Research Methodology

Statement of the Problem

Through this report we want to find out how children are influenced by the advertisements especially

of confectionary products. So the statement of this project would be ‘Effect of Advertisements on

Children with special reference to confectionary products’

The research process goes within the following confectionary products:

Biscuits

Chocolates

Wafers

Noodles

Sauces

Health Drinks

Objectives of the Study

The subject matter for this Project is to study the effects of advertisement on children. Following are

the main objectives of this report.

To know the children's awareness about confectionary Products & their advertisements.

To study the impact of advertisement of confectionary Products on children.

To know whether is there any connection between TV watching habit of children and their medium of study or not.

Research Design

Research design selected for this project is Descriptive.

Scope:

The research will be done at Ahmedabad city only.

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Sampling Plan:-

Target Population : - Target population for this research would be children with age of 8-15

and their parents.

Sample Unit : - Sample unit for this research would be children with age of 8-15 and

their parents of a selected area.

Sampling Technique : - Stratified Random Sampling

Sample Size : - 300 (150 children and 150 parents)

Sampling Methods:

There are mainly two of sampling methods which are being used by the marketers:

1. Probability Sampling (Random Sampling)2. Non – probability Sampling

Probability sampling is a method for drawing a sample from a population such that all possible

samples have a known and specified probability of being drawn.

Non probability sampling is a sampling procedure in which the selection of population

elements is based in part on the judgment of the researcher or field interviewer.

The sampling method for this report would be probability sampling because here each sample

has equal chance of being selected and again it would be stratified random sampling

Data Collection Method:

There are mainly two types of data collection methods which are as follows:

Primary Data

Primary Data is the one that is being collected by the researcher itself and is being collected for the

first time. Researcher has collected this data with a specific purpose of studying the problem.

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Primary Data in the research process would be collected by filling up questionnaires from children

and their parents.

Secondary Data

Secondary Data is the data that already exists and in ready to use format and gathered by somebody

else. This data can be in the form of articles in magazines, journals, government reports or any other

historical data. It might even be the different articles in newspaper and on the internet blogs.

Secondary Data that would be used by researcher in the research process as supportive

documents are from the various newspaper articles, magazines related to specific industry, books in

the specific field of advertising and various different internet sites.

Instrument:-

The instrument selected for the primary data is structured questionnaire.

Tentative plan:-

The tentative plan for this research would be as following.

Research methodology

Advertising Industry

Indian Advertising Industry

Children and Advertising

Rules and Regulations of Advertising to Children

Analysis of Primary Data

Testing of Hypothesis

Key Findings

Suggestions

Conclusion

Bibliography

Annexure

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Expected contribution of the study

The research or study will help to understand how children are influenced by the advertisements of

confectionary products.

Beneficiaries

Beneficiaries of this research would be researchers, students & the company with confectionary

products.

Limitations

The major barriers in conducting the survey are:

1. Time Limitation

2. Financial Limitations

3. Geographical Limitations

1. Time Limitations

For a researcher time has always worked as a barrier to his/her research process. As we are

conducting the survey in the different schools of Ahmedabad city and observing the students aging

between 8 years to 15 years, time has always worked as a limitation to the research process

2. Financial Limitations

Another major limitation for this study is financial limitation. Finance is the major limitation for any

study. Again for this study finance does matter to the researcher to some extent.

3. Geographic Limitations

As we all know that Ahmedabad is becoming a mega city. It covers big number of people living in

the area. There are thousands of primary schools where the students are studying. Also the weather of

Ahmadabad city is very hot and hence it is impractical to work for more than 3 to 4 hours a day in

field. (Because children can be interviewed either at the school opening time or the recess time or the

school closing time only).

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ADVERTISING INDUSTRY

2.1 What is Advertising?

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Advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade its viewers, readers or listeners to take

some action. It usually includes the name of a product or service and how that product or service

could benefit the consumer, to persuade potential customers to purchase or to consume that particular

brand. Modern advertising developed with the rise of mass production in the late 19th and early 20th

centuries.

Commercial advertisers often seek to generate increased consumption of their products or

services through branding, which involves the repetition of an image or product name in an effort to

associate related qualities with the brand in the minds of consumers. Different types of media can be

used to deliver these messages, including traditional media such as newspapers, magazines,

television, radio, outdoor or direct mail. Advertising may be placed by an advertising agency on

behalf of a company or other organization.

Organizations that spend money on advertising promoting items other than a consumer

product or service include political parties, interest groups, religious organizations and governmental

agencies. Nonprofit organizations may rely on free modes of persuasion, such as a public service

announcement.

2.2 History

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As education became an apparent need and reading, as well as printing, developed advertising

expanded to include handbills. In the 17th century advertisements started to appear in weekly

newspapers in England. These early print advertisements were used mainly to promote books and

newspapers, which became increasingly affordable with advances in the printing press; and

medicines, which were increasingly sought after as disease ravaged Europe. However, false

advertising and so-called "quack"(fake) advertisements became a problem, which ushered in the

regulation of advertising content.

As the economy was expanding during the 19th century, advertising grew alongside. In the

United States, classified ads became even more popular, filling pages of newspapers with small print

messages promoting all kinds of goods. In 1843, the first advertising agency was established by

Volney Palmer in Philadelphia. At first, agencies were brokers for ad space in newspapers. N.W.

Ayer & Son was the first full-service agency to assume responsibility for advertising content. It was

also the first agency to charge a commission on ads.

In June 1836, French newspaper La Presse was the first to include paid advertising in its

pages, allowing it to lower its price, extend its readership and increase its profitability and the

formula was soon copied by all titles.

In the early 1920s, the first radio stations were established by radio equipment manufacturers

and retailers who offered programs in order to sell more radios to consumers. As time passed, many

non-profit organizations followed suit in setting up their own radio stations, and included: schools,

clubs and civic groups. When the practice of sponsoring programs was popularized, each individual

radio program was usually sponsored by a single business in exchange for a brief mention of the

business' name at the beginning and end of the sponsored shows. However, radio station owners soon

realized they could earn more money by selling sponsorship rights in small time allocations to

multiple businesses throughout their radio station's broadcasts, rather than selling the sponsorship

rights to single businesses per show.

The radio station owners soon realized they could earn more money by selling sponsorship

rights to other businesses. In those days, each show was usually sponsored by a single business, in

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exchange for a brief mention of the sponsor at the beginning and end of the show. This practice was

carried over to television in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

However, a fierce battle was fought between those seeking to commercialize this new

medium and the people who argued that the radio spectrum should be considered the commons, to be

used only non-commercially and for the public good. In Canada, advocates like Graham Spry were

able to convince the government to adopt a socialist funding model. England followed suit with the

development of the BBC. However in the United States, the capitalist model prevailed with the

passage of the 1934 Communications Act which created the Federal Communications Commission.

To placate the socialists, the U.S. Congress did require that commercial broadcasters operate in the

"public interest, convenience, and necessity". However public radio certainly exists in the United

States.

In the early 1950s, the Dumont television network began the modern trend of selling

advertisement time to multiple sponsors. Dumont had trouble finding sponsors for many of their

programs and compensated by selling smaller blocks of advertising time to several businesses. This

eventually became the norm for the commercial television industry in the United States. However, it

was still a common practice to have single sponsor shows, such as the U.S. Steel Hour. In some

instances the sponsors exercised great control over the content of the show - up to and including

having one's advertising agency actually writing the show. The single sponsor model is much less

prevalent now, a notable exception being the Hallmark Hall of Fame.

The 1960s saw advertising transform into a modern approach in which creativity was allowed

to shine, producing unexpected messages that made advertisements more tempting to consumers'

eyes. The Volkswagen ad campaign—featuring such headlines as "Think Small" and "Lemon"

ushered in the era of modern advertising by promoting a "position" or "unique selling proposition"

designed to associate each brand with a specific idea in the reader or viewer's mind. This period of

American advertising is called the Creative Revolution and its archetype was William Bernbach who

helped create the revolutionary Volkswagen ads among others. Some of the most creative and long-

standing American advertising dates to this period.

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The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the introduction of cable television and particularly

MTV. Pioneering the concept of the music video, MTV ushered in a new type of advertising. As

cable and satellite television became increasingly prevalent, specialty channels emerged, including

channels entirely devoted to advertising, such as QVC, Home Shopping Network, and ShopTV

Canada.

Marketing through the Internet opened new frontiers for advertisers and contributed to the

"dot-com"(.com) boom of the 1990s. Entire corporations operated solely on advertising revenue,

offering everything from coupons to free Internet access. At the turn of the 21st century, a number of

websites including the search engine Google, started a change in online advertising by emphasizing

contextually relevant, unobtrusive ads intended to help, rather than inundate, users. This has led to a

plethora of similar efforts and an increasing trend of interactive advertising.

The share of advertising spending relative to GDP has changed little across large changes in

media. For example, in the U.S. in 1925, the main advertising media were newspapers, magazines,

signs on streetcars, and outdoor posters. Advertising spending as a share of GDP was about 2.9

percent. By 1998, television and radio had become major advertising media. Nonetheless, advertising

spending as a share of GDP was slightly lower—about 2.4 percent.

A recent advertising innovation is "guerrilla marketing", which involve unusual approaches

such as staged encounters in public places, giveaways of products such as cars that are covered with

brand messages, and interactive advertising where the viewer can respond to become part of the

advertising message. Guerrilla advertising is becoming increasing more popular with a lot of

companies. This type of advertising is unpredictable and innovative, which causes consumers to buy

the product or idea. This reflects an increasing trend of interactive and "embedded" ads, such as via

product placement, having consumers vote through text messages, and various innovations utilizing

social network services such as MySpace

.

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2.3 Changing scenario of advertising

Marketing through advertising is considered an important variable in the global business. Advertising

is second only to films as far as its influence on the society is concerned. History bears testimony to

the fact that the great Romans practiced advertising. Their surnames indicated their occupation. The

potentialities of advertising multiplied when manual press was invented in the 15th century. After

that the demand has been increasing.

Advertising is, in fact, the most influential and powerful medium in the present commercial

society. It creates an entire worldview, shaping our attitude and beliefs. Advertisements pervade

every aspect of our life and most of us are hardly aware of it. In the movement for equal status and

fair treatment to women, an important part is attributed to the mass media, particularly to electronic

media.

The central position of media in daily life ensures its role in advertising business. The

meanings that are created by media are not fixed, but they vary according to cultural, historical and

social context of the people concerned. The common man judges the products on the basis of the

understanding his society and culture has inculcated into them.

Symbolism is one of the major aspects of advertisement and it is to be noted that a change has

occurred in this context. Use of women to promote a concept or product is increasing day by day. In

the advertisement world, advertisers have picked up women for advertising of consumer

commodities. Women are used in TV commercials as weapon of persuasion.

Women in many cultures make the majority of consumption decisions; hence they are

important target of these advertisers. So the advertisers find it easier to sell the product by using the

same gender. But most of these ads hardly need women as models. For example, there is no need to

ask females to do an ad for a men’s shaving cream. The list is uncountable. Most of the companies

want to attract the consumers by using the physical look of the models.  They have created a world of

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fantasy. And we are drawn towards that world without realizing much about the realities of life. We

try to imitate whatever is shown on the Television. The media must play the role of a watchdog in

such a situation.

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2.4 Types of advertising

Virtually any medium can be used for advertising. Commercial advertising media can include a wall

paintings, billboards, street furniture components, printed flyers and rack cards, radio, cinema and

television adverts, web banners, mobile telephone screens, shopping carts, web popup, skywriting,

bus stop benches, human billboards, magazines, newspapers, sides of buses, banners attached to or

sides of airplanes ("logojets"), in-flight advertisements on seatback tray tables or overhead storage

bins, taxicab doors, roof mounts and passenger screens, musical stage shows, subway platforms and

trains, doors of bathroom stalls, stickers on apples in supermarkets, shopping cart handles

(grabertising), the opening section of streaming audio and video, posters, and the backs of event

tickets and supermarket receipts. Any place an "identified" sponsor pays to deliver their message

through a medium is advertising.

Television

The TV commercial is generally considered the most effective mass-market advertising format, as is

reflected by the high prices TV networks charge for commercial airtime during popular TV events.

The annual Super Bowl football game in the United States is known as the most prominent

advertising event on television. The average cost of a single thirty-second TV spot during this game

has reached US$3 million (as of 2009).

The majorities of television commercials feature a song or jingle that listeners soon relate to

the product.

Virtual advertisements may be inserted into regular television programming through

computer graphics. It is typically inserted into otherwise blank backdrops or used to replace local

billboards that are not relevant to the remote broadcast audience. More controversially, virtual

billboards may be inserted into the background where none exist in real-life. Virtual product

placement is also possible.

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Infomercials

An infomercial is a long-format television commercial, typically five minutes or longer. The word

"infomercial" is a portmanteau of the words "information" & "commercial". The main objective in an

infomercial is to create an impulse purchase, so that the consumer sees the presentation and then

immediately buys the product through the advertised toll-free telephone number or website.

Infomercials describe, display, and often demonstrate products and their features, and commonly

have testimonials from consumers and industry professionals.

Radio advertising

Radio advertising is a form of advertising via the medium of radio.

Radio advertisements are broadcasted as radio waves to the air from a transmitter to an

antenna and a thus to a receiving device. Airtime is purchased from a station or network in exchange

for airing the commercials. While radio has the obvious limitation of being restricted to sound, this

becomes its major disadvantage.

Press advertising

Press advertising describes advertising in a printed medium such as a newspaper, magazine, or trade

journal. This encompasses everything from media with a very broad readership base, such as a major

national newspaper or magazine, to more narrowly targeted media such as local newspapers and trade

journals on very specialized topics. A form of press advertising is classified advertising, which

allows private individuals or companies to purchase a small, narrowly targeted ad for a low fee

advertising a product or service.

Online advertising

Online advertising is a form of promotion that uses the Internet and World Wide Web for the

expressed purpose of delivering marketing messages to attract customers. Examples of online

advertising include contextual ads that appear on search engine results pages, banner ads, in text ads,

Rich Media Ads, Social network advertising, online classified advertising, advertising networks and

e-mail marketing, including e-mail spam.

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Billboard advertising

Billboards are large structures located in public places which display advertisements to passing

pedestrians and motorists. Most often, they are located on main roads with a large amount of passing

motor and pedestrian traffic; however, they can be placed in any location with large amounts of

viewers, such as on mass transit vehicles and in stations, in shopping malls or office buildings, and in

stadiums.

Mobile billboard advertising

The RedEye newspaper advertised to its target market at North Avenue Beach with a sailboat

billboard on Lake Michigan.

