on the products being sold.

There are a variety of factors leading to a lot of consumption by children, for example, advertisement and peer influence. This paper will deal with the topic of materialism and consumerism; the positive and negative effects of consumerism especially on children; and finally mitigation strategies to be undertaken to ensure that children are better future consumers.

Materialism has been defined as the tendency to be materialistic i.e. have the desire to spend the resources one owns on material things and attaining a comfortable lifestyle in general. Consumerism on the other hand puts a direct link between how many things one owns and their happiness (Chapter7, 2009, p. 1).

These two go hand in hand and the distinction line between them is very thin. Both go beyond the necessity of satisfaction of needs and they create the desire to want to own more and consequently create an image. Hence majority of the reference in this paper will be on consumerism, though the terms may not be used interchangeably.

Capitalism is heavily influential on consumerism (Chapter7, 2009, p.2). A capitalist economy will have the mindset of creating more market for themselves, ensuring “same consumers buy more of the same” or having innovations that will definitely increase demand (Kapur, n.d. p.1).

When there is an “economic crisis”, government will go to the extent of ensuring that people consume more just so as to sustain the economy (Chapter7, 2009, p.3). Thus consumerism is a concept that goes beyond the individual and has far reaching effects even to the economy of any particular state. As Kapur (n.d., p.1) stated, “children were invented as consumers” (Kapur, n.d., p. 1), a sad but a real truth and fact, and they are serving their purpose in fuelling the economy.

Children between the age of 9 and 14 are more susceptible to being materialistic and hence end up being heavy consumers (Goldberg, 2002, p.1). This age group has been called the “tweens” a name given because the 9-year-olds have not reached puberty while the 14-year-olds are past puberty (Goldberg, 2002, p.1).

Children are majorly targeted for the following reasons: they have their own money, they determine how their parents spending trend and they are the major future consumers (Zoll, n.d. p.1). In the US, $36bn in sales per year, is directly connected to children consumers (Goldberg, 2002, p.1), while in the UK, £30bn is from the child market (BBC, 2008, p.1).

In Australia, a lot is invested to advertisements targeting the “tweens” to the point that when they are young adults, their sense of choice has been heavily corrupted and they can barely make independent choices without being influenced by brands (Hamilton, 2006, p.8).

In the past, there was a huge difference between goods or services available to the ordinary people and those who could afford the highly priced ones; not anymore indicates Hamilton in what he called “democratisation of luxury” (Hamilton, 2006, p.1).

The poor are competing with the wealthy as regards their consumption (Hamilton, 2006, p.1). A definite sign that consumerism in the society has increased, can also be observed from the number of cars owned by individuals, the cars they drive, mobile phones, different home devices, entertainment gadgets, obesity in children among others (DeAngelis, 2004, p.52).

In an article by Zoll (n.d., p.1), she quotes a clinical psychologist who states children are so inclined to their friends possessions and how their desire is to make money when they grow up or become older (Young, 2011, p. 1). How did children become so obsessed with their looks and possessions? What has led to the increase of consumerism?

Advertisement in this day and age is part and parcel of our world and its effect is felt everywhere, from online sites, to mobile phones to billboards on the streets, to commercial breaks in between television shows. They not only promote products but also sell “cultural practices” for example it’s the in-thing to have this or that (Nordicom, 2006, p.110).

These advertisements are geared to lure the consumers, especially children who watch about “25,000 ads a year” in the US (Chapter7, 2009, p.1), while in the UK, the numbers are much lower at about 10,000 (Shah, 2010, p.1).

Children are also a prone target since they will not only enhance current markets but also enhance continuity since they will be identifying particular brands (Shah, 2010, p.1). Children are expected to nag their parents to the point of driving them to buy the advertised good (Chapter7, 2009, p.4). Marketing and advertising is not a concept that appeared out of the blues, but it’s been evolving with time, meaning in the future it may even get worse (Abela, 2006, p.3).

Past History and Peer Pressure

Children with a less fortunate background are also prone to materialistic behaviour, in a sense to try and make up for their misfortune (DeAngelis, 2004, p.1). In the UK, as stated in an article by Bennett, over 69% of “poorer children” desired jobs with very good salaries and were more involved in shopping as compared to 28% of the children who came from well-to-do families (Bennett, 2008, p.1).

A different study also showed a connection between low income and “mental health problems” in children: for weekly incomes below £100, 16% of children were affected, for £300- £499, only 8.6% children are affected and for incomes over £700 only 5.3% (Bennett, 2008, p.1)

. When the children themselves were asked they admitted to wanting to fit in with all the latest fashions or technologies (Bennett, 2008, p.1). Peers use commodities to gauge the value of their opponents a trend to “keep score with each other” (Lawson, 2006, p.1).

Parental Influence

The blame should not only be placed on outside influence but parents are also considered to have a part to play (Shah, 2010, p.1). There are those who will encourage good values to their children and hence to some extent shield children, but its generally hard for them to beat the advertisers and marketers who even have qualified professionals to make sure that advertisements achieve the desired effect (Shah, 2010, p.1). Absenteeism of parents is also another thing to be considered since they are normally busy working in order to give the child a better future but in the process, it leaves the child unattended and unshielded (Nordicom, 2006, p.117).

Education and Consumerism

The school institution which is supposed to be a safe haven for children has become otherwise and education has been “commercialized” (Shah, 2010, p.1). All fields have been infiltrated from trips to school materials that are sponsored by different companies who ensure the children are aware of the products that are on offer for them (Shah, 2010, p.1).

