PROJECT REPORT

ON
“EFFECT OF ADVERTISING ON CHILDREN AND THEIR
BUYING BEHAVIOR”
Submitted for

“BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS AND PROJECT WORK”

BCOM(HONS) SEMESTER- 6th

To
Ms. Manjot Kaur

MATA SUNDRI COLLEGE FOR WOMEN

(University of Delhi)

By
NAME: TANVI THUKRAL
(University Roll no.- 15044504167)
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This research report is made possible through the help and support from everyone including
my teacher, parents, family and friends.

First and foremost, Iwould like to thank Mata Sundri College for Women for providing me
with this great opportunity to work on this report and choosing my own topic of interest.

Secondly, I would like to thank my subject teacher Ms. Manjot Kaur ma’am for her support
and guidance throughout the making of this research report. She helped me in completing the
project report.

Finally, I sincerely thank the respondents who gave me their precious time to answer the
questionnaire. The fulfilment of this research project would not be possible without all of
them.
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this Project Report titled “Business Research Project on Effect of
advertising on children: Special reference to confectionary products” submitted to the
department of Commerce, Mata Sundri College (Delhi University) is a record of original
work done by me under the guidance of Ms. Manjot Kaur.

The information and data given in the report is authentic to the best of my knowledge.

This project report is not submitted to any other university or institution for the award of any
degree, diploma or fellowship or published any time before.

-TANVI THUKRAL
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1:- INTRODUCTION

1.1 What is Advertising?
1.2 History of advertising
1.3 Changing scenario of advertising
1.4 Common advertising methods
1.5 Effects of advertisement
2.1 Advertisement and children
2.2 Effects of advertisement on children
2.3 Kids’ viewership and statistics
2.4 Language preference of kids
2.5 Kids’ viewership activity hours
2.6 Ad sector performance

CHAPTER 2:- LITERATURE REVIEW

CHAPTER 3:- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Statement of problem
3.2 Research Design
3.3 Scope
3.4 Sampling plan
3.5 Instrument
CHAPTER 4:- DATA ANALYSIS

CHAPTER 5:- LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

CHAPTER 6:- CONCLUSION

6.1 Recommendation
6.2 Reference
 CHAPTER 1:-INTRODUCTION

1.1 WHAT IS ADVERTISING?

The activity or profession of producing information for promoting the sale of

commercial products or services can be simply known as Advertising.
It is an attempt to influence the buying behaviour of the customers by providing a
persuasive selling message about the products/services.

It’s objective goal is to attract new customers by defining a target market and
reaching out to them with an effective advertisement campaign.
Defining the target market is an important task since you need to know your targeting
audience before advertising a product. For example, if the target audience is old aged
people then Facebook as an advertising medium would be a poor option. Building a
target market involves building a demographic profile of the prospective customer by
considering facts like age, gender, marital status, shopping habits, income, lifestytle
etc.
1.2 HISTORY OF ADVERTISING
In ancient times the most common form of advertising was by word of mouth. The
archaeologists have found Babylonian clay tablet dated 3000 BC having inscription of
a shoemaker, a scribe and an ointment dealer. Commercial messages and political
campaign displays were found, where little shops used to have inscriptions on walls
near the entrance to inform the pedestrians about the products to be purchased.

The tradition of wall paintings started way early in 4000BC in India. Phoenicians used
to use rocks for painting messages on it. The other mode of advertising was the word
of mouth to talk around and tell people in the town that was used in Greece and India,
where town criers were paid to go around town spreading news and making
announcements in the streets.
As printing developed in the 15th and 16th century, advertising flourished. The first
known print advertisement in English appeared nearly 40 years after in the form of
handbill of rules for the guidance of clergy at Easter released by William Caxton of
London. In 1525, one ad highlighting the virtues of a drug printed on a circulated
sheet appeared in German news pamphlets.

Indian Advertising starts with the hawkers calling out to people right from the days
when cities and markets came into existence. It all began with classified advertising.
Ads appear for the first time in print in Hickey’s Bengal Gazette, India’s first
newspaper (weekly) . To ‘advertise’ meant basically to ‘inform’ people until the end
of the eighteenth century, and the early newspapers and periodicals announced births,
deaths, arrivals of ships from England, sale of household furniture, etc. some journals
like the Bengal Journal (first published in 1785) even offered to print government
advertisements free.

The front page in a journal was generally dedicated to all sorts of advertisements. But
before long copies began to replace mere information. This is evident from the
appearance of punch lines such as ‘superior to anything of the kind hitherto imported’
and ‘warranted to the first quality’. Discounts and special services also began to be
offered by the beginning of the nineteenth century. Later, new products and services
were introduced and established in the market through advertising. The power of
advertising increased rapidly with the growth in trade and commerce.
 ‘Agents’ flourished at that time as space contractors, obtaining advertisements for
newspapers and periodicals on a commission basis. Leading newspapers like ‘The
Statement’ and ‘The Times of India’, which had their own departments started
outsourcing to these agents. This proved to be an advantage for both advertiser and
publisher, it ensured the advertiser to not worry about the layout of the advertisement
and for the publisher it saved the hassle of maintaining standards of an advertisement.
This practice led to the emergence of advertising as a profession. These ‘Agents’ were
the ones who led these ‘advertising agencies’.