Mobile billboards are generally vehicle mounted billboards or digital screens. These can be

on dedicated vehicles built solely for carrying advertisements along routes preselected by clients,

they can also be specially-equipped cargo trucks or, in some cases, large banners strewn from planes.

The billboards are often lighted; some being backlit, and others employing spotlights. Some billboard

displays are static, while others change; for example, continuously or periodically rotating among a

set of advertisements.

Mobile displays are used for various situations in metropolitan areas throughout the world,

including:

Target advertising

One-day, and long-term campaigns

Conventions

Sporting events

Store openings and similar promotional events

Big advertisements from smaller companies

Others

In-store advertising

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In-store advertising is any advertisement placed in a retail store. It includes placement of a product in

visible locations in a store, such as at eye level, at the ends of aisles and near checkout counters, eye-

catching displays promoting a specific product, and advertisements in such places as shopping carts

and in-store video displays.

Covert advertising

Covert advertising, also known as guerrilla advertising, is when a product or brand is embedded in

entertainment and media. For example, in a film, the main character can use an item or other of a

definite brand, as in the movie Minority Report, where Tom Cruise's character John Anderton owns a

phone with the Nokia logo clearly written in the top corner, or his watch engraved with the Bulgaria

logo. Another example of advertising in film is in I, Robot, where main character played by Will

Smith mentions his Converse shoes several times, calling them "classics," because the film is set far

in the future. I, Robot and Spaceballs also showcase futuristic cars with the Audi and Mercedes-Benz

logos clearly displayed on the front of the vehicles. Cadillac chose to advertise in the movie The

Matrix Reloaded, which as a result contained many scenes in which Cadillac cars were used.

Similarly, product placement for Omega Watches, Ford, VAIO, BMW and Aston Martin cars are

featured in recent James Bond films, most notably Casino Royale. In "Fantastic Four: Rise of the

Silver Surfer", the main transport vehicle shows a large Dodge logo on the front. Blade Runner

includes some of the most obvious product placement; the whole film stops to show a Coca-Cola

billboard

Celebrities

This type of advertising focuses upon using celebrity power, fame, money, popularity to gain

recognition for their products and promote specific stores or products. Advertisers often advertise

their products, for example, when celebrities share their favorite products or wear clothes by specific

brands or designers. Celebrities are often involved in advertising campaigns such as television or

print adverts to advertise specific or general products.

The use of celebrities to endorse a brand can have its downsides, however. One mistake by a

celebrity can be detrimental to the public relations of a brand. For example, following his

performance of eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, swimmer Michael

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Phelps' contract with Kellogg's was terminated, as Kellogg's did not want to associate with him after

he was photographed smoking marijuana

2.5 Recent Trends in Advertising

Internet Advertising

Internet Marketing is the online advertisement and selling of products, services or businesses

through the Internet. Online advertising is possible only if one has its own website. Having a website

for a particular business is worthless until and unless people know about your business and put their

trust and likings on services that you provide. So, having a website is just like having a shop, if

people find you, they obviously visit it, and visit it again if they find it really interesting.

Internet Advertising is the latest and most effective method of business promotion. It is

necessary to help people find you more easily, know your presence, know more about the services

and products that you offer and assure people what real difference you can bring about in comparison

to other similar service providers. To make your website worth interesting, different Website

advertising strategies are available today, such as, pay per click advertising, banner advertising, email

marketing, search engine marketing through search engine optimization, affiliate, article, blog and

interactive marketing services. If these strategies are dealt attentively, then you can experience the

difference that online business can bring on your business.

There are 26 million Internet users in India, largely in the age group of 20 to 40 - a target-base

for India's rapid growth advertising industry is increasingly looking at. It's reboot time for Indian

advertising with predictions that the online segment is likely to cross the 100 million dollar mark by

2010, according to a study by MSN.

India's advertising industry generates about 2.2 billion dollars annually, according to industry

sources. Currently, online advertising comprises less than one per cent of the pie. The total spending

for 2004-2005 was about 18 million dollars, but the Indian Online Association (IOA), predicts this

will touch 57 million in 2006-2007.

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Internet is increasingly a part of the media mix for advertisers as they realize its high potential

in reach and penetration. Print and television still hog a major share of Indian advertising at 700 to

920 million dollars annually. But digital advertising industry players point out that television too saw

a sluggish beginning and then exploded as cable TV entered the arena. So what's holding back the

online advertising boom? It’s the unfamiliarity with the new medium, a lack of understanding of its

reach and potential, a fear of venturing into a new area. The limited reach of Internet - it has only 26

million users in a country of one billion - is another reason. The mobile industry has far overtaken

Internet with a user base of 50 million in India and is growing by the day.

Unlike print and TV, the consumer can decide when and how he wants to be exposed to a

campaign, and the advertiser too can filter targets in terms of groups and locales. The Internet has

great cost advantage as well. The cost per 1,000 reach is very effective when compared to other

media. Finance is the main sector going for Internet advertising in India. Most in the advertising

industry agree that today even a brilliant campaign has a vital element missing if there is no Internet

presence.

Leading portals in India like Rediff, Yahoo and MSN are also seeing a revival. Rediff saw an

increase of over 70 per cent in online revenue on its India operations in 2004. It largely comprised

advertising and fee-based services like online subscriptions, mobile downloads and online shopping.

And there were more than two dozen first time advertisers the same year. Yahoo! India saw a 100 per

cent growth in advertising in 2004. Indiatimes.com, the online operations of one of India's leading

media groups estimated total advertising on its site to be around 3.5-4.6 million U.S. dollars in 2004.

All top advertising agencies in India from JWT, Lowe Lint’s, O&M and Mudra have interactive arms

or links with the same.

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Internet Users in India:

Year Users Usage Source

1998 14,00,000 ITU

1999 28,00,000 ITU

2000 55,00,000 ITU

2001 70,00,000 ITU

2002 1,65,00,000 ITU

2003 2,25,00,000 ITU

2004 3,92,00,000 C.I.Almanac

2005 5,06,00,000 C.I.Almanac

2006 4,00,00,000 IAMAI

2007 4,20,00,000 Internet world star

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Mobile Advertising

Mobile advertising in India is at a very nascent stage compared to markets like Japan, Korea and

West, but many are reported to be preparing to get into the act. “The future for mobile advertising is

already here, despite not being on many marketers’ radars yet. Hundreds of millions of ads are

already being run, click-through rates are much higher than online. The growth of 3G networks,

IPTV and high end gaming on mobile phones will open new avenues for advertising on mobile.

The size of mobile advertising in India is miniscule, it has potential to grow at 200% a year,

giving operators a new revenue source. With the average revenue per user (ARPU) constantly falling,

it could be a saving grace for operators. From Rs 356 in March last year, the ARPU in December

2006 has declined by 115 to touch Rs 316. The worldwide mobile advertising market is pegged at $1

billion currently. IDC believes with more than two billion mobile users in the world, it prevails as the

first medium through which advertisers can reach such a large audience on an individual basis.

In India, it is currently a Rs 5-6 crore market, set to grow to Rs 20-25 crore by March 2008. It

is clearly a medium that needs to be evangelised to brands as how Internet advertising was done to

brands in early 2000 - 2001. Mobile advertising can take many forms like SMS broadcast, MMS

broadcast, sponsored content, WAP ads and product placement in games. Currently, it is restricted to

SMS based activities in the country. Some FMCG, beverage and entertainment companies have

tested MMS too and few operators have also tried to get sponsorship revenue from value added

services.

Seeing the huge potential of mobile advertising in future, operators like Bharti Airtel, MTNL,

Reliance and Tata Teleservices are exploring the option, but feel it will take some time for the format

to take off in the country in a big way.

Targeted mobile advertising is 50% more acceptable to mobile internet users than untargeted

ads, according to the consumer mobile advertising report conducted with more than 1,200 mobile

internet users across the US, Europe and India. As 70% of the SMSes have less than 40 characters,

value added services provider Cellebrum has come up with a solution where micro advertisements

are inserted into the text messages of subscribers who opt-in to the programme in exchange for

incentives such as free SMS or reduced tariffs.

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In the not too distant future, we will have the freedom to choose whether we wish to pay for

our mobile calls or have it free. Soon enough we will be given a free mobile phone and be allowed to

make and receive calls for free provided we are willing to pay with our attention to short advertising

messages while using these phone. For instance, when we answer or make a call, before we get

connected, we will hear the advertising message. This message will more than likely be of some

interest to us because the advertiser would have information about who we are based on what content

we subscribe to from the ocean of published content.

Freelance advertising

In freelance advertising, companies hold public competitions to create ads for their product, the best

one of which is chosen for widespread distribution with a prize given to the winner(s). During the

2007 Super Bowl, Pepsico held such a contest for the creation of a 30-second television ad for the

Doritos brand of chips, offering a cash prize to the winner. Chevrolet held a similar competition for

their Tahoe line of SUVs. This type of advertising, however, is still in its infancy. It may ultimately

decrease the importance of advertising agencies by creating a niche for independent freelancers

Embedded advertising

Embedded advertising or in-film ad placements are happening on a larger scale now than ever before.

Films like Krish had over a dozen placements including Lay’s, Bournvita, Samsung, Faber Castell

and Hero Honda.

Shift in Message from Product Features to Consumer Benefits

A common rule in the advertising industry is the “one message” strategy. In short, it is based on the

premise that one unique selling proposition (USP) is effective. This reflects concerns over how

communicating a multitude of messages in a single advertisement may easily distract consumers and

cause difficulties in understanding the underlying message, thus weakening the advertisement’s

effects. So, a common and frequently made mistake made in current commercials is that they often

end up communicating product features while obscuring their message and emphasizing

technological prowess. In particular, this trend was noticeable in industries where technological

capability was a differentiating point and complex functions were the competitive edge.

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Recent successful commercials have instead adopted a strategy of soft appeal focused on

consumer benefits, rather than one of hard appeal, communicating product characteristics. The keys

to success for these advertisements have been the use of consumer language and attractive images

when communicating features and technologies. Selecting a simple and clear message as well as

delivering messages focusing on consumers' benefits is helpful to raise message appeal, brand

awareness and brand power.

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2.6 The Role of Advertising:

Advertising is the means by which goods or services are promoted to the public. The advertiser’s

goal is to increase sales of these goods or services by drawing people’s attention to them and

showing them in a favorable light. The mission of advertiser is to reach prospective customers and

influence their awareness, attitudes and buying behavior. They spend a lot of money to keep

individuals (markets) interested in their products. To succeed, they need to understand what makes

potential customers behave the way they do.

For advertising to exist, a number of factors have to be in place

The goods and services to be advertised

Competition between different providers of the same kinds of goods and services, for which

there needs to be a significant potential market

The means of advertising cheaply to large numbers of people

A population with sufficient education to be able to understand advertising messages

Advertising is a marketing function, and Kotler claims that advertising can have a number of

different, possible objectives. One objective can be to inform customers about new product or a price

change. The main objective here is to build primary demand. Another objective can be to persuade

the customer to purchase the product. The use advertising as a way to build preference and to

encourage customers to change brand. The fundamental purpose of advertising is to influence people

to purchase various goods and products. In this sense advertising is a phenomenon that aims to

persuade or influence people.

What is the role of advertising in the demand function? One response of this question is that a

company can sell more of its product by informing consumers about the product. The information

may include its existence, price, promotion, quality, etc. Therefore advertising is seen as providing

information to consumers. The other response is that advertising searches the way of persuading

consumers to purchase the advertised products by appeals to snobbery, associations of the product

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with favored people or situations, repetition of the same message and so on. Advertising shows the

last style and the new popular products in the market. It displays ideal individuals wearing the new

clothes and looking good. Customers are jealous of this perfection. So that, they go out and purchase

in hopes of reaching perfection.

There is a time dimension at advertising. Advertisement’s influence on sales is immediate

(i.e. it is mostly felt within seven days of an advertisement’s exposure). A repetition of such effects,

measured at the end of a year, amounts to a medium-term influence. The immediate influence of

advertising on sales plays a gatekeeper role to all further effects. Without it there will not be medium

term effect (i.e. a repetition of short-term effects); and long-term effect. Advertisement’s full effect

can be only valued if its long-term influence is taken into account as well as its short and medium-

term effects on sales. These terms make it possible to evaluate the productivity of an advertising

campaign; to measure if the campaign shows a financial return on the investment and is thus

accountable

According to Doole & Lowe (2004), advertising is the most important part of the whole

marketing strategy. There are many channels of media to use for advertising, for example television,

printed media, radio, cinema, outdoor and transport poster. Marketers use television as the most

powerful medium of communication.

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2.7 Leading Advertising agencies in the world

Here is the rundown of the top 10 advertising agencies that made significant mark in the advertising

business and has pioneered the known best practices in the advertising industry.

1.    BBDO Worldwide, United States

BBDO Worldwide is one of the major three networks under the umbrella of Omnicom. BBDO

Worldwide has long been recognized as the most prestigious advertising network globally. Its

estimated total revenues for 2008 amount to $2.0B.

2.    McCann Erickson, United States

McCann Erickson is the largest agency with global coverage. Its main business focuses on traditional

advertising operations. It also offers a range of innovative marketing services under the umbrella

company known internationally as McCann World group. Its estimated total revenues for 2008

amount to $1.7 B.

3.    DDB Worldwide, United States

DDB is one of the triumvirate networks under the portfolio of Omnicom. It maintains a lower profile

compared to the other two networks that form the triumvirate network of Omnicom. Its estimated

revenues for 2008 are at $1.5 B

4.    TBWA Worldwide, United States

TBWA Worldwide completes the triumvirate of networks under the Omnicom advertising group. It is

more on the non-traditional lines and usually dabbles on the “quirky” side of the business. Its total

revenues for 2008 are estimated to have reached $1.4 B.

5.    Euro RSCG Worldwide, France

Euro RSCG Worldwide is one of the two major advertising agencies in France. Its global reach

covers about 75 countries. After growing through some organizational challenges, Euro RSCG

Worldwide returned to the global scene under a new management group and immediately earned

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recognition in major publication in the UK and the US. Its estimated 2008 revenues are placed at

$1.2B.

6.    JWT Worldwide, United States

JWT is sort of a legend in the advertising world. It is recognized as the first advertising agency that

was ever organized. The advertising agency implemented major and strategic changes. Its estimated

revenues for 2008 are about $1.2 B.