“Educational news programs provided free to schools contain advertisement” (Chapter7, 2009, p.4). A case in point is that of a company in Britain which had the promotion that “the more chocolate one ate, the more sports equipment one gets” all in an effort to get the kids to be actively involved in sports (Shah, 2010, p.1).

For instance, “a basketball would be about 170bars of chocolate” a very ironic promotion since the children would now have health risks and issues to deal with (Shah, 2010, p.1). The same case goes for the US, where the “education system” is a booming business netting around “$650bn” (Shah, 2010, p.1).

With all the aforementioned factors leading to increased consumerism among children, there are visible effects that act as a signal. The positive and negative effects of consumerism are discussed below.

Consumerism is mostly associated with the negative aspects, which are quite many in comparison, but there are positive aspects to be considered. Among them: a country’s economy is heavily influenced by the spending power of the population, hence the higher people spend, the more a country benefits; higher productivity; availability and variety of goods and services offered; creation of job opportunities; better lifestyles, among others (Shukla, 2009, p.1).

The many negative effects include: children being exposed to environments not appropriate for their age, hence very detrimental to their growing up (Goldberg, 2002, p.1); the saving culture especially in the youth, is destroyed and replaced with a spending trend (Goldberg, 2002, p.1); high risks of depression, “less happiness”, and various “social pathology” (DeAngelis, 2004, p.1).

There are increased rates of crime, especially among the youth, due to the gap between those who have and those who don’t (Lawson, 2006, p.1). In order for “failed consumers” to obtain what the “rich have”, they will definitely result to theft (Lawson, 2006, p.1). There is also a connection between “materialism and a reduced well being”, since people will be chasing after desires instead of meeting their necessities (Abela, 2006, p.2).

Another detrimental effect is the impact consumerism has on the environment (Chapter7, 2009, p.2); lands are used to build houses, malls, warehouses (Verdant, n.d. p.1). The pressure is also put on natural resources due to the ever increasing production of various commodities (Shah, 2010, p.1).

Debt is also not far off from individuals who are trying to maintain a lifestyle that they cannot afford; this is especially in reference to parents who turn to credit cards for solutions (Chapter7, 2009, p.1). This is no wonder why children cannot learn the saving culture since the credit card has taught them the concept of buying now, and pay later (Chapter7, 2009, p.1).

Children should be taught from an early age that they should not chase after what the advertisers are out to sell, but should in fact place more value to who they are rather than what they own (Bennett, 2008, p.1).

Different states and nations are trying to curb the effects of advertising since it is the one that heavily influences consumerism to children: advertising in Sweden has been stopped since the year 1991, especially during “children’s prime time”; in UK, as of 2008, “junk food advertising” shown to children during their television program time below 16 has been enforced (Shah, 2010, p.1).

Greece for instance has also banned the “advertising of toys to children between the hours of 7am and 10pm” while Quebec put a stop to all advertising targeting children under 13 years of age (Zoll, n.d. p.1). Despite all these restrictions gaining a lot more popularity in Europe, in the US it’s not so because marketing to children are seen as a First Amendment right.

The industries themselves have not been left behind in trying to take up control measures to ensure that children are well guarded (Nordicom, 2006, p.111). Some of the products that industries have taken initiative to “self-regulate” are to do with alcohol, tobacco, junk food among others (Nordicom, 2006, p.111). As for the entertainment industry, parental guidance has been promoted but only with so much success (Nordicom, 2006, p.112).

Dr. Elliot Barker, who is a Canadian psychiatrist and child advocate, offers the following recommendations with regards to the current consumerism: meeting children’s emotional needs so as to eliminate the need to substitute this by being materialistic; families participating in activities that are “non- commercial”; effective parenting, among others (Hunt, 2004, p.1).

Young also proposed focusing on “spirituality, relationships, philosophy, learning and ethics” as the greater solution to not falling in the trap of consumerism (20011, p.1). Other than these methods that are aimed at increasing the persons value, different methods have also been proposed including: “higher gasoline taxes”, “progressive consumption tax” i.e. the more one consumes, the more they are taxed, and tax is exempted for money that is saved, improving public goods and services so that people do not fall back on privatized goods and services (Chapter7, 2009, p.13).

The children are definitely to be protected from all the “insanity” of advertisement and they are to be allowed to grow up in environments that allow them to make independent choices as consumers and not to be arm-twisted per se.

When children follow the right path of consumption, then future generations will not be enslaved by consumerism since they will have good examples to emulate and hopefully positive values will have been instilled in them.

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Hamilton, C. (2006) Marketing and Modern Consumerism. Web.

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Kapur, J. (n.d.) Rehearsals for War: Capitalism & the Transformation of Children into Consumers . Web.

Lawson, N. (2006) Turbo-consumerism is the driving force behind crime . Web.

Nordicom. (2006) Young People and Harmful Media Content in the Digital Age. Web.

Shah, A. (2010) Children as Consumers . Web.

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Verdant. (n.d.) How Consumerism Affects Society, Our Economy and the Environment . Web.

Young, S. H. (2011) How to Avoid Being Enslaved by Consumerism . Web.

Zoll, M.H. (n.d.) Challenging Ethics of Marketing to Children . Web.

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Essay About Consumerism: Top 5 Examples Plus Prompts

Consumerism is the child of capitalism; Here is a list of essay about consumerism examples and prompts you can read to further your understanding.

The word consumerism can seem daunting to some, but it’s pretty simple. It is defined as “a preoccupation with and an inclination toward the buying of consumer goods.” In the consumerist theory, people’s spending on goods and services drives economic growth- their spending preferences and habits determine the direction a company will go next.

