23 April 2013
TV Advertising Leads to Materialism Among Children
Keywords: advertising, survey, Western Europe, television, tweens,
Children who are frequently exposed to TV advertising become more materialistic over time. According to a study in Communication Research advertising increases children’s desires for heavily advertised products which, in turn, lead to an increased focus on consumption in general.
Take aways
- By promoting the ideology that possessions are important and that desirable qualities such as beauty, happiness, and success can be obtained through consumption, advertising stimulates materialism.
- Advertising not only increases children’s desire for advertised products, this increased desire also leads to an increased focus on consumption in general.
- Two intervention strategies could be applied to counter the effect of advertising: regulating children’s advertising exposure and teaching children how to deal with advertising critically.
Study information
The question?
Does children’s advertising exposure lead to materialism, and if so, how?
Who?
466 children, 8 to 11 years old, 55% girls
Where?
The Netherlands
How?
The children were part of a research panel that is representative for Dutch youth. They received the same questionnaire twice, with a one-year interval. Completing the survey took 15 to 20 minutes. Children answered questions about material possessions and advertising.
Facts and findings
- Children’s advertising exposure leads to increased materialism, because…
- advertising exposure leads to an increased desire for heavily advertised product types…
- this increased desire for heavily advertised product types leads to increased materialism