7.    Y & R Advertising, United States

Y & R Brands is the umbrella organization of several leading marketing service companies which

include leading agencies Y & R and direct marketing outfit Wunderman. It is a 100% subsidiary of

WPP although it maintains a fairly self contained operation. It has gone through difficult stages in its

operations primarily to the disparate performance of the member agencies. The estimated revenues

for 2008 of Y & R are placed at $ 1.1 B.

8.    Publicis Worldwide

Publicis Worldwide is the biggest ad network under the umbrella group Publicis Groupe which also

includes Saatchi & Saatchi and the Leo Burnett advertising network. It has made significant inroads

in its ranking with strategic acquisitions.

9.    DraftFCB, United States

DraftFCB officially started business operations in 2006. Its core business is the integrated marketing

business portfolio focusing on a wide range of specialties and disciplines. Its estimated volume of

business for 2008 is about $955 M.

10.    Wisdek, Canada

Wisdek is one of the emerging and leading online marketing and advertising outfits. It is renowned

for innovative and creative marketing solutions designed for companies that are highly reliant on the

Internet. It broke ground in 1998 and has since then been focusing on innovative projects on site

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placements on various search engines. Wisdek is the pioneer in an erstwhile non-existent business

interest.

26

INDIAN ADVERTISING

INDUSTRY

27

3.1 Introduction

  The Indian advertising industry is talking business today. It has evolved from being a small-scale

business to a full-fledged industry. It has emerged as one of the major industries and tertiary sectors

and has broadened its horizons be it the creative aspect, the capital employed or the number of

personnel involved. Indian advertising industry in very little time has carved a niche for itself and

placed itself on the global map.

Indian advertising industry with an estimated value of 13, 200-crore has set eyeballs gazing

with some astonishing pieces of work that it has given in the recent past. The creative minds that the

Indian advertising industry incorporates have come up with some mind-boggling concepts and work

that can be termed as masterpieces in the field of advertising.

Advertising agencies in the country too have taken a leap. They have come a long way from

being small and medium sized industries to becoming well known brands in the business. Mudra,

Ogilvy and Mather (O&M), Mccann Ericsonn, Rediffussion, Leo Burnett are some of the top

agencies of the country.

Indian economy is on a boom and the market is on a continuous trail of expansion. With the

market gaining grounds Indian advertising has every reason to celebrate. Businesses are looking up

to advertising as a tool to cash in on lucrative business opportunities. Growth in business has lead to

a consecutive boom in the advertising industry as well.

The Indian advertising today handles both national and international projects. This is

primarily because of the reason that the industry offers a host of functions to its clients that include

everything from start to finish that include client servicing, media planning, media buying, creative

conceptualization, pre and post campaign analysis, market research, marketing, branding, and public

relation services.

Keeping in mind the current pace at which the Indian advertising industry is moving the

industry is expected to witness a major boom in the times ahead. If the experts are to be believed then

the industry in the coming times will form a major contribution to the GDP. With all this there is

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definitely no looking back for the Indian advertising industry that is all set to win accolades from the

world over.

With development in the technology, various avenues are opening up in advertising industry.

It is estimated that about 2.2 billion dollars are generated in this industry every year. Be it is print,

radio, television or Internet, every medium plays a significant role in the growth of this industry.

Today, Advertising Industry in India is surging with revenues. To meet all the demands in adverting

sector, many agencies are coming to the scene.

India is a hub of creativity and this is evident from the fact that more and more people from

Indian advertising industry are being accepted world over and imposing a lot of respect in

international advertising community.

Visibility is the mantra of success these days and advertising makes sure that your product,

service is visible; thus saleable. Today Advertising Industry in India is booming with revenue. It is a

very successful industry which generates lot of revenue. The Advertising Industry in India is getting

recognized worldwide with its superior quality work and innovation. It ensures tremendous growth

and scope for the employees.

During fiscal 2005, the gross advertising spend in India is estimated at Rs 111 billion, and is

expected to grow at 14.2% to reach Rs. 127 billion by fiscal 2006.

The key factors which have contributed to growth of the Indian advertising industry include:

  -   Growth in media vehicles leading to increase in media infiltration.

  -   Higher degree of competitive concentration among consumer companies

  -   Entry of global consumer companies with large advertising budgets

  -   Increase in consumer riches.

Rapid economic growth of the country on the back of economic liberalization and

deregulation. Indian advertising industry is fast catching up with their western counterparts. The

change has been a slow and steady one, but if you look at the advertisements on Indian television

nowadays, you’ll be vastly surprised.

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There were times, when it was believed that sex sells anything and everything. Then came the

era of glamour and celebrities. Film stars and cricketers were roped it to sell soft-drinks to massage

oils. Ads were made for cycles and pens. The list is endless. Now, the times have changed. Humor,

industry experts say, sells the best. People remember jokes, the humor involved, and it becomes

easier to make an impact on the customer. The Indian consumer no longer falls into an uneducated,

easy to please.

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3.2 Top ten Advertising Agencies of India

Ogilvy and Mather Limited:- Headed by Mr. Piyush Pandey:

The most local of the internationals, The most international of the locals are words written to

describe the identity of Ogilvy. Basically, what this means is that the advertising agency follows the

local market, understands the customer's needs and then networks worldwide with MNC and other

relevant clients.

In all its years of business, Ogilvy has struggled to build brands and has proved its ability to build

brands. The agency does its best to enhance the customer-brand relation. For this, it undergoes the

process of scrutiny of the tools and techniques which work well to build a long and lasting

association with a brand.

Mudra communications Pvt. Ltd:- Head: Mr. Madhukar Kamath:

The agency practises the art of communication in order to express ideas that can shape the brands. As

the name suggests, the agency is influenced by the artistic traditions of Indian dance, drama and

painting. These, in turn, inculcate feelings, ideas, thoughts and emotions for the success of a brand.

Mudra peeps into the local consumer markets, channels and media, and has its own identity in

communication of brands. It looks for the entrepreneurial zeal which causes continuous and speedy

growth for each brand. The advertising agency always believed in doing interesting work that pleases

its clients.

Lintas India Pvt. Ltd:- Head: Mr. Pranesh Misra (President & COO - Lowe, India):

After the merge of Lintas India Ltd. with Lowe Lintas and Partners group of the UK, it is now known

as Lowe Lintas. India Pvt. Ltd. The turnover of Lintas is Rs. 750 crore. The advertising agency

inculcates advertising, media buying house, direct marketing, public relations, design consultancy,

market research, events, rural communications and interactive communications. Enterprise Nexus,

the agency partner of Lowe in India, continues to be a member and is known as the ‘Independent

Brands’ division which is the only specialist in advertising and marketing communications. Lowe

Lintas India is a successful agency which is inclined towards quality creative advertising and works

for the benefit of its clients.

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JWT (Hindustan Thompson Associates Pvt. Ltd.):- Head:Mr.Colvyn Harris (Chief Executive Officer):

The advertising agency has a special portfolio which includes creativity, innovation, clients, case

studies, awards, well-thought out leadership and talent. Clients perceive the agency as a resource of

ideas which tell the brand’s story to the customer, dealing with market research. In this process, the

agency includes innovative ideas.

FCB-Ulka advertising pvt. Ltd:- Head Mr. Anil Kapoor (Managing Director and CEO):

FCB, being one of the the top three advertising agencies in the USA, ranks number 10 in the world.

FCB-Ulka has made its mark in India as Ulka Advertising. It was founded in 1961. On the creative

front, Ulka is known to stand out. FCB-Ulka has made a smooth transition from a creative shop to a

large mainstream agency. Around the mid-seventies, FCB-Ulka had become the fifth largest agency

in India and has sustained this status till date. The efforts of FCB-Ulka deserve praise. It also gave

recognition to those brands that were not in the limelight earlier but are now completely above other

market players. Santoor soap did thorough research and focused on advertising which gave growing

sales figures against stiff competition from Levers and P&G brands. Not surprisingly, FCB-Ulka is

seen as a turnaround specialist - an agency that does brand building and more.

Rediffusion DY&R Pvt Ltd:- Mr. Mahesh Chauhan (President):

This advertising agency places its people first. It believes that the strength of a brand lies in the

efforts the people of the organization make. Rediffusion DY&R follows system-driven ‘thinking’ in

its culture. The agency attracts right minds because it thinks of a perfect balance between creativity

and strategy.

RK Swamy BBDO Pvt Ltd:- Mr. Srinivasan K Swamy (Head)

It is the agency of the worldwide-renowned BBDO network. The advertising agency suggests comes

up with solutions for its clients regarding their marketing communication problems and provides

them with intelligent solutions and supports them in attaining their goals. The symbol or logo of the

advertising agency is Hansa and is known to separate milk from the water. Similarly, RK Swamy of

BBDO is capable of deriving the essential elements from the irrelevant ones in order to promote each

brand. The agency practises high level of commitment and spirited teamwork for a common cause.

McCann-Ericsson India Ltd:- Sorab Mistry (Head)

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This advertising agency is a leading global agency and has the power and passion to achieve its

mission .McCann-Ericsson is known as a world class advertising agency and has found outstanding

talent in its employees.

Leo Burnett:- Mr. Arvind Sharma (Chairman and CEO):

The advertising agency is totally idea-centric. It generates big brand ideas. It regards the pencil as its

engine no matter the size - it is the means through which it can generate plenty of creative ideas. The

agency is never too satisfied with its endless efforts in building up a brand. It believes that the brands

can become and remain leaders by building better ideas. It's no wonder that the founder of the

advertising agency, Leo Burnett, regards the pencil as a metaphor for the kind of ideas he was

coming up with for his clients.

Grey worldwide (India) Pvt Ltd:- Mr. Nirvik Singh (President south east Asia & chairman South Asia, Grey Global):

The agency handles above the line advertising for the Grey group. It has launched Dominos in India.

It has had Ambuja cement, Thums Up, Arrow, Lee and many more brands in its portfolio. The

mission of the agency is to remain the largest global integrated agency to leading brand ideas.

The list of the top ten advertising agencies is not always stable and remains interchanging.

The additions and deletion of a few of them formulates the list. But each of them are making their

way to becoming the best, and their efforts are making are each making a mark in the Indian

advertising scenario.

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CHILDREN & ADVERTISING

4.1 Introduction

34

Advertising to children is the act of marketing or advertising products or services to children, as

defined by national legislation and advertising standards. Advertising to children is often the subject

of debate, relating to the alleged influence on children’s consumption. Rules on advertising to

children have largely evolved in recent years. In most countries, advertising for children is now

framed by a mix of legislation and advertising self-regulation.

Scope and Form

Advertising to children can take place on traditional media – television, radio and print – as well as

new media (internet and other electronic media). Packaging, in-store advertising, event sponsorship

and promotions can also be means to advertise to children.

There is no universal definition of a child (although UNESCO - the United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, defines early childhood as ages 0– 8 years).

Children are otherwise defined according to national jurisdictions. For the purposes of advertising

law, the definition of a child varies from one jurisdiction to another. However, 12 is commonly used

as a cut-off point, on the basis of the widespread academic view that by the age of 12 children have

developed their behavior as consumers, effectively recognize advertising and are able to adopt

critical attitudes towards it.

There is no global data on ad spending directed at children, only data for specific sectors.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, food and beverage companies (44 companies reporting

to the FTC) in the US spent approximately $1.6 billion in 2006 to promote their products/services to

children.

4.2 Advertising standards

35

In many countries worldwide, advertising is also governed by self-regulatory codes of conduct.

Advertisers, advertising agencies and the media agree on a code of advertising standards – a set of

ethical and behavioral rules they commit to respecting – which is enforced by a Self Regulatory

Organisation, often an independent industry-funded body, responsible for drafting, amending and

enforcing the code. Self-Regulatory Organizations for advertising are increasingly following the best

practice model agreed with regulators and consumer and public health groups in Europe. At a

minimum, the general aim of self-regulatory codes is to ensure that any advertising is 'legal, decent,

honest and truthful', but in most countries detailed rules are in place for different advertising

techniques and sectors.

Advertising self-regulation is built on different levels. On a global level, the International

Chamber of Commerce has drafted a global code on marketing communications. All forms of

marketing communications worldwide must conform to the ICC Consolidated Code on Advertising

and Marketing. The code includes a specific section, detailing the special care needed when

communicating with children.

Since 2006, a global code of practice on food marketing communications is also in place. The

Framework for Responsible Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverage Marketing Communications of the

International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) sets down global requirements for food and beverage

marketing communications on all media, including the internet Key provisions include: the need for

substantiation for claims or health benefits; no encouragement of excess consumption; no

representation of snacks as meals; no undermining of healthy lifestyle messages; no undermining of

the role of parents.

These codes provide a minimum requirement for marketing communications worldwide.

National self-regulatory codes, based on the ICC codes, are established, policed and enforced by

local Self-Regulatory Organisations (SROs) and industry in over 100 countries and apply to a range

of media, increasingly also including digital marketing communications. The ICC and national codes

are reviewed regularly to ensure that they remain relevant to local, cultural and consumer concerns

and that they promote best practice. The ICC Framework is applicable globally but is a minimum

standard designed to be adapted and transposed into SR codes at national level. Many countries have

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implemented SR provisions that use the ICC Framework as a basis, but go further in several respects,

depending on local considerations. Examples include Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France,

Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, the UK and the USA.

In addition to industry-wide self-regulation, individual companies and industry sectors have

introduced a wide range of additional provisions relating to marketing communications directed at

children. For example, most multinational food and beverage companies have developed their own

policies on food and beverage marketing communications to children and, most recently, have

announced the joint implementation of these individual commitments.

In July 2007, 10 of these companies (now 13) announced a common pledge in the US – the

Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, mirroring a similar initiative by 15 companies

in Canada – the Canadian Children’s Food & Beverage Advertising Initiative; and followed by 11

companies in Europe with the EU Pledge. Under these initiatives, participating companies will cease

advertising to children under 12, other than products that meet specific nutritional guidelines, based

on international scientific recommendations. A similar Pledge programme was launched by leading

food companied in Thailand in May 2008 and in Australia in mid-2009

4.3 Media Literacy

37

Media literacy is a relatively new discipline, aimed at teaching individuals and children in particular

to understand and use the media to their advantage. Media literacy is increasingly recognized by

governments and international organizations such as the European Union and the World Health

Organisation as a key tool to help children understand and deal with today’s complex media

environment.

Media Smart is an established media literacy education programme focused on advertising.

Launched in November 2002, Media Smart is a non-profit media literacy programme for school

children aged 6 to 11 years old. Media Smart develops and provides, free of charge and on request,

educational materials to primary schools that teach children to think critically about advertising in the

context of their daily lives. Media Smart materials use real examples of advertising to teach core

media literacy skills. Media Smart is funded by the advertising business in the UK and is supported

by the UK government and EU institutions. Since 2002, Media smart has been launched in Belgium,

Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Portugal and Hungary.

