Children and television advertising: when do they understand persuasive intent?

Children's response to television advertising is investigated in this paper. Children aged between six and ten years were tested for their recall, recognition and understanding of novel television advertisements. Children were able to recognise scenes from the advertisements after one exposure but recall of the brand names was poor for the younger children, even after three exposures. Recall for the advertising content increased by age and number of exposures. None of the six‐year‐olds and only a quarter of the eight‐year‐olds and a third of the ten‐year‐olds discussed advertising in terms of persuasion. Therefore, although children remember television advertisements, their purpose is not fully understood, even by many ten‐year‐olds. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications.     

Judging judges: How do children weigh the importance of capability and objectivity for being a good decision maker?

Two studies examined developmental differences in how children weigh capability and objectivity when evaluating potential judges. In Study 1, 84 6‐ to 12‐year‐olds and adults were told stories about pairs of judges that varied in capability (i.e., perceptual capacity) and objectivity (i.e., the relationship to a contestant) and were asked to predict which judge would be more accurate. Participants generally preferred capable over incapable judges. Additionally, 10‐ and 12‐year‐olds adjusted their preferences for the most capable judge based on objectivity information. Seventy 6‐ and 8‐year‐olds participated in Study 2, which was similar to Study 1 except that the judges could both seem incapable unless children understood how different decisions require different kinds of perceptual capabilities. While 8‐year‐olds chose judges based on the relevance of the perceptual capability, 6‐year‐olds struggled, seeming to be distracted by the valence of the judges’ relationships to the contestants. Overall, these results support that there are important shifts in how children evaluate decision makers from early to middle childhood.     

The effect of fear‐inducing content on memory for advertisements and on retroactive and proactive interference of programme information

The current study focused on whether fear‐inducing content in television advertisements leads to better memory for the advertisement but also impairs memory for programme information that either precedes the advertisements (retroactive interference) or that follows the advertisements (proactive interference). Fifty‐four participants (48 female) aged 18 to 55 watched a programme that had an advertisement break in the centre. This consisted of 6 advertisements with either fear‐inducing or nonfear‐inducing content. Participants were tested on their recall and recognition of the advertisement information as well as their recall of the first half and second half of the programme. The results indicated that fear‐inducing advertisements were better recalled than those that elicited no fear, and there was also evidence of proactive interference from fear‐inducing advertisements on programme recall. Limitations and implications of the study are discussed.     

Television alcohol advertising: Do children really mean what they say?

Few studies have investigated children's responses to television alcohol advertising. Two separate studies evaluated the appeal of alcohol advertisements on children aged 7–10. An exploratory interview study (N=17) was carried out to assess children's verbal responses to both alcohol and non‐alcohol advertisements and to elicit vocabulary to be used in the second study. Whilst the 7–8 years old children were very positive about the alcohol advertisements, older children did not like them, nor did they perceive them to be effective. The second study was designed to assess children's implicit knowledge, in view of developmental theory that knowledge is not always available for verbal report. This study (N=179) used a simple categorization programme on computer. Using this methodology, children of all ages liked the alcohol advertisements and perceived them as effective. Advertising styles affected popularity with humour, cartoon format or the inclusion of an animal, or character increasing the appeal of an advertisement. The discussion draws attention to the importance of multiple methodologies in eliciting valid and accurate information from children, and to policy matters with regard to alcohol advertising regulation.     

The effectiveness of parental communication in modifying the relation between food advertising and children's consumption behaviour

The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of various types of parental communication in modifying children's responses to television food advertising. In a combined diary‐survey study among 234 parents of 4‐ to 12‐year‐old children, I investigated how different styles of advertising mediation (active vs. restrictive) and consumer communication (concept‐oriented vs. socio‐oriented) moderated the relation between children's advertising exposure and their consumption of advertised energy‐dense food products. Interaction analysis in regression showed that active advertising mediation (i.e. explaining the purpose and nature of advertising), and socio‐oriented consumer communication (i.e. emphasizing control and restrictions) significantly reduced the impact of advertising on children's food consumption. Parental restrictions of advertising exposure were only effective among younger children (<8). These results suggest that critical discussion about advertising and rule making about consumption are most effective in countering the impact of food advertising.     

