| Friends are the Most Influential | ||
| 5/12/00 | ||
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According to new consumer research from The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), friends and advertising have a greater influence on children's purchasing aspirations than parents do. And while two-thirds of consumers acknowledge that children may respond to advertising by the time that they are five years old, only 28% of parents think that advertising changes the way children think. Over a third (37%) of adult consumers in the United Kingdom believe that friends are the biggest influence on children and 36% believe advertising to be the most influential factor. Only 17% believed parents to have the strongest influence, and a mere 8% believed school to be the most effectual factor. When asked whether laws on advertising to children in the United Kingdom should be strengthened to bring them closer to the more stringent regulations in Sweden and Greece, responses varied according to the age of consumers. Only 17% thought advertising to children should be banned completely – a smaller figure than the 19% who believe that no change should be made to the current situation. While 85% of those over 65 think that UK laws should be strengthened, only 49% of consumers aged 15–24 believe that our laws should be changed. Those who viewed the most commercial television felt the least change to laws was necessary. While 82% of consumers with light ITV viewing felt that UK laws should be strengthened, only 73% of those with heavy ITV viewing agreed. CIM Director of Marketing, Ray Perry, believes that moves for curbs on advertising to children would be regressive, " Consumers believe that the playground is slightly ahead of advertising in influencing children’s desires, but that both are way ahead of parents and school. Especially revealing in this research is the resistance to a change in the law from younger consumers. Those consumers who have most recently experienced advertising to children as children themselves, are the group that find it the least worrying. This is indicative of the role that advertising to children has in informing them about products, and educating them about the way that the media works. " | ||
