Toy advertising: Difference between revisions

'''Toy advertising''' is the [[advertising|promotion]] of [[toys]] through a variety of media. [[Advertising campaign]]s for toys have been criticised for trading on children's [[naivete]] and for turning children into premature [[consumer]]s. [[Advertising to children]] is usually regulated to ensure that it meets defined standards of honesty and decency. These rules vary from country to country, with some going as far as banning all advertisements that would be directed toat children.

The commercial sale and marketing of children's toys only became popular in the mid-18th century. Prior to this, children had access to relatively few toys, and, of those toys in use, most were hand-made, either by the child or a close relative.<ref>Kline, S., ''Out of the Garden: Toys, TV, and Children's Culture in the Age of Marketing,''

By the mid-nineteenth century, technological developments such as the invention of sheet metal stamping machines facilitated the mass production of inexpensive toys, notably [[tin toy]]s or [[penny toys]]. Other technological developments included the advent of papierpaper mache and "India" rubber moulding machines, which effectively lowered the costs of manufacturing dolls. To stimulate demand for toys, it was necessary to encourage parents to purchase toysthem for their children. However, to do that, it was necessary to changeshift attitudes to toys; to promulgate the idea that children were children rather than 'adults in training' and that toys were developmentally useful.<ref>Cross, G., ''Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing World of American Childhood'' Harvard University Press, 2009, pp 18-20</ref>

Toy manufacturers were late-comers to modern marketing and advertising techniques. The earliest commercial toymakers relied on standardised mass production manufacturing techniques, with its emphasis on achieving economies through long production. Designs and models were changed rarely. Toy design was conservative; and always aimed at securing parent approval. Toymakers rarely attended the international exhibitions.<ref>Brown, K.D., ''The British Toy Business: A History Since 1700,'' London, Hambledon Press, 1996, p. 45</ref> Early advertising appeared in wholesale and retail catalogs where advertisements appeared alongside mousetraps and match holders. Advertising messages were targeted at parents and spoke of the educational value as well as the toy's durability. Toy advertising rarely showed children using the toys. The tenor of toy advertising and marketing was that adults decided what toys were appropriate for children.<ref>Cross, G., ''Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing World of American Childhood'' Harvard University Press, 2009, pp 20-23</ref>

Demographic and social changes were beginning to affect attitudes to toys and children's play throughout the 19th-century. The decreasing size of families meant that children had fewer siblings and that toys became an important diversion and source of entertainment. Rising living standards and wages meant that parents had more disposable income. Middle-class children remained in education for longer periods, with the implication that they had less time to make their own toys, and were more reliant on commercially manufactured toys.<ref>Brown, K.D., ''The British Toy Business: A History Since 1700,'' London, Hambledon Press, 1996, pp 52-53</ref> By the late 19th-19th century, parents were beginning to appreciate the special needs of childhood and that toys were more than just the preparation for the real world, but that they could also offer a retreat from mundane realities.<ref>Cross, G., ''Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing World of American Childhood'' Harvard University Press, 2009, p.51</ref>

By the late 19th century, toymakers were beginning to adopt modern marketing practices. Manufacturers and distributors began using mail-order catalogues to reach consumers directly. [[Montgomery Ward]], for example, produced a catalog listing 23,000 items, including toys. The new department stores began to include toys in window displays in which goods were featured as part of an artistic fantasy. Toymakers began to develop a unique style or personality that could be linked to a company name or brand. Advertising for toys began to appear in consumer magazines. Advertising messages encouraged mothers to take their children shopping with them, and to watch how the childthey interacted with toys in order to identify the child's preferences.<ref>Cross, G., ''Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing World of American Childhood'' Harvard University Press, 2009, p.30; Brown, K.D., ''The British Toy Business: A History Since 1700,'' London, Hambledon Press, 1996, pp 31-32</ref>

By the mid-20th century, the traditional approach of marketing through mothers (also known as the "gatekeeper model") was waning. Children, who by this time, were the recipients of pocket-money, made individual purchasing decisions, as part of their education in the world of consumption.<ref>Schor, J.B., "The Commodification of Childhood," in Stephen J. Pfohl, Van Wagenen, A., Arend, P., Brooks, A. and Leckenby, D. (eds), ''Culture, Power And History: Studies in Critical Sociology,'' Lieden, Brill, 2006, p. 100</ref> Television broadcasting in the mid-20th century provided toymakers with the ability to reach national children's audiences.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Kids' TV Grows Up: The Path from Howdy Doody to SpongeBob|last=Holz|first=Jo|publisher=McFarland|year=2017|isbn=978-1-4766-6874-1|location=Jefferson, NC|pages=51–52, 69–71, 94–95, 133–135}}</ref> In the late -20th century, the merchandising of film and TV characters in the form of dolls or figurines, gave toy marketers access to international audiences.<ref>Cross, G. and Smits, G., "Japan, the U.S. and the Globalization of Children's Consumer Culture," ''Journal of Social History,'' Vol. 38, No. 4, 2005; Kline, S. “Toy Marketing and the Internationalization of Children’s Television,” in Paul Rutten and Monique Hamers-Regimbal, ''Internationalization in Mass Communication and Cultural Identity,'' Holland, Sommatie, 1995</ref>

Toy advertisements are aimed at three target audiences: children, adults (especially close relatives such as parents or grandparents), and toy retailers. Different message and media strategies are used for each target group. To gain the attention of children, advertising messages might focus on products are oftenwith brightly coloured, fast moving designs; or associations with heroic characters from film, TV, or books. Packaging can enhance the attractiveness of a toy. When advertising toys to adults, the educational benefits to the child are often promoted. When promoting toys to retailers, the ability of a product range to generate store traffic and profits is likely to be mentioned.