1.3 CHANGING SCENARIO OF ADVERTISING

Marketing through advertising is considered an important variable in the global

business. As cinema has an influence on the society, advertising is second to it. History
says that the great Romans practiced advertising. Their surnames indicated their
occupation. When manual press was invented in the 15th century, the potential of
advertising increased as an occupation. After that the demand has been increasing.

Advertising is, in fact, the most influential and powerful medium in the present
commercial society. It has the power of creating a worldview, shaping our attitude and
beliefs. Advertisements influence every part of our life and we hardly realise that. In
the movement for equal status and fair treatment to women, an important part is
attributed to the mass media, particularly to electronic media.

The central position of media in daily life ensures its role in advertising
business. The advertising business can never come to an end or face a drop in the market
as there is an endless scope for selling off content and influence customers’ buying
behaviour. The meanings that are created by media are not fixed, but they vary
according to cultural, historical and social backgrounds of the people concerned. The
common man judges the products on the basis of the understanding his society and
culture has built in them.

Symbolism is an important part of advertisement and a change has been

observed in it. Use of women to promote a concept or product is increasing day by day.
In the advertisement world, advertisers have picked up women for advertising of
consumer commodities. Women are used in TV commercials as weapon of persuasion.

Women in many cultures make the majority of consumption decisions; hence

they are important target of these advertisers. So the advertisers find it easier to sell the
product by using the same gender. But most of these ads hardly need women as models.
For example, there is no need to ask females to do an ad for a men’s shaving cream.
The list is uncountable. Most of the companies want to attract the consumers by using
 the physical look of the models. They have created a world of fantasy. And we are
drawn towards that world without realizing much about the realities of life. We try to
imitate whatever is shown on the Television. The media must play the role of a
watchdog in such a situation.

1.4 COMMON ADVERTISING METHODS

Reaching a target market requires different types of advertising methods to be used as
follows:

 Online Marketing
1. Email
Emails can be a good way of reaching out to a mass of customers by having their
email list to provide information related to products and services.
2. Local website
Many municipalities and Chamber of Commerce chapters have websites that
provide listings of local businesses.
3. Facebook
Social media is always a good option to reach millions of people conveniently
and so a business Facebook page can be created to promote products and
services.

 Newspaper Advertising
The oldest but an evergreen method of promoting products and services through
newspaper ads is still an effective way to reach customers.

 Yellow pages
Using printing pages to advertise products.

 Cable TV and Radio

Ad commercials on tv and radio are seen and heard by millions. Cable

companies also offer local channels to small businesses for advertising. The majorities
of television commercials feature a song that viewers soon relate to the product being
advertised.

Virtual advertisements may be put through into regular television programming

through computer graphics. It is typically inserted into blank backdrops or used to
replace local billboards that are not so important to the remote broadcast audience.
More adverse, virtual billboards may be put into the background where nothing exist in
real-life. Virtual product placement is also possible.
 Radio advertisements are broadcasted as radio waves to the air from a
transmitter to an antenna and then to a receiving device. Airtime is purchased from a
station or network in exchange for airing the commercials. While radio has the obvious
limitation of being restricted to sound, this becomes its major disadvantage.

 Cold calling
Advertising by calling in person to promote their services and build a relationship
with the customer.

 Mobile billboard advertising

Mobile billboards are generally vehicle mounted billboards or digital screens.
These can be on separate vehicles built specially for carrying advertisements along
routes preselected by clients, they can also be specially-equipped cargo trucks or, in
some cases, large banners on planes. The billboards are often lighted; some being
backlit, and others employing spotlights. Some billboard displays are static, while
others change; for example, continuously rotating among a set of advertisements.

Mobile displays are used for various situations in urban areas throughout the world,
including:

 Target advertising

 One-day, and long-term campaigns

 Conventions

 Sporting events

 Store openings and similar promotional events

 Big advertisements from smaller companies

 Others
1.5 EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING
1. Identifying brands
Every business has a different brand identity to differentiate from the other to
sell their products in the market. This brand identity is communicated to the
mass through advertising. Consumer becomes familiar with a particular brand
over the years and builds an emotional relationship with it.

2. Information
It broadcasts different information related to products and services through
different mediums of advertising so that the customers know what is available
and where to buy it. It shows size, colour and various other features, the
related store for the product.

3. Demand
Advertising generates a lot of demand for the products and services to be sold
through ad commercials by targeting the customers who are most likely to buy
them,
4. Persuasion
Products reflected in the form of images and ideas compel customers to buy
the it to achieve a certain level of emotional fulfilment. Advertising tells you
how the product, service or idea you are considering can improve your life.
The meaning of the product becomes more attractive and idealistic that it
persuades the customer to buy the product.

