The Effects of Television Advertising on Children: Survey of Children's and Mother's Responses to

108 Pages·2007·2.2 MB·English

DOCUMENT RESUME
CS 501 386
ED 123 675
Atkin, Charles K.
AUTHOR
The Effects of Television Advertising on Children:
TITLE
Survey of Children's and Mother's Responses to
Television Commercials. Final Report.
Michigan State Univ., East Lansing. Coll. of
INSTITUTION
Communication Arts.
Office of Child Development (MEW), Washington,
SPONS AGENCY
D.C.
REPORT NO
'PUB DATE
Dec. 75
108p.
NOTE
'
MF-$0.81 HC-$6.01 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
Behavioral Science Research; *Childhood Attitudes;
DESCRIPTORS
Children; Elementary Education; *Mother Attitudes;
Publicize.; *Reactive Behavior; Surveys; *Television
Commercials; *Television Viewing
ABSTRACT
This research assesses reactions to Saturday morning
television advertising by four to twelve year old children and their
mothers and examines young viewers' naturalistic learning of facts,
attitudes, and behavior from commercials. An omnibus questionnaire
conducted with 301
was administered to 738 children. Interviews were
randomly selected mothers of these Children to provide parallel and
supplementary information. Some of the-major findings are that
children express genetally positive evaluations of specific TV
commercials, but tend to be bothered by commercial interruptions;
that mothers are more favorable than hostile toward children's
advertising; that amount of exposure to television is not related to
knowledge of brand names, substantive qualities, or promotional
characters featured in Saturday commercials, with age and school
performance the strongest predictors of knowledge; that childien'S
responses to TV commercials become increasingly skeptical as they
mature; that from one-third to one-half of the childten talk about
specific commercials with mother and peers; that a large majority of
children are stimulated by TV advertising to ask for toys and
cereals; and that two-thirds of the mothers feel that_aommercials
(Author/JM)
produce .materialistic orientations in their.children.,
.A
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U 5 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH,
EDUCATION I WELFARE
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF
EDUCATION
THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO-
DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM
THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN.
AXING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS
STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE
SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF
EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY
THE EFFECTSsOF TELEVISION ADVERTISING ON CHILDREN:
SURVEY OF C7I6REN'S AND MOTHER'S RESPONSES 710
TEL7VISION COMMERCIALS
-- FINAL REPORT --
December, 1975
Charles K. Atkin
4
Department of Communication
Michigan State University
Submitted to:
Office of Child DeVelopment
/
Department of Health,
Education and Welfare
P imary'research assistants
on this phase of the projeCt were
ark Miller and Akiba 'Cohen.
-
.
Michigan State University
Department of Communication
College of Communication Arts
Do
'
Report #8
TV Advertising and Children Project
IQ
2
/
ABSTRACT
-
survey research investigation assesses reagtions
to Saturday morning,
_
television advertising by 4-12 year old children and their mother's,
and.exaMinee
young viewerte naturalistic learning of knowledge, attitudes-,
and_behavior from
coninercials.
An bmibus questionnaire, was administered to 738 children in.
_
nursury and elementary schools from urban, .suburban ,and. SMall.town locales,-
in central Michigan.
Interviews were conducted with 3.01 randomly -selected-
mothers of these students to provide parallel and aupp,iementary. Information.
.
:These are some ina3or findingtz
.
#
expresigAnert34
AFFECTIVE ORIENTATIONS TOWARD COMMERCIALS
Chiloren
,
positive evaluations of specific TV commercials,, but
tend, to
be bothered,by
=,
commercial interrniStions and give mixed
responses on the is,sue,of banning,.
aturday.morning advertising.
Those who 3,4PW,the m94, commercials
arst .mOst
1
favorable -toward advertisix4, as
are younger Children,.
Mothers-,ere,leckre.far.
vorable than hostile toward children's advertising;
only one-forth Want to
ban Saturday ads.