Many businesses practice consumerism. It is a common belief that you must adopt a consumerist approach to succeed in your trade. Consumerism refers to people’s prioritization of spending on goods and services. They have the drive to purchase more items continuously.

If you are writing an essay about consumerism, you can get started by reading these essay examples.

1. What You Need To Know About Consumerism by Mark Scott

2. long essay on consumerism by prasanna, 3. consumerism: want and new pair shoes by tony richardson, 4. my thoughts on being a blogger & consumerism by anna newton, 5. consumerism and its discontents by tori deagelis, 1. does consumerism affect your decisions , 2. opposing consumerism, 3. how does consumerism negatively affect mental health, 4. how does consumerism positively affect mental health, 5. do you agree with consumerism.

“Although consumerism drives economic growth and boosts innovation, it comes with a fair share of problems ranging from environmental and moral degradation to higher debt levels and mental health problems..”

Scott gives readers an overview of consumerism in economic and social terms. He then briefly discusses consumerism’s history, benefits, and disadvantages driving economic growth and innovation. It also raises debt, harms the environment, and shifts society’s values toward worldly possessions rather than other people. Scott believes it is perhaps most healthy to find a balance between love for others and material things.

“Consumerism helps the consumers to seek redressal for their grievances against the unfair policies of the companies. It teaches the consumers about their rights and duties and helps them get better quality of products and services.”

In this essay, author Prasanna writes about the history of consumerism and its applications in India. First, it helps protect consumers from companies’ “unethical marketing practices.” For example, she cites policies put in place by the government to inspect food items, ensuring they are of good quality and prepared per sanitation standards. When used appropriately, consumerism serves the benefit of all.

“Anything people see they buy without thinking twice and knowing that they already have brand new pair shoes they have not worn because there to focused on buying and buying till they see they no longer have space in their closet to put new shoes in.”

Richardson takes a personal approach to consumerism, recalling several of his friends’ hobbies of collecting expensive shoes. Advertisements and the pressure to conform play a big role in their consumerism, enticing them to buy more and more items. Richardson believes that consumerism blinds people to the fact that their standards and desires just keep increasing and that they buy shoes for unjustified reasons. Instead, society should be more responsible and remind itself that it needs to take importance above all.

“Take online creators out of the way for a minute, because the pressure to buy is everywhere and has been since the dawn of the dime. The floorplan of stores are set out in a way that makes you stomp around the whole thing and ultimately purchase more, ads on the TV, radio, billboards, in magazines discounts and promotions – it’s endless..”

In her blog The Anna Edit , Newton explains the relationship between blogging and consumerism. Bloggers and influencers may need to purchase more things, not only for self-enjoyment but to produce new content. However, she feels this lifestyle is unsustainable and needs to be moderated. Her attitude is to balance success with her stability and well-being by limiting the number of things she buys and putting less value on material possessions.

“In a 2002 paper in the Journal of Consumer Research (Vol. 29, No. 3), the team first gauged people’s levels of stress, materialistic values and prosocial values in the domains of family, religion and community–in keeping with the theory of psychologist Shalom Schwartz, PhD, that some values unavoidably conflict with one another. ”

DeAngelis first states that it is widely believed that more desire for material wealth likely leads to more discontent: it prioritizes material things over quality time, self-reflection, and relationships. Increasing one’s wealth can help solve this problem, but it is only a short-term fix. However, a 2002 study revealed that the life satisfaction of more materialistic and less materialistic people is not different.

Prompts on Essay about Consumerism

This is not something people think about daily, but it impacts many of us. In this essay, write about how you are influenced by the pressure to buy items you don’t need. Discuss advertising and whether you feel influenced to purchase more from a convincing advertisement. Use statistics and interview data to support your opinions for an engaging argumentative essay.

Consumerism has been criticized by economists , academics , and environmental advocates alike. First, research the disadvantages of consumerism and write your essay about why there has been a recent surge of its critics. Then, conduct a critical analysis of the data in your research, and create a compelling analytical essay.

Consumerism is believed to impact mental health negatively. Research these effects and write about how consumerism affects a person’s mental health. Be sure to support your ideas with ample evidence, including interviews, research data such as statistics, and scientific research papers.

Essay about Consumerism: How does consumerism positively affect mental health?

Consumerism often gets a bad reputation. For an interesting argumentative essay, take the opposite stance and argue how consumerism can positively impact mental health. Take a look at the arguments from both sides and research the potential positive effects of consumerism. Perhaps you can look into endorphins from purchases, happiness in owning items, or even the rush of owning a unique item.

In this essay, take your stance. Choose a side of the argument – does consumerism help or hinder human life? Use research to support both sides of the argument and pitch your stance. You can argue your case through key research and create an exciting argumentative essay.

For help with this topic, read our guide explaining what is persuasive writing ?

If you are interested in learning more, check out our essay writing tips !

Martin is an avid writer specializing in editing and proofreading. He also enjoys literary analysis and writing about food and travel.

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Child consumerism: The journey to becoming a proficient consumer

Consumerism is a large part of children’s lives. Their parents are constantly buying goods, so they are exposed to it frequently. It is important for children to begin their relationship with consumerism as early as they can, because there is a journey that they must go through to create this relationship. Consumerism can be a part of a person’s life as soon as they are born in the form of baby-oriented consumerism, where the parents of the child make purchasing decisions for them in order to meet a goal that they have set.

