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Abstract

‘Pester power’ refers to children’s ability to nag their parents into purchasing items they may not otherwise buy. Marketing to children is all about creating pester power, because advertisers know what a powerful force it can be. This article studies relevant literature from both national and international side; and analyzes the antecedents of assumption of undue power by kids over their parents in an Indian context.

Description

Prasoon Joshi, Creative Director of McCann Erickson says, “Kids are responsible for making an ad a hit or flop.”1 Children’s behavior over the years has become more divergent and independent at a global level. They enjoy freedom in almost everything they do with more autonomy in decision making than before. Compared to previous generations, family purchase decisions have been more children-specific or kidscentric. Children are even seen as major influence in family purchases, being unreasonably vocal about their needs and wants, which is otherwise known as ‘pester power’ or ‘kidfluence’2. ‘Pester power’ refers to children’s ability to nag their parents into purchasing items they may not otherwise buy (Mintel, 2002). These undue influences of children over parental decisions are not undermined by marketers especially when the product is for the kids. Marketing to children is all about creating pester power, because advertisers know what a powerful force it can be.3 Today, the awareness level of children on any product is very high. Starting from junk food to digital and electronic item, kids have their own source of information on them. Media boom and advertisement has helped a great deal for the same. Thus, for the marketers, children make a huge market and anything that builds up pestering means sales today. There are many factors which make pestering happen. Along with direct nagging, kids’ indirect influence on family purchase decision is seen too, where parents give due weightage to kids’ preferences anytime they make purchase decision. Attention- Interest-Desire-Action (or AIDA) model of advertising seems to work very swiftly in case of kids and hence constitutes marketers’ prerogative. The article highlights various factors in global scenario, and Indian context of the issue along with an audit of current industry practice amid regulatory environment.

Keywords

Advertising Express Magazine, Contemporary Advertising Practice, Pester Power in India, Pester Power – An Inference from Literature, Behavioral Manifestation of Kids, Kid’s Apparel Market, Kids Play Important Role in Buying, Use of Technology by Young Children, Advertising vis-a-vis Kids, Children See Technology as Toys, Kids in the Age of Technology, Complan Ad, Advertising in India – A Concern for Kids, Few Indian Ad Examples, Horlicks Ad, Top Ramen Smooth Noodles Ad, McDonald's Boy friend & Girl friend Ad, Advertising Standard Council of India Logo, Children and Ad Ethics.

* Faculty, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur ** Senior Faculty, ICFAI Business School, Jaipur

http://www.iupindia.in/default.asp

Pester Power Effect of Advertising Prof. Swati Soni* Prof. Makarand Upadhyaya** Abstract The Paper touches upon a sensitive issue of rising consumerism in children owing to the flood of new TV programming presents gleaming images of a consumer culture at odds with the realities of most Indian children. Advertisers in India are frankly preparing children to become dutiful consumers in a society riddled not just with economic problems but also with social and cultural patterns that defy the entry of modern gadgets such as washing machines. There are several ads that could be detrimental to children either because they encourage them to act in an unsafe manner or because they propound questionable values. Some also misrepresent information. The second issue that the paper addresses is premature brand learning that plays an important role in future brand selection behavior. The third issue addresses the childrens’ culture, which is over dominated by technologically mediated entertainment and advertising. Indeed, in their culture advertising and entertainment are converging. This hybridization is happening in a variety of ways. These include cross-selling and licensed merchandising, program length commercials, product placement and the production of advertisements as entertainment in their own right. ‘Product placement’ is also growing as marketers introduce brands into the sets and increasingly the scripts of children’s films. Like program length commercials, product placement is a covert form of advertising which promotes brand awareness and loyalty.

Introduction The world belongs to kids. Kids today mean business. Marketing to kids may be your passport to growth. Companies are using this segment to rake in profits. Kids have a firmer grip over the society than

what their parents ever had. Not only are they consumers in their own right, they also have a major influence over the family’s purchasing power. "Kid fluence" is the direct or indirect influence kids have

over family household purchases. Indirect influence means that the kids’ preferences are given consideration when parents make a purchase decision. The major driving force behind this sweeping

change is the Advertising. Advertising has changed the way kids learn, react and behave to a large extent. On the television, too, only 18percent of the total viewing is of the kids’ channels, while 80 percent still

continues to be general viewing. One can imagine the vast untapped potential that lies hitherto. Kid-fluence, the ‘Nag’ Factor and ‘Pester Power’ “Mom I want this. Dad I want this” are the demands, fuelled

by marketing tactics that erode the adult wallets. The bug is none other than Pester Power. The power children have, by repeated nagging, of influencing their parents to buy advertised or fashionable items is called as Pester power. The marketers are relying on the kids to pester the mom to buy the product, rather than going straight to the mom- Barbara A Martino (Advertising executive) Kids rule, be they in terms of

what to watch over TV or what to buy for themselves or what a household buys. The influence that the kids wield over purchase decisions in a household along with the nagging effect that they have on their parents is growing day by day. With the increase in the number of working couples, their pester power isinversely proportionate to the time available with parents. Their day begins with Tom and Jerry and ends with Dexter. Besides, there has to be in place the entire collection of Barbie, Play station, frequenting at Mc Donalds, trendiest watch, school bag with Power Puff Girls on it, an independent mobile, television, PC and that too ‘cool’ branded ones. Kids seem to want virtually ‘more’ of everything. There is an untiring wish list of food, fun, collectibles, gadgets and brands. Part IV – Advertising & Society International Marketing Conference on Marketing & Society, 8-10 April, 2007, IIMK 314

Frontline, the PBS documentary series, notes that Millennial Teens influence more than $50 billion adult spending every year and pester an adult 25 times on an average before the desired product or experience is finally bequeathed. Over 95% of kids have pestered their parents for a product promoted on TV, according to a new survey by www.raisingkids.co.uk. T Pester Power in India The arrival of niche channels like the Cartoon Network, Hungama and Toonami has given a big push to the kid power in

India. According to some estimates, in 2005, there were more than 120 million tween (children between 8-12 years of age). Among them around 45 million live in urban areas who have the power of determining or influencing the whopping Rs. 20,000 crore worth purchasing decisions on food, mobile phones, apparel, cars and FMCGs. This offers a big temptation to the marketers to treat the pre-adolescents as mature and independent customers and creating a peter power. Using this strategy, they have been successful in making parents almost redundant in purchase decision. Starcom India MD, West and South, Ravi Kiran puts the ad spend per year on products that are for kids' consumption but bought by mothers (parents) like Horlicks and Complan is 12 to 15 per cent of the total Rs 38000 million pie, close to Rs 5000 to 6000 million. "Ad spend per year on products targeted for kids' consumption and also bought by them like chocolates, wafers etc is seven to eight per cent, that is around Rs 3000 million," says Kiran. India's top advertising spender shave included Nestle India atRs 1507.1 million in December 2002, Britannia Industries which spent Rs 906.3 in March 2002 and Cadbury India which spent Rs 876.7 million in December 2002 - MNCs all which push products consumed predominantly by children. What and How Much Indian Tweens spent on (Rs. in crores) Apparel 7,000 Gizmos 4,650 Food and Eating Out 2,500 FMCGs 940 Games 150 Entertainment 150 Books 80 CDs/DVDs 60 Source: “Tween Power”, Business Today, January 1, 2006 Drivers of Pester Power Indian society has undergone a sweeping change in terms of the structure and environment of its vital institution-The Family. •More working women and consequently more dual income families. •Grand parents’ increasing role in bringing up children because of working mothers. Grand parents’ are the fastest growing income sources for the children. •Rise in the number of single parent households Research supports that children in single parent households make their first purchases almost a year earlier than their two-parent household counterparts. •Delayed parenthood This results in parents with more disposable incomes at the time their children are born. A 2000 study of 50 older couples by SNDT Universityshowed that most of them had kids after they turned 35. “The average age of career women starting a family may well have touched the mid-30s,” says gynecologist Dr Duru Shah. •Greater exposure to kids There is an ever-increasing exposure to kids both in terms of technology and mass media. Part IV – Advertising & Society International Marketing Conference on Marketing & Society, 8-10 April, 2007, IIMK 315

•The pang and guilt of not being able to spend much quality time with children is compensated by smothering them with material goods. •Hurried Child Syndrome and Hyper parenting Parents today overscheduled their children’s’ life with a heavy dose of academics and extra-curricular activities, forcing the little adults to excel both at school and extra academics. David Elkind, a child psychologist, first proposed this in 1981 in his book The Hurried Child: Growing up too fast.•The ‘Askable’ Parent The great authoritarian divide between parents and children is inexistent. ‘Parenting’ is out and being pals/friends to the children is the in thing. Communication between parents and children has opened up considerably and the stereotypical roles have become rarer. This endearment encouraged the wanton kids to ask for material pleasures which they know would never be denied by their parent turned pal.

