Marketing To Children As A Social Problem - Essay Example

Unethical marketing practices that are influenced by commercial interests tend have facilitated adverse feeding habits amongst the children in the 21st century. The trend is not any different for that of the recent centuries where conflicting interests between the peoples’ representative federal representatives and the commercial sector in the recent decades. The essay intends to explore a variety of arguments and avenues via which children are influenced to consume foods that are not fit for excessive consumption. The health status of children across the world is wanting. Statistical inferences conclude that approximately 17 percentages who are aged 1 to 19 years are facing the complex health condition of obesity (Dietz, 2013). The severity of obesity is affiliated with other stringent health conditions such as blood pressure. While researchers differ in their arguments for or against the relationship between obesity and marketing, it is certain that there exists a direct relationship between viewing television adverts and consuming certain food substances amongst the children (Consuming Kids, 2015). Initially, the paper intends to depict different ways through which children are influenced towards consuming certain products. Further, it will determine the feasibility of marketing to children to result in a social problem and the rationale for the inference stipulated. Channels used to market to children Children are subject to a series of marketing channels. These include the televisions, internet games, social media and word of mouth advertising among others (Skaar, 2009). Particularly, today’s children are subjected to intensive market influence considering the evolved methods of advertising. Remember, different ages of children are likely to get influenced by differentiated products considering that ages differ regarding demands or likes. The fact that knowledge abilities of most children are the leading challenge in the war against marketing to children. For instance, the young children are more interested in the internet games, as compared to the television commercials. However, as the children approach the teenage, they are more interested in the commercials than the games. There are different categories of products that are marketed via the wide variety of advertising channels. The most prevalent thing with these categories is that children can differentiate between the marketing and other forms of communications. Unfortunately, children will assume to know it all, resultantly leading to consequential manipulation (Consuming Kids, 2015). Usually, the children are likely to make very inappropriate choices that are either health hazardous or can even influence adverse conducts by the children. Types of products that are marketed Children are target markets for a series of products in the market. These products include foods and clothing among other affiliated products. The commercial interest, in this case, is to influence the young customers to consume most products that are advertised. The federal representatives have attempted to introduce measures for controlling the marketing trends to children. However, the intensive and persistent engagement of the producer companies and businesses to market these products is becoming a challenge for the government. The first category of products that are marketed include the junk foods (Dietz, 2013). These fast moving foods are advertised in very attractive ways influencing the children to influence their parents to purchase them. The misguided decisions by the children to demand these products overlooks the necessary step of analyzing the appropriate measures and standards of products. From a statistical point of understanding, most of the quick service restaurants in the year 2009 had a target market of which the larger 80 percent constituted children whose ages were between 12 years and 17 years (Dietz, 2013). The commercial producers are aware of the wavering preferences of this target market and enjoy the freedom to advertise their products. The other category of products that get marketed to children considering their age are the clothes. The television and other marketing platforms tend to market products that not fit for consumption, especially at that tender age. However, the emergent freedom that is taking the stage in homes is becoming a challenge to the regulatory bodies that cannot have control over misguided and curious teenage children. The trend also got communicated to the younger generation. One concise demonstration that the federal representatives were intensively interested assisting to reduce the inappropriate or substandard marketing trends in the market. The commercial advertisements that target children will often incorporate the clothing products and the junk foods that either deflects from the standard codes with regards to nutrition and even decency. However, the fact that most producers and marketer consider the ability to detest the long-term effects of the products they offer is what they capitalize in during their endeavors to sell products with negative impacts. In this case, the influence created by the marketing ads and commercials presented over the social media platforms and the television among others. Feasible social impacts of marketing to children and solution It is definite that the intensive trends of marketing to the children could cause adverse social impacts regarding the children. For instance, the contemporary commercial world has facilitated a drastic change in the nature and behavior of the children, considering that they are their potential market. Particularly, the children change and become increasingly recognized and tend to behave an independent consumer group. The adverts create a heightened level of preference for certain products such that parents cannot control the demands of the children. Therefore, parents succumb to the demands of the already corrupted minds of their children concerning the consumptions of certain unhealthy products. Another affiliated social issue that emerges from the marketing to children practices is that of altered lifestyle, particularly concerning feeding (Dietz, 2013). Usually, there are the appropriate ways through which children are feed by the guardians before they start submitting to the television commercial or the social media adverts. First, the change their trends of feeding. Secondly, they tend to remain glued to the television screens and the social media platforms attempting to seek the next emergent alternatives to the already substandard junk foods (Skaar, 2009). The issue of lifestyle could also be affiliated to the influence caused by adverts associated with dressing codes. Initially, children are characterized by appropriate behavior and dressing habits. However, there are messages that are passed on to the children that lack ethics. Accordingly, children often get introduced to poor dressing habits, activities such as violence and other conduct-eroding behavior associated with the messages. The adverts that promote junk food also corrupt the good feeding habits of the children. Instead, the junk foods become their preferential foods, a trend that is inadvisable from a nutritionist point of understanding. Junk foods, in most cases, facilitate an unhealthy increase in the body weight of children beyond the recommended average weight (Nylund, 2015). Usually, the weights fail to concur with the height of the children consuming these foods. Thus, marketing of junk foods is indirectly associated with the children’s acquisition of obesity. Arguably, the United States suffers from high rates of obesity amongst the children. The major issue regarding the social impacts is that the obesity is the genesis of stigmatization of the obese children amidst the rest of the children (Nylund, 2015). Obesity also results in other affiliate diseases such as the periodontal disease and other diseases such as blood pressure, glucose intolerance and hyperlipidemia among others. Children with these conditions often feel disoriented or not appreciated by the other members of the society. For instance, a feeling of stigmatization is likely to affect the self-confidence of the children, making them less active and responsive to most activities that their peers participate. Several approaches towards resolving this problem include regulating the marketing trends of companies (Nylund, 2015). That includes incorporation of principles that will guide the companies on the entire range of actions that the companies should embrace in the marketplace in support of children’s rights. Parents also need to reduce television watching hours to control the extent in which the children get exposed to adverts that are morally deceptive. Conclusion Marketing to children could be assumed as a positive move towards improving the sales of companies that sell goods such as junk foods. However, the idea is misguided especially if these companies give room to the intensive marketing that dishonors the provisions that protect children from such adverts. Remember, children suffer from social adjustments as compared to their initial lifestyles. First, they tend to express vulgarity in the manner they interact with their parents. Further, they get addicted to the commercials and the social media. Ultimately, those who suffer from complex health conditions after consuming junk foods such as obesity. It is the joint responsibility of the government, the businesses, and other stakeholders to control the marketing practices that influence the behavior of the children consumers. References Dietz, W. H. (2013). New strategies to improve food marketing to children.Health Affairs, 32(9), 1652-1658. Skaar, H. (2009). Branded selves: how children in Norway relate to marketing on a social network site. Journal of children and media, 3(3), 249-267. Consuming Kids [Video file]. (2015, May 1). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjel16VcIWw Nylund, B. K. (2015). Marketing and advertising to children: the issues at stake | Guardian Sustainable Business | The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/marketing-advertising-children-issues-at-stake Read More