Influence of TV Advertising on Children - Essay Example

Running header: Influence of TV advertising on Children Student’s name: Instructor’s name: Subject code: Date of submission: THE INFLUENCE OF TV ADVERTISING ON CHILDREN INTRODUCTION The invention of the TV is one of man’s most important steps in enabling him to reach out to the world at large in an easier way. Different happenings and occurrences across the globe can be watched by man at the comfort of their homes. Despite the fact that that some bad traits linked to TV advertising to the children has been raised, TV advertising has some benefits to the children. The traits gained depends much on how often the TV is watched and the content watched by the children. Some of them include; acquisition of social skills by children, acquisition of educative skills by children, skills and talent development, promotion of cultural awareness among children Not all programs lead to the development of bad habits by the children. Social skills are earned some of them which include the act of sharing, etiquette and good manners. They also develop interactive skills with others which results to the development of good life skills. Good role models and examples on TV can positively influence the kids. Children are very much influenced by the people they see on TV. Most especially, children are motivated a lot by the other children they see on TV (Ehow.com, 2014). Over the recent days, TV shows and advertisements have begun promoting some positive agendas such as healthy living and environmental awareness. The parents can also play a key role in the development of skills and good traits in children by pointing out the positive traits of the characters and the TV. Some shows aired on TVs are very educative to the children. In some instances, children learn better from watching compared to what is learnt at schools. Educative shows leads to the improvement of the attitudes of the children on learning. Children are also educated on life skills traits such as good hygiene practices among other positive impacts as explained below. Due to the fact that a large variety of shows are shown on the TVs, children are able to well watch the shows which interest them. This leads to the development of the skills which they like. Documentaries aired and the historical programs together with movies enable children to learn the cultures of the other people and countries. The children are able to learn the ways of life of the other communities. They are also able to learn more about other aspects such as religion, music, arts and fashion of people. TVs can help the older children to develop their own opinions about the controversial topics in life. They also learn traits helpful in life such as conflict resolution which helps them to interact better with the smaller children. Through watching the TV, children are able to develop analytical skills which are useful in their day to day life. Some of these include the query creation and solving in the minds of the children. TVS are one of the best means of relaxations. Some of the programs aired help develop a feeling of relaxation. They also give room for ample family resting and relaxation. Some of the most entertaining show for the children is the nature shows and the documentaries. Children shows also act as very entertaining content due to the fact that children are able to connect to them. Despite the fact that the TVs have so many merits, some demerits are associated with them. Some of them include wastage of time, development of passive character among children among other negative impacts as explained below. There are so many programs in the televisions which the children cannot turn off. More interesting shows are prone to continued watching hours for the children. Children can spend many hours glued to the TV hours which when used in another way may lead to the acquisition of other important skills to the children. Prolonged TV watching can lead to the children developing a passive nature and attitude. This is due to the fact that every image, sound and picture is passed continually without the children talking and hence development of passiveness. Due to this, the children will in the future just receive information without responding to the speaker. This will also lead to the brain lacking to think and develop ideas as it does in a normal scenario. This is different if compared to those children who go to parks and other recreational areas. The creative ability of children is hampered by this continued TV hours. The prolonged TV viewing is harmful to the heath of the children. There are many diseases associated with continued TV watching (TV ca n be good for Kids, 2014). One of the diseases is short sightedness. This disease has in recent past been prevalent in the young people and can be traced to the continued TV watching. Some programs aired on TVs may have scenes which can lead to moral downpour of the children e.g. cases of violence. Over the recent years, marketers have been targeting children in their adverts due to the fact that it is easy to lure them in. children are very influential in that they can easily insist on their parents to buy what they see on the adverts and the commercials. In recent days, children not only lure their parents to buy toys foe example for them but they also buy them themselves. This is the main reason behind why many marketers are targeting children in their adverts. Is has been proved through research work that children can go an extra mile of even spending their own money in a bid to buy and possess what interests them. It is believed that only good things accrue when you advertise to the kids. Children are the vision carriers of any given society. Due to this, children are the ones that carry traditions, beliefs, customs, and cultures of societies. They are also the knowledge carriers of the human race. Unforgettably, it is also important to note that children are also future consumers. They are the driving forces of the economy to the next generation. Over the recent past, advertising for children has been a successful way to build a solid consumer base that will win over the minds of the children and in turn provide a lifetime consumer purchasing trend (Young, 2003). Advertising to children leads to the development of a trend called a nag factor. A nag factor is when a child sees an ad for a product and cries and complains to the parent until the parent purchases the item. Statistics gotten from a study undertaken reveal that over half of all families to the study reported to agree with the request of a child just to avoid an argument. Over the last couple of years also, there has been a drastic increase in the amount of influence the kids have on cars, durable goods and other house hold items. The power in the house hold purchases in being ceded to the children. There has conversely been criticism fro psychologists claiming that the adverts are focused on mind control. This is however being to the advantage of the marketers and the advertisers. There are many benefits associated to children advertising. This is due to the fact that the children are the future of the society and are also an important part of the present. An understanding must be developed on the economy of today (Wartella, 84). Advertising to children creates jobs, injects money to the economy and instills into the children while still at a young age the importance of making of choices. Some of the beneficial adverts to the children include those that are selling educational books for the children and other learning material. Nonetheless, there are several negative attributes associated to advertising on the children. Some include advertisements made to the children about foods which are of little or no nutritional value to the children. These advertisements are based on the fact that the ads makes use of eye catching foods to the children and who with insistence will make their parents buy the items displayed in the ads. Some of these foods on display include pizzas and candies which are not as nutritious to the children. Television impacts the children the most for as far as advertising is concerned. When children spend time watching televisions, they cannot help but be influenced by it and will begin to want what they see (Irene, I, Ayantunji, G, Robert, H& Eddy, 2012). These children become so obsessed with what they see and end up making their parents to buy them the products. These children that are watching the TV more will develop a need for more toys and more food s as compared to those who watch TVs for shorter durations. CONCLUSION. To sum up the discussion, it is important to parents to limit the TV time with something more educational like reading a book or playing outside. As seen above, the influence of TV advertising on children is great and affects the children and the other related parties in many different ways. Thus, control measures should be put in place to avoid misleading ads to the children REFERENCES Ehow.com, 2014, Benefits of television to kids, Retrieved on 10th May 2014, from; http://www.ehow.com/list_6301753_benefits-television-kids_.html TV ca n be good for Kids, 2014, Retrieved on 10th May 2014, from; kidstvmovies.about.com/od/healthytvhabits/a/tvgoodforkids.htm Young, B2003, Does food advertising influence children food choices? A critical review of some of the recent literature, International Journal of advertising, vol. 22, pp. 441-459. Wartella, E84, Cognitive and Affective Factors of TV advertising’s influence on children, the western Journal of Speech Communication, vol. 48, pp. 171-183. Irene, I, Ayantunji, G, Robert, H& Eddy, T2012, children's attitudinal reactions to TV advertisements: The African experience, International Journal of Market Research, vol. 54, no. 4, pp.1-20. Read More

