Advertising has become normalised in our children’s lives, on screens, in the media and on our streets.
With our new Adspotters on the School Run project, we’re asking you to capture the ads you see on your way to or from school, and talk to children about ads in their lives. But why is this important; what impact are ads having on young people, their health, wellbeing and relationships?
In our new briefing Consuming Childhood: How advertising impacts children and young people we have brought together research from around the world which highlights existing impacts as well as exploring what the development of more invasive marketing technology may mean for future generations.
Brand relationships begin forming as early as six months, with brand loyalty potentially starting by age two. By the age of three, children can make specific requests for brand-name products, and by five, they are able to influence parental purchases. This early exposure to brands creates a lasting impact, as over 25% of brand preferences established in childhood persist into adulthood, influenced by emotional and nostalgic ties. For example, food advertising and marketing, which is almost always for unhealthy products, plays an important role in encouraging unhealthy eating habits in children, which are likely to continue into adulthood.
“Advertising tells children, and us, that those foods are tasty, desirable, affordable, have no negative consequences for consumption.”
Creating ad-free spaces
There are a higher number of outdoor advertising sites in more deprived areas, where children may also not have access to parks, playgrounds and green spaces. Therefore, these images and messages potentially make up a big part of what kids see in their local area. Outdoor advertising is also commonly placed on public transport infrastructure such as bus stops, which are often found near schools and other places children visit and use regularly.
It is more important than ever to create advertising-free spaces where children can experience nature, connect with others, and develop a sense of curiosity. In the past, schools helped with this kind of value-building, however, now there is increased marketing of products to children within the school system which is particularly concerning. For example, educational technologies, such as Google for Education and Facebook for Education, provide helpful educational tools, but their business model relies on using student data for marketing. Since these technologies are now part of required education, students have little choice but to use them, effectively participating in the commodification of their digital identities and personal data.
Tailored digital advertising to kids
Advertisers understand that building brand connections early on can influence family spending and secure future customers, which is why they invest billions in creating ads specifically aimed at children. These tailored strategies are increasingly focused on digital platforms, targeting kids as they interact with various forms of media and engage more as they grow older.
With young people spending more time online than ever before, advertisers are employing ever more sophisticated techniques to drive home their messages.
These include:
- Social media surveillance: Tracking users’ online behaviours without explicit notification, and utilising viral brand promotion strategies.
- Data collection and behavioural profiling: Gathering detailed personal data to deliver personalised marketing content, often without adequate user consent or awareness.
- Location targeting and mobile marketing: Monitoring and linking users’ movements to influence purchasing decisions.
- Neuromarketing: Applying neuroscience methods to evoke subconscious emotional responses that drive consumer behaviour.
Read an excerpt on surveillance advertising from the Consuming Childhood briefing
The intersection of digital technology and advertising has created an unprecedented environment for the marketing industry. With children being one of the most vulnerable demographics, the rise of surveillance advertising has amplified existing concerns and introduced new challenges. Surveillance advertising, which involves collecting extensive data on users to target them with personalised ads, poses significant risks to children’s privacy, mental health, and overall development.
Surveillance advertising has an extensive reach, the global adtech industry accumulates approximately 72 million data points on the average child by the age of 13. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend, with children spending increasingly more time online. This heightened online presence translates to more data collection, profiling, and targeted advertising.
Children are particularly susceptible to the impacts of surveillance advertising due to their developmental stage. They often lack the cognitive ability to understand and critically evaluate the purpose and implications of advertising. For instance, only 25% of children aged 8-15 could identify paid search results as advertisements despite clear labelling. This cognitive gap creates an “unprecedented degree of asymmetry” between the persuasive tactics employed by advertisers and the child’s ability to comprehend or resist them.
The manipulative nature of surveillance advertising
Surveillance advertising is inherently more manipulative than traditional advertising due to the vast amounts of data collected and the precision with which it is used. This manipulation is exacerbated by the fact that children do not fully understand how their data is being used or the nature of targeted advertising. The combination of sophisticated data analytics and marketing strategies results in a heightened ability to influence and exploit children’s purchasing decisions and online behaviours.
The marketing ecosystem utilises various strategies to capture children’s attention, such as integrating ads into all forms of technology they use, including TV, mobile phones, tablets, and even wearable devices. Children are targeted regardless of their location online, with engaging content designed to blend seamlessly with their digital experiences. This relentless exposure leads to an excessive volume of advertising; for example, data from Sprout Social indicates that one in every three Instagram posts is an ad, and teenagers can see up to 1,260 ads per day on social media platforms.
Broader implications for social cohesion and health
The broader social implications of surveillance advertising on children are significant. Surveillance advertising not only increases children’s vulnerability but also contributes to negative outcomes such as social fragmentation, disinformation, and increased peer pressure. The use of neuromarketing techniques – advertising strategies informed by neuroscience to manipulate consumer behaviour – raises ethical concerns, particularly regarding children. Neuromarketing exploits children’s vulnerabilities for commercial gain, which has led to predictions of legal action against companies exploiting these methods.
Moreover, children are increasingly used as brand ambassadors, promoting products through social media and online platforms. This practice commercialises friendships and increases peer pressure, further exacerbating the negative impacts of targeted advertising on social dynamics and individual wellbeing.
Surveillance advertising represents a profound challenge in the modern digital landscape, particularly concerning its impact on children. The extensive data collection and sophisticated targeting techniques employed by advertisers exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and introduce new risks. Addressing these issues requires stringent regulatory measures and increased awareness to safeguard children’s privacy, mental health, and social wellbeing.
Commercialising childhood
Commercialising childhood harms children’s social, emotional, and physical wellbeing. Exposure to marketing contributes to issues like childhood obesity, eating disorders, unhealthy body image, youth violence and aggression, sexualization, and family conflict. A 2009 UK Government report also found that advertising increases children’s insecurities, deepens inequalities and distorts their gender roles. As highlighted in our At What Cost? report, children’s rights to freedom of thought, information and expression are all undermined by advertising.
“If what we care about is children’s wellbeing then we should end advertising to children”
In addition to harming children’s wellbeing, marketing indoctrinates them into consumer culture, promoting habits and values that are unsustainable not only to their physical and emotional health but also to the planet. Research shows that more materialistic children tend to have lower well-being, perform worse in school, show less generosity, and care less about the environment.
Marketers are selling not just products and brands, but also the notion that consumption is a path to happiness and children are internalising the dangerous values that we need to buy things to be happy and that our own happiness comes first, even if it is harmful to others or to the planet.
What can we do?
So what can be done to extract children from these invasive advertising technologies? A three-step approach for reducing and eventually eliminating child-targeted marketing includes:
- Implement stronger regulations to protect children
- Make schools commercial-free zones
- Encourage less screen time in favour of physical and creative play.
It is also important that as parents, carers and adults in children’s lives, we talk to them about advertising to challenge the normalisation of ads and what they show, and to support them to be critical and conscious consumers.
It’s not just about whether the products are ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ but about understanding that companies create ads to make us want to buy their products and use various methods to do this. Because ads are everywhere, it’s important to help kids understand them early on. This will help them make smarter choices and not feel pressured to be ‘cool’ just because of what they are told to want or need by advertising. Parents can ask their children what they think about the ads they see, to get them thinking more critically about what is being shown and what it is trying to do.
You can also get involved in our Adspotters citizen science project to spot all the ads that you see in your neighbourhood on your walk, ride or bus journey to school and help your start these conversations – find out more and how to get involved here: https://adfreecities.org.uk/adspotters/
Explore the ads in your neighbourhood together and chat about what messages kids are getting from them. Then, imagine what could be there instead?
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