Is it fair to advertise to children unless they fully understand the intent of the advertisers? If

young children do not understand that intent, then when do they develop that ability? Is television an

effective way to market products to children? Are the products (such as food and toys) typically

aimed at children, the type of products that children should be encouraged to buy? Are children

encouraged to buy or try unsuitable products (such as alcohol or tobacco) from viewing

advertisements even when those advertisements are not aimed at them?

Does advertising encourage a more materialistic attitude in children? Or is it appropriate that

children learn to be effective consumers from an early age? Does encouraging children to buy

products lead them to pester their parents and cause family disputes? Does television advertising

present an accurate or misleading image of the world to children?

Should advertising aimed at children be regulated? If so, how strict should that regulation be

and, in a global market place, should regulators draw up common guidelines across different

countries and cultures? Should we educate children about advertising, and if so, who should take on

the role of educator?

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These are the questions that require to have a proper look at. Children aging around 15 in

India are having spending power. It is from their own allowances and earnings. Almost 30 percentage

of Indian population belongs to this age group, and called to be the future of India. But the fact is that

out of every rupee the government spent, only five paisa went to child related programmes. In Bihar,

spending on per meal per child is about 15 paisa. Now can anyone explain that what kind of

nutritious food can be supplied at that rate?

When we talk of the Indian economy it is vastly segmented in different age groups with

different spending powers. Most of the Indian people live under the poverty line. But the others are

having a huge spending power with large amount of selection in the product basket. The children

from these segments are being targeted by the companies to generate the sales.

The market for selling products to children is potentially immense, and it is not surprising that

in those countries that have established traditions of advertising, much of that advertising is aimed at

children, often via television and other media.

4.4 Children and TV Advertising

39

In the 1940s and 1950s children were not considered consumers in their own right but only

extensions to their parents purchasing power. With the advent of television and other mass media,

children have come into their own right as consumers and, consequently, they have become an

important target market for the business. Advertisers are the first to recognize children’s value as

consumers who are capable of making decisions about spending.

The 1950s dates the modern era of children's television programming, when a deal between

struggling television network ABC and Disney brought The Mickey Mouse Club and Disneyland

into children's afternoon television programming. Advertising at that time appealed generally to the

personal gain of the consumer in the case they decided to purchase the sponsored product. Over the

next 15 to 20 years, children's television became an industry by itself.

Throughout this history of children's television advertising, researchers have criticized in

different ways the use of television commercials directed to children (Tseng, 2004). In the late 1970s,

a research team funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) estimated that children viewed an

average of about 20,000.- commercials per year (Adler in Singer, 2001). There was so little study on

this topic during the 1950s, the majority of the studies on children's television advertising

environment goes from the 1970s onward (Alexander et al. 1998).

Four types of products advertised to children during the 1970s were limited: toys, cereals,

candies and snacks, and fast foods. Male voiceovers accounted for the great majority of ads coded,

and animated characters seldom appeared (Barcus in Tseng, Eliana Shiao; 2004). While marketers

and advertisers heightened their interest in the child market during the 1980s, research on children's

television advertising of that period consisted mainly on replications and extensions of previous

studies (Tseng, 2004).

Children’s television advertising is rapidly becoming a major concern to government

agencies, citizens. groups and researchers in many areas of the social sciences ( Resnik, Stern and

Alberty; 1979).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).

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Children also urge their parents and friends to be sure to watch certain commercials (Fox in Jarlbo,

2000).

According to (Resnik, Stern and Alberty, 1979), television advertising and its effect on

consumption patterns, values, and social interaction have been hotly debated for many years. But

only recently has the controversy focused on its differential impact on special

interest groups- the elderly, minorities and children.

As many authors states, there are many television advertisements based on children and it is

faced that children urge their parents to purchase what they want without needing. For a whole

generation of new age children, television is as influential as a parent or a teacher (Panwar, 2006).

According to Wiman (1986), children who talk with their parents more frequently about TV

advertising and commercials make more purchase requests. Children considered television to be one

of life’s necessities. Studies commissioned by cable television networks in USA, found that an

average of 43 per cent of total purchases made by parents were influenced by children (Cooper in

Caruana, and Vassallo; 2003). Exposure to it was usually extensive – before school, after school,

during homework, at weekends, with or without friends (Hanley, 2000). Marketers understand this

fact very well. With the growing influence of media on children, an increasingly large number of

advertisements are today directed to them (Panwar, Agnihotri, 2006).

Children, for example, who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, or those who have less

access to their parents may not only spend more time with the media. But, may continue to rely more

heavily on TV advertising for the information that they seek in various areas (Brown, Childers,

Bauman and Koch in Evra; 1995). Parents create direct opportunities by interacting with their

children about purchase requests, giving them pocket money and taking them to shopping excursions

(Ward, Wackman, and Wartella; 1977). Children spend a large amount of time watching television.

They pay more attention to commercials broadcast during children’s programming. Commercials

broadcast during children’s programming are designed to capture the younger child’s attention by the

use of cartoon characters, music, subjective camera angles and editing (Stern & Harmon, 1986).

According to The Guardian newspaper, McDonalds, and Coca Cola spent respectively 34,6

million USD and 16,2 million USD for television advertisement presented for children. In this

41

situation, firms do not hesitate to spend their money for the related advertisements. Therefore

nowadays the expenditure of these advertisements has been increased dramatically such as

McDonalds and Coca Cola as well as Disney. They are the best known brand in the world. It can be

drawn conclusion from here that the role of children as consumer on the world’s economy has rapidly

increased. The common features of the above mentioned brands are easily to find and focus on

children and family in their advertisements.

According to McNeal (1992) American children spent over USD 132 billion on 62 product

categories of products were influenced by children. The number of commercials per hour on

American television increased significantly towards the end of the decade. They provide a strong

indication that American children are today exposed to more than 25 000 commercials per year via

television (Kunkel & Roberts 1991). In 1997, $1,3 billion was spent on television advertisements

directed at children. Counting all media, advertising and marketing budgets aimed at children

approached $12 billion (McNeal, 1999). It is estimated that children may view as many as 40,000

commercials each year (Strasburger, 2001). In one of the research project about the influence of

television advertising on children and teenagers, Hanley (2000) found that the younger children (aged

9–11) were very vague in their recall of current television advertising. The examples they came up

with were often unbranded, with the recall attached to the „story. or characters instead, e.g. Honey

Monster (Sugar Puffs), cartoon elephant (Charmin toilet roll). Older children (aged 12–16) recalled

advertising they enjoyed or disliked. The appeal often related to the „storyline., characters featured or

the product. For instance, they mentioned Rolo (elephant never forgets), as well as KitKat, Argos

(toys), and McDonald.s. They identified three main ways in which television advertising seemed to

influence children: pester power; Many parents felt that advertising had the power to make a

significant impression on their children. Those featuring children, cartoon characters, animals,

„catchy. tunes and phrases, colour, dynamic special effects, aspirational celebrity heroes, humor and

children’s products (e.g. confectionery, cereals and toys) were most likely to be referred to:

www.itc.org.uk Generally advertisers use interesting characters in their advertisement to catch

children’s attention. Sometimes these characters are not real. For example Corn Flakes, Nesquick

advertisements and etc (Hanley, 2000).

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It was very common for the advertiser to show ads in which the child would acquire

superhuman strength by eating a specific breakfast cereal, or would leave a group of friends in

choking clouds of dust by running with the sponsored sneakers. Toys ads of that time were sponsored

by unknown brands, which would generally end up becoming famous after making deals with the

television station (Alexander et al; 1998).

Children’s ages are also significant to understand the advertisements. Children’s

comprehension of television advertising and its persuasive intent increases with age, because of

greater cognitive maturity and increased experience with the medium. Even a majority of 5-8 years

old have only a low awareness of what a commercial really is; and although three quarters of 9-12

year old children may demonstrate a medium level of awareness (eg. commercials tell you what to

buy) (Ward & Wackman in Evra; 1995). However it is possible to say that even though they are very

young to understand, the most important thing is the advertisements impact on children.

De Bens and Vandenbruaene (1992 pg 27) conveys that children’s attention is affected

depending on whether they are watching TV alone, with their parents or with other children of the

same age. Children.s attention depends on whether they are playing, eating or occupied with

something else while watching TV. Generally it is assumed that these factors contribute to reducing

children’s attention to TV advertising (De Bens and Vandenbruaene, 1992).

In less developed countries the trend appears to follow the same pattern as in the developed

world, although the market size may be comparatively small. Increasingly, children have become not

passive observers, but active participants in the family purchase decisions. Not only do children have

their “own money” to spend on a variety of products and services of their choice, they also have

extensive influence on how their parents buy products and services (Wimalasiri, 2004).

If children saw something new in a television advertisement or in a magazine that they liked

they were likely to buy it. This is in line with Buijzen and Valkenburg.s (2003) findings that

advertising is positively and directly related to children’s purchase requests. McGee in Beder (1998,

pg 100) says “children under aged 12 spend more than $11 billion of their own money and influence

family spending decisions worth another $165 billion on food, household items like furniture,

electrical appliances and computers, vacations, the family car and other spending”. For example, one

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study estimated that children influenced $9 billion worth of car sales in 1994. One car dealer

explains: "Sometimes, the child literally is our customer. I have watched the child pick out the

car."(Stanley in Beder, 1998, pg 102)

Advertising offers consumer ideas and information, which we process and evaluate in order to

make rational choices. Brown (2004) defends advertising to children on just such cognitive grounds:

“Children are young consumers, interested in making choices and needing information about them”.

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4.5 TV Advertising & Children in India

More than half of television viewers in India today are children of below 15 years. And yet

there is hardly any sensitivity about the relevance and impact of what is dished out by various

television channels. All of them are operating in a competitive mode for one upmanship in the race

for viewership. In this order channels are concerned more about “what interests or attracts” rather

than what is “in the interest” of children. Neither the Government nor the parents or the teachers

seems to be concerned about this situation. For, the generation next and the civil society of the

country is shaped and molded by what they are exposed to today on the “idiot-box” day in and day

out.

Research studies over the year’s world over; have brought out various types of negative

impact of intense viewing of television by children. The direct influence of TV viewing on the extent

of violence and deviant behavior pattern of children has been reiterated – even in India. In fact, there

are a couple of confessions by adolescents, even a biography, as to how they picked up ideas about a

rape or robbery or revenge or killing or suicide or kidnap, etc from one or other TV programme.

Even some court judgments have commented on such effect of TV programmes. That TV has a

double-edged effect and that it is the negative character which impacts more than positive potential

often is known.

But what is not realized is that there are no serious efforts to explore positive virtues of TV

and that parents who should be more concerned about such a phenomena hardly do anything about it.

In fact, studies have brought out, for example, that in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, parents enjoy the

same fare of TV along with their children and as keenly; where as in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal,

parents try to restrain their children in favor of some discriminative viewing. Teachers and social

activists in a couple of places have been occasionally demonstrating about the influence of television

contents. Political parties too do not seem to be concerned to do something about. BJP, however,

had referred to this adverse trend in its election manifesto a few years ago. But did nothing on

coming to power.

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Even the code for advertising, although outdated and inadequate, is conscious of

“implications” to children of certain broadcasts and realizes the scope for misuse. For example,

under the code no advertisements should be accepted which lures children to believe that if they do

not own or use the product advertised they will be inferior to other children or that they are liable to

ridicule for not owning or using a particular brand. However, in reality there is neither strict

monitoring of the advertisements nor a rigid follow-up despite that many ads on television fall under

this category. And most of these children’s channels have become marketing outlets for brands

altogether to India.

Against this background and in this context there are certain recent trends on the Indian TV

scene, which need to be taken note. More and more channels are going for “children’s programmes”.

In fact, more channels are coming in describing themselves as “children’s channel” or positioning

themselves as such. Most of these are beamed into the country as if no one in the country, the

Government the least, is concerned about such a trend. What is not taken note is that:

(a) Most of these children’s channels and programmes are of foreign origin or remake of them and

are reruns over the years,

(b) They do not have anything to do with enrichment or supplementary scope for school education or

imparting moral standards (there are of course some good pre-school programmes);

(c) Some of these foreign channels are now entering their second phase in the country taking to

marketing of toys and tools for children promoted in these serials.

And, worse, as a result of all this, there has been a decline recently in the extent of locally

originated programmes for children even in Indian channels. To complicate the matter further these

foreign programmes for children are now being dubbed into Indian languages.

There are international lobbies operating aggressively to thrust upon animation serials for

children on countries like India. That is how today cartoons have become synonymous for

Children’s TV. Most of these serials are produced after so much research. But not for ensuring

educational or general knowledge aspects but for capturing and retaining eyeballs of children again

and again and to see their serials have certain “dope-effect” on children.

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This recent launch of DTH services in a competitive mode brings out the urgency for

Government take a view of this proliferation of uninhibited foreign fare for children and doing

something about it so that television is also used with more concern and for positive ends.

The least the Government should do is to prescribe that every channel being down linked

must have certain percent of locally produced and originating programmes for children. In fact, in

the case of children channels, this percentage of locally originated programmes has to be higher.

Canada and European Union countries have one or other provisions in this regard. If France has

prescribed 30 percent of contents of channels should be locally originated, India should go for a

higher percentage, not less.

India has a rich tradition of enriching children with folk tales and grandma tales and

imparting values and imparting discipline and moral values in an entertaining format. When some of

us advocated and argued a couple of decades ago for expansion of TV network in the country and for

going for color television, one hope was that children’s fare will get some priority and all that

treasure of India gets a chance to figure. But what is happening now is contrary. The exceptions are

only a few. For, there is a decline in the extent of children’s participation even in national channels.

The best specific examples of course are Malguidi Days, Panchatantra, Tenaliraman and the like.

Realizing these strengths of Indian tradition, some foreign producers are scouting in India to capture

talent for television, particularly in animation format. But what about our own initiatives?

We do not seem to learn from our experiences. All India Radio in the earlier years has set

good examples for children’s programmes, which were enriching as well as entertaining and

supplementary to school education. In fact, the format of those AIR programmes was such that they

were participatory and empowering confidence and courage building in children and respect for

elders and environment. Today most imported children’s programmes are all out to promote

materialism, selfishness, consumerism and “at any cost” approach to life.