They are divided in
opinion_ about clustering these gout-
-,
niercials.
of exposure_ to television
(2)' KNOWLEDGE OF BRANDS AND ATTRIBUTES --/Amount
advertising Is not related to knowledge 4f ,brand. names,_ substantive' qua4tieal,"
=
or promotional characters featured in ,Saturday commercials,
While viewing
5
.
a primary condition for this 6ognitiVe learning, age and, school performance
are the strongest predictors of knowledge.
,Most chil.dren, display an exteniive.
fatiliaxity.with materiolpre,sented in advex'tising
messages, with the more
.
mentally capable children absorbing Content most readily,
.
(3) ACCOTANCE' OF ADVERTISING CLAIMS --Cgilcirenfs
responses to TV commercials-
'become increasingly skeptical as they jnatux
through elementary Pchop)..,
Heavy
viewers display much geater hell
Jr),
adyertising_olaims_thon_thoae_who___Yiew-
less, televiSion.
--
Fro; onefthird_tii nne.,,hall of
(4) TALKING ,ABOUT TELEVISION COMMERCIALS
,the
children talk about ,specific commercials 4th mothers and
.peers,, with youngerf,v.,'
children talking the 'most.
Mount of viewing correlates,. MOderatexy ,,,wi..th,- 4.4-1,f,
quency of interpersonal communication.
About half of the .mothers-report ,_disr,,,
t .....,.:
..
,
cussing adVertising with their children in an attempt
to teach a, more skepti
attitude-toward commercials.
--
_ _
-
#
...,:.
..
,.......---
_
--
..__
-,--,
\
.,_,
-,
,
.
,
-- A large ma'j, rity,of the -children f*Po
(5) ASKING`YOR ADVERTISED PROCUCTS
that they are stimulated by television, advertising
to :ask for toy,* and cereale,
with the highest, rates for' younger chiltdren.,.
Mother reports are congruent/
t
.
I,
.,'with these findings; they also indicate that desire for ,premitmis. motivates
I,
many cereal requests.
Furthermore, amount of ty,,evos*e IS, Moderktely,
,,
...
1:
./
,
isiociated ;-tiAt frequency of 4.Lsking for pioducts,:seen
,/ _. .,
in. 117 -46.4
.
,.,
.
_.,
.
,.2"1
.;-.---
,
-- Almost holf of the children report is
(6) CONtLI
AND ANGEgyAR DENIAL
they tripe
ith their n)other
over denials of tOy a d cereal requests;
Mothers
r
o te c
report
f
ict.
simil
ates of conf
hhmildren say they ;
than
More
kr
their
the
become angry
them when
when receiv,ing:4 ,,iale,,, although tothera
,
,..
,,,--
-
1
.
,
'" 4
t) :
1
4.
, 4 '
4
W
, 0
4
r
4
--
:
,
.
.
.
,i.
.
-,-
.
,
.',
.
.
.
don't perceive this much
unhappyness. frequency ofdvertising
exposureis
modestly related to these
negative consequences; it appears-
that exposnre_efl.-_
fects-operate indirectly-14a
increases in the -,.rsequency, of
asicing for these
products.
.
(7)'ADVERTISING AND
MATERIALISTIC ORIENTATIONS
Freguencyyoirviewingtelevi-'
\sion aft makes only "'a
weak contribution to the
development of materialism
among children,_,accordfng
to correiatiopil-analyses". ;-However,
the mothers feel,
that commercials prodUce
materialistic ori§ltations,intheir
children,
(8) SOCIAL AND
LEANING
NUTRITIONAL
There is limited evidence.
-
that expasure,
to public service announcements
and certain classes of product
advertising,
affects'gener41
social and nutritiOnarorienta;tions..
Heavy ,SaturdWmorang
,-
televiosion viewers
are more likely,.to oppcie, littering,
approve.of Sugar ante,
sweetened cereals, believe in
children's vitamin,supplqmentwand
uwthese,'
vitamin ta&etiVlindingt
regirding impacCon
are *lid.
seat belt intaTcling
.
