Impact of Advertising on Children Flashcards
What did Bandura say about how children learn behaviour?
That children are likely to imitate what they are exposed to, especially if it’s a role model.
What did a survey find about the amount of children that watch TV and how often in America?
Survey suggested that 2/3 of children under the age of one have watched TV, and over 1/3 watch it every day.
What two ‘psychological tricks’ do advertisers use to do with behaviourism?
- Learning through association - e.g. eat this and you will appear young, sexy, fit
- Operant conditioning - e.g. reward of having fun with friends if you drink a certain alcoholic drink
What did Hanley say the two areas of concern to do with advertising and young people?
- Very young children might copy what they see
- Culture of negative behaviour might be adopted by young people watching such things on TV
What company deals with complaints and bans?
Independent Television Commission (ITC) have to deal with complaints (e.g. Tango advert).
What was the problem with Power Rangers?
It had role models of both genders and several ethnicities which allowed children from everywhere to relate, and therefore they may imitate their violence.
What are 4 features of television which encourage imitation of behaviour?
- Easy to copy
- Similar to other acceptable behaviours
- Wicked or forbidden
- Appealing to child
What are 6 features of adverts which encourage imitation of behaviour?
- Simple scenario
- Humour and jokes
- People ‘getting away with it’
- Role models
- Shown at appropriate times
- High production value (colour, music, action)
What did Buijzen and Valkenburg research?
Whether children are influenced by the products advertised on television (asked to make a Christmas list).
What percentage of 7 + 8 year olds asked for at least one advertised product?
67%
What percentage of 9 + 10 year olds asked for at least one advertised product?
49%
What percentage of 11 + 12 year olds asked for at least one advertised product?
40%
What did research find about parents making their opinions clear about adverts to children?
Found that when parents said things like “Don’t you think you’re a bit old for that” or “I think that’s a lot of money”, the impact of advertising was reduced.
What is stereotyping?
An attitude which suggests that all people who share one particular characteristic share other similar characteristics.
What is a basic stereotype of females and males?
- Females seen as meek, caring homemakers
- Men seen as strong hunter-gatherers and breadwinners
How are gender stereotypes reinforced in advertising?
- Gendered voice-overs in certain adverts
- Certain gender actors for certain things
- Certain colours, settings and music used
What has previous research shown boys to be made out as in adverts compared to girls?
Boys made out to be more knowledgeable, active, aggressive and instrumental than girls.
What did Griffiths find to do with the production techniques of adverts aimed at females?
- Tilting up motion used more
- More fades
- More female than male voiceovers
What did Griffiths find to do with the production techniques of adverts aimed at males?
- More varied camerawork
- Slow motion/high speed use more
- More sound effects
- Tilt-down motion used
- No female voice-overs
What did Pike and Jennings look at to do with adverts?
They looked at children who were shown adverts for either al boys or all girls, playing with a gender neutral toy.
What did Pike and Jennings research find?
That when children were asked to sort the toys in the advert later, children who had seen non-traditional girls playing were more likely to say that toys were for both boys and girls.
What was the aim of Johnson and Young’s study?
To find out the themes and discourse styles that might contribute to what children learn about gender from television commercials.
What adverts were used in Johnson and Young’s study?
-Adverts broadcast on Regional TV channels in New England, USA, and Nickelodeon which were recorded in 1996, 1997 and 1999
How many adverts were analysed in Johnson and Young’s study?
478 adverts bween 1996 and 1999.
What 6 categories of adverts were there?
- Food items
- Toys
- Educational and public service announcement
- Recreational facilities
- Video and film promotions
- Other
Which type of advert was the main focus and how many were there of this type?
Toy adverts - 147
What 4 categories were the adverts to do with gender of target audience?
- Boys’ toys in which boys were shown
- Boys’ toys in which girls were shown
- Ads where both genders were shown
- No specific gender targeted
What were the findings to do with the name of toys?
- Boys toys had more action-related names like ‘Big Time Action Hero’
- Girls toys had more calm and friendly names like ‘Take Care of Me Twins’
What were the findings to do with use of toys (Barbie dolls vs action men)
Barbie dolls and action figures portrayed differently - Barbie dolls placed in scenes with little or no action compared to action figures - reinforces stereotypes.
What did Johnson and Young find about voice-overs in boy or girl-orientated adverts?
- Male voice used in boy-orientated
- In girl-orientated had mostly girl voices but some males
What did Johnson and Young find about the exaggeration of certain gendered voice-overs?
- Girls had features like high-pitched or sing-song voices
- Boys had features of aggressiveness, loudness and deepness
- Young children tend to mimic these exaggerations when pretending to be a certain gender
What 5 categories were the verbs used in adverts categorised into?
- Action (ride, jump, crawl)
- Competition/destruction (crush, slam, fire on)
- Control (rule, defeat, control)
- Limited activity (beware, look, wait)
- Feeling and nurturing (love, cuddle, take care of)
What did Johnson and Young find about the occurrence of action verbs?
More action verbs in boy-orientated than girl-orientated adverts.
What did Johnson and Young find about the occurrence of competition/destruction verbs?
More in boy-orientated than girl-orientated adverts.
What did Johnson and Young find about the occurrence of control verbs?
More in boy-orientated than girl-orientated adverts.
What did Johnson and Young find about the occurrence of limited activity verbs?
More in girl-orientated than boy-orientated adverts.
What did Johnson and Young find about the occurrence of feeling and nurturing verbs?
More in girl-orientated than boy-orientated adverts (none in boy).
What is the stereotypical belief in Western Cultures about the speaking roles of men and women?
Women are talkers and men are doers.
What was found to do with amount of speaking in girl/boy orientated adverts?
In boy adverts, was speaking in 26%, whereas in girl adverts there was speaking in just over 50%.
What were the results to do with power discourse in Johnson and Young’s study?
The word power was used in 21% of boy adverts, but only one girl advert.
What are the 2 main reasons why these differences occur in advertisement?
- Good to promote gender differences in terms of profit as they can make male and female toys
- Early gender stereotyping prepares children for gender-biased adult products
What are the three main ways to reduce the impact of advertising that is aimed at children?
- Reduce amount of television
- Advert makers could consider production techniques
- Reduce humour and jokes, show fewer people ‘getting away with it’ and reduce use of celebrity role models