Despite the fact that the TVs have so many merits, some demerits are associated with them. Some of them include wastage of time, development of passive character among children among other negative impacts as explained below. There are so many programs in the televisions which the children cannot turn off. More interesting shows are prone to continued watching hours for the children. Children can spend many hours glued to the TV hours which when used in another way may lead to the acquisition of other important skills to the children.

Prolonged TV watching can lead to the children developing a passive nature and attitude. This is due to the fact that every image, sound and picture is passed continually without the children talking and hence development of passiveness. Due to this, the children will in the future just receive information without responding to the speaker. This will also lead to the brain lacking to think and develop ideas as it does in a normal scenario. This is different if compared to those children who go to parks and other recreational areas.

The creative ability of children is hampered by this continued TV hours. The prolonged TV viewing is harmful to the heath of the children. There are many diseases associated with continued TV watching (TV ca n be good for Kids, 2014). One of the diseases is short sightedness. This disease has in recent past been prevalent in the young people and can be traced to the continued TV watching. Some programs aired on TVs may have scenes which can lead to moral downpour of the children e.g. cases of violence.

Over the recent years, marketers have been targeting children in their adverts due to the fact that it is easy to lure them in. children are very influential in that they can easily insist on their parents to buy what they see on the adverts and the commercials. In recent days, children not only lure their parents to buy toys foe example for them but they also buy them themselves. This is the main reason behind why many marketers are targeting children in their adverts. Is has been proved through research work that children can go an extra mile of even spending their own money in a bid to buy and possess what interests them.

It is believed that only good things accrue when you advertise to the kids. Children are the vision carriers of any given society. Due to this, children are the ones that carry traditions, beliefs, customs, and cultures of societies. They are also the knowledge carriers of the human race. Unforgettably, it is also important to note that children are also future consumers. They are the driving forces of the economy to the next generation. Over the recent past, advertising for children has been a successful way to build a solid consumer base that will win over the minds of the children and in turn provide a lifetime consumer purchasing trend (Young, 2003).

Advertising to children leads to the development of a trend called a nag factor. A nag factor is when a child sees an ad for a product and cries and complains to the parent until the parent purchases the item. Statistics gotten from a study undertaken reveal that over half of all families to the study reported to agree with the request of a child just to avoid an argument. Over the last couple of years also, there has been a drastic increase in the amount of influence the kids have on cars, durable goods and other house hold items.

The power in the house hold purchases in being ceded to the children. There has conversely been criticism fro psychologists claiming that the adverts are focused on mind control. This is however being to the advantage of the marketers and the advertisers. There are many benefits associated to children advertising. This is due to the fact that the children are the future of the society and are also an important part of the present. An understanding must be developed on the economy of today (Wartella, 84).

Advertising to children creates jobs, injects money to the economy and instills into the children while still at a young age the importance of making of choices.

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