Danish childrens and their parents perception of television advertising for childrens products

1
Danish childrens and their parentsperception
of television advertisingfor childrens products

• Survey of children and television advertising
  conducted by GfK Danmark A/S

2
The purpose of the study has been to shed light
on...

• Parents general attitude towards 5-12 year-old
  childrens television watching
• 5-12 year-old childrens and their parents
  general attitude towards television advertising
  for childrens products
• Children and parents reactions to selected
  television commercials with the purpose of
  contributing to a broader understanding of
  television advertisings influence on ...
• Childrens upbringing and everyday life
• Childrens consumption pattern and consumption
  motives
• Childrens ability to form a realistic impression
  of the actual products
• Childrens and parents interaction to
  advertising understanding

To obtain more know-ledge about children and
television commercials?
3
Regulations

• Denmark has special regulations for the
  protection of children and youngsters below 18
  years if age - In 1996/97 where the study was
  carried out these regulations were prevailing.
  Following some key sentences from these
  regulations
• Commercials are not to be performed in a way that
  take advantage of the natural credibility and
  loyalty of the children
• Commercials may not prompt the children to
  move into dangerous places, use dangerous
  products or bring them in dangerous situations
• Commercials may not appeal to children to
  convince others to by a certain product. No prize
  rewords to children
• Commercials may not undermine social values -
  e.g. tell that ownership, use or consumption of a
  certain product gives advantages compared to
  other children

4
Regulations

• Commercials must not mislead children regarding
  size, value, character, validity or performance
  of a product. Clear indications of right size,
  function, content, part of a series, price and
  relevant age groups
• Characters, dolls, persons etc. from childrens
  programmes must not be used in commercials
• Commercials for chocolate, candy, soft drinks,
  snacks etc. must not indicate that the product
  can replace ordinary meals
• Children below 14 years of age may only appear in
  commercials where children are a natural part or
  are necessary to demonstrate the use of the
  product, they may not give recommendations or
  give evidence for products in commercials

5
Method Qualitative analysis
6 mother groups
6 children groups

• Test categories
• Toys
• Candy
• Foodstuffs
• Media

40 DUO-interviews
2 father groups

• Techniques
• Observations
• Mutual joint discussions
• Stimuli influence television programmes
• Individual response measures
• Confrontations - mother/child
• Product purchase
• Play

?
6
Method Children selection
Girls
6 5 and 6 year olds 6 7 and 8 year olds 7
9-10 year olds
3 x
All their mothers
Boys
7 6 and 7 year olds 7 8 and 9 year olds 7 10
and 11 year olds
All their mothers 14 fathers
3 x

• The children were recruited via kindergartens,
  schools and youth centres
• A spread on the test childs age position in
  relation to brothers and sisters
• Recruited in friendship pairs

• All from the area of Greater Copenhagen
• All can watch both TV2 and TV3
• Period Last week in November/ first week in
  December 1996

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Method Test materials(only commercials directed
to children)

• Television programme followed by a commercial
  block

Approx. 20 min. programme Bananas in Pyjamas
5-7 year olds Tom Jerry 7-12 year olds
6-8commercialsa group
Commercialsign
Commercial sign

• Kinder Bueno (girls 9-10)
• Min. Col. Cinderella (girls 9-10)
• Sunkist (children 9-12)
• Barbie Nibbles (girls 9-10)
• LEGO Western (boys 6-12)

• Donald Duck (children 7-12)
• Air Devil (boys 8-12)
• Street Sharks (boys 8-12)
• Kinder Pingui (all)

• Baby sister Shelly (all girls)
• Lillebror yoghurt (children 5-7)
• Foodn Fun (children 5-7)
• Magic Stars (children 5-8)

8
Method Test materials (only commercials directed
to children)

• Television programmes interrupted by commercial
  break

Approx. 17 min. programme The wicket in the
book girls 5-11 y.o. Spiderman boys
6-10 Freakazoid boys 11-12
6commercialsa group
The restof theprogramme
Commercial sign
Commercialsign

• Barbie Nibbles (girls 5-9)
• Kinder Bueno (all)
• Min. Col.Cinderella (girls 5-9)
• Kinder Chocolate (children 5-10)
• Lillebror cheese (children 5-8)

• Action Man (boys 6-12)
• LEGO train (boys 6-12)
• LEGO Technic (boys 8-12)
• Monopoly (children 9-12)
• Frosties Snowboard (children 9-12)

