This report follows media and marketing aimed at the “tween” (children aged 10-15) market. It covers the response and results due to various forms of media.
IN BE“TWEEN” THE LINES
Are children passive victims of media manipulation or confident adventurers in an age of new challenges and possibilities?
The “tween” consumer is at a very influential age. In order to find themselves and their place in society they do what they can to be a part of the next cool trend. They are at a point in their lives where they are trying to develop their own identity while they are yet to be fully socialized. This makes them the perfect victims of media manipulation and influence. The media has the ability to get into the very minds of tweens by monitoring their every move online or in store. Through this information the media can develop more variety and choice to target at niche markets of unaware tweens. The media is one of the most prominent influences as it has access to its consumer nearly everywhere and anytime by advertising through technology and media manipulation.
Technology and the Media
Media is an extreme force that has enveloped everyday living. This is due to the development of a vast palette of mediums on which to present ideas to society. This includes the internet which was originally fact driven and used primarily for educating university students. This is now accessible nearly anywhere anytime. It is affordable and fast, offering an endless list of opportunities for every interest, need or want. The internet has become an unstoppable force with its ability to be accessed on the run. It allows people to access most forms of media including music, movies, games, television, radio, news, magazines and shopping. Through this marketers have been able to advertise all means of things and monitor what things viewers are selecting in order to improve and create needs. Every time someone clicks on online links, information is sent to a team of researchers watching to find trends that they can target.
From constant research and monitoring online, marketing teams developed various technologies that allow individuals to access the world via mobile devices. This has resulted in the form of a laptop which was originally designed to allow business men and woman to work outside the office. This same interest resulted in other forms of communication being designed to allow a variety of communication forms. Email messages are easier to misconstrue due to the lack of tone and visuals that inform a receiver of intended messages. The creation of the mobile phone has allowed messages to be communicated verbally thus creating less chance for miscommunication. Since then communication technology has continued to grow and cash in on more market sectors. Rather than being simply for the use of business it has become availible to all members of society, including children.
The open access to these technologies has resulted in many cultural changes especially in younger generations, as they are becoming prominent targets of the media. Products designed for adults are now being marketed towards children in ways that make them feel a sense of independence and social acceptance. Mobile companies originally used schemes that advertised the products to play on the mind of worried parents, and what better way to ensure your child’s safety than to have them contactable via mobile phone. Phone companies appeared to work in the best interests of families. Once this trust was built companies could begin targeting the tween market directly as they had already won over the parents.
Availability and Access to Media
Children in today’s society have access to most media forms. A large number of them have televisions or computers in their rooms, some even have both. This allows them to access the internet and watch any show without a parent or guardian monitoring them on a regular basis. This makes them an easy target of media influence. A great number have their own mobile phone which allows them to encourage or be encouraged by other friends to watch or look up things that may not be appropriate. These products come with standard features such as photo and video sharing, ringtones that include songs that make sexual references, and instant communication to whoever they choose. These features work in conjunction with computer technologies allowing teens to easily advertise their lives on you tube, facebook and myspace. The technology allows tweens to access adult information from any online website. To avoid law suits online advertiser ask to, “Tick this box if you are 18yrs or older.” And with a click of the mouse or button you have access to information and images that are aimed specifically at adult audiences. There is nothing to stop tweens accessing this kind of material.
Advertising
Advertising comes in two forms, direct and indirect. Direct advertising uses the brand or product as the protagonist, while indirect advertising uses information that promotes the brand. In the case of indirect advertising, marketers are likely to opt for the product to be advertised in an action image that creates a connection between the product with beauty and desirability. Product placements throughout movies, television, online and at public events promote lifestyles, feelings and values. These ideas are what give meaning to consumers, and cause them to feel like they are buying an idea rather than a product in itself.
Mobile advertising is cashing in through advertising aimed at tweens. The proof is in the rise of advertising online, on television and via short message service (SMS). The majority of this advertising is to cash in on ring tones that include the ‘top hits’ in music, catch phrases from popular television shows, animations, relationship raters, perfect match, erotic images and competitions. These features are incredibly popular in tween groups. Without them the hopes of popularity is doomed, at least this is what phone companies want teens to believe.
The relationships of the themes presented with the product are what make them lasting and successful. Take Nike for example. It is one of the most recognized and bought brands. It is recognized solely by a signature tick, but it is what that tick has been developed to represent. “Just do it!” the slogan for Nike appears at sporting events and in movies, worn by some of the most famous basketball stars. It gives people the impression that with their shoes you can do anything. By wearing the Nike logo you become a part of a group of people who value the culture that is prescribed by the Nike brand. Brands signify a person’s taste and communicate cultural identity through the meanings linked to the product.
Media Manipulation
Through movies, television and magazines tweens are introduced to a world of opportunity, but how real is that opportunity? Magazines encourage the possibility to dress and be noticed like the stars. Pictures of famous stars wearing the latest looks are often used as the centre focus of a page. These images make tweens expect that by getting the look they will win the boy. And without them they’ve got no hope. By advertising certain celebrities at an affordable cost, young consumers are more likely to take notice then when placed on nameless models. They want to buy things that relate to them. The advertised product is less important, while the advertised lifestyle and overall package that links to a product is what sells. Subconsciously audiences get influenced by what the image entails and expect the impossible, only to be let down.