•Growth of retail sector There appears to be a high positive correlation between the growth of the retail sector and the development of the kids market. There are opportunities galore. Every departmental has a space assigned exclusively for kids merchandise ranging from Kriish apparels to Power Ranger bikes. A perfect example is the growth of indoor amusement centres in malls targeted to children. •Kids channels-a newer phenomenon The dedicated channels to kids programming target kids in two ways-‘eyeballs’ on channels that is, viewing and brand promotions. Cartoon Network and Disney lead the pack. Children and Advertising-Issues and concerns The effect of advertising on children and their portrayal in advertisements are sensitive issues. The common issues surrounding children and advertising are: •Making children desire things which their parents cannot afford or which they (children) will not be able to use. •Pester power: Encouraging children to pester their parents for advertised product or service. •Showing children in unsafe or dangerous situations which the kids may emulate.Child rights activists are up in arms against MTV and Pepsi for depicting children in a negative light and endorsing child labor in their advertisements. The NGOs are especially peeved with the Pepsi commercial as, they say, it glorifies child labor. The ad shows a child negotiating a dangerous route to reach the Indian cricket team that is waiting for their drinks. The protestors believe that by featuring the entire Indian cricket team, the multinational was depicting India as a whole as endorsing child labor. •Making children feel inferior, especially if theydon’t buy products and services shown in the ads. .•Advertising soft drinks and high fat/sugar contents to kids. Images of children often appear in advertisements, both those designed to sell children’s products and those designed to persuade adults to buy anything from car insurance to carpets Children are the vulnerable members of the society- in order for them to lead healthy, normal lives, children rely on adults for safety, shelter, food, clothingeducation and love. The marketers, as adults, have the responsibility to depict children in the advertisements in a more responsible and responsive manner.

Catering to the Little Customers-the Kids There are numerous examples where the marketers are either innovating their offerings for the kids or re-positioning themselves to cater to the segment that is becoming influential in the family purchase decisions. Part IV – Advertising & Society International Marketing Conference on Marketing & Society, 8-10 April, 2007, IIMK 316

•Horlicks repositioned itself as a ‘pleasurable nourisher for the entire family’. •ICICI has launched a special account for kids in association with cartoon network. This is to cater to the aspirational and demanding kids by catching them young. Doing this, ICICI has made a presence across the entire life cycle of person. Along with the account, the child can now avail of a personalized debit card. •The rising fad among kids towards toiletries and cosmetics has given birth to products targeted at children like L'Oréal Kids. •Britannia Khao, World Cup Jaao - a campaign that was a rage, especially among the kids during the 1999 cricket World Cup. Thanks to Kidstuff’s Promotions and Events (KPE), the brainchild behind the campaign, Britannia’s products were picked up from the shelves like hot cakes. Britannia even launched a new biscuit called Multi-vita just for the kids aged between one to three years.•Novartis India tells school children that they need two calcium tablets (Calcium Sandoz) a day to develop healthy bones and sharp brain. After complaints by the Consumer Education and Research Centre of Ahmedabad, Novartis dropped the exaggerated promotional campaign it was conducting inside schools. Doctors are of the view that calcium sandoz contained salts in addition to calcium carbonate and

its reckless use by children who did not suffer from calcium deficiency might lead to kidney stones because of excessive intake of salts. •Raymond eyes the Rs.27, 000 crore kids wear market with ZAPP! The first store in Ahmedabad followed by another in Bandra, Mumbai.(The name ZAPP! comes from the initials of the four cartoon characters — Zion, Ashley, Posh and Pixel — who have a different world on planet Zuto.)ZAPP! has tied up with Warner Brothers for the ‘Superman’ brand of clothing in India. Each of the stores comes with lots of space for kids to move around and choose from. The clothes are kept in such a way that kids of any height can pick them up, so they get the feeling that they are shopping for themselves. The company wants to create an open communication channel through a website and build upon the relationship through it and the ZAPP! Club, giving each member an individual experience through special events. A membership card records preferences such as styles and colors. It also allows kids to swipe their cards to see a customized version of themselves on a plasma screen at the entry of every store. •Magazines such as Time, Sports Illustrated and People have all launched kid and teen editions—which boast ads for adult related products such as minivans, hotels and airlines.Catch Them Young at Schools and Web Advertisers have very blatantly entered the schools. They put up posters and billboards in the schools, persuading the cash-starved schools intoopening their doors to them by paying for access to classrooms and space for their advertising material and promotions. Web-based groups providing free e-mail accounts and contests with tempting prizes is another strategy that is rampantly used. This almost approximates to a crime because it isnothing less than attacking the natural credulity of the most innocent, most gullible and most inexperienced beings on earth. Child Psychology Unraveled Children think and behave differently from adults. They are great observers, highly creative, very insightful, spontaneous, sensitive and volatile. They have different emotional, social and developmental needs at different stages. Consumer socialization is the process by which these kids acquire skills, knowledge and attitudes pertaining to their functioning as consumers in the marketplace. This is based on child development -how age related patterns emerge across Part IV – Advertising & Society International Marketing Conference on Marketing & Society, 8-10 April, 2007, IIMK 317

children’s growing sophistication as consumers, including their knowledge of products, brands, advertising, shopping, pricing and decision-making. Three to seven years of age is approximatelythe Perceptual stage wherein the child can distinguish ads from programs based on perceptualfeatures, believes the ads as truthful, funny and interesting and holds positive attitudes towards the ad. As against this, seven to eleven years of age is the Analytical Stage wherein the child distinguishes ads from programs based on persuasive intent, understands that the ad may have contain a bias and deception and can also

hold negative attitudes towards ads. Eleven to Sixteen years of age is the Reflective Stage and here the child understands the persuasive intent of ads along with the specific ad tactics and appeals. He believes that the ads lie and knows how to spot the specific instances of bias and deception. In a nutshell, he is skepticaltowards the claims made in the ad. The Development of Critical Sense Children's reactions to advertisement can be very different from grown-ups. Kids have a short attention span and are extremely quick to criticize or reject advertising that does not fulfill their viewing criteria. If adults see a product advertised and don't find it when they go shopping they forget about it. As children develop the ability to recognize and understand ads and their purpose they start making demands. If these demands are not fulfilled they might start screaming or throwing themselves to the floor. It is difficult to explain to young children the reasons why they cannot have everything which - according to advertising - is 'for them'. Research by advertising agencies has confirmed that children's personal preferences can be targeted and changed by TV advertising. Family dynamics are thus influenced by advertisements that create demands and provide children with arguments why they should want a particular thing; this can make life extremely difficult for parents who for financial or moral reasons refuse to comply. Research has confirmed the influence of the media upon the close conformity between children's tastes and perceived needs and the content of the programs they watch. Teachers say they know what has been on TV the night before by the games the children play the next day. Some Research Findings Findings of the Kids’ Lifestyle Study- New Generations 2005-conducted by Cartoon Network •Mobile Phones with cameras rank the highest in the list of gadgets of desire for kids 7-14. •74 percent of the children, who have heard of mobile phones with cameras, saying that they, would like to own one. •This is followed by X-Box at 45 percent, apple I-Pod at 43 percent and Sony Play station at 33 percent. •Nokia turned out to be the ‘coolest’ brand among this age group with 72 percent saying that its very ‘cool’ followed by Sony (71 percent), LG (60 percent), Microsoft (39 percent), Reliance (56 percent) ,Wipro (35 percent),HCL(32 percent),Google (31 percent), Infosys (30 percent) amongst the kids who have heard of these companies.•Passe Syndrome-The research talks of a Passe Syndrome amongst kids that makes kids increasingly dismiss products that fail to cater to their immediate needs, an outcome of the wide choice that they have at their disposal. They seem to be moving to the next beat thing a lot quicker and a lot many times. They form the most unloyal, ever experimenting and most fickle demographic segment, being always in the ‘what’s next’ mode. They are actually promo loyalists and keep switching brands for better offers.Part IV – Advertising & Society International Marketing Conference on Marketing & Society, 8-10 April, 2007, IIMK 318