Realizing the significance of media in the context of children, a few years ago UN has

prescribed annual day for mass media when children are supposed to be the producers of media

contents. It is a good symbolic initiative. But it should be followed up by some support to promote

“creative TV software” for children of 6 – 12 age groups, in particular. For, there is UN Convention

on Rights of Child with a set of standards to promote well being of children. Unfortunately, there is

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no public trust or foundation of civil society in India for this purpose. Even Public Service

Broadcasting Trust, which is a good initiative otherwise, is yet to be concerned about children’s

interests.

It is most unfortunate that neither of the plethoras of Government agencies claiming concern

for children has taken note of this vacuum. Not even the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.

All this despite ample creative talents across the country to produce more positive, pro-active and

relevant software for children than what is available now. It is unfortunate that the Government has

neither taken pro-active or re-active initiatives in this regard. While we have a Children’s Film

Society to promote films for children and a Children’s Book Trust, we have none for television

despite the number of children who see television is several times more and, even more critically, the

frequency of their viewing television is more than a couple of hours a day.

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4.6 How Children Process Advertisements

To be effective, marketing campaigns must get children to attend to the message, desire a specific

product, recognize and remember that product, and purchase it. How well children understand the

persuasive intent of advertisements also affects the success of commercials.

Attention.

Commercials that are designed to attract and hold children’s attention are characterized by lively

action, sound effects, and loud music. The animated character Tony the Tiger, for example, bursts

onto the screen, proclaiming that Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes are “GRRRRRREAT!!” One study found

that preschoolers paid more attention to commercials full of action, sound effects, and loud music

than to more low-key commercials. Audio features are particularly important in gaining children’s

attention. Another study found that children aged three to eight were more attentive to commercials

that were higher in audio than in video complexity. Audio features have more recruiting power than

visual features because interesting sounds can get children who are not looking at the television

screen to direct their visual attention to it. These findings are consistent with Piaget’s insight that

young children are especially focused on the attention-getting perceptual qualities of presentations.

Children’s patterns of attention help reveal how well they can make distinctions between the

commercial and the television program.

In one study, researchers trained mothers to examine their children’s visual attention to

Saturday morning cartoons and advertisements. The mothers reported that the younger children (five

to eight) continued to pay attention when a commercial came on but that children older than eight

looked away. The older children’s awareness of the break in the content suggests that they are less

susceptible than the younger children to the effects of advertising.

Recognition and retention.

Advertisers use visual and auditory production techniques and repetition to enhance children’s

memory of the content. One study found that preschool, kindergarten, and second-grade children

remembered food products that had been advertised audio visually or visually better than they

remembered products presented in an audio version only. Advertisers use catchy auditory features,

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such as jingles, repetitively in commercials to reach child audiences. Song lyrics and rhymes can

replay in children’s heads, leading to automatic rehearsal and memory of content. When children are

shown the same commercial repeatedly, they are more likely to remember the product advertised.

Repetition also undermines children’s, even older children’s, defenses against product messages.

Comprehension of commercial intent.

As noted, children younger than age eight do not understand that the intent of commercials is to

persuade them to buy one product over another; instead they see commercials as a means of

informing them about the vast number of attractive products that they can buy. In a key study

demonstrating the developmental advance during middle childhood, Thomas Robertson and John

Rossiter questioned first-, third-, and fifth-grade boys about their understanding of commercials.

Only half of the first-grade boys understood the persuasive intent of commercials, as against 87

percent of third graders and 99 percent of fifth graders.

Product requests and purchases.

What aspects of exposure to commercial messages lead to product requests? Researchers have found

that repetition, in particular, increases children’s requests for, and purchases of, specific food,

beverage, and toy products. One study, for example, measured three- to eleven-year-old children’s

overall exposure to advertisements at home and to specific advertisements in their laboratory. They

then had children visit a mock grocery store with a parent. Children who were exposed to more

overall advertisements at home and who were most attentive to advertisements in the laboratory

setting made the most requests for the advertised products. Premiums—bonus toys and treats that

accompany the product—also increase children’s product requests. For instance, Charles Aitkin

found that 81 percent of mothers thought that premiums influenced their children’s cereal selections.

The more children watched Saturday morning television programs, which are saturated with cereal

commercials, the more children wanted the cereals that contained premiums. Free downloads such as

screen savers serve similar functions in newer technologies, but researchers have not yet fully

examined the effects of such practices.

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4.7 Marketing Promos Targeting Children

Children play an important role in the household decision making process by attempting to influence

their parents acquisition, usage and disposition behavior. The most common is that children nag until

their parents finally give in. Research finds that success of such attempts on the type of offering,

characteristics of the parents, age of the child and stage of the process.

Children are more likely to influence the parents for the purchase of child related products as

cereals, cookies, snacks, car vacation and new computer technologies. For clothing and toys, children

often use that argument that “Everyone else has one” and because parents want to avoid being

identified as ‘scrim piers’ they will often given in.

Interestingly, children consistently overestimate how much influence they have in most of the

decisions.

Working and single parents on the other hand are more likely to give in because thay face

more time pressures. Another important finding is that the older the child the more influence he/she

will exert on the parents.

Targeting Children

Marketers are increasingly targeting the young children because of the influence that these kids have

on their parents; buying decision. Advertisers are influencing the kids through various educational

programs, games and certain other promotional events. The promos aim at increasing the brand

visibility and developing an emotional connect with the kids.

In India, kids have a considerable amount of demographic representation which marketers

want to capitalize on. Marketers are targeting the kids because kids influence buying decisions, they

exert pressure on the parents for a certain product purchase and they are the future adult consumers.

In the earlier days, marketers aimed at influencing the parents for purchase related to kid’s

products. Of late, marketers are trying to influence the kids directly through various promos and

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contests that provide them with lots of fun and adventure. By doing so, marketers are aiming to

occupy the young minds successfully.

Generally, the contests are specially designed to target a particular age group of kids. The

response from the kids is usually high because of the emotional tie-ups which is generated by the

promos. This is the major success factor for the marketers. The common thing in all these promos is

that they provide fun and adventure to the kids.

A Bag of Contests from Marketers

Rasna – Slogan Contest

Rasna conducted a slogan contest for the kids between the age group of 4-10 years. The contest was

very simple. The kids has to complete a slogan “I love rasna juc up because …….” and send the same

along with 10 single served sachets of Rasna.

A panel of judges was identified to decide the winners of the contest. Ten lucky winners

could enjoy a ride on a flight with Karisma Kapoor who was the brand ambassador of Rasna. The

participants who could not make it to the finals were also entitled to win 1000 early bird prizes.

Britania – “Jetix Power Your Rangers Contest”

This was one of the biggest kids contest conducted in India. The kids were given a call by the rangers

to save them from trouble by powering them through dinogems which was hid by the villains. The

dinogems were hidden in the fort of evil and the map was destroyed. The kids through this contest

had to put together and indentify the dinogems which ultimately powered the rangers.

The contest was aired on the television channels everyday. With every pack of Britania treat,

one part of the map was given (fortress of Evil). The kids had to collect the dinogems. By the end of

contest, the dinogems which was the power source of rangers.

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The entries could be through SMS, phone calls or by e-mails. Five lucky winners made a trip to New

Zealand with their families. Fifty five other winners were given playStation and power ranger game.

Besides, 10,000 quick gun prizes and “Power your ranger bravery medals” were also given.

Maggi Quiz contest

This contest was held for students of IV, V and VI classes and included questions on general

knowledge and individual subjects. The first round was an intra school written quiz competition. The

second round was an oral quiz round and for the winners of the first round. The final contest was

conducted between six teams comprising of two students each. During these quiz round, audience

questions were also asked. The winning team was given Maggie gift packets and the members of the

audiences who participated in the quiz were given sample packs of Maggi.

Kellogg Mobile Contest

Kellogs India in association with mobile2win presented a contest for kids in the age group 4-11. The

theme of this contest was about rescuing chocos from crafty croc.

Crafty croc. Was the villain who was threatening the brand mascot Choco bear about stealing

chocos from him. All kids who wanted to participate in the contest had to buy a pack of chocos and

solve the cues provided on the pack in the form of crossword puzzles. Once the puzzle was solved, a

name would be revealed which had to be sent to the company. The company then decides the winner

on the basis of lots.

Boomer Bubble Blowing Championship

This championship was conducted in different cities. Wrigly, the bubblegum making company,

conducted this contest in which the winners of the contest were given a chance to be with the boomer

man in the boomer television commercial.

The entire process was very simple. The kid who could blow the biggest bubble was the

winner. The contest was open to kids within the age group of 8-12 years. The contest was held in two

cites and two winners were selected from each city and the final winner was selected form that. The

contest was held in schools, malls, residential complexes and market locations. Massive media

support was given to this contest.

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Apsara Excellence Awards Arts Contest

An arts contest was conducted by Hindustan Pencils Limited. The contest targeted four divisions of

students depending on the class in which they were studying. These divisions included students of

kindergarten and nursery, those studying in I to IV, V to VII and from VIII to X classes.

All the required material like pencils, sharpeners, erasers, pastle colors, water colors was

provided by Hinduatan Pencils to the contestants. The results were declared on the spot by evaluating

the entries. The evolution was done by a panel of judges comprising of eminent artists. All students

got a certificate of participation and the winners were given special prizes. The best entry was

awarded with the Apsara Excellence Award Rotating Trophy.

Many more such contests have been conducted by marketers like Funskool which conducted

the “Little Pet Shop Coloring Contest”, Cadbury with the Bournvita quiz contest, ITC’s “Classmate

notebooks young authors contest” and so on.

Marketers Expectation

The marketers conducting such contests usually aim for brand recall which would get converted into

sales after the contests.

“Kids are generally open to experimentation and if you can weave them into your game plan,

they can be excellent ‘Carriers’ of new innovations and quality products in to homes’, says Vijay

Subramaniam, General Manager (Laundry and Homecare), Henkel India.

The marketers provide excitement to the kids through fun and adventure programs and

ultimately aim to increase the sales considerably.

By organizing such contests, the marketers prompt the kids to buy and use their products

once. Also these contests generate a demand for the products. By aiming at brand recall the marketers

aim at increasing their market share considerably.

Another important aspect that the marketers consider is the ‘pester power’ of the children

which pressurizes the parents to make many buying decisions. Contests also introduces a ‘me too’

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attitude in kids. When a kid participates in a contest it influences the other children to participate. The

marketers thereby try to make the maximum from these contests.

Conclusion

Marketing through contests and influencing kids is not a favorable option many of the times. Even

though they generate a lot of fun and excitement, launching very aggressive marketing campaigns

could create some ill effects on the children and thereby gain the wrath of the parents. Hence, the

parents and elders in the families must ensure that the kids do not fall prey to these kinds of promos.

Apart from this, the government should take some initiatives and put some restrictions on such ads.

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4.8 Effects of Advertisements on Children

Advertisements are meant to influence the minds of the target group that should ultimately result in a

sale for the client. However, sometimes, it can raise many questions when targeted for children. Read

on to know about the various effects of advertising on children.

Does advertising have a strong hold over the way we think or act? Does the mass media

dictate our needs and wants? Well, there are plenty of theories about the effects of advertising.

Various creative heads that belong to different advertising agencies are often churning out new ideas

to deliver their message to the public. Children form the major chunks of the target group for

advertisers. Many advertisements aimed towards children are a sole proof of this fact. The prime

motive of any advertisement is to convince the viewer about the quality of the product and instill that

urge in him/her to purchase the same. Today, advertising plays an important role in the society, as it

tends to influence young minds in particular.

The first prime motive of advertising is to attract attention. With children, the messages need

to be conveyed in a different manner. Goods are particularly packaged in order to appeal to the

younger generation. Children today, are more specific about their needs and wants. Children are

therefore reckoned to be a major ‘buying force’ by advertisers.

However, advertising can also have a negative influence over young minds if parents are not

really careful and do not teach their children about the importance of money. In many cases, children

tend to misinterpret the messages conveyed through the advertisement. They end up having wrong

notions about many issues. Advertising influences the minds of children, which creates a need to own

that particular product being advertised. Glossy images on the magazines or billboards or flashy

advertisements on television only create the urge for impulsive buying. Parents who cannot deal with

the rising demands or temper tantrums only tend to give in to the demands of their children. Children

then get used to a certain kind of lifestyle, which is shown on the television or through various media.

This only creates a very wrong impression on their young minds making them lose the ability to live

a life without relying on materialistic joys. The power of advertising thus, cannot be ignored.

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For example, a child may prefer only a specific pair of branded jeans as compared to other clothing

available in stores. He/she may want to live the life that is projected in the advertisements. The child

may dictate to his/her parents about personal preferences in clothing, food, toys etc.

Well, with these kinds of effects of advertising, one wonders who is to be blamed in this whole issue.

Parents play a major role in this case. They need to monitor what influences the minds of children.

Parents also need to be firm with children whenever their demands increase. Children need to be told

gently that a ‘no’ cannot be converted into a ‘yes’ with tears or brawls! Parents also need to instill

good habits and help children to differentiate between right and wrong. And the sooner it’s told, the

better it would be for the child and subsequently parents as well. Advertisers on the other hand, can

also try to put their message across creatively and target the entire family rather than just children.

This will ensure even parents stay within the loop and can monitor the demands of the children. With

a balanced approach, the negative effects of advertising can surely be curbed to a great extent.

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 buy it once. If a company has to survive in this competitive world, he/she 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 stick to the product of the particular brand, when

numerous choices are provided to him/her in the market, is attractive advertisement. 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.

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There is great concern about children as viewers of advertisements primarily because young

children are exposed to thousands of commercials each year in India. Marketers use television as a

medium of communication since it affords access to children at much earlier ages than print media

can accomplish, largely because textual literacy does not develop until many years after children

have become regular television viewers.

Approximately, 80% of all advertising targeted to children falls within four product

categories: toys, cereals, candies, and fast-food restaurants. Young children are able to differentiate

between a TV program and a commercial but are unable to understand the intent of an advertisement

until they are 8-10 years of age. According to Seiter, advertising to children avoids any appeal to the

rational, emphasizing instead that ads are for entertainment and "enjoyable for their own sake" as

opposed to providing any real consumer information.

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.

Hence, children in the age category 8-10 years have a positive attitude towards advertisements.

Knowledge of advertising tactics and appeals emerges only in early adolescence and develops

thereafter. The ability to recognize bias and deception in ads, coupled with an understanding of

advertising's persuasive intent, results in less trust and less liking of commercials. With increasing

age, children's attitude towards ads changes from being positive to negative and further as children

step into adolescence, they become skeptical of advertising. Children in young adolescence even

exhibited mistrustful predispositions towards advertising. In adolescents, knowledge about advertiser

tactics increased with age. Higher levels of knowledge of advertiser tactics and certain personality

variables were positively related to adolescents' skepticism towards advertising.

