Does Marketing threaten children's education at primary school?

Résumé du document

This project aims to identify the ethical problem of marketing by aiming at children, and will focus on children in primary school. This area has interested people since the last decade and the likes of psychologists, doctors, marketers have always tried to understand the power of brands on children and the ethical limit in the seduction of this particular audience. In the Literature Review, several aspects of childhood will be discussed through various academics. These aspects will first emcompass the reasons why marketers are interested towards children, but also the methods they use to target them. Secondly, the ethical problems linked to effects of advertising on kids and advertising at school, in which several cases will be compared. In the primary research, an interview and questionnaires have been made and will be analyzed to completely encircle the subject, and answer a question that have never been posed yet, Does marketing threaten children's education?

Extraits

[...] Arrived at school, children meet advertising once again. Even tough marketing intrusion have sometimes a teaching aim, it principally serves to finance schools and their remodernisation. So, after having heard at home that Colgate makes whiter teeth than Signal, they listen to it again, at times from their teachers' mouths. Their parents asking to listen carefully to the teacher, children obey and here too, take a commercial message for the reality. As far as the parents are concerned, they seem to have given up on their kids and delegate a part of their role to new technologies. [...]

[...] Here too, marketing seems to threaten kids. However, the role of parents is to be the ally of the legislation by prohibiting the consumption of such product by their kids. The questionnaires with parents could turn the light on this issue. The Observations The first one This observation concerns childish obesity. The aim is to perceive the amount of advertising about food and sugared food affects Irish children everyday on two different channels. One channel targets them, the other does not. [...]

[...] Thus, the interviewer can transcribe each question and answer from the talk using the recorded audiotape and notes including side notes (observations, feelings and reflections). These side notes are differentiated from the respondent's notes and are useful for the interpretation. Transcribing allows to study and to review the transcription, and then to denote the key information related to the study. Fifthly, analysing determines the sense of the information gathered in relation to the research. If more questions need to be asked, then other in- depth interviews are relevant to completely scrutinize the issue. [...]

[...] This power will skyrocket at this entry in primary school. Actually, French kids, who integrate the school sooner than the Irish ones will use this power sooner than their Irish neighbours. Brands trust the pester power and firms do not hesitate to place children in the centre of their communication campaign. This way, they will catch children who will push their parents in the purchase action. Consumers of tomorrow (Lindstrom M. & Seybold P.B ; Fraser Hite C.1995) Brands have an increasing place in costumers' daily life and are present in the most fields. [...]

[...] Marketing Institute. Montigneaux N Les marques parlent aux enfants (Brands talk to children). 1st edition. Organisation editions. Proctor T Essentials of marketing research. Pitman Publications Journals McDermott L., O'Sullivan T., Stead M., and Hastings G International food advertising, pester power and its effects. International Journal of Advertising. Vol 25 No 513-539 Mellor S Communicating effectively to millenium children. Admap. Vol 38 Iss 437, March 2003, 43-44 Oates C., Blades M. and Gunter B Marketing to children. Journal of Marketing Management. [...]