Effects of Advertising on Children

The ad-filmmakers are formulating fresh ways of enticing the consumers to buy their products. If an advertisement for a product attracts the consumers, they tend to purchase it frequently or at least give it a try. If a company has to survive in this competitive world, it has to project the image of its products in such a way that, they pick up the maximum sales, when they hit the stores. The best way to persuade the consumer to buy the product of a particular brand, out of the numerous choices available in the market, is attractive advertisement. These advertisements familiarize kids with the latest products in the market and inculcate some good habits in them, such as, the ones related to dental hygiene. However, the ad-filmmakers should remember that the commercials can also have negative impact on people, especially the young children. In this article, we have presented some of the most visible effects of advertising on children, positive as well as negative.

Positive Effects Of Advertisement On Kids

Advertising makes the kids aware of the new products available in the market. It increases their knowledge about the latest innovations in the field of technology.
Convincing advertisements, which center around healthy food products, can help improve the diet of a child, if they are attractive enough.
Certain advertisements, with strong messages motivate the kids in chasing their future prospects such as becoming a doctor, scientist or an engineer. They generate the passion in children, regarding their future and makes them realize the importance of education.
Some advertisements inculcate good habits in children, as all the toothpaste companies create strong awareness regarding dental hygiene in kids.

Negative Effects Of Advertisement On Kids

Advertisements encourage the children to persuade their parents to purchase the products shown in the commercials, whether useful or not. The little ones tend to get adamant to buy the product.
Children often tend to misinterpret the messages conveyed in commercials. They overlook the positive side and concentrate more on the negatives.
Many advertisements in the present times include dangerous stunts, which can be performed only by experts. Even though, the commercials broadcast the statutory warnings with the advertisement, the kids often try to imitate the stunts at home, with fatal results.
The flashy advertisement broadcast in television generates impulse shopping in children.
Children, after watching the glitter of commercials, often lose the ability to live a life without materialistic joy. Gradually, they get used to a lifestyle which is reflected in television and other media.
The kids usually get more attracted towards the costly branded products, such as jeans and accessories. They disregard the inexpensive, but useful, ones that are not shown in the commercials.
Advertisements have an indirect effect on the behavior of children. They might develop temperamental tantrums, when deprived of the latest toys and clothes that are shown in the commercials.
The personal preferences in clothing, toys, food and luxuries of children are altered by the advertisements, to a great extent.
Junk foods, such as pizzas, burgers and soft drinks, are heavily promoted during children's programs. This develops a craving for fatty, sugary and fast foods in kids, thereby affecting their health adversely. These unhealthy eating habits lead to diseases, such as obesity. It even influences the way the kids think about the actual taste of food.
The advertisements shown in the television are sometimes related to the use of tobacco, alcohol which adversely affects the kids. It makes the perception that, drinking beer makes you a cool person. The vulnerability of the kids towards these advertisements is a major concern.
Advertising may affect the self-esteem of kids, as they feel inferior to others if they do not possess an endless array of products which are shown in the television.
Some of the advertisements portray women as sex objects through flashy images, which creates a bad impact on the children.
Almost all the advertisements do not convey the message clearly or children fail to comprehend the complete information. This can have an adverse effect on the children.
As more and more commercials are becoming animated, there seems to be hardly any difference between the real life and TV advertisements. As a result, children are unable to understand the difference between real world and fantasy. Thus, these advertisements distort the sense of reality of kids.
Studies have shown that, those kids who watch fast-paced television advertisements find it difficult to do tasks that take a much longer time, such as solving puzzles and reading.
The more time children spend glued to television commercials, the less time they get to socialize, play, read and exercise, which are essential for the overall development of the kids.

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Effects Of Advertising On Children

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