Children up to the age of five can find it difficult to distinguish between the main program and [[commercial break]]s. This isholds particularly sotrue when a toy range is linked to a [[television series]] they are watching. Many children do not understand the intentions of [[marketing]] and [[commercials]] until the age of eight.<ref>Patti M. Valkenburg & Joanne Cantor. "The Development of a Child into a Consumer. ''Journal of Marriage and Family'' Vol. 63, 2001, pp 655–668.</ref> [[Media literacy]] programmes such as Media Smart are being used to help children understand and think critically about advertising.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mediasmartworld.com/ |title=Home |website=mediasmartworld.com}}</ref>

Like other consumer products, toys may also be offered as sets. While each one may be affordable, it may be an investment to "collect them all"."

The natural credulity of young children means that advertising to children is almost always a sensitive issue. The average child is exposed to approximately 40,000 commercials a year.<ref name="Donald L. Shifrin 2006">Donald L. Shifrin, M. C. (2006, Dec). Children, Adolescents, and Advertising. American Academy of Periatrics , 2563-2569.</ref> These messages are channelled through television, the internet, bill boardbillboard campaigns and print media. Toy marketers are also known for more direct approaches, targeting schools.<ref name="Donald L. Shifrin 2006"/> Doing so by producing toys that are advertised with ‘educational benefits’ throughout primary school catalogues and news letters. A study on child advertising during Dec 2007 examined the relationship between television commercials and children's requests to Father Christmas. Throughout the findings there was a significant correlation between the items requested and the commercials viewed. Proportionally there was a greater number of brands requested when associated with higher television viewing time.<ref>Pine, K. J., Wilson, P. B., & Nash, A. S. (2007, December ). The Relationship Between Television Advertising, Children's Viewing and Their Requests to Father Christmas. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 28, 456.</ref> These findings reflect the impact marketers have on children. Through the use of advertising, brands are shaping the opinions and beliefs of young children every day thus generating an unrelenting appetite for branded merchandise. The intentions of toy manufactures are to influence children while they are young to gain brand loyalty, devolving premature consumers. Thegenerating consumers of the future. Marketing strategies towards child advertising are paid high attention to as the market is generatingadds approximately 21 billion dollars intoto the United States economy each year.<ref>Statista. (2015). Statistics and Facts on the Toy Industry. Retrieved from Statista: http://www.statista.com/topics/1108/toy-industry/</ref> This is possible due to the influential amount of purchasing power children have when pressuring their parents, through what marketers refer to as ‘pester power’power.’<ref>McDermott, L., O'Sullivan, T., Stead, M., & Hastings, G. (2006). International food advertising, pester power and its effects. International Journal of Advertising, 513-539.</ref>

Persuasive commercials achieve such proportionate amounts of revenue, as children under the age of twelve12 have less cognitive ability to recognise the purpose of the advertisement.<ref>Rozendaal, E., Opree, S. J., & Buijzen, M. (2016, Jan). Development and Validation of a Survey Instrument to Measure Children's Advertising Literacy. Media Psychology, 72-100.</ref> Brands sell a life stylelifestyle, presenting to children the idea of happiness. Children at a vulnerable age believe that the life stylelifestyle being sold to them is the truth,<ref>Lanka, S. (2011, July 7). Ethics in marketing and advertising to children. Colombo.</ref> and by obtaining the products viewed they will mirror these impressions. The mind setmindset that purchase equals an acquired identity can be dangerous. It can present low self-esteem amongst youth because their reality is not compromised by their materialistic gainmaterialism. The journal of Social and Clinical Psychology conducts a model proving the relationship between materialistic values, compulsive buying tendencies, self -discrepancies and low self-esteem that acts in a spirallingspiraling effect.<ref>Dittmar, H., "A NEW LOOK AT "COMPULSIVE BUYING": SELF-DISCREPANCIES AND MATERIALISTIC VALUES AS PREDICTORS OF COMPULSIVE BUYING TENDENCY, ''Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology,'' Vol. 24, 2005, pp 832-859.</ref> This is due to the fundamentals of human nature, which involvesinvolve an endless amount of wants which contrastscontrast withagainst a disappointing reality. An example of this is Barbie, who is globally advertised as a best friend for young woman. In commercials Barbie comes to life portraying personality. Marketers use idealistic settings to falsely advertise the lifestyle that comes with Barbie; either on the beach or in a night club. Settings are designed to convince children of this idealistic reality and an experience that they too can share with her. Yet, in reality Barbie's potential relies on a child's imagination. The setting is not included. Mainly she has no relatable characteristics for children to look up to, establishing the argument of social pressures and self-esteem. For toy companies, however, this is parallel to revenue.{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}}