5. Previewing new trends

Advertising lets consumers know the in and upcoming new trends in the
market which motivates the customers to buy new products because they don’t
want to be left out. They offer coupons, rebates and trial offers on new
products to get new customers or to motivate the existing ones to try new
things.
2.1 ADVERTISING AND CHILDREN
Majority of television viewers in India today are kids less than 15years old. But sadly
there’s no focus on the impact of what is broadcasted out there on the TV channels. All
of them are hustling in a competitive mode for winning the race for viewership. In this
order channels are concerned more about “what interests or attracts” rather than what
is “in the interest” of children. Neither the Government nor the parents or the teachers
seems to be concerned about this situation. For, the generation next and the civil society
of the country is shaped and molded by what they are exposed to today on the “idiot-
box” day in and day out.
Research studies have shown and proved the various types of negative influence
of intense viewing of television by children. The direct influence of TV viewing on the
extent of violence and aggressive behavior pattern of children has been observed – even
in India. In fact, there are a couple of confessions by adolescents as to how they picked
up ideas about a rape or robbery or revenge or killing or suicide or kidnap, etc from one
or other TV programme. Even some court judgments have commented on such effect
of TV programmes. That TV has a double-sided effect and that it is the negative
influence which is more than the positive influence.
But what is not realized is that there are no serious efforts to explore positive
virtues of TV and that parents who should be more concerned about such a phenomena
hardly do anything about it. In fact, studies have brought out, for example, that in
Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, parents enjoy the same fare of TV along with their children
and as keenly; where as in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, parents try to restrain their
children in favor of some discriminative viewing. Teachers and social activists in a
couple of places have been occasionally demonstrating about the influence of television
contents. Political parties too do not seem to be concerned to do something about. BJP,
however, had referred to this adverse trend in its election manifesto a few years
ago. But did nothing on coming to power.

Even the code for advertising, although inadequate, is aware of “implications”

to children of certain broadcasts and realizes the scope for misuse. For example, under
the code no advertisements should be accepted which lureing children to believe that if
they do not own or use the product advertised they will be inferior to other children or
that they are considered less than other kids if they do not use branded
products. However, in reality there is neither strict monitoring of the advertisements
nor a rigid follow-up despite that many ads on television fall under this category. And
most of these children’s channels have become marketing outlets for brands altogether
to India.

Marketers also work hard to increase “nag factor” of their product, a term which
means how often do children pressurise their parents to buy an item. Findings show
that an above average number of children watch television rather than other
communication and entertainment tools. Children have become a separate market for
investing in by the advertisers and so advertisers spend a lot of money to influence
children as the targeted market.
 Advertising makes kids demand the advertised items and it creates the desire that they
compel their parents and it puts a pressure on them. Advertisers have been using new
tactics to taget the emotions of children by making the advertisements more attractive
and influencing them to build a buying desire for the product. Children exposed to
advertising choose advertised foods products at significantly higher races than those
who are not exposed. The ad commercials can also be misleading and
misinterpretated. Advertising can also be considered a health problem since an
audience who cannot understand the meaning of a commercial can consume products
that may make them fall prey to various health problems. Food products advertised on
television create more obesity levels in children than the ones which are not
advertised.

2.2 EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING ON CHILDREN

Advertisements are made all attractive to entice the customers to buy the product
frequently or even once. More advanced and creative ways are used to make the ad
commercials stand out and promote a product successfully. However, ad makers
should remember that advertisements have a great impact on people, especially
children which sometimes could be negative or positive.

Positive Effects of advertisements on kids

i) Advertisements makes the kids aware of the new products available in the market.
It increases their knowledge about the latest innovations , in the field of
technology as well as otherwise.

ii) Convincing ads, which center around healthy food products, can help improve the
diet of a child, if they are attractive enough.

Negative Effects of advertisements on kids

i) The little ones get fascinated by some products due to the way they are shown in
the commercials and persuade their parents to buy it for them, whether useful or
not. They tend to get adamant if it’s not bought for them.

ii) To make the ads more fascinating for the audience, many a times stunts are
performed but they can only be performed by some experts. Even though the
makers broadcast statutory warnings with it , kids often try to imitate those stunts
which could be dangerous for them.
 iii) Flashy ads broadcast in television generate impulse shopping in children.

iv) Children often find contentment in the materialistic joy after watching these flashy
ads.

v) Kids become brand conscious as they find the costly brand products more
attractive. They disregard any other thing below that.

vi) The preferences of kids in terms of everything from their daily needs to clothing
etc gets affected by advertising to a great extent.

vii) Junk foods , such as pizza, burgers and soft drinks are heavily promoted during
children’s TV viewing time. This develops a craving for fatty and fast foods
thereby affecting their health.

2.3 KIDS VIEWERSHIP AND STATISTICS

Even in today’s technology enabled world, where little ones have access to digital
devices and alternate media sources, Television continues to play a great role in the
lives of Kids when it comes to media and watching entertainment at home. In this
section we’ll decode and see the status of kids’ viewership. Kids as a target group are
of interest not only to broadcasters but also advertisers, due to the potential they have
in influencing the household purchases.

viewership

Non-Kids channels
Kids channels

Kids as an audience i.e. the age-group of 02-14 years, accounts for 20% of total TV
impressions. This is the highest share across all age cuts. This 20% is further split
between channels whose primary audience are Kids and all other channels where Kids
are the incidental viewers. As depicted in the graph, non-Kids channels dominate with
87% of viewership share. This massive viewership of non-Kids channels could be due
 to co-viewing. Keeping in mind the massive share of eyeballs that kids contribute to
non-Kids channels, let us further look at the genre split and preferences of Kids
audience on these channels.

GEC Movies Music

News Sports Others

GEC Channels and Movie Channels together account for over 80% of Kids
viewership on Non-Kids Channels, of which GEC channels dominate the larger share.
Music channels and News channels also seem to be more popular among Kids in
comparison to the rest.