-
:
J
C
TABLE OF'CONTENTS
Abstract of study design and findings
Introduction and research problems
page 1
Research Method
page 2
Results introduction
page 8
Exposure to television commercials
page 8
1
.Affective orientations toward commercials
page 9
Knowledge of brands and attributes
page 12
Acceptance of advertising claims
page 14
Talking about television commercials
page 15
Asking for advertised products
page 17
Conflict and anger after denial of
advertising - stimulated requests
page 21
Advertising and materialistic orientations
page 25
Social and
nutritional learning
page 27
Interactions between exposure frequency
and attentioaevel
page 30
Analyses using elaborated indices
page 32
Distribution of child sample according
to town and school grade
Figure'l
Television survey
-- core questionnaire-'
Figure 2
Television survey
-- lorg questionnaire
Figure 3
Mother's advertising
survey
Figure 4
.
Exposure to television advertising, by
grade level
Table 1
Exposure to television advertising,
by Saturday viewing.
Table 2
Opinions about television commercials,
by grade level
Table 3
Partial correlations between child
attributes and ad responses
Table 4
6
Opinions about television commercials,
by Saturday viewing
Table 5
Partial correlates of Saturday morning
viewing
Table 6
Conditional partial correlates of Saturday
viewing
Table'7
Mother attitudes toward children's
television advertising
Table 8
Knowledge of brands and attributes,
by grade level
Table 9
°Knowledge of brands
and attributeg., by Saturday viewing
Table 10
Acceptance of television advertising
claims, by grade level
Table 11
Acceptance of television advertising
claims, by Saturday viewing
Table 12
Talking about television commercials,,
by grade level-
Table 13
Talking about. television commercials,
by Saturday viewing
,. Table 14
Mother - reported discussion with child
about tel vi
n advertising
Table 15,
Partial Correlates between child attributes
and inter ction
Table 16
Asking for products after viewing, by
grade level
Table 17
Mother- repo.ted asking for advertised
cereals
Table 18
Mother-reported asking for advertised toys
Asking for products after viewing,
by Saturday viewing
T:tle
20
390
..
Mother-reported partial correlates of Saturday
viel4ing
Table 21
Conditional partial correlations between
interaction and viewing
Table 22
Consequences of cereal requests, by
reason cited for request
Table 23
Conflict and anger after denial of
requests, by grade level
Table 24
Mother-reported conflict and anger after denying
requests
Table 25
Conflict and anger after denial of
requests, by Saturday viewing
Table 26
Materialistic orientations, by Saturday viewing
Table 27
Social and nutritional learning, by
Saturday viewing
Table 28
Mother-reported behavior and attitudes regarding
children's vitamins
Table 29
Partial correlates of mother/child-reported
Saturday viewing
Table 30
b
Partial correlates between viewing
l
and
i
an
i
elaborated
d i
di
Table 31
Conditional partial correlates of Viewing,
by grade and attention
Table 32
,
/
,)
N COMMERCIALS
SURVEY OF CHILDREN'S AND MOTHERS' RESPONSES TO TELEVIS
This survey research investigation assesses the evalua ions of television
examines
advertising by four-to-twelve year old children and their m thers, and
haviors of young
the impact of commercials on the cognitions, attitudes and b
These are some of the-key research problems studi d in this survey':
viewers.
children's liking for television commercia ],s
(a)
children's acceptance of claims presented in advertisments
(b)
mothers' and children's opinions about Saturday morning advertising
(c)
practices
mothers' assessments of the ifipact of TV advertising
.(d)
0
of
effects of commercials on children's knowledge, such as awareness
(e)
advertised brands, characterizations, and product attributes
between mothers and
amount and nature of discussion of advertising
(f)
children
and toys
impact of advertising on requeSts for purchases of cereals
,(g)
conflict and child anger
consequences of'commercials for parent-child
(h)
after denial of purchase requests
materialistic orientations
contribution of advertising to acquisition of
(i)
service announcements.
learning about littering and seat belts fl3om public
(j)
orientat ons toward nutrition
effects of food and vitamin advertisments
(k)
can explain how televi-.