“Satisfied customers are those who have bought ‘good feelings’ and ‘solutions to problems”.
Advertising uses likely consumer anxieties or creates further insecurities through advertising that portrays “desirable” looks. They attack body image, self worth, desirability and health by picking on “flaws”. Marketers cause fear in consumers by threatening the possibility of a perfect lifestyle, in order to create consumers that seek a solution to their “problem”. For example products that imply the possibility to achieve impossible results. Fake tans are marketed in a way that suggests to the consumer that by using the product you will grab the attention of the opposite sex and cause jealousy of friends. Other products “promise” to free you of pimples and imperfections overnight and shampoos that make hair glisten like a celebrity. Products suggest they will take you from drab to fab with as little effort as possible.
“Don’t sell me products or services…Sell me ideas, a better self-image, freedom from fear and want and a philosophy that will help me achieve my potential as a human being.”
Media Effects on Tweens
The repetition of unrealistic “perfection” presented through television and film cause children to be unsatisfied with their self-image. They become so used to viewing images of perfect figures that they see them as normal and achievable. Through the familiarity of the culture presented through film, children easily relate to the people and the places. Their sense of reality is easily distorted by these visions, and before they know it, a mirror becomes their worst nightmare.
Research has proven magazines and movies have been associated with the development of many mental and physical disorders in young girls. Statistics have found that 1 in 100 adolescent girls will develop anorexia nervosa due to the illusion of perfection portrayed through the media. “It is the third most common chronic illness for adolescent girls, causing more deaths than any other psychiatric disorder. Some authorities estimate that as many as one in five female students are bulimic.” Sensationalized images of thin, sexualized, digitally enhanced “women are linked with…poor body image, depression…anxiety and eating disorders. The images contribute to self-harming behaviours and not performing well academically.”
Sexualized Media
Media is constantly pushing the boundaries of film and television codes of conduct. This includes ignoring the restrictions on certain themes that are not deemed suitable for children under the age of 15, and allowing them to be aired during hours that they may be subjected to it. Advertising has a huge part to play in developing ideas of right and wrong. It seems advertising has turned a blind eye to the results of their messages and set out only to make money. Sexual themes have become so common in the media today that society has become desensitized by it. Sexual images of men and woman appear on television the internet, in movies, music videos, magazines and video games.
These images alter perceptions of attractiveness and sex appeal, making girls feel the need to meet the standards portrayed in order to be desirable or popular. This puts girls at risk of objectifying themselves to predators. Not only are celebrity influence having effects on children, but so too are toys. For example Bratz dolls come in the form of highly made up, scantily dressed figures. The lifestyles that are depicted to 3yrs+ are equally unsuitable. They include hot tubs, references to alcohol, punk and gothic themes, and bratty attitudes. Other toys on the marketed are also unsuitable to tweens. For example the game of “spin the bottle” can be found in the children’s section of stores, in the form of a plastic battery operated machine that instructs you on what you have to do.
The themes expressed throughout television and advertising have proven to have negative effects on childhood relationships, the way they dress and the attitudes they employ. Schoolyard sexual harassment has risen along with teen pregnancy. Yet corporations seem to be ignoring the dangers that are a result of advertising.
Tweens are portrayed false self image through the advertisement of products marketed to them, causing them to chase illusions.
Times are Changing
“The greatest unsatisfied need within the community is the need for satisfaction…the demand is unlimited.”
Media not only affects tweens, but has a prominent affect on all groups of society. It has caused many cultural changes over the years. Media manipulation proves to have control over many adults, therefore it is only certain that the affect it has on un-socialized, influential minds of children, is even greater. Technology has been a huge influence worldwide, causing irreversible change to the norms of society. The wide spread of interests and accessibility has changed the values and way in which people think forever. Media will continue to change culture both for the better and for worse. In order to prevent children from falling into the trap of media manipulation and unrealistic expectations, parents need to teach the difference between reality and fantasy. The power lies in parenting. Media is out to make money, “The purpose of business is to create customers. Customers create profits. Business survives only on its customers.” In order to protect the health and safety of tweens parents need to monitor access and content to avoid the effects of media manipulation.
Bibliography:
Collis, Jack, 1998, When your customer wins, you can’t lose, Harper Collins Publishing, Australia.
Lucas, Gavin & Dorrian, Michael, 2006, Guerilla Advertising: Unconventional brand communication, Laurence King Publishing, United Kingdom
Rohner, Kurt, 1996, Marketing in the Cyber Age: the why, the what, and the how, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, England
Melinda Tankard Reist, 2007, Chasing an illusion: young women and magazines, viewed 10 October 2008,
BBC/AFP, 2007, Sexualisation damaging young girls: report, viewed 10 October 2008,
Unable to find author and date, Children and Media Violence, viewed 27 October 2008,
Information from online lectures and course notes, webCT.