Times Magazine and Consumer report 2005 list of top-10kid-bribes •Nintendogs

•FLY Pentop Computer •I-Dog •Zizzle lz •Pixel Chix •Shift Tricycle •PlasmaCar •20Q Orb •One laptop per child AC Nielson Research •A greater access to pocket money and a bigger say in purchase decisions has resulted in children being more informative and demanding. Impulse category brands are always being evaluated. The need for something new, something novel makes them experimenting on the retail front and keeps marketers on their toes, trying hard to keep their brands in the top-of-mind-recall at all days of the wek and all times of the day. •Kids are extremely conscious about product features and thereby brands and hence comes the kidfluence. US studies on the impact and influence of advertising on children show that •An estimated $12 billion a year is now spent on advertising and marketing to children (The Kids' Market: Myths and Realities; McNeal, James; 1999) •Young children are not able to distinguish between commercials and TV programs. They do not recognize that commercials are trying to sell something (Television and the American Child; Comstock, George, 1991; Academic Press Inc) •In 2000, teenagers, ages 12 to 17, spent a record $155 billion (New York Times; Salamon, J. March; 2001). •In 2001, children ages four to twelve spent an estimated $35 billion (Tapping the Three Kids' Markets. American Demographics; McNeal, James; April 1998). •In 1997, children 12 years and under, directly and indirectly, influenced the household spending of $500 billion (McNeal, 1998). •The average American child may view as many as 40,000 television commercials every year (Strasburger, 2001). •Children as young as age three recognize brand logos (Fischer, 1991), with brand loyalty influence starting at age two (McNeal, 1992). •Children, who watch a lot of television, want more toys seen in advertisements and eat more

advertised food than children who do not watch as much television (Strasburger, 2002). •The market sales of licensed products for infants increased 32% to a record 2.5 billion dollars in 1996 (Business Week, 6/30/97). •Four hours of television programming contain about 100 ads (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 1999). The Outcome of Indiscreet Marketing to Children•Magazines aimed at children have blossomed. Many of these magazines are kid versions of adult magazines. For instance, the popular Sports Illustrated for Kids, carries ads for minivans. •Promotional toys either tie in to cartoons, TV shows and movies or promote brand consciousness and loyalty. •Cartoon and toy characters are used on all kinds of products, seeking to catch the children's eyes and purchases. Part IV – Advertising & Society International Marketing Conference on Marketing & Society, 8-10 April, 2007, IIMK 319

•Databases of child customers are being built from information gathered on Internet sign-ups and chat rooms, from electronic toy registries at stores like Toys 'R' Us, and from direct surveys. •Advertising in schools: Advertisers and marketers take advantage of severe budget shortfalls in schools to offer cash or products in return for advertising access to children. •Channel One: short news briefs are surrounded by commercials that children are forced to watch in schools. •Promotional licensing of products aimed at kidswhich will include media pitches, e.g., a brand of pagers will include messages from MTV. •Logos on all types of merchandise, everywhere children go. •Children's radio networks are becoming popular.

•Children's toys are starting to carry product placements (e.g. Barbie™ dolls with Coca Cola™ accessories). •Give-away programs include promotional merchandise aimed at children (e.g., McDonald's™ "Happy Meals"). In Britain too the numbers are startling. Thatis why advertising agencies such as McCaan-Erickson and Saatchi and Saatchi have launched separate divisions to produce advertising aimed at children. Kids –the chief design element of commercials Kids are everywhere in advertising. They are being used as effective ways of grabbing adult attention. There is Videocon with Sharukh Khan and a bunch of kids and Hutch with a pug and a boy to hook the adults to the commercials. Close-up has now entered the fray with two cute tykes, Tata Steel uses children symbolically to show how their company works. Kids with celebrities like the Big B in the Hajmola ad make a still more lethal combination. Kids and ICTs Informal evidence suggests that the most popular in –thing for kids these days are the ICT product and services. All stakeholders in this area should recognize the particular vulnerabilities of young children who are still developing physically, socially and emotionally. The risks to young children from the use of ICTs are enormous: a. Physical riskof developing a ‘sms thumb’ causedby very young hands using a keypad designed for adult hands. b. Gaining access to harmful content as a form of communication.c. New technologies likely to increase risks for young children Pervasive and ubiquitous computing products, embedded and wearable communicating devices, and ad hoc networking technologies will bring a paradigm shift greater than that precipitated by the telephone, the internet and the mobile phone taken together. The main concern will be that the risks of harmful contacts, outside of direct pare

ntal supervision will increase. As an example, consider Location Based Services (LBS). Today, the accuracy of the location is limited to the size of the mobile cell in which the mobile phone is operating. The question parents are asking is “if I can establish the location of my child with this technology, can anyone else do this?” Next generation LBS will put satellite positioning technology into mobile phones. This will improve the accuracy of location to about 3m. Will this make a child more or less safe? The recent introductions of Advergamesand Tribal Marketingneed to be mentioned in this context. Advergames are web based computer games that incorporate advertising messages and images. They serve to reinforce brands in compelling ways because users have to register to be eligible for prizes. This helps marketers in collecting customer data. The gamers may also invite their friends, the brand benefits from propagating a word of mouth. Tribal Marketing strategy helps in creating communities or social groups focused on a product or service. The strategy is based on the premise thatthe tech savvy child today has a fascination for Part IV – Advertising & Society International Marketing Conference on Marketing & Society, 8-10 April, 2007, IIMK 320

technology that can add to his or her comfort along with providing the social advantage of being connected and linked. The ‘functional’ value and the ‘connecting’ value is the most sought after. Kids and Eating Habits The kids market remains crucially important as the marketers seek to attract a new audience and build brand loyalty at a very young age. Mc Donalds has long been using children as a bait to lure the family into its restaurants. Through constant engaging, fun, lively communication, brand bonding efforts, Mc Donalds has been able to capture its little consumers. It has lived by its symbols-the Golden arches, Ronald McDonald and the red fry carton have all become iconic. The Mc Donalds Happy Meals ad, which talks about distributing free toys, has a great nagging effect and the parents are almost forced to visit Mc Donalds by the little customers that Mc Donalds sets its eyes on. “The Action Man and My Little Pony” figures are a lure to buy a high fat meal which probably contains fewer nutrients than the toys themselves. The advertisements have created very powerful and vocal kid consumers with huge buying leverage. In a compilation of studies done on children's media habits spanning nearly four years, the APA

has deduced that children under eight are unable to critically comprehend televised advertising messages and are prone to accept advertiser messages as truthful, accurate and unbiased, leading to unhealthy eating habits. All supermarkets display food products at their checkouts, with most checkouts displaying chocolate (87%), gum (81%) and sweets (80%). Only 7% of checkouts had their display of foods or drinks out of the reach of children. Malaysia is considering a ban on fat food advertising as it is been considered that the food that the ads promote act as ‘silent killers’. Links between fat rich fast food and health issues like obesity were heightened by a 2001 U.S Bestseller –Fast food Nation and a 2004 documentary movie about eating only fast food for a month-Super Size Me. Food Advertising and Obesity Zuppa, Morton and Mehta suggest that the amount of advertising to which children are exposed “has the potential to influence children’s health attitudes and behaviors. Television may be more influential than families in setting children’s food preferences” Epstein et al (1995) clarify the link by identifying a co-relation, but not causation between television viewing and obesity. Another study released by the Kaiser Family Foundation on Wednesday, says children’s exposure to billions of dollars worth of food advertising and marketing in the media may be a key mechanism through which media contributes to childhood obesity What is the Role of Advertising in Promoting Food Choices? It is claimed that advertising manipulates consumer preferences, thereby reinforcing the biological pressures driving obesity (Anon, 2003).The same anonymous authors who make the above assertion (Anon, 2003) specifically blame high profile fast food brands for manipulation of consumer perceptions. “For example, McDonald’s exploits the affect heuristic (i.e. emotional aspects of learning about the brand - via trial and error - acquired by consumers and then used as a shortcut in subsequent decision making – explanation added) by advertising a family friendly environment and generating positive associations that may cause consumers to devalue their perceptions of the risks arising from unhealthy diets” (Anon, 2003: 1168). Kids Market Research The research techniques used for the little consumer

s need to be less structured, more qualitative, flexible and exploratory in nature. Part IV – Advertising & Society International Marketing Conference on Marketing & Society, 8-10 April, 2007, IIMK 321