There are a number of theoretical frameworks that
of children.
sion advertising influences the thinking,'feeling, and actions
pf mediated portrayals
Social learning theopy suggests that the observation
for consuming products or
produces imitation of models, who attain rewards
acquires new resfonses for novel
performing normative practices, as the child
of previously
behaviors.or is facilitated or inhibited in the performance
Persuasion learning theories indicate that children's
learned behaviors.
from highly
beliefs, attitudes and actions are aff,ted by verbalized appeals
Much of the 1arn-
credible sources presenting carefully/designed arguments.
perceptions while 'focusing
ing may be incidental as the child acquires secondary
In
awaiting the next program segmefit.
on the product or,pbservet ads while
inputs to
t be motivated to use advertising
other circumstances, the child mi
chases or appropriate social behavior.
reduce uncertainties regarding p
within this age range
o important, as children
Developmental differences are al
operational
older on;s are at the concrete
vary in cognitive\structure (th
while the younger children have a less
stage of intellectual developm
,
IV"
2
\ advanced preoperational ability to process messages), personal experiences,
communication inputs frorkinterpersonal and mass media sources, and physiol-
ogical and personality development%
..,RESEPACH METHOD.
The methodological approach employed in studying these issues, is survey
research, using a standardized questionnaire to measure each variable and
This mode
multivariate analysis to assess the relationship amohg variablps:
TV advertising
- reports of actual experiences with
of investigation relies on se
and current patterns of knowlodge,attitudes and practices in everyday life.
The
Reports from the children'simothers are also a key source of information.
goal is a realistic description of children's reactions to commercials and their
Although the non-experimental methodology does not provide
learning from TV ads.
vertising, the
unambiguous evidence of causality regarding the effects of
indibgs to the real
field setting allows more confident generalization of th
world in which the children live.
this study is the early and middle
The age range selected
Sample.
childhood period represented by cie nursery and elementary school grade levels.
There are 228 fourth and fifth graders who completed a self-administered
questionnaire, along with 310 students in the first, second and third grades
Finally,
who wrote on questionnaires with the aid of research assistants.,
200 kindeigarteners and preschoolers agId 4 and 5 were interviewed.
A total of 738,,ohildren participated in the study. .They were drawn from
schools in urban (34%), suburban (34%) and small towb (32 %) arcos of central*
Ihe age distribution
Michigan; the specific schools are listed in Figure 1.
There are 51%
istalso presented in Figure 1; the mean age is. 7.7 years old.
just 4% of the sample.
Blacks constitute
males and 49% females in the sample.
Mothers of a randomly selected 50% subsample oZ children were' interviewed
children
after the school survey.. Data were Obtained from 301 mothers of 370
There are 92
(some mothers had more than one child in the schpol sample).
through third graders, '
mothers of fourth and fifth graders, 116 mothers of first
The average age of the
and 93 mothers of kindergarteners and preschoolers.
There is'a vent slight tendency
children whose mothers were interviewed is 7.6.
due to inter-
for younger children to be overrepresented in the mothers,survey1
child in
viewer instruction to have mother respondents refer to the younger
The children of these mothers are
two-thirds of the multiple-child homes.
The mothers described the occupation of the head of
52% male and 48% female.
householdi 19% provided a job description falling the professional/technical
28% gave Skilled labor
category, 32% indicated a clerical/sales occupation,
identifications, 19% identified an unskilled job, and 2% reported that the
responses were classified into a
Precis
bead of household was unemployed.
elational analyses.
13-level occupational status scale for 'to
.
A survey ins rument was prepared to measure 'child-
Questionnaire design,
The
along a number of dimensions.
ren's responses to televisionadvertisin
items administered to all children.
core questionnaire included 13 pate-s of
el
3
I
Most of the questions were accompanied by multiple choice response alternatives.
The older children in the fourth and fifth gradeS completed a longer version
of the questionnairP with 20 extra items, particularly questions requiring-'
The older children could handle the expanded instrument
open-ended answers.
because of their greater attention span, faster pace, and wider range of
experience.