2.4 LANGUAGE PREFERENCE OF THE KIDS

Kids’ preference for languages at an overall level reflect the larger universe, with Hindi
being both the dominant as well as over-indexed language in terms of viewership by
kids. Regional languages across the board typically see a marginally lower proportion
of viewing among kids, while English sees a marginally higher proportion of viewing.

The availability of content in more languages on non-Kids channels has led to a more
fragmented viewership on these channels. Whilst Hindi (which also includes Dubbed-
Hindi content), continues to be the dominant language of viewership across both, the
key take-out is the high English based consumption within Kids channels. When Kids
are consuming content exclusively on Kids channels, the propensity to consume
English language content is much higher, than on non-Kids channels, where the remote
is mostly controlled by the family, and Kids’ viewership is incidental. This goes on to
show that Kids are far more conversant with English as a language in comparison to
the family unit, which continues to prefer and watch television in Regional languages.
2.5 KIDS’ VIEWERSHIP ACTIVITY HOURS

Kids viewership on television increases gradually through the day from the morning till
late afternoon (1500 hrs), after which the viewership drops. The major difference is
witnessed post 1800 hrs, when Kids lose control of the remote, and the viewership shifts
from kids channels primarily to general family entertainment channels. It is also
interesting to note that the day-part viewing pattern of Kids on Kids channels
corroborates with their weekly routine.

The viewership on Kids channels peaks later on a weekday (1200-1500 hrs) as

compared to on a weekend (when viewership peaks at 0900-1200 hours). This is likely
because the older kids go to school in the morning. In the afternoon, these school-going
kids are back home, thus adding eyeballs to television. On weekends the kids are at
home in the day (0600-1500 hrs), and hence the viewership is much higher across these
time bands when compared to the weekday. But in the evening, they may step out to
play with their friends or for a family outing, and hence the viewership dips slightly
below the weekday average.

2.6 AD SECTOR PERFORMANCE

According to many observations, Food & Beverages is the most advertised sector on
Kids channels, and garners the maximum impressions as well. However, looking at
the effectiveness, Household Products and Miscellaneous ad sectors perform better in
delivering kids impressions with respect to commercial time. The Household Product
sector is primarily being driven by the mosquito repellant category, whose ads are
typically kid oriented and feature children a lot. On the other hand, Miscellaneous ad
sector includes kid-friendly categories such as Toys Indoor Games, Writing
Instruments, Stationery and Film Trailors amongst others. Except for Retail and
Service sectors, all other sectors are regular consumption/ FMCG products, which
indicates that kids are increasingly watching such ads on television and are able to
influence family purchase decisions.
Summary

▪ Kids as an audience account for the highest share of Total TV impressions (20%)
across age cuts. Of this, majority of viewing takes place on non-Kids channels, which
can be attributed to co-viewing.

▪ Film based content is extremely popular among Kids across television. Along with
Serials and Miscellaneous programmes (primarily cartoons & animation), it comprises
the top 3 content preferences for Kids.

▪ Kids are far more conversant and comfortable in viewing English language
programmes on television as compared to the family unit, who prefer consuming
television in regional languages.

▪ Viewership on Kids channels increases gradually through the day, till 1200-1500
hrs, after which a decline can be observed. This is because kids lose control of the
remote, and viewership shifts from Kids channels to family entertainment channels.

▪ Kids are highly receptive to daily consumption/ FMCG sector advertisements such
as Food & Beverages, Hair & Care, Household Products etc. Also because of co-
viewing, it becomes easier for kids to influence their parents.
 CHAPTER 2 :- LITERATURE REVIEW

(Jignesh J Patel-2014) In the 1940s and 1950s children were not considered
consumers but only an extension to the purchasing power of their parents. With the
advent of television and other mass media, children have emerged as consumers and
have become an important target audience for the business. Advertisers are the first to
find out children’s value as consumers who are capable of making decisions about
spending. The 1950s dates the modern era of children's television programming, when
a deal between struggling television network ABC and Disney brought The Mickey
Mouse Club and Disneyland into children's afternoon television programming. It was
generally a personal gain of the consumer in case of advertising as they decided to
purchase the sponsored product. Over the next 15 to 20 years, children's television
became an industry by itself.

In the late 1970s, a research team funded by National Science Foundation (NSF)
estimated that children viewed an average of about 20,000.- commercials per year.
There was so little study on this topic during the 1950s, the majority of the studies on
children's television advertising environment goes from the 1970s onward. The
advertised products to children were limited to toys, cereals, candies and snacks, and
fast foods. There were male voiceovers for the great majority of ads and animated
characters hardly appeared. While marketers and advertisers invested more interest in
the child market during the 1980s, research on children's television advertising of that
period consisted mainly on replications and extensions of previous research. Children
who watch a lot of television, want more toys seen in advertisements and eat more
advertised food than children who do not watch as much television. Children also
influence their friends and parents to watch those certain commercials and compel to
buy a certain product.
It is very common for the advertiser to show ads in which the child would acquire
superhuman strength by eating a specific breakfast cereal, or would leave a group of
friends in choking clouds of dust by running with the sponsored sneakers. Toys ads of
that time were sponsored by unknown brands which would generally become famous
by getting linked with top television channels. Children’s ages are also significant to
understand the advertisements. Children’s understanding of television advertising and
content’s influence increases with age, because of maturity and increased experience
with the medium. A majority of 5-8 years old have low awareness of what a
commercial is and what is it highlighting; and although three quarters of 9-12 year old
children may demonstrate a medium level of awareness (eg. commercials tell you
what to buy).
(Divyang Tiwari-2015) A number of reviews have examined the research on
advertising effects on children and have concluded that advertising of food results in
greater preferences and purchases of such products. (Hastings et al.2003;IOM,2006)
also, viewing media sources to a larger extent leads to more unhealthy diets and
higher body weight among children. Many studies have also focused on the change in
eating habits of children due to exposure to food advertising. In one of the studies,
children were introduced to an overnight camp to a usual cartoon with fruit or candy
advertising. Over a period of 2 weeks, children who saw the candy ads selected fruit
and orange juice as a snack less often than other children. There is a need to research
and find out more relativity between food advertising and unhealthy diets. There was
a demonstration too by Halford and colleagues that children eat more immediately
after watching a food advertisement than some other ad.