Once children are old enough to comprehend the notions of buying and selling, it is imperative that they have suitable socialization agents to lead and mentor them into a healthy understanding and rapport with consumerism. After the relationship is created, the children are able to perceive consumerism and interact with money in their own way. However, it is essential to remember that children are young, naïve, and impressionable, so there should be a resistance barrier to child consumerism set in place.

Introduction

Consumerism is a part of daily life. The buying and selling of goods keep the world moving constantly. Adults are experienced and able to understand the complications and persuasiveness in the marketplace. Children, however, are not as knowledgeable and are impressionable, which makes them vulnerable consumers. They must go through a journey of learning about consumerism, which can begin right after they are born. When they are a baby, a child’s parents make decisions for them in terms of purchasing.

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Once they are old enough, they rely on their socialization agents to set standards for how to interact in the marketplace. After the child has an understanding of how to interact within the marketplace, then they are able to form their own perceptions of how to use their money. Even though it is important for children to create their own relationship and perceptions early on, it is also a good idea to set restrictions in terms of consumerism.

Baby-Oriented Consumerism

From the moment a person is born, to the moment they die, they are bombarded with the notion of consumerism. Šramová describes this as the “cradle-to-grave” approach, where companies try to obtain people’s loyalty at a young age that will last their entire life (2014). Once a child is born, it is up to the parents to make purchasing decisions for them until they can make their own.

Affleck, Carter, Anthony, and Grauerholz interviewed 14 new mothers, to get a better insight to the decisions mothers make for their children (2013). A new mother has to decide between breastfeeding her child and feeding it formula. If she chooses to feed them formula, then she has to make the decision of which formula is the best. This type of consumerism can be referred to as “baby-oriented consumerism” (Afflerback, Carter, Anthony, & Grauerholz, 2013). Baby-oriented consumerism was found to be driven by a certain goal that a mother was trying to reach for their child. In contrast, it was also found that these mothers took part in “mother-oriented consumerism”, where the mother wants to reach goals she set for herself. (Afflerback, Carter, Anthony, & Grauerholz, 2013)

Socialization Agents

Once a child is old enough to start comprehending the notion of purchasing, socialization agents must be engaged. Socialization agents are core models and standards found in a child’s life. These agents can range from friends and family to television (Lenka & Vandana, 2015). The socialization agents help children acquire abilities in terms of the marketplace and eventually mold them into proficient consumers (Arthur & Sherman, 2016). It is important to examine a child’s socialization agents when studying child consumerism because the agents are ultimately the child’s source of consumer-based information.

Even though a child has gained understanding from their socialization agents, does not mean that they are able to make appropriate purchases on their own. According to Basu and Sondhi, children and their parents go through multiple stages of agreeing and disagreeing concerning shopping, involving refusal, negotiation, and agreement (2014). When discussing whether or not to buy an item between parents and their children, the child ends up having a pretty large role in whether or not their parents make that decision (Mau, Schramm-Klein, & Reisch, 2014).

Child-Focused Consumerism

Once a child is old enough to make their own conscious decisions, a sort of consumer frenzy begins. The obsession to shop grows with the number of commercialized items they take in on a day-to-day basis. Commercials are one of the easiest ways to get a child’s attention.

Television commercials are a large contributor to the child consumer bracket in the marketplace. Through their research, Soni and Vohra found that, in America, there are 24 advertisements every hour on television (2014). By monitoring popular children’s networks for ten weekdays and weekends, it was established that food commercials are more prevalent during the weekends when the children are home from school (Soni & Vohra, 2014).

Through this study, it is apparent that children are considered to be vulnerable in the marketplace, since advertising is around them constantly, in large amounts. Spotswood and Nairn state that children cannot truly comprehend the “materiality of the message” in commercials, which makes them more vulnerable in the marketplace (2016). Another quality that makes them vulnerable is that they are extremely impressionable, by both their family and peers. It is imperative that the child begin to create their own views of consumerism in order to be secure in the consumer-driven world.

Child Perception and Interaction

Children’s perception of consumerism may be skewed due to their inexperience and vulnerability. When watching a movie or television show, the child may not understand that the name-brand can of soda is product placement. Rosendale, Slot, van Reijmersdal, and Buijzen, studied 152 children in order to examine their perception of advertising in video games (2013). It was found that children who had more experience with social games were able to find the integrated advertisements than those who played these games less.

In contrast, Power and Smith aimed to study the limited connection that children have with money. They began by asking the question “If someone gave you £1 million (roughly $1.23 million) today, what would you do with it?” (2016). The children fell into three different categories: givers, savers, or spenders. The children’s answers differed from what Power and Smith thought they would answer. Almost half of the children declared that they would give away a generous amount of the £1 million to either charities or family members, with 25% of them stating that they would give all of their money away (Power & Smith, 2016). When it came to saving their money, one-third stated that they would save it, with only one-eighth saving it all (Power & Smith, 2016). The remaining children decided that they would spend their money.

Resistance to consumerism may seem futile, since a child is not an independent consumer, so the research on resistance is slim (The Author(s), 2013). Ponelienė interviewed 18 children, ages 6-7 years old, and 310 parents of children in this age range in order to find out if there is a way for children to resist consumerism (2014). Through in-person interviews with the children and questionnaires from the parents, Ponelienė’s conclusion was that in order to resist consumerism children must learn about their culture and devise a way to resist mass culture ideals (2014).

Children are the future of consumerism. It is important for them to understand buying and selling before they become consumers themselves. Social agents assist them in navigating the marketplace and child-focused consumerism. After children have a general perception of consumerism, they are then able to be consumers, themselves, and interact with money and purchasing. Child consumerism can be difficult to navigate, so it is important for children to build up a resistance to consumerism and have a better understanding of advertising around them.