The format of the questionnaire was varied throughout with a mixture of
The instrument began with
picture items and colored pages to minimize tediut.
,
a page of television viewing items, which was followed by questions about toy
requestd and refusal consequences, commercial slogan and character knowledge
and a shoe commercial, items dealing with
`items, reactions to a toy commercial
cereal requests and refusal consequences, responses to a cereal commercial,
Questions
materialism measures, opinions about advertising, and demographics.
on young children to assure appropri-
were carefully developed and pretested
,
The, wording of most questionnaire items is
ateness of style and content.
provided in the tables in this report; specimins of each version4of question-
naire appear in Figure 2 and Figure 3 at the end of the text.
The fourth and fifth graders completed a self-administered questionnaire
in their classrooms with the aid of research assistants who introduced the
The students in the first, second, and
instrument and answered questions.
.
assistant
third srades wrote on the questionnaire booklet as one research
read each item aloud and other assistants circulated through the classroom to
supervise; in some first grade classes, the assistants subdivided the students
into groups of six to eight', reading and supervising on a more personalized
These early,elementary schodl students were able to mark their own
level.
questionnaireibecause several carefully pretested techniques were employed:
the questionnaire was differently colored, so the research assis-
each page o
tants could monitor each student's progress; items on each page were numbered
beginning with I and separated by a line in most cases, so that,the child could
readily follow along with the assistant reading the questions aloud; response
categories were .often labeled with A,'B, and C so the child could determine
which of the verbalized answers they wanted to circle on the page, while other
Furthermore,
recognizable "yes" and-n-1o."
response ca egories were the easily
the 17 still pictures from actual commercials provided a visual reference
ing the survey a. more
comprehensible to all children, in addition to
enjoyable experience.
With the youngest chili en, more personalizOd approaches were employed.
the inter--
The preschool children were interviewed on a one-to-one basis, with
child picture
viewer reading the questions and response categories, showing the
In the kindergarten, the
children.
cues, and marking the answers given by the
of three\,or four; most
questionnaiAik was read to children in small group
assistant.
could circle answers.themselves under close guide ce of a research
grade levels.
The data collection consumed between 30 and 40:min tes at all
interviewers attempted
In the week after surveying children in a sch ol,
ey of their opinions,
corresponding su
to call half of all mothers for a
Telepho e numbers here obtained
behaviors, and reports of child behaviors.
Interviewers asked to
froiLeach child on the last page of the questiontai e.
8
4
speak with the,mother by name, and introduced themselves as a representative
These introductory statements were made by the
of Michigan State Univerity.
"SEVERAL DAYS AGO YOUR CHILD PARTICIPATED IN A RESEARCH STUDY
interviewers:
WE ,HAVE FINISHED THE STUDY
ABOUT TELEVISION ADVERTISING AT
SCHOOL.
IN THE SCHOOL, AND WE WOULD LIKE TO INTERVIEW THE MOTHERS OF THE STUDENTS WHO
WE WANT TO FIND OUT YOUR OPINIONS ABOUT TELEVISION
WERE IN OUR SURVEY.
COUlt I ASK YOU A FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS TOPIC, OR ARE YOU TOO
ADVERTISING.
IT SHOULD TAKE ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES."
1JUSY,NOW?
Most mothers were able to answer the questions on the first contact.
Only 4% of
Some interviews were re-scheduled for a more convenient time.
the mothers refused to participate; most were aware of the study because, thdy
received a notice from the school regarding their child's participation in the
The mothers were asked a standardized set of open-ended and-close-
survey.
ended, questions, beginning with an item about,the amount of time the child
Those who had seen Saturday morning
spends viewing Saturday morning televisiOn.
commercials were asked to give their positive and negative opinions about the
ads in an attempt to establish rapport and obtain non-directed responses.