Micro-ethnography Thisinvolves the researcher in some form of a close participative observer role in a natural, everyday setting. The ethnographer thus synthesizes disparate observations to make meaningful constructs. Alpha Pup Scrutiny ‘Alpha Pup’ is the child who is fully armed with the latest, coolest and the most hip brands. Tracking this alpha pup is critical for marketers because peer groups have a very strong and vital power and influence in the kids’ community. Unraveling the psyche of the alpha pup helps creating a buzz or ‘street marketing’ effect withthe little pup as a cool trendsetter and leader in his own way. Objectives of the Study The paper plans to study the impact of TV Advertisements on School Going Children. It proposes the following: 1. To assess the “Pester Power” effect occurring on account of exposure to advertisements. 2. To study how adept the children are at recognizing brands and logos of both children and adult products. 3. To examine the effect of TV ads, both FMCG and consumer durables, on school going children. 4. To study how and why do the ads impact the children psychologically in order to effect purchasing by them directly and indirectly affecting the purchase decision of their parents/family. 5. To determine strategies to use children constructively in ads. Research Methodology Sample size: A sample of 100 school going children and their parents/guardians (Parents/guardians serve as respondents for qualitative research)Sampling technique: A stratified random sampling technique using age and gender as stratification variables is applied. One stratum for age has been decided ie.9-14. Samples of 50 male and50 female children are drawn from the two age strata that have been decided in each city. Thus, a sample of 100 respondents is reached. Sampling Unit Sampling Size Sampling Procedure Children 100 Stratified Random Sampling using age and gender as stratification variables.

Type of Research Design: Descriptive and Exploratory Research Designs. Descriptive research is employed for the kids and Exploratory Research is used for the parents.Research Instruments:Research Instruments would include questionnaires containing closed end questions and qualitative comments ofthe respective parents/guardians. •The method of contact was personal in-home interviews, commonly referred to as door-to-door interviews. •A total of 100 interviews were conducted among tweens between ages of 9 and 14. •Sample size-The sample comprised 50 girls and 50 boys. •For tweens the average length ofthe interview was 20 minutes. •The parents were subjected to a questionnaire while their child was being interviewed. Part IV – Advertising & Society International Marketing Conference on Marketing & Society, 8-10 April, 2007, IIMK 322

Findings •The media-specifically the Television for 80% of the respondents represents the primary way in which the kids learn about “cool” new products and brand names. Two thirds refer to TV commercials in this context. •The top 5 products for which the kids have pestered their parents in the last six months include – Fast Food Restaurants, Own clothing, Chips ,Chocolates and games and toys.( 35 percent among girls and 80 percent among boys for toys and games). •80 percent of the parents interviewed confirm that the kids have an appreciable good recognition of brand names and logos. •10-13 percent kids have a favorite clothing store.Boys in general indicate that they do not have any favorite store when it calls for purchasing apparels whereas girls are store loyalists and do not really shop anywhere and everywhere. •Tweens admit that they ‘nag’ when they want something. 50 percent report that they “keep asking and asking”.

A similar proportion (47 admit to asking again after a first parental refusal, but then give up and don’t keep asking. •Parents report that kids influence them into buying by adopting a variety of strategies-- offering to pay part of the cost (60 percent), doing extra chores (62 percent) as well as more aggressive tactics - keep on asking and asking (70 percent) and ‘begging’ (70percent) •50 percent of tweens are reported as using “doing better at school” as leverage to persuade their parents to buy something the parents are reluctant to buy, this emerged as the nagging strategy that parents say works best (30% of parents saying it is effective all or most times). •Kids accompanying parents at grocery shopping-92 percent parents say that ask for at least one thing while the entire trip. The in store demands, 35 percent of the times are non brand specific. •Parental susceptibility to tween request-15 percent of parents usually succumb to the kid’s request and buy him the requested item even if it is ‘more expensive’ •Parents see peer pressure, to the extent of 40 percent, as the major reason for their kid asking for a specific brand or label. •The most important source of money for the tweens is- pocket money and grand parents. •There is observed a differential in the spending patterns of male and female tweens. Girls spend heavily on clothes and shoes (58percent)hair accessories (12percent) and makeup (22 percent). As against this, boys spend heavily on Video games, Games and toys and clothing, with no mention of accessories and makeup. Advertising Industry regulations across the globe •Countries such as Sweden, Norway, Belgium and Austria have imposed a ban on advertising during children's television programs. TV advertising and sponsorship of programs aimed at children below the age of 12 are prohibited. In Austria and the Flemish part of Belgium no advertising is permitted 5 minutes before or after programs for children. •In Britain, The Independent Television Commission's code on advertising, "No method of advertising may be employed which takes advantage of the natural credulity and sense of loyalty of children." •Another rule says: "No advertisement may lead children to believe that if they do not have or use the product or service advertised they will be inferior... or liable to contempt or ridicule." •In Greece, the advertising of toys on television is banned between 7.00 a.m. to 10 p.m. •In Germany and Denmark there are bans on certain forms of toys. •Australia does not allow advertisements during programmes for pre-school children. Part IV – Advertising & Society International Marketing Conference on Marketing & Society, 8-10 April, 2007, IIMK 323

Advertising Industry Regulations in India Rules governing advertising aimed at children differ country to another. Multinational companies are selling their products across the globe. This necessitates having an international code on advertisements. This is a Herculean task, because such a code would have to take into account different cultural traditions and national priorities and it will also have to battle powerful manufacturers' lobbies that spend millions of dollars on breaking down such codes and restrictions. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the ad industry’s self-regulatory voluntary organization, has come out with a campaign encouraging viewers to pick up their pens and write in, if they find any ad offensive, vulgar or false in any way. ASCI has been at it for over 20 years, with its earlier campaigns occasionally featuring popular faces to bring out the message such as

Priya Tendulkar (the ‘Jhoot bole, ASCI kaate’ campaign). Ads which make an Over claim,are Indecentand depict a Dangerous Behavior are the ones which are called as offensive ads. Chapter III, Rule 2 of the Advertising Standards Council of India clearly says that "Advertisements addressed to minors shall not contain anything, whether in illustration or otherwise, which might result in their physical, mental or moral harm or which exploits their vulnerability. The International Code on Advertising too supports this rule. Article 13 says, "Advertisements should not exploit the natural credulity of children or the lack of experience of young people and should not strain their sense of loyalty".

Guidelines for action

1. Responsible Adve rtising- Using and Targeting Children Constructively Responsible advertising would imply encouraging children to relate the type of foods that you want them to eat with “cool” characters like Harry Potter, who tucks into a whole variety of foods including plenty of vegetables. Then there are icons like Popeye who ate spinach to make him strong. And what about Bananaman – say no more! 2. The Role of Parents At the "Have You Lost Your Marbles?" awards at Britain there were five recipients. •Reebok, for footwear ads featuring nude and bikini-clad models•distributors of 'Teletubbies' TV show, for promotional campaigns with McDonald's and Burger King•two market research companies which studied child psychology to boost sales•Channel One Network, which includes commercials in a daily newscast shown at 12,000 schools nationwide.In Australia, the Parents Jury committed to reducing childhood obesity has lashed out at Mc Donalds Happy Meals Ads by giving it the Pester Power Reward for the second time in a row. In other parts of the world, there exist voluntary groups like the 'Adbusters' and 'Mothers groups' that watch and pressure governments to clamp down on aggressive and intrusive advertising. Such a move is anticipated from the parents on this part of the globe. Parents can and should try to make a difference in the way advertising is being perceived by children. 3. Immediate ban on all promotions of FMCGs and drugs at school. The promotion should be through parents and doctors in case of drugs rather than doing so in schools without the approval of the parents.

