Transcript Advertising_backgroundx

• Think back to a Christmas or Birthday when you couldn’t wait
to open a particular present
• Write down what some of your favourite toys were
throughout primary school
• Looking at your list of favourite toys, do you think it appeals to
the stereotype of your gender? Why? Write your reasons
below.
• A good point
• Link
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Impact of advertising on children
(Social)
Background:
The influence of television advertising on children
Do children copy what they see?
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Bandura’s research suggested that children will observe and imitate behaviour.
A cause of concern with this theory is the idea that children will copy violent or
aggressive behaviour.
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The case of Jamie Bulger, who was murdered by two boys who claimed to be
imitating the movie Child’s Play 3, seems to confirm this point.
• What can we do about it?
• Films and video games have age appropriate ratings to ensure that
children don’t observe behaviour that would be upsetting or disturbing to
them.
• The 9pm watershed is also set in place on television to protect children.
• Are these effective?
• Do you think these are necessary?
What makes a successful children’s programme?
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Nielsen et al. (2008) identified that successful television programmes for young
children included interactivity by having a person talk to the child directly or wait
for a response.
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Advertisements also try to be interactive by asking the audience questions and
presenting information over and over again. Does this aid social learning
(observation, imitation)?
• Can you think of any examples?
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Advertisements also try to be interactive by asking the audience
questions and presenting information over and over again. Does
this aid social learning (observation, imitation)?
Examples?
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Another successful advertising technique could be to use
behaviourist concepts of association and positive reinforcement.
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Think of advertisements you’ve seen lately. How might they try to
get you to associate the product with something positive?
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Advert 1
Concerns about advertising
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Although advertising is designed to encourage people to buy a product, sometimes it has
other consequences.
A campaign for Tango drink depicting an orange Tango man running up to people and
slapping them was banned in 1991 as it was being imitated in playgrounds across the country.
Hanley (2000) conducted research investigating the concerns that television could cause
children to copy dangerous things they see on television (e.g. climbing out of a window) or
create a negative culture (e.g. antisocial behaviour towards others).
Read list on page 77 – does it adhere to this list?
Toys and advertising
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Buijen and Valkenburg (2000) found out whether children were influenced by toy
commercials.
They asked 50 children to make a list of what they would want for Christmas and this
list was then compared to what television advertisements were shown at the same
time.
They found that:
67% of 7 and 8 year olds
49% of 9 and 10 year olds
40% of 11 and 12 year olds
asked for at least one advertised product.
Further analysis revealed a correlation between the time spent watching television and
what they wanted for Christmas, with the products with commercials most often
shown.
Pine and Nash (2000) also found children who watch television alone are more
susceptible to advertising than children who watch television with siblings.
Stereotyping in advertising
• A stereotype is a belief that people from a certain group all have similar
characteristics to each other (e.g. all Indian people like curry).
• Despite the modern belief that stereotypes are wrong, advertising can
perpetuate these stereotypes, particularly in relation to gender.
• Have you ever seen advertisements that portray women in relation to
cleaning, cooking or caring for babies? Or advertisements that relate men
to DIY, driving and sports?
• Not all advertisements are as obvious in their use of stereotypes but they
can sometimes portray these generalisations in more subtle ways (through
voiceovers, colours and lighting).
• This can have a negative impact on children if they learn stereotypes
through advertising on television.
Read pages 78 and 79
• Make notes regarding the four studies
Let’s do a content analysis
Research into stereotypes
• Much research has been carried out to
investigate the portrayal of stereotypes in
television advertisements.
• Griffiths (1998) studied 117 toy
advertisements in the UK. He found the
following differences:
Boys’ advertisements
Girls’ advertisements
Use of split screens, slow motion and high speed
More constant pace of editing
Blurred shots made to make the viewer feel as if they are
really there
Passively watching staged events
Cameras tilting down (mimicking the action of looking down
at someone – a signifier of dominance)
Cameras tilting up (mimicking the act of looking up at
someone – signifying submissiveness
Rapid editing pace for excitement
Slower fades and dissolves that reflect gentleness
More use of energetic rock music
Soft background music (Welch et al. 1979)
Male voiceovers only
More female than male voiceovers
Boys portrayed as more aggressive and knowledgeable (Brown
1998)
Girls portrayed as shy and giggly
Girls depicted in domestic settings (Larson 2001)
Do these stereotypes have an effect on children?