Then sets of questions were asked about cereal requests, vitamins, toy requests,
discussion of commercials witE the child, perceived effects of ads on disrpution
of attention and development of materialistic attitudes, and opinions about
al
Tw
bunching ads, banning ads, and the value of,advertised products.
the
items dealt with parental control over child behavior and occupatiOwo
The wording, of most questions is presented in th= tables;
family breadwinner.
thers were h4gh
Almost all
a specimin protocol appears in Figure 4.
twenty minut
mn
cooperative, and the typical interview was completed
For many of the variables under study, indices w
Index construction.
constructed by adding together conceptually and empirically related items
For some of these variables, indices were
measuring an underlying construct.
the core child question-
separately composed from three different data sources:
The
naire, the expanded older child questionnaire, and the mother interview.
primary analyses are based on the core indices common ,to all 738 respondents;
the more refined indices based on additional measures are considered in a*
supplementary role, since they apply only to smaller subsamples of children.
The composition of all three versions of key indic4s is outlined below, where
they differ; the items which are labeled can be examined in the specified tables.
Saturday Morning Television/Advertising Viewing Index = Bugs Bunny + Houndcats
+ Scooby Doo + Pink Panther + Josey and the Pussycats + Flintstones Comedy
Hour + Sealab 2020 + Archie's TV Funnies + Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids -
4
Mother/Child version = above + Saturday morning viewing time estimate
4
Liking for Television Commercials Index = liking-for Trix ad + liking for Boo
(Table 3),"
Berry-ad + liking for Keds ad
Older Child Elaborated version = above + identification of favorite
(Table
commercial
O
0
5.
Knowledge of Advertised Brands and Attributes Index = identify'Ronald McDonald
'Hostess
+ identify what Trix rabbit wants + know Honeycomb slogan + know
Twinkies slogan + know Hershey bar slogan + know Boo Berry sweet t'know King
(Table 9)
Vitamin nurtitious
Older Child Elaborated version = above + know Super Sugar Crisp sloga? +
know Ovaltine slogan + know attribute\difference between Crest and
(Table 9)
Close-up + number of cereal brands identified
Acceptance of Television Advertising Claims Index = believe Big Wheel fun +
believe big wheel fast + believe Keds help play
(Table :11)
Oldpr Child Elaborated version = above + believe racing car fast + believe
racing car won't break + believe ads tell truth + identify why ads not
#
"true (Table 11)
talk about Boo Bery ad with friends
Talking about Television Commercials, Index
(Table 13)
mother
+ talk about Boo Berry ad with
Older Child Elaborated version = above + talk about Big Wheel'ad with
(Table 13)
friends'+ talk abdut Big Wheel ad with mother
ask for toys + ask for cereals +
Asking for Products After Viewing Index
(Table 17)
,ask for Boo Berry + ask for Big Wheel
(Table 17)
.
,
Older Child Elaborated version = above f ask for product recently
(Table 18, 19)
Mother/Child version = above + ask for toys + ask for cereals
.
Conflict and Anger After Asking Index = argue about toys + argue about cereals
('!able 24)
+ anger about toys + anger
abolit cereal
t'argue about cereals
Mother/Child version = above + argue about toys
(Table_25)
+.believe
Materialistic Oreientation Index = preference for brand name cereal
(Table 27)
toys produce happiness + show off products
Older Child Elaborated version = above + believe money important +
and + preference for brand name drive
preference for toy over play
\,
(Table 27)
in
\
.
.
.
Two basic types of descriptive statistics are Used -CO repre-
Analysis.
Corielation------
variables in this investigation.
sent the relationships between
----
coefficients.precisely describe the liiiear association between the advertis-
knowledge:attitudes and
exposure indices and the various indices of
ing
.to describe:
(a) zero-order correlations are initially calculated
behavior:
and.criterion variables;-tbr-
the raw bivariate association between predictor
.
,
contaminating influence
partial correlations are then computed to control for the
(such as grade in school and social status) that
of antecedent variables
.
(c) condi-
Tight explain the existance.of a partly spurious raw relationship;
,
1 0
rok