Conclusion Kids are emerging as a homogenous consumer cluster of their own with peer group factor and mass media having an overwhelming impact on their brand choice, consumption behavior and consumption patterns. Part IV – Advertising & Society International Marketing Conference on Marketing & Society, 8-10 April, 2007, IIMK 324

Kids are keen observers, ever experimenting, do not take anything for granted and want to learn while having fun. There is no stickiness, no brand loyalty, ultimate materialism and consumerism in sync with the latest trends and fads. Kids are wanton, inexperienced, naïve and easily gullible, but, a very important set of consumers. Catching them young for product categories not actually meant for them is an act of irresponsible marketing. In no case should the children be made a target of reckless consumption and materialism. References USP AGE –May 2006 Clarke, A. et al “ETSI’s standardization work on guidelines for young children’s use of ICT. Human Factors and Telecommunications 2006, Sophia Antipolis, France. www.parentsjury.org.au www.caru.org www.gentrends.com

The ‘Obesity Epidemic’: Complex Causes, Controversial Cures-– Implications for Marketing Communication, Lynne Eagle, Sandy Bulmer. Health Promotion Journal of Australia-2006www.globalbusinessinsights.com www.themanagementor.com Columns in www.rediff.com/money/dalal.htm www.agencyfaqs.com Business world, 13 Nov,06 The Financial Express, 18 Nov,2004 www.dnaindia.com Comstock, George (1991). Television and the American child. Academic Press Inc. Fischer, Paul M., Schwartz, Meyer P., Richards, JohnW. Jr., Goldstein, Adam O. (1991, December 11). Brand logo recognition by children aged 3 to 6 years: Mickey Mouse and Old Joe the Camel. Journal of the American Medical Association, 266, 3145 - 3148. McNeal, James (1992). Kids as customers.NY:Lexington Books. McNeal, James (1999). The Kids' Market: Myths and Realities. Ithaca, NY: Paramount Market. McNeal, James (2001). Quoted in McDonald M, Lavelle M. Call it 'kid-fluence'. U.S. News & World Report, July 30, 2001, p.32. McNeal, James (2002). Quoted in MacPherson K. Poll of children shows whining wins. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 17, 2002, pA-7. Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 10, 1999. McNeal, James (1998, April). Tapping the three kids' markets. American Demographics, 20, 36-41. McNeal, James (1999). The kids' market: Myths and realities. Ithaca, NY: Paramount Market. Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 10, 1999. Strasburger, Victor C. (2001, June). Children and TV advertising: Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 22, 185. Strasburger, Victor C., Wilson, Barbara J. (2002). Children, adolescents and the media. Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA., p53. Teen Research Unlimited (2002). Cited in Robust teen market offers growth in '02. FN, April 29, 2002, v58, p15.

indiantelevision.com's MAM Special Report Consumer Online Foundation Oneworld South Asia, September 21, 2004 www.yahoo.com www.raisingkids.co.uk www.coruskids.com

's pester power that makes it clickAug 17, 2013, WFS :

Kids and ads have a deep relationship in India, find-out Lavanya R Fischer & Devadatt Kamat.

Over the years there have been many controversies surrounding ads for children. The attempts by transnational brands to sell infant formula milk in third world in the Seventies by advertising it as being better than mother’s milk, is a case in point. In India, the sale of infant milk and formula is strictly controlled but such regulation does not extend to other products available to children belonging to a marginally older age group.

Every advertisement has a target audience. The question is whether there should be stricter regulations for advertising that focuses on more vulnerable sections, especially children. Is it all right to show smart looking middle class moms, usually played by popular actresses, serving their children a meal of instant noodles or cereals fortified with small quantities of vitamins?

The advertising guidelines of the Indian Advertising Standards Agency are the only regulation, apart from the Cable Act, that make these standards compulsory. In other words, there are no effective laws regulating children’s advertisements in the country.

This is worrisome, especially given the fact that it is well known that children can identify and associate images with products from ages as young as three. Although they can differentiate between commercial advertisements and television programmes relatively early, their ability to judge veracity develops only as they enter adolescence. It is, therefore, particularly unsafe to inculcate ideas in young minds that will shape their future action.

A WHO report mentions that there has been intense lobbying by the private sector against proposals restricting ads of food products for children. It adds that this sector of marketing has been growing in tandem with globalisation, with the fastest growth having been registered – no surprise – in China and India!

The study also states that 40–50% of advertising during children’s programming were for food, and that more than 50% of parents cited pester power as influencing their purchasing decisions!

The “pester power” of children constitutes an important factor in influencing family decisions and this makes them a formidable force in the sales of even those products that are not primarily meant for them. Children make up an extremely attractive section of consumers for companies because not only do they constitute a market in themselves in the present, they grow up to become loyal brand ambassadors in the future.

Consider some of the claims made by popular ads that project the idea that their products achieve nothing short of miracles in the lives of the children who consume them. Some consumer products have been criticised in India for giving the impression that they help children succeed in their examinations or make them grow faster. How this plays out in a sector like food is important to understand.

Glucose products, for instance, are being advertised as having nutritional value, a claim that is in direct contradiction to international and domestic nutritional targets. Ads suggesting that cereals and instant noodles are substitutes for traditional breakfast fare are also extremely problematic as there is no available research to back these claims. In fact, whether these products even achieve the claims made by the ads is not backed by studies that are easily or widely available.

Although the sale of junk food is not allowed in schools across India, the enforcement of this regulation is well known to be patchy. Further, the sale of such food items near schools is allowed.

While food is perhaps the most urgent area requiring attention, the issue of violence, aggression and false advertising are other aspects that impact adversely on the environment of a child. Of particular urgency is the need to safeguard children from ‘predatory marketing’ tools - usually toys, games or memberships to attractive groups as a consequence of buying the product - a concern highlighted across the world on the issue.

There is a rich store of research that focuses on the impact of advertising on children. One such study examined the influence of children in family purchase decision making. The article, after citing relevant research, stated that approximately, 80% of all advertising targeted to children falls within four product categories: toys, cereals, candies, and fast-food restaurants. The most common persuasive strategy employed in advertising to children is to associate the product with fun and happiness, rather than to provide any factual product-related information.

In a scenario of high malnutrition levels among some children and severe obesity problems

among others, why are we not more pro-active in regulating ads that prey on the ignorance and vulnerability of children?

Children in middle-class India take important decisions at home, contributing substantially to household budget contours. The increasing ‘overload’ of advertising targeted to children has been heavily criticized in child-marketing literature, given the assumption that children possess limited abilities to use cognitive defences against persuasion attempts (Brucks, Armstrong, and Goldberg 1988). Due to restricted capabilities, children misunderstand advertisement claims (Ross et al. 1981) and, as a result, make poor judgments regarding consumption of products and services (Armstrong and Brucks 1988). Advertising is perceived as a major source of parent-child conflict (Grossbart and Crosby 1984) because of ‘pester power’ which leads to escalating ‘life-dissatisfaction’ on the part of children.

Debate in the literature revolves around the age at which young children can distinguish television advertisements from programmes, when they can remember and want what they see, and when they are able to understand that the advertiser’s motive is to sell a product. Resolution of the debate has been hampered by methodological difficulties and paradigms which fail to fully capture and explain children’s responses to advertisements.

This paper will explore different marketing frameworks by creating a ‘direct-linkage model’ to critically examine the hypothesized relationship between increased (and more effective) advertising to children, their purchase requests (growth of “pester power”) and the sense of materialism and life-dissatisfaction that may result from this. It will also analyse the potential role of socialization (in nuclear families) and external agents (by unregulated international firms in the Indian market) in making children more susceptible to advertising effects and, consequently, a more profitable market by advocating a ‘socialization-agent model’. The two elements are not mutually exclusive: clearly if the former is true, important public policy changes must be considered regarding the latter.

By conducting a systematic review of existing sources in this field, the researcher’s initial analysis indicates that urban Indian children possess more advanced cognitive skills than suggested under the assumptions of the ‘direct-linkage’ model. Further review with respect to the role of Indian children in the formal economy unveils a rather tenuous link between materialism and unhappiness.

Culture-contingent market differences, coupled with changes within household units, imply that Indian children possess higher degrees of ‘cultural cool’ than their Western counterparts, at given levels of income. Whilst this may increase their ‘pester power’ and make them a profitable segment for marketers, a relatively saturated market will make it harder to ‘trick’ Indian children into buying their products. The importance of future study in this area is stressed.

IJMTVolume 2, Issue 4

ISSN:2249-1058__________________________________________________________A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal -Included in the International Serial DirectoriesIndexed & Listed at: Ulrich's Periodicals Directory ©, U.S.A., Open J-Gage, Indiaas well as in Cabell’s Directories of Publishing Opportunities, U.S.A.