Effects of Television Violence on Memory for Violent and Nonviolent Advertising

This study investigated the impact of television violence on memory for advertising, taking into account the possible role of viewer hostility arousal in this context. Experimental participants were exposed to advertising placed within a violent or a nonviolent film clip. One advertisement had 2 versions–violent and nonviolent–and was presented with 2 other nonviolent filler advertisements. Participants completed a mood questionnaire before and after being exposed to the television material, tested for memory for the embedded advertising and asked to rate the film clips and the advertisements using a set of evaluative scales. The nonviolent version of the target advertisement was less well remembered when placed in the violent film than in the nonviolent film, supporting Bushman and Bonacci (2002). In contrast, the violent version of the target advertisement was remembered much better than the nonviolent version when placed in the violent film sequence. Participants' hostility scores were higher only after watching the violent film, and associated with an impairment in the memory of the nonviolent advertisements, while enhancing the memory of the violent advertisement, thus providing some support for Bushman's (1998a) hostile-thought hypothesis.     

The Effects of Programme Context on Memory for Humorous Television Commercials

This study investigated the effects of programme context on memory for humorous television advertisements in South Korean participants. Humorous and nonhumorous Korean advertisements were embedded within two programme contexts: humorous and nonhumorous. When the programme ratings of humour, enjoyment and involvement were higher, unaided recall was poorer. In addition, unaided recall of the advertisements was better when they were embedded within a nonhumorous programme. However, there was no significant programme‐advertisement interaction effect. Overall, both free and cued recall were higher for humorous advertisements than for the nonhumorous advertisements. The findings are discussed in terms of cultural differences and changes in television programmes and advertising over time.Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The indirect impact of child-oriented advertisements : On mother-child interactions

The Federal Trade Commission (1978) has expressed concern about the direct and indirect effects that commercial food advertisements have on children and families. Based on these concerns, they suggested banning all advertising aimed at young children. The present experiment was designed within the context of concern about the influence of television food advertising on parent-child interactions. It was predicted that mothers whose children viewed a television program with embedded food advertisements would display more control strategies and more power assertion while grocery shopping than mothers of children who were not exposed to advertisements. The results corroborated this hypothesis and, in addition, revealed that children who viewed the food advertisements attempted to influence their mothers' consumerism more than children who did not view the food advertisements. These results were discussed in terms of the importance of considering how television-viewing indirectly influences the quality of parent-child interactions.     

KNOWING ABOUT READING BEFORE READING: PRESCHOOL CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS OF READING

This paper reports findings from an investigation of preschool children's concepts about reading. Three tasks related to several basic ideas about reading were presented to 60 preschool children, ranging in age from three to five years. The first task assessed children's ability to identify oral and silent reading. The number of children who correctly identified both forms of reading increased with age, with almost all five‐year‐olds giving accurate responses. The second task was aimed at establishing children's perceptions of their own reading ability. Only four of the 60 children incorrectly evaluated their own reading ability. The third task investigated children's ability to recognize what it is on a page that is read. Three‐year‐olds were, on the whole, quite unaware of the salient information in books. Even among the five‐year‐olds, who performed significantly better than three‐ and four‐year‐olds on this task, some children's responses indicated an ambiguity about the role of print in reading. Suggestions for adults who guide young children through their early experiences with print are drawn from the findings of this investigation.     

