Marketing To Children Research Paper

Marketing to children has been a global epidemic for decades encouraging health issues, and influencing children to make decisions that are not theirs to make. The children’s market is a booming industry that generates approximately $500 billion in purchases every single year for just children under the age of 12. This paper will explore why marketing to children is unethical, as they are underage and should not be a target of content that is not suitable for their age. I will argue that children are minors and should not be marketed inappropriate content that shapes their purchase influence, gender roles and transmits stereotypes, violence, sex, and morals. As well as, cause deviance as social structures encourages them to seek objectives …show more content…
This shows Gender Biological Determinism, that boys have to be more aggressive, violent and hold power, while girls are nurturing and sexual figures in society. Males are shown things like wrestling, having money, and bad guys always dealing with issue with a sort of weapon; while girls are shown a type of way that they should dress, sexuality, and being popular or standing out. This all makes children grow up to be a certain way or wanting to be a certain way because they see it through media so regularly. Children are technically role-taking of people or things they see through media. “Role-taking is the process by which we co-ordinate or align our actions with those of others” (pg.76), and if all they see are sexual or violent figures, those are the traits children are more likely to develop when growing older. Physical communication is a necessity for children to continuously improve and learn new character traits that will decide their future, instead of being bombarded with media outlets everywhere they turn. Humans need communication as that’s what makes us social beings. Socialization occurs from birth, and there are expected behaviors from a boy or a girl deemed as appropriate due to culture, known as Gender-role socialization. Media shows us not to be different or you won’t fit into society. That is no way for a child to be raised, already having expectations to act a certain way to fit into a gender-role. Children should communicate with other children or adults as they are more receptive to learning than they will ever be. Instead of being fed advertisements and deceptive marketing tactics that target kids and get them addicted to staying in front of a TV or computer screen all