International Journal of Marketingand

Technologyhttp://www.ijmra.us72

April 2012IMPACT OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS UPONTHE PURCHASE BEHAVIOR OFURBAN INDIAN CHILDRENSujata Khandai*Bhawna Agrawal**__________________________________________________________Abstract:Introduction-The kid market is a burgeoning market worldwide. A similar situation exists in India where the kid market is estimated at Rs.5000 crores/ $110 million. The sheer size of the market reveals how strategically important this market is for the advertisers and the marketers Having realized the long term implications of addressing this market, the marketers have devised marketing and advertising strategies specifically aimed at this target audience.The kid market in India, more commonly referred to as the “tweenager” (8 to 14 Year olds) possesses enormous purchasing power which could probably be attributed to the increasing discretionary income of households. Children today are assuming the role of decision makers from a relatively young age.Marketers use different media vehicles to communicate with this target audience. A media vehicle which the kid market is very conversant with is television. Television viewing by children has been increasing at an exponential rate over the last few years in India and abroad. Consequently, television commercials appear to havea large impact upon the brand preference and purchase behavior of children.*Professor (Marketing) & Principal, Institute of Technology and Science, Mohan Nagar, Ghaziabad, India.**Associate Professor (General Management), IILM Institute of Higher Education, New Delhi, India.

IJMTVolume 2, Issue 4ISSN:2249-1058__________________________________________________________A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal -Included in the International Serial DirectoriesIndexed & Listed at: Ulrich's Periodicals Directory ©, U.S.A., Open J-Gage, India

as well as in Cabell’s Directories of Publishing Opportunities, U.S.A.

International Journal of Marketing and Technology http://www.ijmra.us73April2012Purpose of Study-This study is aimed at measuring the impact of television commercials on the brand preference and the final purchase decision of the kid market. It also aims to measure the impact of peer group pressure on their purchase behavior. The study also measures to what extent pester power is used by children to coerce parents to meet their demands for preferred brands.Design/Methodology /Approach–The study was conducted in the National Capital Region of Delhi in India consisting of the following regions: Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ghaziabad. The population in this region is fairly cosmopolitan. Also efforts were made to give fair representation to both genders.Questionnaires were administered to the children following in the “tweenager group”, i.e, between the ages of 8 years and 14 years, both extremes included.The study was undertaken taking few product categories into consideration. These product categories include shoes, health drinks and fast food. These categories were identified as children in that age group demonstrate visible discretionary choice in their purchase behavior for the same.Findings-Advertisements on television have significant impact upon the brand preference of the target audience. This brand preference thereafter positively impacts upon the purchase behavior of children. This has been validated in product categories like health drinks, fast food and sport shoes-categories which the target audience is very familiar with. Peer pressure from reference groups have less significance on the brand preference of children. This implies that reference groups do not significantly influence the brands that children prefer. It is also evidentfrom the results that parental influence is on the lower side. The obvious implication that follows is that parents are unable to significantly influence the brands that children would like to buy. Also, children do not exert sufficiently strong pester power to influence their parents’ minds.



International Journal of Marketingand Technologyhttp://www.ijmra.us74

April2012Research/Limitations–The study was limited to the Natiaonal Capital Region of Delhi which represents a small percentage of the population of India. For further research, it is recommended that the study covers all the four regions (East, West, North, and South) of India. 1.Students in the age group of 8 –14 years were only examined.2.A convenient sampling method was adopted. The region selected for the study is highly advanced in terms of economics and advertisements compared with other Indian cities.Key words:Decision making skills, Purchasing power, Brand preference, Consumer socialization, Television advertisements, Pester power.1.Introduction:

Advertising aims to influence audiences by informing or reminding them of the existence of the brand or at a higher level, persuading or helping the target audience differentiate a brand from other competing brands in the marketplace. A strong theory of advertising propounds that advertising can persuade/influence someone to buy a product that they have never previously purchased. Also, it helps in sustaining a long-term purchase behavior. Advertising is also designed to be capable of improving people’s knowledge. By and large, it is generally assumed that advertising worksat a rational, logical and cognitive level. But that is possibly not true. Feelings and emotions do play an important role in advertising especially when advertising is used to build awareness levels and brand strength.It is also imperative that this should ultimately lead a consumer to purchase the said product. Advertising, for most part of it, is designed ultimately to lead a person towards purchase.For many scholars (McLuhan, 1964), one of the more socially significant events of the 20th

century has been the introduction and diffusion of television. Television has forever changed our families and the way we elect our leaders, set social policy, judge the accused and view ourselves in relation to others. This is probably because television has supplemented reading and interpersonal narrative as our primary means of story-telling and myth-delivery (Silverstone


ISSN:2249-1058__________________________________________________________

A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal -Included in the International Serial DirectoriesIndexed & Listed at: Ulrich's Periodicals Directory ©, U.S.A., Open J-Gage, Indiaas well as in Cabell’s Directories of Publishing Opportunities, U.S.A.


April20121991) and has thus fundamentally changed our culture (McLuhan,1964). Across diverse theoretical formulations, television is widely acknowledged asa powerful agent of socialization.Television is generally acknowledged as the most powerful advertising medium and reached a very broad spectrum of consumers. In India, television is the medium with the highest reach where it reaches an audience that constitutes 54% of the population. Television, as a medium, can be an extremely effective medium, vividly demonstrating product attributes and persuasively explaining their corresponding consumer benefits. Also, it can dramatically portray user and usage imagery, brand personality and other intangibles.1.1 Advertising to childrenAdvertising to children presents challenges. Kids are not sophisticated consumers. Their conceptions of self, time and money are immature. As a result, they know very little about their desires, needs and preferences –or how to use economic resources rationally to satisfy them. And the nature of children’s conceptual ability makes it likely that child-oriented advertising can

lead to false beliefs or highly improbable product expectations.While most children and parents are still joint consumers, more and more children are becoming sole decision makers. To protect them and their parents, both critics and defenders agree that advertisers should not intentionally deceive children.From the advertiser’s point of view, there are good reasons for being interested in how children think and what they do, and what role does advertising play in their lives vis-a-vis product preference and purchase.1.2Decision-making skills and abilities in children Children assume the role of consumer decision makers at a young age. As they grow older, they develop more sophisticated decision-making skills and abilities and also develop a greater awareness of different information sources which they deploy in a more flexible manner depending on need. (Moore and Stephens, 1975; Moschis and Moore, 1979a). Children utilize attribute information in evaluating products and adapt their decision strategies to the nature of the choice environment they face.1.3 The “tweenager “market



International Journal of Marketingand Technology

http://www.ijmra.us76

April2012Marketing terminology has chanced upon a new term “tweenagers”. This term effectively managed to capture the interest of marketers and many commercial stakeholders in different fields of business who are becoming aware of the huge potential of this segment. “Tweens” are those young people whose ages range from “pre-adolescent to 14 years” and have been described as “the richest generation” in history and the spending of this age group “has roughly doubled every ten years over the last three decades” (Lindstorm, 2003). According to Mintel International Group (2001), “tweenagers are aged between 10 and 14 years of age while Clarke (2003) classifies them as 8-12 year olds. “ They are a generation with economic power unlike anyone before them” (Solomon and Roboly, 2004). This is why retailers and marketers consider them a most attractive growth market. Tweens are leaving the kids line a little younger at about the time when mom stops buying the items for them and they start buying on their own (Levinson et al, 2001, p49).1.4 The “tween” market in IndiaAccording to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (2002), population data sheet, the population of India as of mid-2002 was approximately 1.05 billion. At an estimated growth rate of 1.5 % per annum, the population is expected to increase to 1.35 billion by 2025. The urban population in 2002 was approximately 29% with the rate of growth of urbanization at 2.8%. Thus the sheer size of the urban population (283 million) makes it an attraction market. Further, this population is young. United Nations statistics show that 33%

of the population is between 0 and 14 years and 62% is between 15 and 64 years. In fact, only 5% of the population is over 65 years.This is a population which represents considerable high purchasing power. More specifically, in the urban areas, children from the upper middle class segment have substantial amount of their own money to spend and also exert a great influence on their household spending. Consequently these children have considerable market potential. Children constitute a major consumer market with direct purchasing power for snacks and sweets and indirect purchase influence while shopping for big ticket items (Haler, 2002; Singh, 1990). Marketing minds have started taking children seriously and are fast realizing that the road to a customer’s heart and mind is the child at home. Children relate to brands in much the same way as adults do and they influence