• LEGO Belville-pre (girls 9-11)
• Polly Pocket Rodeo (girls 9-11)
• LEGO Belville-rid.comp. (girls 9-11)

9
Method Test materials
Real novelties

• In all 23 television commercials with matching
  products selected by senior lecturer, dr. in
  pedagogy Birgitte Tufte and GfK among more than
  75 commercials
• 4 test commercials were new films for new
  products not yet introduced on the market at the
  time of the test
• 17 test commercials were new (almost new) films
  for existing products
• 2 test commercials to complete clutters
• Cinematic techniques for selection
• simple/complex
• closed action/episode/demonstration
• pure realism/fiction
• humans/dolls/animated characters

New film existing products
Old ones as supplement
10
Method cont.

• Planning, accomplishment and reporting
• GfKin cooperation with senior lecturer, dr. in
  pedagogy Birgitte Tufte The Royal Danish School
  of Educational Studies

11
Results
41 hours of video recording Over 1000 pages
transcript Hundreds of pages basic report One
big report for today! With many important
conclusions
- and the material can still be used for various
studies!
12
Parents general attitude towards children and
television

• In average the children watch television and
  video 2-4 hours a day, varies according to
  gender, age, time of year and weekday
• Relaxed attitude but can say no if necessary
• Many different types of programmes from early
  morning to bedtime. Childrens television mostly
  for children below the age of 8-9 years
• At the age of 9-10 the children obtain more and
  more the right of self-determination ?
  Tele-vision in their room, freedom to stay home
  alone after school

OK
13
TV habits - more in-depth

• 2-4 hours seems long in comparison with 1½ hours
  of the TV-metre, but it is realistic
• Qualitative survey - mutual control
• Satellite children
• Individual video watching
• The children watch TV in the morning before
  kindergarten/school, when they come home in the
  afternoon, and in the evening before going to bed
• In the morning - while it is something new and to
  have a less stressed morning - some children are
  not allowed
• In the afternoon as amusement
• In the evening either when having supper or after
  having done their homework

14
TV habits - more in-depth

• The children watch more television during the
  weekends - morning TV - so that the parents can
  sleep late - often the father joins the children
  and get cosy with them lying on the couch with
  their duvet
• Less TV watching in the summertime than during
  the winter
• TV habits depend on gender and age
• The youngest girls watch more TV than the
  youngest boys (3-4 hours)
• The 7-8 year-old girls watch less TV than the 5-6
  year-old girls ? bigger social network
• The oldest boys (10-11 years) watch TV far more
  often than the younger boys ? computers and
  text-TV are competitors though
• The oldest girls watch less TV than the oldest
  boys

15
TV habits - more in-depth

• The children watch various programmes - not just
  childrens programmes - they stop watching those
  at the age of 8-9 years
• Other interesting programmes
• Cartoons (the same for the younger children - the
  girls do not watch it much when they get older)
• The Monday Quiz
• Wheel of Fortune
• Fort Boyard
• The Town Quest
• Old Danish films (comprehensible and quiet pace)
• Baywatch
• Beverly Hills
• Station 2
• Rescue 911
• X-files

Family entertainment
Girls from 5-6 years of age
Boys from 8-9 years of age
16
TV habits - more in-depth

• The positive aspects concerning TV
• The children are learning something! E.g. foreign
  language - the ability to read. About animals and
  nature
• The children find it relaxing to watch TV - they
  need that
• Saturday/Sunday mornings - TV means that the
  parents can sleep late
• When the children watch TV, the adults have time
  for other things (child-minding only relevant
  for children below the age of 9-10 years)
• The video is indispensable when the children are
  ill

17
TV habits - more in-depth

• The negative aspects concerning TV
• The children become inactive, lazy and tired
• It can limit their fantasy
• The children might become isolated - less
  socialising ? if it comes to this the parents say
  No
• The boys in particular sometimes react
  perceptibly on violent films
• By becoming violent themselves
• By becoming afraid and having troubles sleeping
• If it comes to this the parents say No
• The children often watch TV without the presence
  of adults - alone or with brothers/sisters/friends
  - especially in the morning and the afternoon

18
Parents general attitude towards television
commercials directed to children

• Television commercials are accepted as a part of
  the media picture
• But the children must not beg too much for the
  advertised products - it is more difficult for
  the fathers to stop the begging than for the
  mothers - the younger children beg more than
  the older children

the children learnto become criticaltoward
commercials
? Commercials create needs, but...
OK! If Peter doesnt beg too much
? Commercials do notalways keep their
promises,but...
commercials caninspire and give ideasfor
list of wishes
? One become tired of watching the same
com-mercials again and again
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Parents general attitude towards children and
television, cont.
Does Peter understand that?