To be or not to be a galaprock: Preschoolers' intuitions about the importance of knowledge and action for pretending

Can someone pretend to be a galaprock without knowing what a galaprock is? Do children recognize that such knowledge is required for pretending? Three studies focusing on the relations among action, knowledge and pretending suggest that children have this understanding by age 4 years. In Study 1, 4‐year‐olds and adults willingly pretended to be moving and unmoving objects but had trouble pretending to be objects that were difficult to represent physically. In Study 2, 3‐ and 4‐year‐olds claimed they could not pretend to be an unknown thing, justifying their refusals with mentalistic language indicating their ignorance of the object or its typical actions. In Study 3, 3‐ to 5‐year‐olds predicted that other children who have knowledge of an object unfamiliar to the subjects themselves can nevertheless pretend to be it, whereas those lacking that knowledge cannot. The results add support to the growing literature showing that preschoolers conceptualize pretense as involving mental activity.     

Creating Nostalgic Advertising Based on the Reminiscence Bump: Diachronic Relevance and Purchase Intent

Nostalgic advertising uses images relevant to past periods in individuals' lives to market products. The current study examines the reminiscence bump in a new context: reactions to nostalgic advertising. We examine diachronic relevance and its influence on purchase intent using a 3 (time frame: bump advertisements, non‐bump past advertisements, present‐focused advertisements) × 2 (age group: Generation X, late‐stage baby boomers) between‐subject design. Results show that advertisements for a fictional camera brand (i.e., Optimax) that focus on a bump year (i.e., 15–24 years) have more diachronic relevance than advertisements from either a non‐bump past year or present‐focused advertisements. In addition, advertisements focused on bump years elicit greater intent to purchase the advertised product than non‐bump past and present‐focused advertisements. Analyses show that intent to purchase the product is fully mediated by diachronic relevance of the bump‐year advertisement. These effects hold across both age groups.Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The portrayal of black people in UK television advertising: perception and reality

• Since the early 1990s, the UK advertising industry has been criticised for the relative absence of non‐whites, and for the ways ethnic minorities are depicted when they are used. Using interviews with advertising professionals and focus groups with black consumers, information on the perceptions of black people in advertising was gathered. The overwhelming message to advertisers was a simple one: ‘it isn't about quotas; it's about the way we are portrayed’. A content analysis of all advertisements shown during prime time on the three terrestrial channels over 2 weeks was then conducted. Results revealed that black people are actually over‐represented in UK television advertisements, although this is not the case for all sectors. However, the role type given to black spokespersons was found to be limited. Implications for marketing and advertising are discussed.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An investigation of preschoolers' misattributions of the properties of two‐dimensional images: understanding the relationship between a symbol and its referent

Previous studies have found that preschoolers are confused about the relationship between two‐dimensional (2D) symbols and their referents. Preschoolers report that 2D images (e.g. televised images and photographs) share some of the characteristics of the objects they are representing. A novel Comparison Task was created to test what might account for these misattributions of the properties of 2D images. Three‐and‐a‐half‐ and four‐and‐a‐half‐year olds made comparisons between items presented in two of three formats simultaneously, i.e. as a real object and as an object appearing on television (TV), as a real object and as a photo of that object, or as an object appearing on TV and in a photo. Presenting the televised object or the photo of the object along with the real object aided performance; children indicated that televised objects and photos of objects no longer shared the properties of the real objects. Children also performed better when presented with two 2D images of the same object (the photo of the object and the televised image of the object). Although dual‐representation might account for these misattributions of the properties of 2D images, because children also performed better when two 2D images of the same object were present, other possibilities such as children using pictures as communicative devices and disregarding the pragmatics of the task should be explored. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

医疗广告存在的问题及出路

伴随着广告途径增多和广告效应的增加,也带来了大量的非法广告,其中的医疗广告成为其中的重要组成部分,医疗广告的存与禁的问题也成为人们争论的热点。通过对于我国医疗广告存在的问题和产生的影响等方面的分析,指出医疗广告有其存在的必然性,同时,提出规范医疗广告市场的相应措施。     