 

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Positive Effects of Advertisements on Children

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 as well as otherwise.

Convincing ads, which center around healthy food products, can help improve the diet of a

child, if they are attractive enough. 

Negative Effects of Advertisements on 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.

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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.

Rules & Regulations of advertising to

children

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5.1 Rules and Regulations of Advertising to

Children in India

Like Canada, The UK, and other countries featured in this series, in India there

are specific rules and legislation concerning advertising and children. However,

children in India seem to be particularly vulnerable to the infringement of these

regulations, which is unfortunately a common occurrence.

Television

The Cable Act provides guidelines for programmes and advertisements on

television. All programmes must adhere to the codes before being transmitted.

The codes of the Cable Act include the following provisions relating to children:

Programmes on cable television should not denigrate children.

Programmes meant for children should not contain any bad language or

explicit scenes of violence.

Programmes for adults should normally be aired after 11 pm and before 6

am

Programmes unsuitable for children must not be shown at times when the

largest numbers of children are viewing.

Unhealthy practices’ showing children begging or acting in an undignified

or indecent way are prohibited.

A first offence for contravening the Cable Act is punishable with up to two

years imprisonment or with a fine of up to 1000 rupees (£12) or both. For

subsequent offences, the punishment is prison for up to five years and a fine of

up to 5000 rupees (about £60).

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Books and magazines

Publications that are deemed ‘harmful’ to children in India are regulated by the

Young Act. ‘Harmful publications’ are defined as ‘books, magazines, pamphlets,

leaflets … wherein stories are told portraying criminal offences, acts of violence

or cruelty, incidents of repulsive or horrible nature, in such a way that the

publication as a whole tends to corrupt a child into whose hands it might fall,

whether by inciting or encouraging the child to commit offences or acts of

violence or cruelty or in any other manner.’ The Young Act details penalties for

the sale, hire, distribution, public exhibition, circulation, printing, production or

possession of harmful publications. Advertising a ‘harmful publication’ is

punishable by up to six months imprisonment, with or without a fine. The court

can also order destruction of the offending publication.

Shaktiman

The children’s television series Shaktiman has been a cause of controversy in

India for several years. Children across the country have attempted to emulate

their hero, Shaktiman, with tragic consequences. Since 1998 there have been

several accidents and fatalities as children have risked their lives believing that

Shaktiman will be there. There have been several court cases to stop save them,

or that they can assume his powers broadcast of the programme, but as

litigation in India often takes place over several years, most of the cases are still

pending. However, the legal process has resulted in a caution notice being

displayed at the beginning of the programme, aimed at children and parents,

highlighting that Shaktiman is a fictional character and his actions should not be

imitated. Unfortunately the law does not seem to have solved the problem. On

23 June 2004 a nine-year-old school girl in Kolkata accidentally hung herself by

attempting to twirl in the air like the superhero.

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Advertisements

There are no specific guidelines about acceptable advertisements aimed at

children in India. However, if there is a complaint about an ad it may be

withdrawn after consideration by the Advertising Standards Council. For

example, an advertisement for a child’s drink was withdrawn as it featured six

children at the top of their class at school, implying the drink had given them

exam success. There is also no law in India which lays down guidelines for the

use of child models in advertisements. Whether children should work in this way

is a matter of current debate, but there has been no legislation passed as yet.

However, there are some strict laws relating to advertising and children. Selling,

hiring, distributing, exhibiting or circulating an obscene object to a person under

the age of 20 years is punishable with imprisonment for a term of up to three

years or fine of up to 2000 rupees (£26) or both. Subsequent offences are

punishable with an imprisonment of up to four years and a fine of up to 5000

rupees (£60).

Internet

Regulation on the internet in India is strict. The IT Act penalizes publication and

transmission of material which is obscene, lascivious or appeals to prurient

interest. The Act can be invoked for such material on the ground that it has the

propensity to corrupt the minds of children.

Film

The Board of Film Certification grants appropriate viewing ratings for films. If a

film is suitable for all and subject to no restrictions it will be given a U certificate.

A UA certificate is granted for films where children under 12 must be

accompanied by an adult in the cinema. A film that is not suitable for under-18s

is given an A certificate. The granting or refusal of film certificates is published

in the Gazette of India (an official government publication that discloses

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changes in the law or the introduction of new regulations). The certification once

granted is valid for a period of 10 years.

Infant milk substitutes

The Indian government is committed to promoting and protecting breastfeeding.

The parliament passed the Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles and Infant

Foods (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act in 1992. This act

prohibits the promotion of infant foods, infant milk substitutes and feeding

bottles. This is to ensure ‘that no impression is given that feeding of these

products is equivalent to, or better than, breastfeeding’. Violations of the act

result in imprisonment for up to three years and/ or a fine of up to 5000 rupees.

Cigarettes and alcohol

In India there are central government guidelines on the sale of cigarettes and

alcohol, but each state has a different age limit for the consumption of alcohol

and tobacco – for example, you must be over 25 years of age to buy alcohol in

New Delhi. Most shops that sells cigarettes and alcohol display a sign showing

the age restrictions in that state.

Advertising in schools

There are no bars on advertising in schools in India. In fact, Coca-Cola and Pepsi

offer several sponsorships to schools, particularly for sporting activities.

Legal Implications:

In India, there are no specific advertising laws that relate to children and food-related advertisements

in particular. A host of laws and Acts like the 'Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995' and the

'Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles and Infant Food Act' deal with children-related advertising

in a vague way. Not only are there advertisements that are targeted at children but a host of them that

feature young children, even babies.

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In most parts of the world, there are few or no specific rules concerning food advertising to

children beyond the rules which must apply to all advertising. In India, even general rules pertaining

to advertising are very lax. Also, there are no regulatory bodies that monitor TV advertisements.

Apart from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting that decides to intervene when it wants to,

there are only voluntary groups like the 'Advertising Agencies Association of India', and the

'Advertising Standards Council of India', both of which are business organizations and can only put

moral pressure on advertisers and companies to withdraw objectionable advertisements. There is

urgent need for voluntary and government pressure groups to seriously take note of the situation. The

government needs to draft and implement laws that do not deal with advertising in general but are

specific and relate to every aspect of advertising, especially those that target young children and

pertain to food. 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. At present there are various laws implemented by government under various ministries.

The various laws are as follows:

A. Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (Ministry of Health)

The act lays down specifications for various food products. It is mandatory.

B. Agriculture Produce (Grading & Marking) Act (Ministry of Rural Development)

This Act is commonly known as AGMARK. The Act lays down the specifications for various

agricultural commodities including some processed foods.

C. Laws being operated by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)

BIS is the standard body for formulating standards for various food items. These standards are

also voluntary.

D. Essential Commodities Act

1. Harmonization of Food Laws:

It is very essential to have one unified and logical law for food regulation than having numerous

laws for the same. Following action is being taken by various ministries at present:

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The paper brought out by The Ministry of Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, it is

recommended for BIS to formulate standards for all food items in India, which is a good step

towards harmonization. Part IV – Advertising & Society International Marketing Conference

on Marketing & Society, 8-10 April, 2007, IIMK 310

As per the task force set up by Prime minister under the chairmanship of Shri Nulsi Wadia, a

suggestion has been made to set up a Food Regulation Authority (FRA) to formulate and

update food standards for domestic and export market. Also, Harmonization of Indian

standard with quality norms of Codex and WTO. Hence it is important that unified law is

developed as early as possible.

Education and parental involvement

Parental involvement in determining desirable programming is the best choice. Parents have to

monitor and control their children’s viewing habits. Studies show that parents play an important role

in their children’s social learning, but if a parent’s views are not discussed explicitly with children,

the medium may teach and influence by default. Other media, such as magazines, radio,

video games and the Internet, also have the potential to influence children’s eating habits, exercise

habits, buying habits and mental health. If children are allowed to be exposed to these media without

adult supervision, they may have the same deleterious effects as television. People should be more

aware to what kind of advertisement are shown to the children & when some company say that the

product have nutritional value and stuff, it should be verified from the trusted source. Be an alert

citizen is the message. Parents should be educated with respect to what should be healthy food as per

proper nutritional intake for their children.

Role of schools

Schools can also play a very active role in making sure that students get healthy diet at its canteen. It

is very important that schools do not stock junk food in their canteen, by getting lured by approach of

fast food and soft drink companies to stock their stuff. Since children spend most of their time in

school, schools can imbibe on children’s mind what a healthy diet should consists

of.

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Statutory Warning

Since the intake of junk food & carbonated drinks causes numerous diseases such as obesity,

hypertension, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), gall bladder ailments, cancer, psycho-social problems,

breathlessness, sleep disorders, asthma, arthritis, weak bones and reproductive hormone

abnormalities. So it should come with statutory warnings as in the case of junk food carbonated

drinks & milk powder such as “Intake of this food more than twice a week is not good for health.”

Advertisement Code

Advertisement Code to be monitored by an organization which will take care of the

following:

Before any AD is aired on television, the most sought medium by children some code of

conduct should be followed. Any food AD should be scrutinized with regards to the claims

they are making & the food ingredients should meet some standards laid down by recognized

organization like WHO.

The stipulated time limit for advertisement is followed by the companies or not. TV Channels

generally do not follow any rules regarding advertising air time. Doordarshan poses a limit on

advertising time which is a maximum of 7.5 minutes of advertisements in a 30 minute

programme. Private TV channels are free to air as many advertisements they like. This is

primarily the reason why on some private channels, a 30-minute TV programme gets

stretched to 45 minutes or even more.

Broadcasting codes for AIR/ Doordarshan

Advertising Code:

AIR and Doordarshan has responsibility to ensure that the advertisements shown either in terms of

contents, tone or treatment, do not mislead the listeners and viewers as well as the consumers are not

repugnant to good taste. The earnings of commercial revenue are not the sole criteria of Part IV –

Advertising & Society

International Marketing Conference on Marketing & Society, 8-10 April, 2007, IIMK 311

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Prasar Bharti. Thus the code has stricter provisions and the main features of the code are as follows:

Tobacco products including 'Pan Masala' and liquors are not permitted.

The goods and services advertised should be in consonance with the laws of the country

enacted to protect the rights of the consumers.

The commercial should never project a derogatory image of women and should not endanger

the safety of children.

Such code of conduct should be made compulsory to private channels also. Government has

enacted ‘The Commercial Advertisements on Electronic Media (Regulation) Bill, 2005’

which lays down standards for advertisements on electronic media..

The government should indulge more into Social Advertising as its positive impact on kids

& society is enormous. Laws related to Advertising should be made more stringent as in the case of

foreign countries such as Europe & America.

Summary

There are a few laws which deal with child related advertising issues in India,

although these are by no means comprehensive. In practice television channels

often flout even the existing vague laws with great impunity. Also there is no

particular legal framework for sponsorship of children’s programmes on

television so advertising to children in this way is unregulated. The debate over

advertising junk food to children is also raging in India. However, despite these

negatives, advertising law has come a long way in India and increased

awareness of the issues concerning advertising to children is improving the

situation.

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5.2 Worldwide Regulation and criticism

of Advertising to Children

In the United Kingdom, Greece, Denmark, and Belgium advertising to children is restricted and in

Quebec, Sweden and Norway advertising to children under the age of 12 is illegal.

The European Union also has framework legislation in place, which sets down minimum

provisions on advertising to children for its 27 member States. The EU Audiovisual Media Services

Directive, due to replace the Television Without Frontiers Directive in all member states by the end

of 2009, sets out several EU-wide rules on advertising and children:

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Advertising shall not cause moral or physical detriment to minors, and shall therefore comply

with the following criteria for their protection:

It shall not directly exhort minors to buy a product or a service by exploiting their

inexperience or credulity;

It shall not directly encourage minors to persuade their parents or others to purchase the

goods or services being advertised;

It shall not exploit the special trust minors place in parents, teachers or other persons;

Children’s programmes may only be interrupted if the scheduled duration is longer than 30

minutes

Product placement is not allowed in children’s programmes.

The Member States and the Commission should encourage audiovisual media service

providers to develop codes of conduct regarding the advertising of certain foods in children’s

programmes.

In the United States the Federal Trade Commission studied the issue of advertising to children

in the 1970s and they restricted advertising to children.

One of the main areas of regulation facing fast food companies is the advertising of "junk food" to

children. In the United Kingdom, the Children's Food Bill is intended to highly regulate the

advertising of such food aimed at children, and many other countries are looking to introduce strict

limitations on fast food advertising. Talks between the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the fast

food companies were initiated to work together in an effort to improve children's diets, though

Burger King withdrew from the discussions.

Some organisations have called for the watershed to apply to various unhealthy foodstuffs,

including fast food. In June 2006, the FSA called for laws to prevent such food from being advertised

on television before 9pm. They also called for the disassociation of television and film characters

from fast food and stopping celebrities from appearing in such advertisements. The impact of such

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campaigns is often denied by the fast food companies and the television networks that carry their

advertisements. Some networks have also said that tighter regulations would reduce advertising

income and that would have a negative impact on the quality of children's programming. In Sweden

all advertising aimed at the under-12s is banned, including fast food adverts.

Faced with stricter television, radio and print regulation, many fast food companies have

started making use of Internet advertising to reach their customers.

The accuracy of the images of food used by the fast food companies is regularly called into

question. The actual product is often described as being of poorer quality to that represented in the

image.

On 3 June 2004 KFC withdrew American television commercials claiming that "fried chicken

can, in fact, be part of a healthy diet" after reaching a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

Fast food advertising is often complained about to advertising authorities, with members of

the public most usually claiming that the wording is misleading. Not all the complaints are upheld.

For example, between 11 September 2002 and 24 March 2004 the Advertising Standards Authority

(ASA) in the UK investigated complaints about six McDonald's advertisements, with two of them

being upheld. The ASA used one of the upheld complaints as a case study.

In 2006 the European Union passed a new law regarding the labeling of foods - any food with

a nutritional claim (such as "low fat") must also highlight that it is high in something else (such as

"high salt") if that is the case. While fast food is often not given a traditional label, this may have an

impact on advertising.

In November 2006, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) announced that it would ban

television adverts for junk food before, during and after television programming aimed at under-16s

in the United Kingdom. These regulations were originally outlined in a proposal earlier in the year.

This move has been criticized on both ends of the scale; while the Food and Drink Federation labeled

the ban "over the top", others have said the restrictions do not go far enough (particularly due to the

fact that soap operas would be exempt from the ban). On 1 April 2007, junk food advertisements

were banned from programmes aimed at four to nine-year-olds. Such adverts broadcast during

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programmes "aimed at, or which would appeal to," ten to fifteen-year-olds will continue to be phased

out over the coming months, with a full ban coming into effect on 1 January 2009.