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Planning, 32(5), pp. 630-645. doi: 10.1108/MIP-04-2013-0072
Spotswood, F. & Nairn, A. (2016). Children as vulnerable consumers: A first conceptualization.
Journal of Marketing Management, 32(3-4), pp. 211-229. doi: 10.1080/0267257X.2015.1107616
Šramová, B. (2014). Media literacy and marketing consumerism focused on children. Procedia –
Social and Behavioral Sciences, 141, pp. 1025-1030.
The Author(s) (2013). Taking exception with the child consumer. Childhood, 20(4), pp. 423-428.
doi: 10.1177/0907568213501858

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Child Consumerism Essay

The essay “Kid Kustomers” by Eric Schlosser talks about how children got sucked into the idea of consumerism. It all started in the 1980’s with parents wasting more money on their kids. Now companies such as Kid2Kid, the Gepetoo Group, and Just Kids and other big corporations specialize in finding ways to get kids to buy their products. The author mentions the different ways children nag to get what they want, such as the pleading, persistent, forceful, demonstrative, sugar-coated, threatening and pity nag. The television plays the biggest role in consumerism because of the advertisements that children are watching all day and the effect it has on them. The reason advertisements are the best tactic when it comes to consumerism is because children think that advertisements are part of the television show. Schlosser brings up several good points throughout the essay. This world is a materialistic world.

Most people nowadays are sucked into being the consumers and buying things that they do not even need because now it is all about who has the best clothes, shoes, car or house. It’s one big competition and hardly anyone is ever happy because there is always someone who has something that you do not have. Another reason people like to be consumers is because like to own the newest version of something. One example would be the millions people who buy the new iPhone or iPad when in reality it’s practically the same as it predecessor. If these marketing techniques work well on adults than that is the reason they are more effective on children. Lastly Schlosser’s points are valid because I too have seen children being convinced to buy a product by people on the streets ,beg to their parents and have seen the effects advertisements have children. It happens all the time, whether people realize it or not. When a child sees a guy with a big sign advertising toys or food the kid is going to want to ask their parents if they can get the toy or that they are hungry.

It is sad that almost all children know who Ronald McDonald is and when they get hungry they are most likely to go to McDonalds because it is convenient. Children are more easily targeted now because now their friends influence them and if that one friend has something that they like, they will find a way to own it too. My little cousin Max who is ten years old feels he has to own the newest thing. It saddens me because he is in a competition with his friends and these companies are making money off him when he may not truly be interested in their product. Companies target children specifically because they get what they want the majority of the time. Companies depend on their children to beg to their parents so that they can buy their product. Whenever my cousin Max beg to his parents he eventually gets what he wants because he is persistent and persuasive and makes his parents feel guilty if he does not get what he wants. Sometimes while I am walking down the street or in the mall I see a kid with a iPhone wondering what they with something that sophisticated at such a young age.

It makes me wonder if kids have things such as the iPhone then what else do they have? These are the children who are sucked into consumerism and have to buy everything that is considered cool or new. To me one of the biggest reasons companies invest time and money on marketing advertisements directed towards children the most is because children have not learned the true importance of t the dollar bill. They no value behind it and do not think it of as much when their parents are the ones out their spending there money on them. Advertisements on television play the biggest role in consumerism. One effect that advertisements have on children is that the advertisement gets suck in their head. Children remember the words or specific tune that went along with the advertisement. A majority of children that I know are watching television most of the day. When I was a kid advertisements played a role in what I should buy or eat.

The majority of the things that I had heard of had come from advertisements. This is true because most people do not eat at a place they have never heard of because they do not want to take the risk. The same thing goes for things such as video games and toys for kids because advertisements make the product look good, which gives people a sense of hope that it will not be a waste of money if they buy it for full price. An example would be my cousin Rachel buys most of her toys because she sees them on the television. The advertisements reassure her that buying the toy will be worth it. She falls for the same toys each time because they are not much different from each other. She mostly gets dolls and princess castles, which all virtually look the same but only, differ in color. In the end advertisements effect our decision when we go out to buy the things we want. Companies have succeeded when it comes to convincing children to buy their product. It doesn’t matter where a person is at now.

They can be outside or in their house and they will still be surrounded by advertisements. The advertisements are on the television all day, billboards, people on the streets and one of the stronger forms of advertisement the Internet. Whenever a person watches a video on YouTube they are stopped by a short advertisement and overtime a majority of the world knows the advertisement and may be a little more tempted to go out and buy it. This world has become a world where humans feel need to buy everything even if they do not need it. As long as companies keep releasing new products then children will be consumers because children always buy the newest toy even if they just bought their last toy two weeks ago.

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Guest Essay

The Rage in ‘Carrie’ Feels More Relevant Than Ever

By Amanda Jayatissa

Ms. Jayatissa is the author of three novels, most recently “Island Witch.”

In “On Writing,” Stephen King’s nonfiction account of his career, he talks about a girl he calls Dodie Franklin. She attended his high school and, he recalls, was often bullied for wearing the same clothes every day. In their sophomore year, on the first day back after Christmas vacation, she came to school wearing newly fashionable clothes with a trendy hairstyle — but the bullying and teasing never stopped. “Her peers had no intention of letting her out of the box they’d put her in,” Mr. King writes. “She was punished for even trying to break free.”