Selective exposure to television programmes and advertising effectiveness

This study focused on the influence of selective exposure within an experiment designed to investigate context effects on advertising effectiveness. In a semi‐natural viewing environment, 86 participants chose one of four television programmes to view. The programmes belonged to diverse genres: news and current affairs, light entertainment, sport, and action‐adventure. Each programme was interrupted by two commercial breaks containing unfamiliar advertisements for familiar product types. Self‐rated involvement, entertainment, and enjoyment of programmes correlated positively with subsequent measures of memory for and responses to the advertisements. The results support the hypothesis that the operation of selective exposure within an experimental situation may result in positive relationships between predictor variables and measures of advertisement effectiveness. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The development of spontaneous trait inferences about the actor and spontaneous trait transferences about the informant: Evidence from children aged 8–13 years

In social‐cognitive research, little attention has been paid to the developmental course of spontaneous trait inferences about the actor (STIs about the actor) and spontaneous trait transferences about the informant (STTs about the informant). Using a false recognition paradigm, Study 1 investigated the developmental course of STIs and Study 2 investigated the developmental course of STTs, comparing 8‐, 9‐, 10‐, 11‐, 12‐ and 13‐year olds. The results of Study 1 showed that 8‐year olds could make STIs about the actor, and the magnitude of STIs increased from ages 8 to 10 years, stabilised at the age of 10, 11, 12 years, and decreased from ages 12 through 13 years. The results of Study 2 showed that 8‐year olds could make STTs about the informant, and the magnitude of STTs did not vary with age. In all age groups, the magnitude of STIs about the actor was greater than that of STTs about the informant.     

The Clinical and Forensic Value of Information that Children Report While Drawing

Drawing is commonly used in clinical interviews to help children talk about their experiences. Research has shown that drawing increases the amount of information that children report about some emotional experiences. Here, we aimed to investigate the use of drawing in interviews about other, clinically relevant emotions, and the clinical and forensic relevance of the information that children report while drawing. To do this, sixty 5‐ to 6‐ and 11‐ to 12‐year‐olds drew and told, or told, about prior experiences that had made them feel happy, angry, proud (confident), and worried (nervous). For all emotions, drawing and telling increased the amount of forensically relevant, episodic details (e.g., who was there and what happened) that children reported relative to telling alone. In contrast, drawing and telling did not alter the amount of information that children reported about clinically relevant details (e.g., thoughts and emotions). We discuss the implications of these findings for using drawing in interviews with children. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mental reinstatement of the misinformation context and the misinformation effect in children and adults

The present study investigated the effects of mental reinstatement of the context in which misleading information about an event was presented on later recognition memory for the event. Five‐year‐olds, 7‐year‐olds and adults were shown a short video depicting a children's adventure and were asked a set of misleading questions to introduce misinformation one week later. Before the recognition memory test was administered another week later, half of the participants were given instructions to mentally reinstate the context of the misleading interview. Memory was assessed with a set of forced‐choice recognition questions once in the misleading interview context and for the children a second time at home one week later. When participants were instructed to mentally reinstate the context of the misleading interview prior to the recognition test, false memory reports occurred more often for adults than for children and had a stronger impact on peripheral information than on central information for both 7‐year‐olds and adults. When 5‐ and 7‐year‐olds were tested at home, false memory reports decreased. Thus, reinstating the context of an interview introducing misinformation can reduce the accuracy of memory reports; the context dependence of both accurate and inaccurate memory reports in children and adults is discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Children's understanding of advertising: an investigation using verbal and pictorially cued methods

Conflicting results on children's understanding of advertising may stem from differences in research methods. Most studies are conducted using interviewing techniques, employing only verbal questioning. In the present study, 136 children of two age groups (7 and 10 years) were first asked what advertising was for and, after responding, shown depictions of possible reasons. The results indicate that although older children are more likely than younger ones to understand that advertising seeks to promote selling, pictorial cues allow a much larger proportion of all children to indicate their understanding than verbal questioning does on its own, with younger children especially showing improvement. Thus, seven‐year‐olds seem to have an implicit understanding of the persuasive intent of advertising that they are unable to articulate in response to investigators' questions. Multiple methods appear to offer a means of evaluating the level of sophistication in children' understanding of advertising. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.