Educational Media International 29[4], December 1992, pp.254-260
This study interested me simply because it is a rarity to have research collected from so many countries, correlated to form what has the potential to be an intriguing comparative study. Collins et al. are interested in television advertising because they believe that it mirrors both television programming and so-called 'real-life', and that it should not be neglected because each and every individual may see something of themselves in the screen image of an typical consumer. Their main concern is that the notion of audience pliability has generally been limited to the negative aspects of advertising, and they suggest that there may also be some positive aspects to many advertising campaigns, believing that depictions of compassion and self-sacrifice exist but are not seen as 'infectious' as depictions of violence and selfishness [p.254]. From this initial point, many questions are raised about the effects that advertising has on individuals. Children inevitably become a main focus of investigation because they are usually regarded as 'impressionable'. Perhaps advertising companies do take advantage of their vulnerability as consumers.
Indeed, there is a belief that younger children are incapable of distinguishing differences between the advertisements and the actual programmes shown. Blatt et al. [1972] have argued that this fact alone makes children totally open to persuasion [p.254]. Perhaps research in this field has, in the past, been overly concerned with the natural fears of parents, since more recent findings by Gaines and Esserman [1981] demonstrate that maturing children quickly learn to distinguish advertisements from regular programming, and even being to develop a scepticism for the advertisements seen. It is, however, concerning that children can be exposed to as many as 23 hours of advertisements in a week. Coupled with this is the confusion emphasised by Davies [1989], who concludes that the connection between 'what is seen' and 'what happens afterwards' remains unclear [p.254]. It is clearly important, therefore, in any study of this nature, to attempt an assessment of the possible relationship between children's perceptions of the world and the techniques employed by the advertising industry.
Christmas Presents
With these theories and questions in mind, Collins et al. set about observing the degree to which children are affected by advertising in four different countries- Ireland, Australia, Norway and the USA. Their studies were mainly concerned with groups of nine year olds, who were asked to complete questionnaires in the four week period leading up to Christmas [1990]. Having read about this particular feature of the Collins' study, I feel that my own research would benefit from a similar questionnaire, asking basic questions about the toys that children are hoping to receive this Christmas and how exactly they learnt about the existence of these toys. Having gathered together the initial attitudes of their subjects, Collins et al. proceeded to hypothesise about the possible connection between television advertising and the subsequent buying patterns of the family.
They stress that the results gleaned from this study confirm what they had already suspected- television advertisements do play an important role in stimulating the interests of children. What is more, they found a more clearly marked influence over boys than girls, though this may be explained in part by the fact that boys are in a slight majority in all the countries studied. Australia was the only country in which it was not the case that boys were most likely to have seen their hoped-for Christmas present on television. Yet their argument seems to be weakened somewhat by their own admission that over 40% of the children in all four countries had not seen their hoped-for present on television; those who had are therefore only in a small majority [p.255]. Other sources of information concerning particular products were listed by the children questioned as: magazines, catalogues, friends and store displays. So television advertising, though powerful, is by no means the only information source.
During the study, Collins et al. found that some children have more access to a television advertising than others, due mainly to the fact that circumstances vary greatly from one country to another. For example: as a result of deregulation, the Australian commercial channels are saturated with advertisements, with anything up to 15 minutes of advertising in any one hour, with approximately 8 advertisements shown in sequence. In massive contrast is the situation in Norway, where advertisements are allowed to be screened for only 20 minutes a day, with no more than six minutes in every hour taken up with trying to sell a product. What is more astounding is that advertisements directed at children are strictly forbidden. A country like Ireland was seen to fall somewhere within these two extremes. Needless to say, the percentage of those children who had seen their hoped-for Christmas present on television correlated with the frequency and saturation of advertising allowed in their home countries.
Birthday Presents
Collins et al. established that half of all Christmas presents are first seen on television. However, only two-thirds of birthday presents were reported to have been seen in this way. They suggest a number of reasons for this discrepancy, which I have summarised in point-form below:
Advertising and Programming
Certain technical parallels may be drawn between the construction of advertisements and programmes. For example: there is a tendency for making short programmes or those broken into segments, shorter still in an effort to maintain interest. Indeed, children have become accustomed to the high speeds of computer games and anything slower just does appeal to the same effort of concentration! Similarly, presenters on children's television channels tend to be funny, occasionally wacky and slapstick in a bid to retain attention; characteristics familiar to those in the world of advertising [p.257]. When asked what appealed to them most in advertisements, children expressed preference for action and singing/dancing, but humour was listed as the single most important feature.
Collins et al. then moved on to ask children how truthful they believed advertisements to be. A huge proportion [68-89%] felt that, at best, advertisements told the truth only sometimes. The study concludes that it is clearly inaccurate to suppose that children are victims of advertising, since they are far more discerning than most adults give them credit for. When asked, most children were clear on the point that not all advertisements are truly honest because they are based completely on the manufacturers wish to sell a product, no matter what tactics are required to fulfil such an objective. What is more astounding is the fact that most children are convinced that their parents are more effected by the television advertisements they see, which Collins et al. acknowledge as a neat and rather amusing reversal of adult concerns [p.259]. Finally, they argue that advertisements can be regarded as 'public service', since they clarify the choices available, help children to know what they want and allow parents to make an acceptable choice when purchasing gifts. Advertising is ultimately concerned with informing potential consumers about the existence of a particular product, and it is not unreasonable to suggest that children use advertisements for exactly this purpose. What is clear from this study is that the discernment of children should not be underestimated, and this must surely be remembered when embarking upon a similar study of one's own.