Fast Persuasive Advertisements On Television Children example essay topic

School, family and church all have an effect on teenagers, but nothing will ever measure up to the effect that advertising has on our nation's youth. The advertisements target our youth by way of radio, television and newspaper. Advertisers use special tactics to persuade youth to buy their products. With the ever growing world of mass media becoming more accessible to children, we must realize the effect advertising has on the youth of today. Multiple television sets are commonplace in today's homes. "Today, at least one television set is in 98.2% of American households".

(Television Bureau of Advertising, 2001) Television viewing is no longer a family activity. "Fifty-six percent of thirteen to seventeen year olds have a television set in their bedrooms". (Gentile & Walsh, 2002) Advertising reaches more and more people every year. Children spend more time watching television than any other activity except sleeping. "By age 18, the average American teenager will have spent more time watching television-25,000 hours-than learning in the classroom". (American Academy of Pediatrics) Children are also bombarded by ads every day through television, radio, and print.

Advertisers now focus their ads more heavily towards children and teens than adults. Many ads that are "adult" ads are now appealing to younger people by having young attractive people in the advertisements. Television is the fastest growing market with advertising. It has grown so quickly because the message can appeal to the eye, the ear, and the mind.

Television ads are quick, persuasive, and enticing. The advertising and marketing budgets aimed at children approached $12 billion dollars. "Four hours of television programming contain about 100 ads". (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 1999) The cost of owning a television has dropped, therefore making ads reach more people than ever before. Radio advertising has always profited well in the United States for many reasons. Radio is very cheap and effective to a certain point.

Radio does not have the visual aspects that television has but it can contain catchy phrases or jingles. Radio is better than television in the aspect of targeting and audience. Many radio stations have local advertisements to appeal to people in a certain area. Radio stations also have a very distinct listening audience. Radio stations can pinpoint their target groups by doing numerous surveys around the broadcast area.

Many hip-hop and hits radio stations have a large group of youths listening everyday. So advertisers make ads to appeal to a certain age group or gender. Print advertisements have many positive aspects as well as television and radio. Billboards are seen by many people on the roads everyday. Billboards are effective because they reach a lot of people with huge ads. Billboards also are designed to appeal to the eye with bright colors to attract the driver to read the product being advertised.

Newspaper ads are also effective because they reach many people and they are the least expensive way of mass advertising. Advertisers use certain techniques to lure the customer to either buy the product or read the rest of the advertisement. One way advertisers try to appeal to many people by making their ads appealing to an array of age groups. They do this by making an "adult" ad contain many subliminal messages to appeal to youth.

Advertisers also try to narrow down their age group of consumers to save money and increase effectiveness. Advertisers use certain colors and pictures to help catch the eye of the consumer easily. For example restaurants will use many yellows in their ads because it sends a message of hunger to the consumer. Gender advertising is very important in youth because they are very gender bias. Young men are being taught that being over weight means that you are unattractive and lazy. Children are also very gender bias, for example boys won't play with Barbies because they are "girl toys".

Advertising therefore needs to try to appeal to both men and women for the best results. Young women are constantly bombarded with beauty products because in American society women are constantly seeking to improve their appearance. This effect of the media has had an enormous affect on American children because they are constantly being shown beautiful people in advertisements. Body image created by advertisers has had a very large effect in the world because children see the attractive person in the advertisement and think that they need to look like them. "At age thirteen, 53% of American girls are "unhappy with their bodies". This grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen".

(Bromberg, 1997) This fact has brought upon other problems with youth such as anorexia, bulimia, and depression. One out of every 11 commercials on television has a direct message about beauty not even counting the number of indirect messages. Americanized countries or even any other industrialized countries with the direct influence of television are found to have considerably more problems with eating disorders. Food advertising also affects our nation's children with obesity as well. Surveys confirm that hours spent in television viewing correlate with poor diet. This may be because television does not involve much activity therefore burning fewer calories, or the influence that the advertisements have on the food they eat.

Children often hear an advertisement for a fast food restaurant on the radio stations they listen to and the television stations they watch. This has become a growing problem across the world but has affected the United States the greatest. Tobacco industries have been blamed for many years for directing their advertisements towards teenagers. Many people have blamed advertising for underage smoking in America because the ads are appealing to young and active people. "4.1 million adolescents, ages 12 to 17 smoke". (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1996) Facts have proven that the most heavily advertised cigarettes are most popular in teens. "The three most heavily advertised brands of cigarettes (Marlboro, Camel, and Newport) are smoked by 90% of all kids who smoke".

(FDA, 1998) Advertising has taken much of the blame for underage drinking in the United States as well. Parents have been expressing their disapproval for many years about the content of the advertisements made by the alcohol industry. In 2001, beer and ale companies spent over $695 million to advertise their products on television. "When asked to choose their favorite television commercial in a spring 2002 study, more teens named commercials for Budweiser than any other brand, including Pepsi, Nike and Levi's".