Children consider Television as one of the life necessities. It is seen over the years
that advertisers have majorly targeted children as their target audience to sell off a
product as its easy to influence them. Children often compel their parents to buy these
products without needing after watching the ad commercial. It’s observed that
children who discuss often about such advertisements with their parents are more
likely to make buying requests for the products. Children spend a large amount of
their time watching television and they do not miss the ad commercials too in between
the programme breaks just to pay attention to something being advertised.
Commercials broadcast during children’s programming are designed to capture the
younger child’s attention by the use of cartoon characters, music, subjective camera
angles and editing.

(Chithira John and C. Sengottuvelu-2017) Gbadeyan, R. A. (2009) conducted a

study on children's perception of television commercial. The research concluded that
young children do not understand the selling motive behind advertising and where
they do understand; they remain very vulnerable to peer pressure and this is where
advertising benefits from. Amin Asadollahi, and Neda Tanha (2011) studied the role
of television advertising and its effects on children. It is found that children are more
vulnerable to advertising and the study suggested some measures to limit excessive
advertising to children. Mansoor Nisar, Muhammad Zia-urRehman, Muhammad
Haroon and Tahir Masood Qureshi (2011) studied the impact of food advertisements
on children's food purchasing behaviour. Research shows that television food
advertisements are playing a greater role in children's purchasing behaviour. In
addition to this, when the behaviour of the children is examined, it is observed that
children consume food which are rich in fat and sugar while watching television and
persuade their parents to buy the products seen in the advertisements. Zain-Ul-
Abideen, Salman and Saleem (2011) studied the impact of advertisements on
consumer's buying behaviour. The results of the research clearly indicate that there
exists a weak association between environmental responses and the consumer's
buying behaviour including its attitudinal as well as behavioural aspects.

(Zain Ul Abideen and Rashid M. Salaria-2009) The advertising sectors

intentionally exaggerate the influence and possible adverse influence of the product
they are advertising. They tend to display an innocent aspect of daily life in their
advertisement and hope that this innocent potray of life would not only attract the
attention of potential customers but would also influence them (Adler et al., 2004).
Marketers have been giving a lot of attention to children as customers. Young
children are more influenced from the TV advertisements as compared to other age
groups. And they generally believe in what advertisements have to say about the
products. If the advertisements are not very complex, and it says something new, then
a child would simply fall for it. (Rice et al., 1988). Children up to five years old are
generally fond of hearing the same story again and again. This repeated showcase of
an ad usually enhances their attention towards the ads, and in a few cases, it was
found that the children tend to lose interest due to this repetition too. A direct
relationship was found in the repetition of commercial and ability to attract children’s
attention (Wellman, 1990). The advertisers prefer to target children for their
advertising because of the easy influence and deep impact. In view of the children’s
importance of influencing purchase decisions the advertisers not only target them at
home through television but also target them through advertisements in class rooms
and schools (Barcus et al., 2004). Children’s understanding of advertising messages is
dependent on factors like, their ability and skill to categorise commercial from non
commercial content and also they must be disbelieving towards the persuasive content
of advertising within the limitation of their knowledge. This process of assessing TV
commercials is known as cognitive growth and intellectual development (John, 1999).
The growth stage of a child plays a role in the effect of commercials. Children do not
understand what and why sales pitch is used. So, one of the major reasons for
television advertising is to change the attitude and behavior of the audience.

A single advertisement may marginally affect the Brand preferences of a child.

However, repeated exposure of the advertisement may build a strong desire for the
advertised products, as compared to competitive products (Robertson & Rossiter,
1979). Children may not be able to remember TV commercial over time; however,
positive attitudes toward an advertised product may last for another week despite the
fact that the ad has been forgotten (Silverman et al., 1988). The ad commercials based
on products such as toys, cereals, and ice creams have a longer impact even if the
frequency of these ads is limited to one per program (Zuckerman et al., 1978).
The researchers have shown that children’s product knowledge is primarily based on
TV commercials (Caron & Ward, 1975). Goldberg’s (1990) study in Quebec used a
naturalistic setting and provides reliable evidence that a child who watches more ads
for cereals marketed for children, the more likely it is that that product will be found
in the household. It has been claimed that a child’s developing sense of preferences on
what to eat is influenced by the foods that he or she sees in television commercials.
The awareness of brands adds security to the lives of these children.