The realization that nothing could change Ms. Franklin’s social standing, coupled with a few more unfortunate examples of young women he knew, helped inform a story about a bullied girl with telekinetic powers who is pushed to her limits and who wreaks brutal revenge on her classmates and, eventually, her abusive mother. “Carrie,” Mr. King’s first published novel, was released 50 years ago, in 1974.

There have been many iterations of “Carrie” since. Horror enthusiasts will recall the classic film directed by Brian De Palma and released in 1976; there have been several remakes, most recently one in 2013 starring Chloë Grace Moretz. There was an ill-fated stage adaptation , “Carrie: The Musical,” which the TV show “Riverdale” once paid homage to. Many things have changed in the half-century since Mr. King’s novel was published, yet Carrie White remains a strikingly relevant and highly relatable figure. She raged her way to a place in pop culture’s pantheon. But why?

I first read “Carrie” as a nerdy, horror-enthused 14-year-old growing up in Sri Lanka. At the library of the Christian school I attended, Mr. King’s books were extremely hard to come by, so when I saw a copy at a friend’s house, I was quick to borrow it. I vividly remember being drawn to Carrie’s wide-eyed gaze on the cover, blood trailing from her forehead and dripping down her chin. “Nobody was really surprised when it happened,” it reads in the opening pages. “Not really, not at the subconscious level where savage things grow.” I was hooked. What did Mr. King mean by “savage things”? I didn’t realize then that I would spend so much of my adult life thinking about this very question.

I’ve reached for “Carrie” many times since, and my relationship with the story has continued to shift and evolve. Like most teenagers, I suppose, I initially reacted to Carrie’s story with pure horror; I was mortified by the way she was teased, repulsed by the pig’s blood that gets dumped over her at prom and fascinated by the death and destruction she wrought in retaliation. In my 20s, when I revisited the novel, the horror I felt at her tale turned to something closer to sympathy. By that point, I’d moved from Colombo to California to Britain and then back to my hometown in Sri Lanka and had chalked up enough life lessons to understand Carrie’s suffering in a different way.

Now, as a woman in my 30s, I no longer see Carrie as simply a victim to be pitied. I’ve learned to relish her rage. Her anger has inspired much of my own fiction writing and, more important, has taught me that anger, when channeled, can be an asset. This truly hit home for me in July 2022, when I joined thousands of protesters in Colombo marching against corruption and the economic mismanagement of the country’s leaders. Years of feeling powerless finally erupted. We were all angry, of course, but we used our rage as fuel.

In the past year, women in the United States have had many reasons to figuratively burn down auditoriums and destroy towns. The war on women is still very much alive, as Roe v. Wade was overturned, in vitro fertilization procedures were endangered in Alabama and pregnant women are still not allowed to divorce their husbands in Missouri.

These days I see Carries everywhere. At the end of 2023, Gypsy Rose Blanchard — who had been convicted of second-degree murder in connection with the death of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, after years of being subjected to abuse and Munchausen syndrome by proxy — was released from prison. There are many interesting parallels between Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Carrie, the most glaring being the obvious torment of each by her mother.

What struck me as most interesting (read: most depressing) was the public response Ms. Blanchard received after her release. While some hailed her as a folk hero, many labeled her a killer, much like Carrie, for fighting back against her tormentor — not just in a court of law but also in the court of social media. TikTok was rife with hot takes, arguing there was something sinister about Ms. Blanchard or claiming that her husband was actually her brother. Rather than being viewed as a young woman trying to navigate her way through an absolutely horrendous situation, she was criticized for participating in a television series. Many people seemed content when she was the victim, but it infuriated them when she tried to take a stand for herself. What was true of Mr. King’s account of Ms. Franklin proved true for Ms. Blanchard, too: “She was punished for even trying to break free.”

Look at the way that Meghan Markle has been treated — criticized as an attention seeker for speaking out in a society that constantly blames women for staying silent. Or take Britney Spears. We all cried “Free Britney” and lamented the ignorance of our ways when we learned of how those in her life had treated her terribly, yet all it takes is a social media post of her dancing in clothes deemed by some to be too provocative to leave viewers shaking their heads at her again, saying she has gone off the deep end. God forbid women choose to fight back by simply expressing themselves in a way that defies convention.

I believe we still too often look at women who fight back against their oppressors and see them as villains rather than assigning responsibility for their situations to the people who tormented them. Carrie has always been the antidote to that predicament: She forces us to confront our feelings about what happens when women instill some of the same fear in others that they are too often forced to deal with themselves. Carrie’s plight still speaks to feelings in women of rage, helplessness and a desire for justice or, failing that, retribution. None of that has gone away in 50 years.

Beyond being a supremely well-told story, Mr. King’s novel still connects on the same “savage” subconscious level he mentioned at the start of the book. “Carrie” was packaged and marketed as horror, but what is it about the character of Carrie that’s truly horrifying? Is it the revenge that’s exacted by a bullied girl? Or is it the actions of those who stood around and allowed her to be tormented? The question at the heart of the story is: Who is the real monster? Fifty years later, we’ve come to understand that it’s not Carrie but the world that made her.

Amanda Jayatissa is the author of three novels, most recently “Island Witch.”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Thule Recalls RideAlong Rear-Mounted Child Bike Seats Due to Chemical Ingestion Hazard

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Recalled Thule RideAlong rear-mounted Child Bike Seat, gray seat with black harness pads

The harness padding of Thule RideAlong bike seats can contain flame-retardant DecaBDE in excess of regulatory limits, posing a chemical hazard. DecaBDE can be toxic if it is ingested or comes into contact with skin or eyes.

