Advertising companies have found a highly profitable niche, the youth market. With the advancement of technology and the many different electronic devices readily available to the American youth, the advertisements that children have access to effect the way in which they develop. Advertisements tell children that they should have materialistic values in life and encourage consumerism from an early age. Because children are surrounded by screens and advertisements, their interests are being swayed to what the advertisement companies want them to purchase, without knowing that the intention of the commercial is to persuade them to make purchases.. The way in which advertisement companies target children also effects the way in which children
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In fact, “before [children] reach the age of eight, …[they] are unaware that commercials are designed to persuade them to buy specific products,” (Calvert, 2008, p 214). While Children are viewing these commercials, movies, and television shows, they develop a desire to own toys, clothes, and even shoes that have these characters plastered onto them. Fortunately for the Walt Disney Company, children are powerful influencers on their parents spending patterns when it comes to vacations, toys, and even what foods to buy (p 207) Susan Calvert goes on to explain that “children between the ages of two and seven” are limited to the “preoperational thought” stage of Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; therefore, they are cognitively bound to focus on how products look (2008, p 214). Young children also use “animistic thinking”, according to Calvert, which allows them to believe that imaginary characters, like the Disney characters in Figure 1, are in fact real (2008, p 214). The Walt Disney Company takes advantage of children’s preoperational thought processes and uses many outlets through “media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media,” (Disney, 2016) to persuade them to buy their products. When children see the Disney characters in Figure 1, they cannot understand that the characters are in all actuality, people wearing costumes; instead, they see their favorite TV characters walking around Walt Disney World and they want to join them on a vacation, and purchase items with their favorite characters on
In fact, “before [children] reach the age of eight, …[they] are unaware that commercials are designed to persuade them to buy specific products,” (Calvert, 2008, p 214). While Children are viewing these commercials, movies, and television shows, they develop a desire to own toys, clothes, and even shoes that have these characters plastered onto them. Fortunately for the Walt Disney Company, children are powerful influencers on their parents spending patterns when it comes to vacations, toys, and even what foods to buy (p 207) Susan Calvert goes on to explain that “children between the ages of two and seven” are limited to the “preoperational thought” stage of Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; therefore, they are cognitively bound to focus on how products look (2008, p 214). Young children also use “animistic thinking”, according to Calvert, which allows them to believe that imaginary characters, like the Disney characters in Figure 1, are in fact real (2008, p 214). The Walt Disney Company takes advantage of children’s preoperational thought processes and uses many outlets through “media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media,” (Disney, 2016) to persuade them to buy their products. When children see the Disney characters in Figure 1, they cannot understand that the characters are in all actuality, people wearing costumes; instead, they see their favorite TV characters walking around Walt Disney World and they want to join them on a vacation, and purchase items with their favorite characters on