5.3 Regulation of Marketing Practice

Because of age-based limits in children’s ability to understand advertiser intent, the Federal

Communications Commission has placed safeguards into the television advertising marketplace to

protect young child audiences. Among the guidelines is the separation principle, which consists of

three components. First, the transitions between an advertisement and the program content must be

distinct; the program must use a constant production convention, such as “After these messages,

we’ll be right back,” to separate program and commercial content. Second, “host selling” is not

allowed. That is, the main characters on a television program cannot sell products during that

program or during blocks of commercial time adjacent to it. And, third, products being sold cannot

be integrated into program content (a practice that resembles the common practice of product

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placements). In addition, the FCC has limited the time allocated to commercial content during a

given hour of children’s programs. It also requires “tombstone shots” that show the unadorned

product in a still frame shot without all the extra toys that can be purchased with it. While the FCC is

charged with regulating media, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is charged with regulating

advertising. The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU), a voluntary regulatory organization

created by the advertising industry, enforces broadcast standards for the industry, in part to prevent

governmental interference. Although CARU has made some attempt to regulate the newer interactive

technology marketing practices, many of its rules have not carried over to the Internet, video games,

or cell phones. For example, websites attempt to create “sticky sites” where users spend long periods

of time with branded characters. Such sites feature Tony the Tiger from Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes or

Chester the Cheetah for Frito-Lay and create content focused solely on commercially branded

products. Early studies of online marketing practices documented the use of deceptive practices that

invaded the privacy of children. For instance, popular media characters, such as Batman, would ask

children for personally identifying information for a census that was being taken in Gotham City. Did

children even understand that Batman was not real? No research has been conducted to answer that

question, yet the developmental literature from the television area suggests that young children may

not understand that such characters are not really interacting with them.

Such practices led Congress to pass the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)

of 1998, which placed rules on online marketing techniques to protect the privacy of children under

age thirteen. The new law, which went into effect in 2000, authorized the Federal Trade Commission

to create and enforce rules for data collection practices at children’s websites and to disclose privacy

policies about data collection techniques as well as about how that information was to be used.

After COPPA was implemented, several agencies, including the FTC, the Center for Media

Education, and the Annenberg Public Policy Center, conducted an evaluation of website practices.

All these studies found that the majority of websites linked their home page to their privacy policy.

But the studies found fewer efforts to obtain parental consent or to inform parents about how the data

collected on the site would be used. Although researchers now have a reasonably good idea of what

takes place on online websites, they still know little about how children perceive, understand, or

participate when asked for personally identifying information. No database as yet documents such

information on the part of child consumers of different ages. Spyware in which an outside agent

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installs a program on a user’s hard drive, collects information about that user’s behaviors without his

knowledge, and then sends that information back to a marketer also poses risks that may one day

cause spyware to be subjected to regulation by the FTC. Spyware invades privacy, poses security

risks, including identity theft, and can cause computers to crash, be subject to barrages of pop-up ads,

and run slowly. Regulators should also address the issue of whether and how to make the regulation

of newer online marketing activities consistent with traditional television and film guidelines. Such

existing television standards as clear separation of commercial from program content, rules about

host selling, consideration of age based skills in understanding marketer intent, tombstone shots of

the unadorned product when the camera shot is still, and limits on the amount of time children can

spend seeing marketed content should be considered in the context of newer media. Product

placement, the emerging and perhaps preferred replacement of the fifteen- or thirty-second

commercial, is also in need of additional study and regulation. With convergence increasingly

bringing the varying forms of technologies together under one umbrella, it is sensible to have

uniform standards for marketing to children across varying media platforms. Ultimately, though, all

of these practices have some protection because of the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of

speech. Although advertisers do not enjoy the same freedom as everyday citizens in their right to

speak as they wish, they have considerable leeway to present the content that they wish, and it is up

to advocacy groups to demonstrate that any regulation is necessary. Indeed, the Central Hudson Test,

the primary legal argument for limiting commercial speech, has been interpreted in recent years as

calling for the least amount of interference in the advertisers’ right to speak as they wish. Moreover,

in many cases the online environment is not even constrained by U.S. law. Setting up an online shop

in a different country, for example, can insulate users from prosecution for violating a number of

laws that they would have to follow within the United States.

Conclusion

Marketing to children and adolescents is a way of life in the United States. Children have both their

own disposable income and influence over what their parents buy, and marketers attempt to

determine how those dollars are spent. Television now reaps most of the advertising dollars, but

newer technologies are providing new ways for marketers to reach children. Marketing practices such

as repetition, branded environments, and free prizes are effective in attracting children’s attention,

making products stay in their memory, and influencing their purchasing choices. Immature cognitive

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development, however, limits the ability of children younger than eight to understand the persuasive

intent of commercials. Thus, public policy regulates how advertisers can interact with children via

television. Online environments are now and probably always will be less heavily regulated than

more traditional media. Although marketing and advertising fuel the U.S. economy, the cost of that

economic success requires considerable scrutiny.

5.4 Political and Legal Issues in Advertising:

The political and legal environment in a country is one of the most important factors that influence

the advertising and promotional programmes. Regulations differ owing to economic and national

sovereignty considerations, nationalistic and cultural factors, and the goal of protecting consumers

not only from false or misleading advertising but, in some cases, from advertising in general. It is

difficult to generalize about advertising regulations and restrictions can affect various aspects of a

company’s advertising program, including:

The type of products that may be advertised.

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The content or creative approach that may be used.

The media that all advertisers are permitted to employ.

The amount of advertising a single advertiser may use in total or in a specific medium.

The use of foreign languages in ads.

The use of advertising material prepared outside the country.

The use of local versus international advertising agencies.

The specific taxes that may be levied against advertising.

A number of countries ban or restrict the advertising of various products. Cigarette advertising is

banned in some or all media in numerous countries. The Australian government restricts tobacco

advertising to point of purchase. The ban also excludes tobacco companies from sponsoring sporting

events. In Malaysia, a government ban on cigarette related advertising and sponsorship was initiated

in 2003 in an effort to curb the rising member of smokers in the country.

Recently the tobacco industry has been reducing its advertising efforts in markets around the

world, including Asia and Europe, where they have enjoyed much more regulatory freedom.

In Europe there has been a longstanding ban on advertising for prescription drug products,

which is designed to keep government subsidized health care cost under control. Many governments

have rules and regulations that affect the advertising message. Comparative Advertising is legal and

widely used in USA and Canada but is illegal in some countries such as Belgium and Korea. In

Europe, the European commission has developed a directive to standardize the basic form and

content of comparative advertising.

Government restrictions can influence the use of foreign languages in advertising as well as

the production of the ad. Most countries permit the use of foreign languages in print ads and direct

mail. However, some do not allow foreign language commercials on TV or radio or in cinema ads,

and some restrict foreign language ads to media targeted to foreigners in the country.

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Marketers, ad agencies, media and trade associations in several European countries including

UK and France have begun pushing for self regulation that would include efforts to help children

understand and interpret advertising effectively rather than banning efforts to reach them.

5.5 Sociocultural and Economic Issues in Advertising:

There have been increasing efforts to protect the public interest by regulating the content and

the influence of advertising. Some examples are: the ban on television tobacco advertising imposed

in many countries, and the total ban of advertising to children under twelve imposed by the Swedish

government in 1991. Though that regulation continues in effect for broadcasts originating within the

country, it has been weakened by the European Court of Justice, which had found that Sweden was

obliged to accept foreign programming, including those from neighboring countries or via satellite.

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In Europe and elsewhere, there is a vigorous debate on whether (or how much) advertising to

children should be regulated. This debate was exacerbated by a report released by the Kaiser Family

Foundation in February 2004 which suggested that food advertising targeting children was an

important factor in the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States of America.

In many countries - namely New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, and many European

countries - the advertising industry operates a system of self-regulation. Advertisers, advertising

agencies and the media agree on a code of advertising standards that they attempt to uphold. The

general aim of such codes is to ensure that any advertising is 'legal, decent, honest and truthful'.

Some self-regulatory organizations are funded by the industry, but remain independent, with the

intent of upholding the standards or codes (like the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK).

Naturally, many advertisers view governmental regulation or even self-regulation as intrusion

of their freedom of speech or a necessary evil. Therefore, they employ a wide-variety of linguistic

devices to bypass regulatory laws (e.g. printing French words in bold and English translations in fine

print to deal with the Article 12 of the 1994 Toubon Law limiting the use of English in French

advertising); see Bhatia and Ritchie 2006:542. The advertisement of controversial products such as

cigarettes and condoms is subject to government regulation in many countries. For instance, the

tobacco industry is required by law in most countries to display warnings cautioning consumers

about the health hazards of their products. Linguistic variation is often used by advertisers as a

creative device to reduce the impact of such requirements.

Take a look at government advertising, and government has for many years been one of the

very biggest advertisers in the United Kingdom. Ah, yes, say the critics – and have you noticed how

fond critics are of saying Ah, yes...? Ah, yes, but that isn’t advertising... What nonsense. Of course,

social advertising, public service advertising – whether it’s for drinking and driving, social benefits,

AIDS or public information of any kind – is advertising and often state of the art advertising at that.

It takes the proven techniques, techniques of simplification, dramatization and, most important,

personalization and applies them to the way we live now. The communication skills honed on the

humble packet of frozen peas or brand of petrol have made invaluable contributions not merely to the

small reassurances of daily domestic life but to helping modify social attitudes and behavior.

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Advertising today is many things. It’s come a long way from the gaudy poster proclaiming

the presence of Sunlight Soap. It’s part of the social fabric of all our lives which, cosmetically, would

be a good bit duller without it. More to the point, it’s a thread on which are strung several of the key

economic elements that affect the workings of the business community and the comfort of the

individual.

The social relevance of advertising is much debated, which given its relatively high profile is

not surprising. Possibly the most massive contribution which advertising makes to society is to make

more products affordable to more people, by making volume sales possible for manufacturers and

information available to consumers. Beside that contribution, the occasional complaint that

advertising creates discontent by showing products which some cannot afford pales into

insignificance. We will cover in this section, the role of advertising in social change, its use of

language, advertising and the vulnerable, and origins of needs and wants. We will look at persuasion

in advertising, the sector’s commitment to truth and decency, issues surrounding reinforcing

stereotypes and advertising to children. We will consider corporate social performance and finally

stakeholder engagement.

Let us go through some facts that provide the clear picture of the impact of advertising:

Cigarettes cause about 6.35 lakh deaths in India every year.

About 33 per cent of cancer cases are attributed to tobacco consumption.

Cigarettes alone account for roughly 10% of excise collections.

Tobacco trade is a major contributor to the national exchequer.

There is clear conflict between health and economic interests of the country. Advertising has a

similar place in the economy as other service sectors such as management consultants, banks,

insurance companies and financial brokers. Advertising is an important aspect for corporations in

their development and prosperity. Increasingly advertising is also used by public authorities and

nongovernmental organisations. Advertising and other forms of commercial communication are

fundamental to the success and effectiveness of numerous companies and organisations. Consumers

and commercial buyers are demanding more and more information about products and services in

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order to make their purchasing choice. ‘Competition thrives on advertising, and advertising thrives

on competition’.

Indicative of the growing importance of the advertising sector world wide is the 1998 UNDP

Human Development Report, which claims that advertising has global expenditures (including in

developing countries) increasing faster than the world economy, suggesting that the sector is

becoming one of the major players in the development process. The reality, as we will see, is that in

the last ten years, advertising has grown by only 24% in real terms.

There is great concern about children as viewers of advertisements primarily because

young children are exposed to thousands of commercials each year in India. Marketers use television

as a medium of communication since it affords access to children at much earlier ages than print

media can accomplish, largely because textual literacy does not develop until many years after

children have become regular television viewers.

Approximately, 80% of all advertising targeted to children falls within four product

categories: toys, cereals, candies, and fast-food restaurants. Young children are able to differentiate

between a TV program and a commercial but are unable to understand the intent of an advertisement

until they are 8-10 years of age. According to Seiter, advertising to children avoids any appeal to the

rational, emphasizing instead that ads are for entertainment and "enjoyable for their own sake" as

opposed to providing any real consumer information.

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.

Hence, children in the age category 8-10 years have a positive attitude towards

advertisements. Knowledge of advertising tactics and appeals emerges only in early adolescence and

develops thereafter. The ability to recognize bias and deception in ads, coupled with an

understanding of advertising's persuasive intent, results in less trust and less liking of commercials.

With increasing age, children's attitude towards ads changes from being positive to negative and

further as children step into adolescence, they become skeptical of advertising. Children in young

adolescence even exhibited mistrustful predispositions towards advertising. In adolescents,

knowledge about advertiser tactics increased with age. Higher levels of knowledge of advertiser

tactics and certain personality variables were positively related to adolescents' skepticism towards

advertising.

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ANALYSIS 81

OF PRIMARY DATA

82

Demographic Analysis

AGE:-

Age Students

8 yrs. 7

9 yrs. 15

10yrs. 20

11 yrs. 20

12 yrs. 23

13 yrs. 43

14 yrs. 18

15 yrs. 4

Analysis:

The above chart shows that there are more number of 13 years student and as far as 15 years students

are concerned they are very less.

83

Medium of Study and Student

Medium of study StudentsGujarati 66English 84

Analysis:

The above pie chart shows that there are more number of children who are studying in English

medium than in Gujarati Medium

84

Q1 How many hours a day do you watch TV?

less then 1 hour 29

1-2 hours 46

2-3 hours 47

more then 3 hours 28

Analysis:

The above pie chart shows that as far as TV watching habit of children is concerned, there are 31% of children who watch television for 1-2 hours a day.

There are also 31% children who watch television for 2-3 hrs. and 19% children who watch television for more than 3 hours a day

This shows that most of the children like to watch television for 1-3 hours a day and this is because they might be busy with their home work and project work of their school.

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Q2. What do you like to watch on TV?

Cartoons 97

Reality Shows 28

Movies 78

Serials 23

Song based programmes 31

Others 13

Analysis:

The above bar chat shows that there are more number of children who like to watch cartoons and movies on Television than reality shows, serials, song based programmes and other programmes like programmes which come on Discovery channel, National Geography channel and so on.

In our survey we have found that there are 97 children who like to watch cartoons on television because they are more fascinated towards that.

Apart from that, there are 78 children who like to watch movies on television which might be because of his/her favorite actor or actress.