(Amir Waqas Mudassar Naz Aslam-2014) Today, companies spend massive

amount of their earnings in advertising in different media such as television, radio,
magazine and etc. And television is one of the common media for this reason.
Advertising is the nonpersonal message containing the information frequently paid for
and credible in nature about products, services or ideas by recognized sponsors
through the various media (Datta, 2008). The promoter intends to extend his ideas
about the products and offerings among the forecast. Popularization of the products is
thus, the basic aim of advertising (Ramaswami & Namakumari, 2004). The greater
part of the marketers uses mass media for their marketing message. The choice of
media is dependent upon the nature of the message and the intended target viewers
(Etzel et al, 2008). Television advertising is the most viewed and economical media
ever invented. It has a possible advertising impact matchless by any other media
(Saxena, 2005). The advantage of television over the other mediums is that it is taken
as a mixture of audio and video features; it provides products with instant validity and
fame and offers the greatest chance for creative advertising (Kavitha, 2006).

Over a longer period of time, the TV set has become a permanent fixture in all upper
and middle class households, and it is not infrequent even in the poorer society of
urban areas and rural households (Shah & D’Souza, 2008). Reactions to TV
advertisements seem to be stronger than the reaction to print advertisements. The
advertisers find it more effective to use television rather than print media to reach
consumers, partly due to low literacy rate (Ciochetto, 2004). TV advertising not only
change emotions but give considerable message exerting a far attainment influence on
the daily lives of people (Kotwal et al, 2008).
 However it is possible to say that even though they are very young to understand, the
most important thing is the advertisements impact on children. It is observed that
children’s attention is affected depending on whether they are watching TV alone,
with their parents or with other children of the same age. Children attention depends
on whether they are playing, eating or occupied with something else while watching
TV. In such cases it is generally assumed that there’s less of watching an
advertisements. Increasingly, children have become active participants in buying
decisions in a famiy rather than being a passive one. Not only do children get their
own pocket money to spend on a variety of products and services of their choice, they
also have major influence on how their parents buy products and services. If children
saw something new in a television advertisement or in a magazine that they liked they
were likely to buy it. Children are young customers always interested in gaining
information about a new attractive product in a market and buying it likely.

Parents tend to involve children in deciding which products to buy, where to eat or
drink etc so the buying decisions are higly influenced by them. Some children are
more exposed to these advertisements on a daily basis since they have a separate
television at their home. Children become adamant on their choices of products and
the parents have to eventually give in to fulfil their demands. Though a direct cause
and effect link is difficult to be established there is a growing message that some
children may be vulnerable to violent images, messages of advertising campaign.

(Pankaj Priya-2014) In advertisements during children programmes, half of the

commercials are based on food advertisement that is unhealthy food (Furnham A,
Abramsky S & Gunter B 1997). A study in U.S stated that 27.2% to 36.6% children
like the advertisement related to food (Powell LM, Szczypka G & Chaloupka FJ
2007). In this study it shows that children view 27.6% of cereals, 17.7% sweets,
12.2% snacks,12 % fast food and 8.8% beverages advertisement. It is also reported
that the children see the advertisement views 20000 to 80000(Dev behav pediatr
2001). Food products are the most important tool for advertising and influencing the
children and 50% or above children target.

According to an estimate the children see the food advertisements after every 5
minutes when they see the TV and also see more then 180 minutes in a week. ( kotz k,
story m1994). Children like advertisements and are more easily attracted toward those
which consists of child models, celebrities, animals and cartoon characters.(Ross et al.
1984; Blosser and Roberts, 1985; Rolandelli, 1989; Collins, 1990; Maher et al. 2006).
Schlooer et al. (1996) surveyed 571 adolescents of California aged almost 13 years
old, they identified that there exists a strong relationship between viewing advertising
of tobacco and then using it. Durant et al. (1997b) checked that advertisements that
have use of alcohols and tobacco, they effect more children. Children are attracted
towards these things easily. Those children who watch advertisements of drinking and
smoking they start using them.
 CHAPTER 3:- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Through this research report we want to find out how children are influenced by the
advertisements. So the statement of this product is “Effect of advertisements on
children.”
We basically examine to what extent advertisements effect the choice of products the
children wish to buy.

The subject matter for this project is to study the effects of advertisement on children.
Following are the main objectives to be considered for this report:-
 To know the children’s awareness about various products and their
advertisements.
 To study the impact of advertisement of the products on children.
 To know the TV viewership hours of the children and whether they effect the
buying and eating habits of children.

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN

Research design selected for this project is descriptive.

3.3 SCOPE

The research was done in Delhi only. It was conducted in the west delhi and nearby
areas only.

3.4 SAMPLING PLAN

Target population:-
Target population for this research would be parents with children having an age upto
12years

Sample Unit:-
Sample unit for this research would be parents with children having an age upto
12years of a selected area.

Sampling Technique:-
Stratified random sampling
 Sampling Size:-
35

Sampling methods:-
Convenience sampling method

Data collection methods

There are mainly two types of data collection methods which are as follows:-

 Primary Data
Primary Data is the one that is being collected by the researcher itself and is
being collected for the first time. Researcher has collected this data with a
specific purpose of studying the problem.
Primary Data in the research process would be collected by filling up
questionnaires from the parents.