(Television: Alcohol's Vast Adland) Violence in media is also a major concern with parents because they have realized that their children are being exposed to inappropriate violence. Studies have proven that violence on television has made children less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others. Children may also be more fearful of the world around them. Also studies have shown that children exposed to excessive violence may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others. Police reports also say that violent crimes committed by children have increased every year. Parents may say that this is directly related to the amount of violent television children are now exposed to.

Although there is no way to prove such a thing evidence does support that television is too violent. Parents also have a strong argument that media promotes unhealthy activity such as, laziness, and obesity. Many studies have been performed to prove that children are less active directly because of television. Hours spent slouching in front of television or computer screens, combined with carrying heavy school bags, are blamed for a five per cent increase in children with backache, according to research by the British Chiropractic Association. "Inactive Children, when compared to active children, weigh more, have higher blood pressure and lower levels of heart protective high- density lipoproteins" (American Heart Association). This fact has been able to be proven because of the overwhelming evidence shown by many studies.

Mass media has been blamed for promoting unhealthy body either by advertising unhealthy foods or the idolization of beautiful people. Since children are more susceptible to be persuaded than adults, they tend to be attracted more to food advertisements or a beautiful model. Because of the fast persuasive advertisements on television children are more attracted to the message conveyed therefore will pay more attention to it. For example, teenager's boy image is a huge burden because of peer-pressure from their schoolmates and also television advertisements. American celebrities are also very influential on children because they have everything that a successful person has as far as material things. Children view celebrities as role models therefore buying what they have or acting like them.

One of the most important features of childhood and adolescence is the development of identity. As children shape their behavior and values, they may look to heroes and role models for guidance. Advertisers realize how children idolize their heroes and role models so they use them in their ads promoting everything from clothes to beauty products. On the other side of the argument advertisers claim that the parents are at fault because they either buy the products directly or they give the money to the children to but it themselves. The advertising industry has responded to these arguments by citing the benefits exposure to media may bring to children. Even though advertisers say that they do not promote unhealthy lifestyles there is overwhelming evidence that media greatly influences children.

The feud between parents and media has been heating up recently and each party have legitimate arguments against the other. This country is famous for democracy and free enterprise so companies attempt to succeed any way possible. Advertising offers youth entertainment, diversion, a way to manage their mood states, and information on how to satisfy personal needs. Its first-class graphics, music, and humor give advertising the potential to teach children language, cognitive, social, and artistic skills.

Successful children's programs like Sesame Street rely upon advertising techniques to teach children all manner of things. Advertising has been doing this for years. More than 90% of the revenues from television advertising directed at children are reinvested in children's programs. (Gregoire) Families are being affected negatively because the values are being focused around television and media views.

With the television turned on for an average 6 hours and 48 minutes a day in homes that have it, there can be no doubt that television, as well as movies, plays a major role in influencing young minds (National Assessment of Educational Progress). Many families no longer have family dinners or gatherings: this is contributing to more time watching television and less time with parents. Now media is the most influential aspect of children's lives, in a study tested in 1980 reports that media was in third place behind parents and school. The daily diet of violence and sex that the media feeds to children poses a serious risk to the future of the nation, writes Sisera Bok in Mayhem: Violence as Public Entertainment (1998).

It is alarmist or merely sensible to ask about what happens to the souls of nurtured, as in no past society, on images of rape, torture, bombings, and massacres that are channeled into their homes from infancy? (Bok). Before finishing elementary school, the average child will see some 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on television, according to a study by the American Psychological Association. Much of the public agrees that the pervasive influence of the media has made it difficult to raise responsible children USA Today / CNN/ Gallup Poll, shows 76% of Americans say that negative influences from television, movies and music pose a serious problem for parents trying to raise children (USA Today / CNN/ Gallup poll). A majority of people in the poll said that there are many negative influences in the culture that even children whose parents do a good job may get into trouble. Other people, however, say that popular culture has become a scapegoat for social problems among children.

They claim that the culture is creating an immoral generation of young people. Most studies show that parents have more influence on children's morals and behavior than any other factor. Parents, rather than media companies, should take responsibility for monitoring the media that children encounter. Advertising agencies note that parents will be gaining greater control over television programming with the new technology of the v-chip.

The v-chip is technology that allows parents to block television shows that are inappropriate for children. The system works on a system of ratings that blocks out any channel including advertisements for viewing. V-chip technology is a feature newer televisions have to screen inappropriate channels. Every television station has a maturity rating that judges what material is normally shown on that station.

Parents can set the v-chip ratings to suit the age group of their children, so only the acceptable maturity rating television stations will appear on the screen. Many steps made by the government have helped the screening of inappropriate material to youth. Technologies such as v-chip, parental controls, and television age ratings help to a certain extent but media will always search for new ways to influence young Americans. Television is the most effective way to advertise in most cases but certainly not the only way. The cheap, appealing, and accessible advertising through the internet has been growing every year". Evidence about the effectiveness of this advertising has come mainly from industry reports.

Five recent reports conclude that internet advertisements build brands (i. e., increase advertisement awareness, brand awareness, brand image, or intent to purchase). These studies suggest that size, use of interactive elements (such as flash or DHTML), and advertisement position increase branding" (Interactive Advertising Bureau, 2002). ].