About 8,640 (In addition, about 3,880 were sold in Canada)

Thule toll-free at 888-816-0228 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, email at [email protected] or online at www.thule.com/recallthuleridealongamer or www.thule.com and go to the “Product Support” column at the bottom of the page and click on “Product Recall” for more information.

Recall Details

This recall involves Thule RideAlong rear-mounted Child Bike Seat that fits most bicycle frames. It was sold in gray with a black 3-point harness padding. The model number and date code can be found on the bottom side of the seat. Only model number 100107 and date codes 21/3-23/10 (March 2021 to October 2023) are included in this recall.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled RideAlong seat and contact Thule Group to register for free replacement harness padding and to receive instructions on how to return the recalled padding. Thule is contacting all known consumers.

None reported

Thule, of Seymour, Connecticut

Note: Individual Commissioners may have statements related to this topic. Please visit www.cpsc.gov/commissioners to search for statements related to this or other topics.

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Recalled Classic Rosé Baby Nest, SKU 154200

The recalled baby nests violate the safety requirements of CPSC’s Safety Standard for Infant Sleep Products , posing a suffocation risk and fall and entrapment hazards to infants. The failures include not having a stand and not meeting the requirements for side height, sleeping pad thickness, and fabric-sided openings. The product’s sides are shorter than the minimum side height limit; the sleeping pad’s thickness exceeds the maximum limit; and an infant could fall out of an enclosed opening at the foot of the lounger or become entrapped.

Additionally, the baby nest designs with head pillows violate the Safe Sleep for Babies Act of 2021’s ban on inclined sleepers for infants because their sleep surfaces are inclined greater than ten degrees. Infant fatalities have occurred in inclined sleepers, after the infants rolled from their back to their stomach or side while unrestrained, or under other circumstances.

Recalled 10-Piece Safari Baby Crib Bedding Set, 137214

Infants can suffocate if they roll or move on the crib bumper in a position that obstructs breathing. Padded crib bumpers are banned under the Safe Sleep for Babies Act of 2021 .

Recalled Lounge Dress (short sleeve) in Light Blue Fabric with Blue Gummy Bears

The recalled children’s pajamas violate the flammability regulations for children’s sleepwear, posing a risk of burn injuries to children.

The recalled mattress violates multiple provisions of the Safety Standard for Crib Mattresses, including the thickness test, and is missing the required warnings and labels. The product poses a suffocation hazard to infants.

Recalled Magnetic Beads HIGH POWER 5mm AAA Grade

The magnetic beads violate the requirements of the mandatory federal magnet regulation because they contain one or more magnets that fit within CPSC’s small parts cylinder, and the magnets are stronger than permitted. When high-powered magnets are swallowed, the ingested magnets can at tract each other, or another metal object and become lodged in the digestive system. This can result in perforations, twisting and/or blockage of the intestines, infection, blood poisoning and death.