 Secondary Data
Secondary Data is the data that already exists and in ready to use format and
gathered by somebody else. This data can be in the form of articles in
magazines, journals, government reports or any other historical data. It might
even be the different articles in newspaper and on the internet blogs.

Secondary Data that would be used by researcher in the research process as

supportive documents are from the various newspaper articles, magazines
related to specific industry, books in the specific field of advertising and various
different internet sites.

3.5 INSTRUMENT
The instrument selected for the primary data is structured questionnaire. I had
personally sent the questionnaire to the sample audience, asked the parents to fill up the
form and contribute to my research. They all had different responses and feedbacks.
 CHAPTER 4:- DATA ANALYSIS
Data analysis is the process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming and modelling data
with the ultimate goal of discovering and studying useful information , suggesting apt
conclusions and supporting the process of decision making.
Following is the analysis of the research through the questionnaire that was answered.

1. Age of child (upto 12years)

Age
11% 10.00%

10%
17%

23%
15.00%

13%

6yrs 7yrs 8yrs 9yrs 10yrs 11yrs 12yrs

The above pie chart shows that there are more 10yr and 12yr olds in the age of various
children (6-12yr olds).

2. Gender of the child

Gender

28.60%

71.40%

Female Male

The above pie chart shows that there are more number of females than the
number of male children.
3. Relationship with the children

Relationship
44%
56%

Mother Father

The above pie chart shows that majority were the fathers to respond for the given
questionnaire.

4. Occupational Status

Occupation

Only father working 46%

Only mother working 33%

Both working 21%

None working 0%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Occupation

The above chart shows that in the majority of families the father runs the house
i.e 46% followed by the only mothers working being 33% and in case of both
working it’s 21 %.
5. Family income

Family income
More than 1500000 8%
1000000-1500000 24.40%
500000-1000000 46%
Less than 500000 21.60%
0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00%

Family income

The above chart shows that majority of families i.e around 46% have a family
income ranging between 500000-1000000. And there are very less families
around 8% that have an income below 500000.

6. According to you, how often does a kid watch TV?

Watch TV
90.00% 82.90%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00% 14.30%
10.00% 0% 2.80%
0.00%

Watch TV

The above pie chart clearly shows that almost all the kids ie. 82.9% watch TV
always/everyday. That clearly indicates that Television is a life necessity for the
children. Either they watch TV everyday or atleast 3days.
7. On an average, how many hours, a day the kid watches TV?

Hours
11.40%

34.30%

54.30%

0-2 hours 2-4 hours 4-6 hours

The above pie chart shows that majority of kids i.e 54.3% watch TV for 2-4 hours
a day followed by 34.3% of those who watch for max 6hours too. It shows that
kids between the age of 6-12yrs spend maximum time watching TV other than
any other activity during a day.

8. Generally with whom do they watch TV?

Column1

31.40%
37.10%

6%
11.40% 14.30%
Elder brother/ sister Parents
Grandparents Others
Alone

The pie chart shows that 37.1% of children watch TV with their elder brother/
sister or alone i.e 31.4%. This also conveys that siblings can influence each
other’s desire for a certain product and eating habits etc.
9. Do the kids watch advertisements?

Advertisements
25.70
%

57.10
%
17.10
%

Yes No Maybe

The above pie chart shows that maximum number of parents i.e 57.1% think that
their kids do watch advertisements.

10. If not, what do they do during a commercial break?

Ad break

Leave the room and do something else 22.90%

Switch channels during TV ads 60%

Keep the channel on mute till the ad break
5.70%
ends
Any other 25.70%

0.00%10.00%20.00%30.00%40.00%50.00%60.00%70.00%

Ad break

The above pie chart shows that according to parents 60% of the kids switch
channels in between the ad breaks which indicates that they might not want to
watch an advertisement but some other show on another channel.
11. Do you think the kids get influenced by the Ad commercials promoting
certain products?

Ad effect
2.90% 0%
8.60% 22.90%

65.70%
Strongly agree Agree
Neutral Disagree
Strongly disagree

The above pie chart shows that 65.7% of the parents think that their kids get
influenced by ad commercials promoting certain products while 3% disagree to
the statement.

12. If Yes (for the above question), does the kid compel his/ her parents to buy a
certain product?

Buying behaviour
17.10
%
5.80%

77.10
%
Yes No Maybe

The above pie chart shows that 77.1% parents think that advertisements do
influence the kid and make them compel their parents to buy a ceratin product
which is true since advertisements are meant to attract the target audience
towards the advertised product.
13. Do the kids like food advertisement?

Food ads
Strongly agree 17%
Agree 57.10%
Neutral 22.90%
Disagree 2.90%
Strongly disagree 0.00%
0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%

Food ads

The pie chart conveys that 57.9% of the parents agree that kids like food
advertisements while the percentage of those who strongly agree is less i.e 17.1%,
means that there are advertisements of other products too such as toys, candies,
fancy items etc that the kids like. It also indicates that why the eating habits are so
easily influenced by these ad commercials and there is a rapid increase in the
obesity levels of the kids.

14. Do their eating habits change after watching a certain food advertisement?

Eating habits

45.70 45.70
% %

8.60%
Yes No Maybe

The pie chart shows that there are equal percentage of parents i.e 45.7% who
think that the food advertisements do or maybe do not affect the eating habits of a
kid. Generally, it does since children get used to eating the junk food and most of
them have a habit of eating while watching tv. But in some cases, advertisements
also create awareness about some health problems related to a food product and
promote a better and healthier product.
15. Do the kids spend most of their money on the advertised food?