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Q3. From the following confectionary products which is your favorite product/s.

Biscuits 86

Wafers 57

Chocolates 78

Sauces 29

Noodles 38

Health Drinks 42

Analysis:

The above bar chart shows that as far as confectionary products are concerned, children like to have

more Biscuits, Wafers and Chocolates than Sauces, Noodles and Health Drinks.

In our survey we have found that Biscuits, Wafers and Chocolates are preferred by 86, 57 and

78 children respectively.

This shows that children are attracted more towards Biscuits, Wafers and Chocolates than

other confectionery products.

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Q4. You are familiar with the advertisements of which of the confectionary products?

Biscuits 79

Wafers 59

Chocolates 61

Sauces 29

Noodles 36

Health Drinks 53

Analysis:

The above bar chart shows that children are more familiar with the advertisements of Biscuits,

Wafers, Chocolates and Health Drinks than the advertisements of Sauces and Noodles.

In our survey we have found that 79 children who are familiar with the advertisements of

Biscuits. Children who are familiar with advertisements of the Wafers and Chocolates are 59 and 61

respectively.

This is because, in majority of the advertisements of Biscuits, Chocolates and Wafers

celebrity is shown wherein advertisements of other confectionary products generally me too model is

shown, and children get easily attracted by that celebrity to purchase those products.

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Q5. After watching ad. of any confectionary product, have you ever tried to purchase that product?

Yes 92

No 58

Analysis:

The above pie chart shows that after watching advertisement of confectionary products majority of

the children have tried to purchase that product which they have shown in the advertisement.

In our survey we have found that 61% children have tried to purchase confectionary products

after watching advertisements of those products

This shows that how children are influenced by the advertisements of confectionary products

and this may affect to those families in which source of income is not that much strong.

89

Q6. If yes, then which confectionary product you have tried to purchase?

Biscuit 78

Wafer 21

Chocolate 52

Sauce 18

Noodle 37

Health Drink 46

Analysis:

The above bar chart shows that after watching advertisements of confectionary products, children

have tried to purchase more Biscuit, Chocolate and Health Drink than Wafer, Sauce and Noodle.

In our survey we have found that there are 78 children who have tried to purchase Biscuit, 52

children who have tried to purchase Chocolate and 46 children who have tried to purchase Health

Drink after watching advertisement of the same.

This shows that children are influenced more by the advertisements of Biscuits, Chocolates

and Health Drinks and there are some specific advertisements of Biscuits, Chocolates and Health

Drinks in which children have mainly targeted.

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Q7. Do you like to watch advertisements of Confectionary product on which media?

TV 118

Magazine 33

Newspaper 27

Hoardings 4

Analysis:

The above pie chart shows that children like to watch advertisements of confectionary products on

TV rather than any other medium of advertising.

In our survey we have found that 65% children like to watch advertisements of confectionary

products on TV than in Magazine, Newspaper and on Hoardings.

This is because TV advertisement can be shown more effectively with both audio and video

effect than by the other medium and only these factors play a vital role to influence the children.

91

Q.8 You buy that confectionary products because…………….

Free Promotional items 71

Friend's Influence 24

Association of favorite character 40

Want to be like that character 15

Analysis:

The above pie chart shows that children like to buy confectionary products because free items like

tattoo and other things are attached with them.

In our survey we have found that 47% children like to buy confectionary products just

because they get free tattoo and all that children accessories on the purchase of the confectionary

products. There are 27% children also who like to buy confectionary product just because his/her

favorite celebrity is associated with that product and there are 16% children who buy confectionary

products just because of their friend’s influence. They just believe that my friend has that product so I

should also have that product.

So children like to buy confectionary product not only because it gives free promotional

products but also because his/her friend’s influence and his/her favorite celebrity is associated with it.

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PART B:-

Q1. How often advertisements of confectionary products influence purchase decision of your children?

Often 42

Sometimes 66

Rarely 30

Not at all 12

Analysis:

The above pie chart shows that advertisements of confectionary products some times affect purchase

decision of children.

In our survey we have found that there are 28% parents who replied that advertisements of

confectionary products affect more often purchase decision of their children. While 44% & 20%

parents replied that advertisements affect purchase decision of their children sometimes and rarely

respectively.

This shows that purchase decision of children is sometimes influenced after watching

advertisements of confectionary products.

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Q2. How often does your child insist you to purchase any confectionary products after watching advertisements of the same?

Often 40

Sometimes 56

Rarely 44

Not at all 10

Analysis:

The above pie chart shows that there are more number of children who insist their parents sometimes

to purchase any confectionary product after watching its advertisements.

In our survey we have found that there are 27% parents who replied that more often their

child insists them to purchase any confectionary product after watching its advertisements. And there

are 37% parents who replied that sometimes their child insists them to purchase any confectionary

product after watching its advertisements. Children who not at all insist their parents to purchase any

confectionary product after watching its advertisements are very less.

This shows that how advertisements of confectionary products affect children.

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Q3. How do you react to your child when he/she insist you to buy any confectionary product after watching its advertisements?

Mostly Agree 39

Agree 56

Disagree 32

Mostly Disagree 23

Analysis:

The above pie chart shows that parents become agree when their child insists them to purchase any

confectionary product after watching its advertisements.

In our survey we have found that there are 38% parents who replied that generally they do

agree when their child insists them to purchase any confectionary product after watching its

advertisements. There are 26% parents who replied that they mostly agree when their child insists

them to purchase any confectionary product after watching its advertisements.

This shows that majority of parents are not conscious about effects of advertisements on their

children especially in case of confectionary products.

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TESTING OFHYPOTHESIS

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Hypothesis 1: After watching the advertisements of confectionary product children insist their parents to buy that product is dependent on their age or not

Ho: After watching the advertisements of confectionary products children insist their parents to buy that product is dependent on their age

H1: After watching the advertisements of confectionary products children insist their parents to buy that product is not dependent on their age

  Age    8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Total

Often 2 3 5 4 19 4 2 1 40Sometimes 4 9 12 0 3 22 6 0 56

Rarely 1 2 3 15 0 14 6 3 44Not at all 0 1 0 1 1 3 4 0 10

Total 7 15 20 20 23 43 18 4 150

Fo Fe (Fo-Fe) (Fo-Fe)2 (Fo-Fe)2/Fe7 6.53 0.47 0.22 0.0312 10.07 1.93 3.72 0.373 5.4 -2.4 5.76 1.075 5.33 -0.33 0.11 0.0212 7.45 4.55 20.7 2.783 5.87 -2.87 8.24 1.404 6.66 -2.66 7.08 1.060 7.45 -7.45 55.5 7.4515 5.87 9.13 83.36 14.2020 7.46 12.54 157.25 21.083 8.59 -5.59 31.25 3.640 6.75 -6.75 45.56 6.755 12.98 -7.98 63.68 4.9122 16.05 5.95 35.4 2.2114 12.61 1.39 3.49 0.285 7.67 -2.67 7.13 0.936 6.72 -0.72 0.52 0.086 5.28 0.72 0.52 0.108 5.2 2.8 7.84 1.51

∑ (Fo-Fe)2/Fe = 69.87

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So, Calculated= (Fo-Fe)2/Fe

= 69.87

Calculation of Tabulated:

DF= (r-1) (c-1)

= (4-1) (8-1)

= (3)*(7)

= 21

Significance Level is 5% = 0.05

Tabulated = 32.67

Here, Tab < Cal

So, Ho is rejected.

Therefore after watching advertisements of confectionary product children insist their parent to buy that product is not dependent on their age.

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Hypothesis 2: TV watching habit of children is dependent on their medium of study or not

Ho: TV watching habit of children is dependent on their medium of study

H1: TV watching habit of children is not dependent on their medium of study

  Medium of Study    Gujarati English Total< 1 hour 1 28 291-2 hours 22 24 462-3 Hours 36 11 47> 3 Hours 7 21 28

Total 66 84 150

Fo Fe (Fo-Fe) (Fo-Fe)2 (Fo-Fe)2/Fe1 12.76 -11.76 138.3 10.8422 20.24 1.76 3.1 0.1536 20.68 15.32 234.7 11.357 12.32 -5.32 28.3 2.328 16.24 11.76 138.3 8.5224 25.76 -1.76 3.1 0.1211 26.32 -15.32 234.7 8.9221 15.68 5.32 28.3 1.8        ∑ (Fo-Fe)2/Fe        =44

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So, Calculated = ∑ (Fo-Fe)2/Fe = 44

Calculation Of Tabulated:

DF= (r-1) (c-1)

= (4-1) (2-1)

= (3)*(1)

= 3

Significance Level is 5% = 0.05

Tabulated = 7.815

Here, Tab < Cal

So, Ho is rejected.

Therefore TV watching habit of children is not dependent on their Medium of Study.

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KEY FINDINGS

From our survey we have found that more number of children watch television for 1-3 hours a

day.

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As far as watching any particular program on television is concerned, children like to watch

cartoon movies or cartoon serials on television. Children also like to watch movies on television.

Among selected confectionary products from Biscuits, Wafers, Chocolates, Sauces, Noodles

and Health Drinks, children like to have Biscuits, Wafers and Chocolates more than other

confectionary products.

Majority of children are familiar with the advertisements of Biscuits, Wafers, Chocolates and

Health Drinks more than the Sauces, Noodles and.

After watching advertisements of any confectionary products majority of children have tried

to purchase that product.

Those children who have tried to purchase confectionary product after watching its

advertisements, in that they like to buy more Biscuits, Chocolates and Health Drinks.

Majority of children like to watch advertisements of confectionary products on television

rather any other media.

Majority of children like to buy confectionary products because it gives free tattoo and other

promotional things. There are some children also who like to buy confectionary products just

because his/her favorite celebrity is associated with the advertisement of that product.

After watching advertisement of confectionary products purchase decision of children

sometimes gets affected.

After watching advertisement of confectionary products children sometimes insist their

parents to purchase that product for them.

When children insist their parents to purchase confectionary product after watching its

advertisement, parents generally do agree with them.

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103

SUGGESTIONS

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To some extent children have limited understanding so advertisers should not directly

persuade children to buy the product which is shown in the advertisement.

As far as advertisements of confectionary products are concerned, advertisements should be

seen with their pros and cons. E.g. Chocolate

Advertisers must not misuse children’s relative inexperience.

Children can be easily attracted by the celebrity so, as far as confectionary products are

concerned celebrity should not directly or indirectly persuade children to buy that product

which he/she has shown using that product.

It is the duty of parents to see what their children are watching on television and if they are

highly influenced by the advertisements especially of confectionary products then parents

should try to explain them what are the pros and cons of that product by using it.

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CONCLUSION

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Today, particularly young children play an important role as consumers. Especially

confectionary products (Biscuits, Chocolates, Wafers, Sauces, Noodles and Health Drinks)

are concerned they do not care price of which they want to buy. Also they do not care

whether these products are healthy for them or not.

While they are shopping, the first thing comes in their mind is to purchase the advertised

products. In this situation, the advertising has a stronger effect on younger children than the

older children.

Nowadays it seems that children’s impact on family decision in shopping has been steadily

increased.

After the research, it was found as far as confectionary products are concerned children

sometimes insist their parents to purchase those products for them.

As far as confectionary products are concerned, children are influenced more by television

advertisements than by the other medium of advertising. Even though there are lots of tools to

show the goods or services, television was chosen as the best way that can enhance the

company's profits greatly by most of researchers.

Also this research validated that among many communication tools, television advertisements

have more impact and effect on children than the other medium of advertising.

Children’s ages are important to understand the television advertisements. Children's

comprehension of television commercials increases with age.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Books:

George Belch and George Michel, ‘Advertising and Sales Promotion Management’, 6th

Edition

Ogilvy David ‘Ogilvy on Advertising’ by, Prion Books, London, 1997

Magazines:

Advertising Express, Article: Marketing Promos Targeting Children

Advertising Age, Article: Effects of Advertisements on Children

Web Links:

http://www.wikipedia.com

http://www.agencyfaqs.com

http://www.wowessays.com

http://www.media-awareness.ca/.../ advertising .../ kids _ advertising _ rules

http:// www.c-i-a.com/ ( Computer Industry Almance)\

http:// www.Itu.com (Intrenation Telecommunication Union)

http:// www. internet worldstats.com/asia/in.htm

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ANNEXURE

Annexure

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Dear Sir/Madam,

We are MBA student of N. R. Institute of Business Management Ahmedabad. We are doing

one Grand Project on ‘Effect of Advertisements on Children with special reference to

Confectionary products’. For that we want your support by filling up this questionnaire for us.

There are two parts in our questionnaire, one is to be filled up by children and other is to be filled up

by his/her parents.

We assure you that information will not be misused and we’ll use information just for our

project purpose. Thanking You.

PART A (To be filled by Children)

Q1 How many hours a day do you watch TV?

Less than 1 hour 1 – 2 hours 2 – 3 hours More than 3 hours

Q2 What do you like to watch on TV?

Cartoons Reality shows Movies TV serials Song based programmes Others_________________

Q3 From the following confectionary products which is your favorite product/s?

Biscuits Wafers Chocolates Sauces Noodles Health Drinks (i.e. Bournvita, Complain, Boost, etc.)

Q4 You are familiar with advertisements of which of the following confectionary products?

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Biscuits Sauces Wafers Noodles Chocolates Health Drinks (i.e. Bournvita, Complain, Boost, etc)

Q5 After watching ad of any confectionary products, have you ever tried to purchase that product?

Yes No

Q6 If yes then which confectionary product you have tried to purchase?

Biscuit Sauce Wafer Noodle Chocolate Health Drink (i.e. Bournvita, Complain, Boost, etc)

Q7 Do you like to watch ad of confectionary products on which media?

TV Magazine Newspaper Hoardings

Q8 You buy that confectionary product because.........

It gives free tattoo or any other thing Your friend has that product Your favorite cartoon character/favorite celebrity is associated with it You want to be like the character of that ad.

PART B (To be filled by Parents)

Q1 How often advertisements of confectionary products influence purchase decision of your children?

Often Rarely Sometimes Not at all

Q2 How often does your child insist you to purchase any confectionary product after watching ad of the same?

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Often Rarely Sometimes Not at all

Q3 How do you react to your child when he/she insist you to buy any confectionary product after watching its ad?

Mostly agree Disagree Agree Mostly disagree

PERSONAL DETAILS

Name : - _________________________________________________________

Mother/Father Name : - _________________________________________________________

Age : - ________

Std. : - 4th 7th 5th 8th 6th

School : -__________________________________________________________

Medium of Study : - Gujarati English

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