Impact of Global and Local Media Advertisement on Children Essay

Abstract: Children have become much more interested watching TV over many years and it has become a primary action to some lives. Typically, children begin watching television at an early age of one year, and by the age two or three children become enthusiastic viewers. This has become a problem because many children are watching television and the shows that they are watching (even if they are cartoons) have become violent and addictive. Now a days they are addicted to watching TV .Comparatively spending hour for playing is less than watching TV, play video games. TODAY all TV ads focused on  children to attract consumers and were targeting the child viewer. Children in the 5-15 years age group want to buy products (by the influence of ads). Monitoring of advertisements has become essential. Children that have large amounts of TV time have increased weight problems, decreased academic performance, and decreased socialization skills. Thus the present study aims to find the how TV Advertising influences their children’s and how it affects their health in Pondicherry. Key Words: Advertising, children, Influence, television. INTRODUCTION: Since the middle of the twentieth century, television has grown from a novelty to a fixture in 90 percent of Indian households. Over time, the character of the medium also changed dramatically. Once offering only three principal broadcast networks, viewers’ choices now may extend to more than a hundred channels. Children are consumers of a variety of media, including computers, video games, print media, videotapes, music, and television. Although television is the most commonly used medium, viewing time varies with age. From two to seven years of age, children’s viewing time is about two hours per day. Increasing through childhood, it peaks at about three and a half hours per day during middle school before dropping off to about two and a half hours per day during adolescence. CHILDREN in India now spend about three hours a day in front of the television screen. An average child is estimated to have watched 5,000 hours of television by the time he or she enters first grade and 25,000 hours by the end of high school — more time than would be spent in a classroom earning a college degree. Television has become a potent agency of socialization because like the family, school, and peers, it directly provides the child with experiences which shape their attitudes and influence their behaviors. In evaluating television’s influence on children, it is important to view this medium as an element in a matrix of influences in a child’s social environment.  Television seems to become a growing source of parental anxiety. Parents worry most of all about the amount and kinds of programs their children watch, and definitely these fears are legitimate. ADVERTISEMENT AND CHILDREN: 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, if they are not bought 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 ad, the kids often try to imitate the stunts at home, with fatal results. The flashy advertisements broadcast in television generate impulse shopping in children. Children, after watching the glitter of commercials, often lose the ability to live a life without materialistic joy. 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 temper tantrums, when deprived of the latest toys and clothes that are shown in the commercials. The personal preferences in clothing, toys, food and luxurious 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 TV viewing time. This develops a craving for fatty, sugary and fast foods in kids, thereby affecting their health adversely. BELOW ARE FINDINGS FROM SOME OF THE MORE RELIABLE STUDIES. In last 20 years impact of TV advertisements on children memory and behavior is the major topic of debates in countries open for market competition (Boddewyn, 1984).Till 1988 advertising expense of TV program raised up to $500 million approximately (Leccese, 1989). While looking at the children responses to TV advertisement a research experiment revealed that children’s  food choices especially in snacks are based on their exposure to TV commercials (Gorn and Goldberg, 1982). Atkin (1981) also confirmed these findings in his experimental study and found that the children with heavy exposure to TV advertisements are more likely to recall those brands while shopping in the market and with their parents. Those children demand advertised food products and toys while moving in market with their parents. Children ranging in between 6 to 11 years of age watch TV commercials 3 hours a day and it is estimated that over the period of a year average child see about 20,000 advertisements (Adler et al, 1980). Most of the research in consumer behavior and specially on advertisement impact on children has focused two major points :(1) impact of TV commercials in shaping behavior and its positive or negative influence on children life and habits.(2) Role of TV commercials on the development and growth mental as well as physical of the children’s(Donohue, Meyer and Henke,1978). RESEARCH DESIGN: The aim of the research is to study the impact of TV advertising on impressionable minds of the children & it effects on their attitude & health. This paper deals with various factors like nature of the children, their likes & dislikes, the parent’s role in decision making & the influence of advertising on the buying habits of the kids. The data collection was done using convenience sampling method in the form of questionnaire. Analysis of data has been done using CHI-SQUARE test methods such as observed frequency table ,Expected frequency table . This paper not only concentrates on the findings but also suggests corrective measures to be taken up to minimize the after effects of the advertising world which will be always on the upsurge. The number of children exposed now to the ad world will surely increase as newly found segment will be heavily dosed for surviving in this competitive market. So this research paper aims at taking precautionary steps in the ethical front of the advertisers and of course on the parental & children’s front. PROBLEMS: 1. Could be more time consuming 2. It could have serious detrimental outcomes on both mental and even  physical health of children 3. Significant harmful effect on academic performance, poor grades and schoolwork 4. Negative influence of beliefs and behaviors OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: 1. To investigate the impact of level in Pondicherry state 2. To study the psychological attitude and health condition of children in Pondicherry state. 3. To discuss the effect of media advertisement in family especially young children. 4. To study the economic fluctuation by media advertisement. 5. To analysis the changing face of children over the year 6. To become proactive in learning to choose and use media advertisement wisely METHODOLOGY FOR IMPACT OF MEDIA ADVERTISEMENT ON  CHILDREN IN PONDICHERRY STATE: 1. Quantitative Data collection methods a) Experiments / clinical trials. b) Observing and recording well-defined events (e.g., counting the number of persons) c) Obtaining relevant data from management information systems. d) Administering surveys with closed-ended questions (e.g., face-to face and telephone interviews, questionnaires etc). e) Primary Data collection 2. Interviewing method a) In depth interview b) Face to face interview c) Telephone interview d) Observation method e) Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) 3. Questionnaires a) Paper-pencil-questionnaires b) Less structured protocols c) Heavily on interactive interviews 4. Through Media Awareness Network a) (www.media-awareness.ca) Web based questionnaires 5. Qualitative methods a) In -depth psychological analysis b) Observation methods c) Document review 6. Survey methods a) Sampling in research b) Cross section study and longitudinal studies 7. Statistical Analysis HYPOTHETICAL CONCEPT: The children of Pondicherry State have been seriously affected by the television advertisement; which is leading serious detrimental outcomes on mental and physical health. My study goes to reveal a positive co relationship exists between time spent with television and its impact on the buying behavior of a child and its influence on family spending and skipping of concentration from their studies. RSULT AND DISCUSSION: Data Collection Primary data A questionnaire was prepared for getting the view of parents and their kids on the purchasing choices and eating habits of kids. It was mainly directed towards what kind of impact does the advertising has on the impressionable minds & how advertisement decides their buying and eating habit. The survey had to be done at the point of purchase. So it was carried out in food malls where the brands are sold & places like Richi Richi , Jaya Emporium – Pondicherry & places like schools where we can actually meet the parents. Second part of the survey was conducted in my college â€Å"Achariya Arts And Science College Villianur ,Puducherry. In my collage.