Pocket Money
3%
22.90% 28.60%

5.50%

40%
Sometimes Often Always
Rarely Not at all

The above pie chart shows that 40% of the parents say that their kids often spend
the pocket money on the advertised products which is a reason why they develop
wrong eating habits over a period of time. Children form their own category of
market for the advertisers as they think children are young customers and play an
active role in buying decisions without realising the worth or need of a product
though.
The percentage of parents who disagree i.e 3% are way less than who do agree.

16. In what ways do you think food advertising affects a kid’s thinking?

Ad effect
It effects positively since it creates
awareness about various health 2.90%
problems or hazards

It effects negatively since junk or

17.10%
unhealthy food is also advertised

It has both positive and negative

85.70%
effects

0.00% 20.00%40.00%60.00%80.00%100.00%

Ad effect

The above chart shows that 85.7% of the parents think that advertisements have
their own set of positive and negative effects which is true. Since we see ad
commercials promoting healthy products also and highlighting the hazards of
junk food, we cannot deny that it has its own positive effects as well.
17. Do you think ad makers target kids for their personal motive of product
promotion?

Promotion
80.00% 62.90%
60.00%
40.00%
17.10% 14.30%
20.00% 5.70% 0%
0.00%
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
agree disagree

Promotion

The following chart shows that maximum parents i.e 62.9% think that advertisers
target kids for the promotional purpose of their advertisements since it’s easy to
influence children. It’s easy for the ad makers to make the ads more attractive by
adding various elements, cartoons, characters, colours etc to build a desire for a
product among the kids.

18. Do you think ad makers focus mainly on the emotions of the kids and by
making the ad all fancy to influence them?

Promotion
50.00% 45.70%
40.00%
30.00% 22.90% 25.70%
20.00%
10.00% 5.70%
0%
0.00%
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
agree disagree

Promotion

The above chart shows that that 45.70% parents agree that ad makers focus on
the emotions of the kids and the attractiveness of the advertisements. Followed by
25.7% parents being neutral about it as it depends from ad to ad that what kind of
message is being conveyed through it.
 CHAPTER 5:- LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The major barriers in conducting the survey are:

1. Time Limitation

2. Geographical Limitations

1. Time Limitations
For a researcher time has always worked as a barrier to his/her research process.
As we conducted the survey in the various parts of Delhi city and asked for their
responses and also observed kids aging between 6 years to 12 years, time has
always worked as a limitation to the research process.

2. Geographic Limitations
As we all know that Delhi is a mega city. It covers big number of people living
in the area. There are thousands of families living in the area. I covered West
Delhi and some nearby areas to do my research. Also the weather of Delhi city
is very hot right now and hence it is impractical to work for more than 3 to 4
hours a day in field.
Also, some parents were reluctant to answer and sonetimes kids do not let you
do the interview for them properly.
 CHAPTER 6:- CONCLUSION

The key findings from this project report the important effects of advertising on the
children. The research shows that it’s true, that the advertising has a great impact on
the children, their eating habits, buying decisions etc.
It highlights the fact that kids spend a lot of their time on television and thus it’s a
main source for them to garner all sorts of information about various products and
build a desire to own them even if it’s not needed. It also conveys that kids mainly get
influenced by the ads that focus on toys, candies, food junk , fancy items etc. Kids are
not so mature to detect the importance or worth of a product, they just see and choose
what appeals to them. They become adamant on buying a certain product and compel
parents to buy it for them. On the other side, advertisements do highlight the various
health benefits also of certain products and create awareness amongst the kids.
So in the end of the conclusion it is clear that advertisement has it’s own set of
advantages and disadvantages for the kids. It depends on what an ad commercial is
highlighting and what is the purpose or message behind it.

6.1 RECOMMENDATION
From the above conclusion it should be recommended that the researcher (student)
can aplly more tests on the study. They can use more sample size. If they can’t obtain
main difference then they can apply their study on other things which are related to
advertising and children.
6.2 REFERENCES
Impact of advertising on children buying behaviour by MA Hameed
(http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_4_No_2_Special_Issue_January_2014/25.
pdf)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280098783_IMPACT_OF_TV_ADVE
RTISING_ON_CHILDREN'S_BEHAVIOR
Effect of TV advertising on children by C Joseph
(https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-17320-7_14)
(http://www.ijrrr.com/papers2/paper8.pdf) by A Upadhayay
http://www.managementparadise.com/shahjagruti16/documents/21182/effect-of-
advertisements-on-children-with-special-reference-to-confectionary-products/
www.wikipedia.com

Aderson, R., (1995), "Consumer Culture and TV programming", USA: West view Press.

[2] Anderson, R., Engledow, J., Becker, H. (1978), "Advertising attitudes in West Germany
and the US.. an analysis over age and time", Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 9
No.3, pp.27-38. [3] Bever, T. G., Smith, M. L., Bengen, B., & Johnson, T. G. (1975), "Young
viewers' troubling responses to TV ads." Harvard Business Review, Vol. 53, pp 119-121.

[4] Chauhan, R.M. (1995) "Advertising.. The Ad challenge", Anmol Publication, New Delhi

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