My Research

Child Consumers and Misleading Toy Commercials

Synopsis:  When I was a little kid, I can remember throwing a temper tantrum because my mother would not buy me a Barbie doll that I had seen on television.  In my mind, I had to have it because the t.v. ad had made the doll look so cool.  As I have gotten older (and stopped purchasing Barbie dolls) I have noticed that commercials aimed toward children are aired frequently.  This kind of advertising seems to be becoming a trend in toy advertisements for children.  By researching this topic, hopefully an audience of parents as well as adults with small children in their family will be able to more clearly understand the tactics that advertisers use to target children through toy commercials.  I hope to answer how often toy commercials are misleading in their product presentation and if the toy commercials themselves are effective in marketing to child consumers. Perhaps with this information, parents can try to explain to their kids the advertisements that they see on t.v.  Maybe children will stop believing everything that they see on television and more importantly in advertisements. 

World Wide Web Sources

Title of Web Page: 2000-2001 Toy Industry fact book on Advertising to Children
Web Address: http://www.toy-tma.org/industry/publications/fbcurrent/advertising.htm
Brief Description: History of advertising to children and the different ways that toy advertising is monitored.  This page has lots of information on the rules that toy advertisers must follow when they are marketing their products to kids.  The information is presented in an organized manner and is very easy to read and follow.
Source of Web Site: Toy Manufacturers of America, Inc. 

Title of Web Page: Toy Ads on Television, Consumer Fact Sheet
Web Address: http://datcp.state.wi.us/static/cp/cpfacts/toy_ads.htm
Brief Description: Explains why it is important for parents to help their children understand toy advertisements.  This page includes extensive information on different ways to evaluate toy commercials and helpful hints on what to teach your children.  This site also includes links to more information from the Children’s Advertising Review Unit and tells parents what to look for when purchasing toys for their children.
Source of Web Site: Children’s Advertising Review Unit

Title of Web Page: Children’s Understanding of What is Real on T.V.
Web Address: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/realrev.html
Brief Description: Information on why children have a hard time distinguishing things they see on television from reality.  This page is well organized with links at the top leading to other parts of the page.  There is a lot of information on this site including many relevant examples.
Source of Web Site: Daniel Chandler, PhD.

Title of Web Page: Consumer Protection Magazine
Web Address: http://www.kuluttajavirasto.fi/englanti/consumer/summary/sum197.html
Brief Description: Addresses guidelines for marketing directed at children and ideas for parents.  This page talks about the special status of minors as consumers.  It also addresses what advertisers have to think about when they target minors. 
Source of Web Site: The Consumer Protection Magazine

Title of Web Page: Child’s Consumerism
Web Address: http://www.mcom.ttu.edu/mc5378/rsengheu/
Brief Description: Addresses almost all aspects of toy advertising to children with information on spokespersons, statistics, and graphs.  This site includes three great links about advertising to children.  This site is very visually appealing because it is colorful and well organized. 
Source of Web Site: Rathna Sengheu, PhD.
 

Other Reference Sources:

1. Barnes, Julian E.  “Dragons and Flying Brooms.”  New York Times 1 Mar. 2001:

            Academic Universe.  Online,  Lexis-Nexis.  [Accessed 22 July 2001].

2. Fass, Allison.  A camp to teach your children well the secrets of marketing.”

New York Times 31 Aug. 2000:  Academic Universe.  Online,  Lexis-Nexis.  

[Accessed 22 July 2001].

3. Githens, Lauri.  “Children’s Ads Creating A Craving.”  The Buffalo News 4 Apr.

2000: Academic Universe.  Online,  Lexis-Nexis.  [Accessed 22 July 2001].

4. Hays, Constance L. “A Call for Restrictions on Psychological Research by

Advertisers into Products for Children.”  New York Times 22 Oct. 1999: 

Academic Universe. Online,  Lexis-Nexis.  [22 July 2001].

5. Leimbach, Dulcie.  “Where Ads Aimed at Kids Come to Life.”  New York Times

13 Dec. 2000:  Academic Universe.  Online,  Lexis-Nexis.  [22 July 2001].

6. Napier, Dawn.  “Advertisers Should Pick on People Their Own Age.” The

Toronto Star 27 Mar. 1997:  Academic Universe.  Online,  Lexis-Nexis. 

[22 July 2001].

Internet Story:  Benefiting the Business and the Consumer: The Rise of Commercialization On the Internet

Before the Internet revolutionized commercialization as we know it today the public only received information about businesses and their products in fleeting moments such as through radio advertisements, television commercials and printed newspaper inserts.  Today, the Internet has become a source that benefits both businesses and consumers.  With scrolling text and prominent banners, the commercial tactics used by Internet advertisers are literally everywhere you look.

Although many fear the growth of commercialization on the Internet resulting from unsolicited  e-mails, advertisements targeting newbies of the Internet, and annoying pop-up advertisements, others see the need for commercialization on the Internet.  According to Internet advocates, “Internet commercialization has given the Internet the financial backing that it needs to remain viable for many years to come.  With so many companies big and small relying on the Internet for their bread and butter, you can bet the computer industry will do everything in its power to make sure they never run out of bandwidth.” (1)  Internet commercialization has become a hot topic in politics as well.  During President Clinton’s second term in office, he was forced to take a stance on Internet commercialization.  According to Robert W. McChesney, an advertising expert, “Clinton aggressively promoted commercialization of the Internet, proclaiming that commercial development of cyberspace is the key to current and long-term economic growth.” (2)  Internet commercialization has given worldwide access to business products and information that before only available for a select few.

NOTES:
(1) Kim Komando, “Zooming on the Net,” Popular Mechanics, November 1999, v176 i11 p.32 Also Available [Online]:  Infotrac Web [Accessed: 23 July 2001].
(2) Christine Pawley, “Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times,” Library Quarterly, January 2001, v71 i1 p.92 Also Available [Online]: Infotrac Web [Accessed: 23 July 2001]. 

THREE WEB SITES:
Title of Web Page:  Commercialization of the Internet
Web Address: http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/6095/student-papers/fall95-papers/vincent-culture.html 
Brief Description: Background on the commercialization of the Internet.
Source of the Web site: Christopher R. Vincent, PhD.

Title of Web Page: ‘Spamming”: Invasion of Cyberspace Privacy of Simply ‘high-tech’direct mail
Web Address: http://www.millennium-mktg.com/articles/35660.HTM
Brief Description: A positive view of spamming from a marketing firm
Source of Web site: Millennium Marketing Research

Title of Web page: An Educator’s Guide to Commercialism
Web Address: http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/wp/commercialism/print.html
Brief Description: Presentation of the pros and cons of Internet commercialization
Source of Web site: University of Illinois College of Education 
 

Home | Research | Resume | Portfolio | Pictures | About Me