International Journal of

Marketingand Technologyhttp://www.ijmra.us77

April2012purchase decisions even in categories that do not directly cater to them. With increasing kid power, there is tremendous opportunity in the emerging market meant for kids. Children can be really specific in their tastes and preferences and have stray likes and dislikes. Most brands today are targeting kids to build brand preference. Indian children have recently attracted considerable attention from marketers because the market for children’s products offers tremendous potential (this market is pegged at Rs. 5000 crore/$ 110 million) and is rapidly growing. According to available industry data, the chocolate and confectionary market is estimated at Rs. 1300crore / $290 million, the apparel market at Rs. 480 crore / $110 million and kids footwear at Rs. 1000 crore / $220 million.It naturally follows then children constitute a very strategic market segment today. Consequently, marketing to this segment has become increasingly desirable because the kid markets is huge, has more disposable income/ pester power than in the past, and is said to be more brand-conscious. Considerable marketing expenditure toward the kid market bears this out.2.Literature Review:A study conducted in 2002 in the United States revealed that 98% of all homes in the US have television sets. American children between the ages of 2-17 spend an average of 25 hours per week watching TV, more time than in any other activity outside of school. This study also

revealed that a significant trend since 1990 has been the penetration of media into children’s bedrooms and influencing their consumption patterns. A number of studies worldwide have noted a correspondence between the products children like and request and those advertised on television (Galst & White 1976; Caron & Ward 1975). TV advertising does appear to be effective in creating positive attitudes and behavior toward advertised products. Television advertising does go a long way in changing perceptions of the product in the course of shifting the relative salience of attitudes, especially when the purchaser is not particularly involved in the message.At the same time, a key concern underlying child advertising is the extent to which children have the ability to discuss, interpret and cope with advertising. It is generally perceived that younger



International Journal of Marketing

and Technologyhttp://www.ijmra.us78

April2012children lack the guile and sophistication to adequately address the overtures of advertisers (Moses & Baldwin, 2005; Chan & McNeal, 2004; Bartholomew & O'Donahue, 2003). Yet, another researchconducted by Young broadly concluded that children of approximately8 to 9 years understand advertising's raison d'etre. In a study of Honk Kong children, Chan (2000) found that children preferred advertisements of food, drinks, toys and mobile phones.Research using an experimental paradigm has tended to support the view that the influence of commercials targeted at children is considerable. Galst & White (1976) report a high degree of influence between children’s purchase influence attempts and the foods that are heavily advertised on television. They, thereafter, conclude that “further research is needed to determine if a casual relationship exists between television advertisements and children’s food requests and preferences”. A study conducted examined children’s recall of advertisements from a variety of perspectives. When experiments measure recall of advertisements immediately following viewing, more than half of the children studied, tend to remember advertisementsfor products such as toys, cereals, and ice-cream even when it is shown just once during a program (Gorn & Gooldberg, 1977, 1980; Zuckerman, Ziegler & Stevenson,1978). When children are asked where they learned about toys they would like to have, they most often identify television commercials as the source (Caron & Ward, 1975).

Television has become an important economic socializing agent because of its massive presence in children’s lives. Children are exposed to numerous advertisements from an early age and are most likely the ideas advertising promotes. A study by Mittal(2009) shows that television advertisements were found to be more effective in creating a desire among children to own the advertised product. Also, celebrity endorsements are found to be more effective among children.From the advertiser’s perspective, the ultimate intended effect of airing a commercial is for their product to be subsequently purchased by viewers. Both Atkin (1978) and Galst & White (1976) found that the amount of prior television viewing was a significant predictor of children’s product purchase requests at the supermarket. Even cross-cultural research comparing families from Japan, UK and the United States has demonstrated a positive relationship between children’s amount of television viewing and their product purchase requests (Robertson, Ward, Gatignon & Klees, 1989).


ISSN:2249-1058__________________________________________________________A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal -Included in the International Serial DirectoriesIndexed & Listed at: Ulrich's Periodicals Directory ©, U.S.A.

, Open J-Gage, Indiaas well as in Cabell’s Directories of Publishing Opportunities, U.S.A.


April2012Research on family decision making has been largely confined to spouses, who have been considered as the relevant decision making unit in a family. However, the role of third party influences such as decision making strategies is essential to taking abroader view of the relevant unit of analysis. Children enjoy greater discretion, not only in making routine consumption decisions for the family but also in pestering their parents to buy other products desired by them (Singh, 2006). Contemporary research also suggests that children constitute a major consumer market with direct purchasing power for snacks and sweets and indirect purchase influence while shopping for big ticket items (Halan, 2000; Singh, 1988). Research makes it clear that children’s purchase influence attempts have a relatively high degree of success and that parents create direct opportunities by interacting with their children about purchase requests, giving them pocket money and taking them to shopping excursions (Ward et al 1977), leading to consumer socialization from a relatively young age. Peers are an additional source of influence affecting consumer beliefs starting early in life and continuing through adolescence (Moschis & Churchill 1978). Finally, mass media and advertising provide information about consumption and the value of material goods. Prior research also confirms that children find advertisements to be entertaining. However, they understand that the basic objective of advertisements is to inform about the products andalso to persuade them to buy

these products. Interestingly, children are also aware that media vehicles carrying advertisements gain financially from the same. Research studies in India, more or less, firmly conclude that television in this country is getting transformed rapidly into a primary source of information and entertainment for millions of Indian families. In a paper published in 2003, Panwar also states that for a whole generation of new age children in India, television is as influential as a parent or a teacher. This is a fact very well understood by the marketers today. It is evident that with the growing influence of media on children, an increasingly large number of advertisements are today directed at this potential target audience. The process may be indirect but television commercials targeted at children are highly effective at accomplishing their intended goal of promoting product sales.



International Journal of Marketing

and Technologyhttp://www.ijmra.us80

April20123.Methodology of study:This study covers children between eightand fourteen years (both the extremesincluded). The qualifying conditions include:(i)They should belong to a household which belongs to the upper-middle income segment.(ii)The children should be studying in a school.The reason why the age interval was defined is becausechildren below the age ofeighthave limited processing skills and children above fourteen years of age use a variety of strategies for storing and retrieving of information almost similar to the grown-up people (Selman, 1980) and also because this age group constitutes the “tweenager market”.The study was conducted in the National Capital Region of Delhi in India consisting of the following regions: Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ghaziabad. The population in this region is fairly cosmopolitan. Also efforts were made to givefair representation to both genders.The study was undertaken taking few product categories into consideration. These product categories include shoes, health drinks and fast food. These categories were identified as children in that age group demonstratevisible discretionary choice in their purchase behavior for the same.4.

Framework, hypotheses and model to evaluate the influence of advertisement commercials on the purchase behavior of children in the age group 7 to 14 years:




April20124.1 Framework for AnalysisThe above framework demonstrates that television advertisements do have an impact upon the

purchase behavior of children in the age group 8–14 years. Purchase behavior is impacted in the following manner:(i)Brand preference –It is expected that the child develops a preference for the brand by watching the commercials on television for a certain period of time. A preference for the brand will lead the child to purchase the said brand.(ii)Peer group influence –Children in theage groups 8-14 years are subject to a fair amount of peer pressure. When children watch advertisements, they discuss amongst themselves. This discussion does lead to purchasing those brands favored by their brands. Children do fall prey to peer pressure and tend to buy those brands favored by their friends.(iii)Pester power –Children have learnt to wield power over their parents and get what they want. Pester power is a weapon children use on their parents to get them to buy things they want. They watch commercials on television, like the brand featured in them and ultimately want to buy them. Since, in India, children do not have the independence to make all their purchase decisions on their own, they need to seek the permission of their parents. Permission is not always easily granted by the parent. The child takes recourse to pestering the parent to buy the same. Consequently, the child demonstrates pester power that he is able to wield over his parents. Ultimately it boils down to the child watching commercials on television and developing a liking TV advertisementsBrand Preference

Peer Group InfluenceInfluencePester PowerPurchase behavior




April2012for the brand featured in the advertisements. He may use pester power to purchase the preferred brand.4.2Hypotheses pertaining to the impact of advertisements on television on the purchase beha

vior of children in the age group 8to 14 years

The prior discussion leads us to the following four hypotheses:H1: Respondent’s purchase pattern will be positively impacted by watching advertisements on television.H2: Advertisements on television have an impact upon the brand preference of children.H3: Advertisements on television indirectly impact the child’s purchase pattern through peer group influence.H4: Advertisements on television have led to the emergence of pester power having an impact on purchase decisions on children.

4.3 Analyzing purchase behavior consequent to exposure to television advertisementsWe attempt to analyze the purchase behavior of children arising out of watching commercials on television using linear regression model in which impact on purchase because of advertisement is dependent variable while TV viewing, advertisement effect, brand preference, advertisement influence on brand preference, impact of pester power on purchase behavior and impact of peer group are independent variables. The linear regression method is considered to find out the relationship between the above mentioned variables which are in terms of dependent and independent. The authors considered all the influenced variables as independent variables.The basic software SPSS has been used to analyze the regression model. After the input of data collected from the respondents, analysis was done using Linear Regression Model in which the dependent and independent variables were chosen as mentioned above.


