How Marketers Target Kids
How Marketers Target Kids
Kids represent an important demographic to marketers because they have their own purchasing power, they influence their parents ' buying decisions and they 're the adult consumers of the future.
Industry spending on advertising to children has exploded in the past decade, increasing from a mere $100 million in 1990 to more than $2 billion in 2000.
Parents today are willing to buy more for their kids because trends such as smaller family size, dual incomes and postponing children until later in life mean that families have more disposable income. As well, guilt can play a role in spending decisions as time-stressed parents substitute material goods for time spent with their kids.
Here are some of the strategies marketers employ to target children and teens:
Pester Power
"We 're relying on the kid to pester the mom to buy the product, rather than going straight to the mom."
Barbara A. Martino, Advertising Executive Today 's kids have more autonomy and decision-making power within the family than in previous generations, so it follows that kids are vocal about what they want their parents to buy. "Pester power" refers to children 's ability to nag their parents into purchasing items they may not otherwise buy. Marketing to children is all about creating pester power, because advertisers know what a powerful force it can be.
According to the 2001 marketing industry book Kidfluence, pestering or nagging can be divided into two categories—"persistence" and "importance." Persistence nagging (a plea, that is repeated over and over again) is not as effective as the more sophisticated "importance nagging." This latter method appeals to parents ' desire to provide the best for their children, and plays on any guilt they may have about not having enough time for their kids.
The marriage of psychology and marketing
To effectively market to children, advertisers need to know what makes kids tick. With the help of well-paid
Kids represent an important demographic to marketers because they have their own purchasing power, they influence their parents ' buying decisions and they 're the adult consumers of the future.
Industry spending on advertising to children has exploded in the past decade, increasing from a mere $100 million in 1990 to more than $2 billion in 2000.
Parents today are willing to buy more for their kids because trends such as smaller family size, dual incomes and postponing children until later in life mean that families have more disposable income. As well, guilt can play a role in spending decisions as time-stressed parents substitute material goods for time spent with their kids.
Here are some of the strategies marketers employ to target children and teens:
Pester Power
"We 're relying on the kid to pester the mom to buy the product, rather than going straight to the mom."
Barbara A. Martino, Advertising Executive Today 's kids have more autonomy and decision-making power within the family than in previous generations, so it follows that kids are vocal about what they want their parents to buy. "Pester power" refers to children 's ability to nag their parents into purchasing items they may not otherwise buy. Marketing to children is all about creating pester power, because advertisers know what a powerful force it can be.
According to the 2001 marketing industry book Kidfluence, pestering or nagging can be divided into two categories—"persistence" and "importance." Persistence nagging (a plea, that is repeated over and over again) is not as effective as the more sophisticated "importance nagging." This latter method appeals to parents ' desire to provide the best for their children, and plays on any guilt they may have about not having enough time for their kids.
The marriage of psychology and marketing
To effectively market to children, advertisers need to know what makes kids tick. With the help of well-paid