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COMMENTS

Children's Well-being: The effects of Child Consumerism
The study also suggests that as the relationship between parents and children become worse off, this leads to a negative effect on children's well-being. When a child is not connecting with their parents, they face a much higher risk of facing depression, anxiety, lower self-esteem, and more psychosomatic complaints.
Consumerism Essay
Consumerism Essay: The word consumerism means the economic order by which the public demands the acquisition and consumption of goods and services in a social setup. While discussing consumerism, the first thing that strikes one's mind is the word 'consumption'. In economics, consumerism means economic plans and policies that emphasize consumption. Consumerism affects the production […]
Full article: Consumerism and well-being in early adolescence
Introduction. Consumerism or materialism Footnote 1, referring to conspicuous consumption or beliefs that goods are a means to happiness generally or personally, has been highlighted as one of today's 'social evils' (Joseph Rowntree Foundation Citation 2009) and as detrimental to health and well-being (Eckersley Citation 2006, Citation 2011).This study examines levels of several different ...
Children as Consumers
Teens in the US spend around $160 billion a year. Children (up to 11) spend around $18 billion a year. Tweens (8-12 year olds) heavily influence more than $30 billion in other spending by parents, and 80 percent of all global brands now deploy a tween strategy. Children (under 12) and teens influence parental purchases totaling over $130-670 ...
The Influence of Consumerism on 7-11 Years Children Analytical Essay
This paper will critically discuss the effect of consumerism on children aged 7-11 years. In the past generations, parents dictated children's consumer behaviour by purchasing things (toys, sweets, clothes among other children stuff) that they felt their children needed or deserved to have.
Endangered childhoods: how consumerism is impacting child and youth
It becomes necessary, therefore, to examine the impact of consumerism in order to assess identity formation and development in youth. Young people are receiving an endless barrage of material messages encouraging purchasing behavior and consumption that impacts the self-image. ... Bar-on ME ( 2000) The effects of television on child health ...
How Consumerism Undermines Your Child's Well-Being
Moderation. Research suggests that when parents focus on consumption and talk a lot about the importance of possessions, their child is more likely to be materialistic. Try this: Show restraint in your purchases -- and talk often about the pleasure of relationships and shared experiences. Minimize time spent shopping.
Endangered childhoods: How consumerism is impacting child and youth
Young people receive endless material messages encouraging purchasing behaviour and consumption that impact their identities. Recent studies (Hill, 2011) show that 40% of 3-month-old children ...
Child and Teen Consumption
A series of interdisciplinary papers shedding light on the theoretical challenges faced by researchers engaged in an exploration of the transformations of social meanings regarding child and teen consumption in contemporary society. Gabriel, Yannis, and Tim Lang. The Unmanageable Consumer: Contemporary Consumption and its Fragmentation.
Children and Consumer Culture in American Society
The essays and documents in this volume illuminate the historical circumstances and cultural conflicts that helped to produce, shape, and legitimize children's consumerism.Focusing primarily on the period from the Gilded Age through the twentieth century, this book examines how and why children and adolescents acquired new economic roles as ...
[PDF] Endangered childhoods: how consumerism is impacting child and
Modern-day children are immersed in cultures of consumption such that every aspect of their lives is touched by a buy-and-consume modality. In particular, children in North America are increasingly experiencing the effects of consumer culture at unprecedented levels of involvement. It becomes necessary, therefore, to examine the impact of consumerism in order to assess identity formation and ...
Children and Consumer Culture
Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. In this study, Cross theorizes and demonstrates the tension between constructions of the "cute" child invoked by marketing and nostalgically sought by parents and the "cool," distant child also produced by commercial means. Historically, he argues, the "cool" has been displacing ...
Critiquing Children's Consumer Culture: An Introduction to
It's as simple as child's play. Or is it? The idea of children's play conjures images of purity and innocence (Spigel 1998), a contrast to adult labor and work (Ozanne and Ozanne 2011).Children's play occurs in many forms, including symbolic play, socio-dramatic play, exploratory play, and fantasy play (Hughes 2002), sometimes involving the use of play objects including toys.
Full article: Children's influence on consumption-related decisions in
1. Introduction. The family is the locus of relationships, meanings, and values (Stacey, Citation 1990), and consumption-related decision-making in the context of family life is a core consumer behavior process (Howard & Sheth, Citation 1969; Scanzoni & Szinovacz, Citation 1980).During the 1960s, consumer researchers began to study children's role in family consumption decisions (Flurry ...
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Children's consumer behavior is a field that has lately been given attention by marketing, psychology, sociology, and pedagogy. The reason is the understanding that a child is an important part that has an influence on family's shopping. At the same time, there is a concern about the abuse of natural child naivety and trustfulness. That is why the experts turned their focus on the ...
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This chapter describes the historical development of the field of children's consumer behavior from the mid-1970s to today. It identifies three historical periods in the development of children's consumer research, and describes the major themes and research characteristic of each period. The first period (1970-1985) covers the beginning of the field, focused on public policy concerns over ...
(DOC) An exploration of capitalism establishing children as consumers
This essay has explored the conceptualisation of children as consumers, demonstrating that consumerism is something that is central and constant element in children's lives. This is understood through the dramatic rise of children in the consumer market, with products being specifically presented for the purpose of children purchasing the ...
Children as Future Consumers
We will write a custom essay on your topic. There are a variety of factors leading to a lot of consumption by children, for example, advertisement and peer influence. This paper will deal with the topic of materialism and consumerism; the positive and negative effects of consumerism especially on children; and finally mitigation strategies to ...
The Influence of Consumerism on Children Free Essay Example
The essay "Kid Kustomers" by Eric Schlosser talks about how children got sucked into the idea of consumerism. It all started in the 1980's with parents wasting more money on their kids. Now companies such as Kid2Kid, the Gepetoo Group, and Just Kids and other big corporations specialize in finding ways to get kids to buy their products.
Essay About Consumerism: Top 5 Examples Plus Prompts
Consumerism is the child of capitalism; Here is a list of essay about consumerism examples and prompts you can read to further your understanding.. The word consumerism can seem daunting to some, but it's pretty simple. It is defined as "a preoccupation with and an inclination toward the buying of consumer goods." In the consumerist theory, people's spending on goods and services ...
Child consumerism: The journey to becoming a proficient consumer
Don't waste timeGet Your Custom Essay on. "Child consumerism: The journey to becoming a proficient consumer". Get High-quality Paper. helping students since 2016. Essay Sample: Abstract Consumerism is a large part of children's lives. Their parents are constantly buying goods, so they are exposed to it frequently.
Child Consumerism Essay
The essay "Kid Kustomers" by Eric Schlosser talks about how children got sucked into the idea of consumerism. It all started in the 1980's with parents wasting more money on their kids. Now companies such as Kid2Kid, the Gepetoo Group, and Just Kids and other big corporations specialize in finding ways to get kids to […]
Children Manipulative Consumerism On Media
Children Manipulative Consumerism On Media. Topics: Consumerism. Words: 765. Pages: 2. This essay sample was donated by a student to help the academic community. Papers provided by EduBirdie writers usually outdo students' samples.
Joe Biden's assault on the $900 child-eczema cream
Under the new cap, which is being phased in, he will be on the hook only for the first $3,300 this year, before Medicare foots the rest of the bill. From next year, the cap will be lowered to ...
Opinion
Carrie's plight still speaks to feelings in women of rage, helplessness and a desire for justice or, failing that, retribution. None of that has gone away in 50 years. Beyond being a supremely ...
8.2 million packets of Tide, Gain, Ace, and Ariel detergent pods ...
The CPSC has advised consumers to immediately put recalled bags out of sight and reach of children. Consumers can contact Procter & Gamble for a refund and a free replacement child-resistant bag ...
Thule Recalls RideAlong Rear-Mounted Child Bike Seats Due to ...
This recall involves Thule RideAlong rear-mounted Child Bike Seat that fits most bicycle frames. It was sold in gray with a black 3-point harness padding. The model number and date code can be found on the bottom side of the seat. Only model number 100107 and date codes 21/3-23/10 (March 2021 to October 2023) are included in this recall. Remedy: