Advertisements play a very important role towards popularizing a product hence boosting its sales. However, not all products that are advertised have positive influence to all the members of the society. Children are the most vulnerable especially when a misleading advertisement is posted or aired on the television. This is due to the fact that children are not very wise when it comes to decision making. They usually tend to believe on information that is presented to them irrationally. Therefore the commercials need to be well intended in order to protect the children and other vulnerable members of the society who may not be privileged to have the wisdom of choice especially when it comes making decisions on which item to accept or reject.
There are several ways that have been proposed by the government that can help in curbing instances of advertisements that may have negative effects to the children. Advertisement to children is therefore a very sensitive issue that needs to be given much consideration bearing the fact that children can be easily influenced by new things. The propagation of products and advertising which is targeted to children is therefore a major concern to the law makers. It is perceived that subjecting the children to various forms of advertisements make them want what they may not need and therefore pushing the parents to respond to such wants which they may have seen on the advertisements.
Advertisements have also been accused to be one of the main factors that cause obesity in children. There are some regulations that are in existence at the moment to help curb the situation, however, there is increased public outcry for even more legislation and more reinforcements which can help to control the effects of advertisements to the children. The best way to control the effects of advertisements to children is through imposing a requirement that certain adverts that may have negative effects to the children be run at specific hours when the children do not form part of the audience/viewers. Such hours include when the children are in school or when they have already gone to sleep. This will help in reducing the pressure for the parents to respond to their needs while at the same time putting them away from products that may be of negative effects to their health.
There are various observations and results that can be used to measure the effects of advertising to children. One of the most important ways to determine such is through general observations and then monitoring their reactions and behavior when a commercial is being run. Later on the parents can observe them for behavior change. Most children who are fascinated by various commercials will tend to demand for such items and will also attempt to imitate the participants of the advert. Children who have been influenced by the advertisements will also wish to experiment the use of such items. Therefore the parents can play a very important role in informing the responsible authorities on the effects of the advertisements and the appropriate actions that need to be taken in order to prevent the escalation of the effects of such advertisements.
In conclusion, parents and the responsible authorities need to understand the fact that children are easily swayed. Therefore they can be easily influenced by various commercials which they see being run on the televisions. The marketers should therefore be forced to devise mechanisms of protecting the children which include regulation of the times for running the advertisements, the language to be used for advertising and the types of images that can be used for advertisements. This can help in protecting the children against the negative effects of advertisements.
References
Cairns G, Angus K, Hastings G (2009) The extent, nature and effects of food promotion to children: a review of the evidence to December 2008. Prepared for the World Health Organization. Geneva: Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling & The Open University, United Kingdom.
Hastings G, McDermott L, Angus K, Stead M, Thomson S (2007) The extent, nature and effects of food promotion to children: a review of the evidence. Geneva: World Health Organization.
Hastings G, Stead M, McDermott L, Forsyth A, MacKintosh A, et al. (2003) Review of research on the effects of food promotion to children, final report for the Food Standards Agency. Glasgow: Centre for Social Marketing.
McGinnis J, Goolman J, Kraak V (2006) Food marketing to children and youth: threat or opportunity? Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Harris J, Bargh J, Brownell K (2009) Priming effects of television food advertising on eating behavior. Health Psychology 28: 404–413
Butland B, Jebb S, Kopelman P, McPherson K, Thomas S, et al. (2007) Foresight Tackling Obesities: future choices - project report. London: Government Office for Science.
