Content and impact of Tv advertising on children and Its regulation: the case of Jimma university community school
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Date
2010-06
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Addis Ababa Universty
Abstract
Everyday children are exposed to the selling message of advertisers via the television. There is
some debate in the literature over the age at which young children can distinguish television
advertisement from programs, when they can remember and what they see and when they are
able to understand that the advertiser's motive is to sell a product. Resolution of the debate has
been hampered by methodological difficulties and paradigms which fail to fully capture and
explain children's response to advertisement. Objectives of the study was to assess the content
and impact of TV advertising on children's behavioral, attitudinal and social development and its
regulation at Jimma University Community School. Mixed research approach was employed.
Structured and semi-structured questionnaires and interview were used to collected data from the
children, Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency and three selected advertising agencies in
Addis Ababa. In this study 295 children were participated with the mean age of 12. The study
shows that children under study are very much aware about TV commercials features like:
truthfulness, annoyingness and injluencing characteristics of the advertising. Most advertising
agencies do not carry out their works with the help of professionals this may lead advertisings to
have information that may have unintended side effects that are not part of the selling intent. And
there are national and international regulations and code of practice that are not still functional
by advertising agencies and broadcasting Medias. Beside, there is a significant amount of
advertising uniquely designed for and specifically directed to audiences of young children. Such
advertising efforts are fundamentally unfair because of young children's limited comprehension
of the nature and purpose of television advertising. Therefore, integrated and disciplinary
approach is needed to protect children from the misleading message of TVadvertisings
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Education