ISSN:2249-

1058__________________________________________________________A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal -Included in the International Serial DirectoriesIndexed & Listed at: Ulrich's Periodicals Directory ©, U.S.A., Open J-Gage, Indiaas well as in Cabell’s Directories of Publishing Opportunities, U.S.A.


April20125.Model:The regression model for the above mentioned hypotheses is as follows:Impact on purchase because of advertisement 0 1 TVviewing2 Advertisement effect 3 Brand preference4 Advetisement influence on brand prefernce5 Impact of pester power on consumption behavio

Y X XXXX ur6 Impact of peer group/advt./parents on i

nformation processing

XWhere ε belongs to N (0, σ2

) and known as residual error. Here Y is a dependent variable and all X’s are independent variables; β’s are the regression coefficients to be estimated.5.1Validation of data:Relevant data was collected from children in the age group of 8to 14 years. These children belong to different schools in the National Capital Region of Delhi. Based on various variables, a model (4) was created. The fitness of the model depends on the R2

-value. From the table below, it is evident that the value of R2

is 0.304 which is significant. R2

iscoefficient of determination;basically the ratio between known variability and total variability. This implies that the causes of variability are known and if one wants to reduce it, can easily do so by changing the known variability value. Also standard error value is quite low i.e. 0.25245 which shows the validity of data.The normal curve as depicted in 5.1.2 is slightly skewed. This skewness is tolerable, also as per central limit theorem, the sample size is enough to consider it as large sample and data is considered normally distributed. With the values of B’s from the coefficient table 5.1.3, the model takes the following form:

IJMT

Volume 2, Issue 4



April2012Impact on purchase because of advertisement TVviewingAdvertisement effect Brand preference Advetisement influence on brand prefernce Impact of pester power on c

Y 0.5450.149X 0.534 0.148 0.024 0.106X X X X onsumption behaviourImpact of peer group/advt./parents on information processing

0.0

X5.1.1 Model Summary (b)ModelRR SquareAdjusted R SquareStd. Error of the EstimateChange StatisticsR Square ChangeF Changedf1df2Sig. F ChangeR Square ChangeF Changedf1df21.583(a).340.256.25245.3404.032647.002a.Predictors: (Constant), Impact of peer group/advt./parents on information processing, Brand preference, Advertisement effect, Impact of pester power on consumption behaviour, advetisement influence on brand prefernce, TV viewingb.Dependent Variable: impact on purchase because of advertisement




April20125.1.2Regression Standardized Residual210-1-2-3-4

Frequency403020100

Histogram

Dependent Variable: impact on purchase because of advertisementMean =-1.04E-17 Std. Dev. =0.942 N =54

5.1.3Coefficients (a)ModelUnstandardized CoefficientsStandardized CoefficientstSig.BStd. ErrorBeta1(Constant).545.1294.215.000TV viewing-.149.081-.255-1.837.073Advertisement effect.534.116.5794.593.000


ISSN:22

49-1058__________________________________________________________A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal -Included in the International Serial DirectoriesIndexed & Listed at: Ulrich's Periodicals Directory ©, U.S.A., Open J-Gage, Indiaas well as in Cabell’s Directories of Publishing Opportunities, U.S.A.


April2012Brand preference.148.080.2531.842.072Advertisement influence on brand preference-.024.073-.040-.322.749Impact of pester

power on consumption behavior-.106.082-.160-1.296.201Impact of peer group/advt./parents on information processing.000.084-.001-.006.995a.Dependent Variable: impact on purchase because of advertisement6.Interpretation: From the survey conducted and data collected, it is evident that advertisements on television have significant impact upon the brand preference ofthe target audience (children in the age group 8 to14 years)because P-value of the variables is as follows:Advertisement influence on brand preference –0.749Impact of pester power on consumption behavior –0.201I

mpact of peer group./parents on information processing -0.995 Impact of advertisement on purchase behavior –0.000These values are more than the level of significance i.e. 0.05and as per the p-value rule, all these variables are insignificant. Only one variable, i.e. advertisement effect p-value is 0.000. Thisis less than thealpha-value i. e. 0.05, which is consideredsignificant. The value of R-square indicates that 34% of the timesthe independent variables

, i. e advertisements on televisionleading tobrand preference,peer pressure, pester power, parents influence impact the dependant




April2012variable, ,i.e. the purchase behavior of children and from p-

values, it is evident that only one variablewhich is significant is advertisement effect. As no other variable is significant, we can say that advertisementsdo affect the purchase behavior of children, but does not necessarily always lead to the formation of a preference toward a particular brand.This has been validated in product categories like health drinks, fast food and sport shoes-categories which the target audience is very familiar with. Peer pressure from reference groups have less significance on the brand preference of children. This implies that reference groups do not significantly influence the brands that children prefer. It is also evident from the results that parental influence is on the lower side( if we compare with other levels of significance). The obvious implication that follows is that parents are unable to significantly influence the brands that children would like to buy. Also, children do not exert sufficiently strong pester power to influence their parents minds. 7.Conclusion and Recommendations:7.1 Conclusions: From the study conducted, it is evident that the “tweenager” market is a very potential target audience for marketers and advertisers alike. In India, this market represents enormous purchasing power. The brand preference as developed by the children would continue to be their preferred brand as they move into adulthood. This signifies the enormous clout this market has over the marketer presenting a lifetime of value. Also the power wielded by this market is enormous taking into consideration the fact that the child today appears individualistic who is not very influenced by his peers neither by parents.Another significant finding which probably may have long term implications is the fact that parental influence over children appears to be eroding slowly and steadily. This also implies that children are seeking freedom in their purchase and other decisions.

IJMTVolume 2, Issue 4ISSN:2249-1058__________________________________________________________A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e

-Journal -Included in the International Serial DirectoriesIndexed & Listed at: Ulrich's Periodicals Directory ©, U.S.A., Open J-Gage, Indiaas well as in Cabell’s Directories of Publishing Opportunities, U.S.A.

International Journal of Marketingand Technologyhttp://www.ijmra.us

88April2012It is also significant that pester power which was considered to have an overwhelming presence in most households hardly has a role to play. This could probably be attributed to the fact that children are becoming more assertive and individualistic in nature and do not have to resort to throwing tantrums to get what they want.7.2 Limitations and Recommendations: 3.The study suffers from a basic deficiency that the survey was conducted in National Capital Region of Delhi which represents a small percentage of the population of India. For further research, it is recommended that the study covers all the four regions (East,West, North, and South) of India. Subsequent to this, it is also recommended to usecluster sampling design for collection of data since the population is large and consist of four regions which have sub-cultural variations.4.Students in the age group of 8 –14 years were only examined.5.convinient sampling method was adopted. The region selected for the study is highly advanced in terms of economics and advertisements compared with other Indian cities.8.References:Atkin, C. (1978), Observation of parent-child interaction in supermarket decision making Journal of Marketing, Vol.42, pp 41-45.Bartholomew,A and O'Donahue, S (2003), “Everything under Control: a child's view of advertising”, Journal of Marketing Management,Vol 19, Nos 3-4, pp 433-457.Carlson, L. & Grossbart, S. (1988), Parental style and consumer socialization of children, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol.15, pp 77-94.Caron, A. & Ward, S. (1975), Gift decisions by kids and parents, Journal of Advertising,Vol.5, No. 4, pp 12-20 Chan, K and J. U. McNeal (2004), “ Chinese children's attitudes towards television advertising: Influences and liking”, International Journal of Advertising, Vol 23, No 3, pp

337-359.IJMTVolume 2, Issue 4ISSN:2249-1058__________________________________________________________A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal

- Included in the International Serial Directories

Indexed & Listed at: Ulrich's Periodicals Directory ©, U.S.A., Open J-Gage, Indiaas well as in Cabell’s Directories of Publishing Opportunities, U.S.A.

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, Vol.31, pp 42-51.IJMTVolume 2, Issue 4ISSN:2249-1058__________________________________________________________A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal -Included in the International Serial DirectoriesIndexed & Listed at: Ulrich's Periodicals Directory ©, U.S.A., Open J-Gage, Indiaas well as in Cabell’s Directories of Publishing Opportunities, U.S.A.

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http://www.ijmra.us90

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Directories of Publishing Opportunities, U.S.A.International Journal of Marketing and

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