• The many commercials means that the children
  cannot possibly beg for everything and also give
  the parents a better opportunity for explaining
  that you cannot buy everything you see in
  commercials
• The parents often underestimate their childrens
  ability to comprehend the commercials - in
  particular the older children (above 8 y.o.)
  notice more details and understand actions better
  than what the adults expect

20
Childrens attitude towards television
commercials directed to children
Shopvisit

• Even the youngest children understand the purpose
  of commercials. Commercials show different
  things you can buy (quotation 5-6 year-old)
• Except from the youngest ones (below the age of
  7-8 years) the children are perfectly capable of
  distinguishing between television programmes and
  commercials
• The older the children get the more critical they
  become towards commercials - the repetitions are
  annoying, some commercials cheat and some
  become hate commercials
• Commercials are perceived as a pause in which
  you can do something else or change channel
• Commercial breaks seem more annoying than
  commercial blocks

Toy advertising
Adults reaction
Brothers/sisters
School
Friends
Parents
Tv pro-gramme
Catalogues
Video/computergames
21
Parameters that are important for perception of
television commercials

• Children have a more detailed perception than
  adults - the perceived details give more
  realistic product expectations
• The age group of 5-12 years has a very
  differentiated view on things - what is hot
  among 7-8 year-olds can be totally out among
  9-10 year-olds
• The story is very important for children up to
  9-10 years, even complex stories are being
  understood and remembered
• 9-10 year-old children and older are more focused
  on special effects
• Children have a memory of an elephant -
  novelties must be real in order to catch the
  childrens attention

22
Parameters that are important for perception of
television commercials, cont.

• The unexpected catch - The barrier transcend-ing
  story elements create attention but are not
  always accepted
• Ambiguities, subtlety and irony are not
  understood by children under the age of 8-9 years
  - they perceive things literally
• Children have to be able to identify themselves
  with actors and/or the story - the way of
  identifying oneself varies among younger and
  older, boys and girls
• Prior knowledge works as a filter for adults as
  well as childrens perception and acceptance of
  commercial messages

?
23
Parameters that are important for perception of
television commercials, cont.

• Accordance between picture, sound and text track
  promote comprehension. The visual aspect is the
  most dominant factor in relation to childrens
  expectations - speak and text play a minor role
• Both adults and children deduct from what is
  shown and said in the commercials. Even the
  youngest children are aware that the smoke and
  the stardust are not a part of the product, but
  they believe in almost anything else
• The more critical 9-10 year olds also adjust
  their level of expectation in accordance with
  what they find to be over-claims
• But even though the children rationally are
  capable of deducting - the emotional hope
  always remains as something to be tried out or
  pursued

It may not be true! - but yet on the other hand
24
Parameters that are important for perception of
television commercials, cont.

• Product specific details are very important for
  children of all age groups. The details must be
  correct in order not to disappoint the children.
  over-sale
• On the other hand many children directed
  commercials under-sale - due to forgotten
  details which the children find important. The
  details have great influence not only the first
  time they see the commercial, but also when it
  comes to the childrens joy at seeing it again -
  they might find even more details

25
Are the expectations fulfilled?

• Most of the tested commercials created realistic
  expectations
• The immediate usage value is essential for
  children as well as adults. If the product does
  not live up to the communicated message the
  children add the experience to their memo of
  commercials that cheat
• Often both children and adults find it difficult
  to create the precise expectations to size if
  they have no prior knowledge about product.
  Misunderstandings concerning size appears to be
  less important as to the positive product
  experience

Yes, usually!
26
Are the expectations fulfilled?

• It is of high importance that the product tastes
  as promised in the commercial or that the toy
  works as demonstrated in the commercial
• Contents and quantity are often misunderstood
  without leading to disappointment - it depends on
  the immediate usage value. The children do not
  expect to have all the things shown in the
  commercial, but they must be able to use what
  they get without having to have/buy other things
• The level of completion for toys often leads to
  disappointments - especially among the younger
  children - they forget that the toys have to be
  assembled before they can play with them - a
  number of commercials make no effort out of
  communicating the usage value of the assembling
  phase itself

Expec-tations
Product
27
Children and television advertising

• Parents can say no
• The children become more and more skilled in
  advertising
• The childrens perception diverge from the
  adults in many ways