Children as consumers

Authors Avatar by rose_roza (student)
University Degree Social studies

 Children as consumers.

Important to this new paradigm is the socially constructed nature of childhood that can be expand to take into account the manner consumer culture have been  used to  constructs childhood. What is more, close examination of the cultural worlds of children and young people, as well as commitment with trendy culture, can be a productive way of understanding the experience of childhood. (Kehily 2012)

As consumers, children play a part in economic relations. However, through the practices of consumption they may, as A.H.Dyson (1997) suggests, produce meanings for themselves. She argues that children appropriating cultural products such as music, and computer games as well as from written texts, and can be seen as one of the ways in which individuals make sense of the world and their place within it. Dyson also suggest that superhero stories allow children to experience a sense of control and to feel powerful in an environment where they often have a little power or control. (cited in  M.J.Kehily, 2003)

According to James and James (2012) children have been considered to be consumers since the 18th century, when toys and games first started to be sold with children as potential customers in mind. But it was in the 19th century that the idea of children as consumers evolved and led to further marketing practices to attract this particular group.

Young people came to be seen in marketing term as a specific group with disposable income. ‘’Teenagers ‘’are big spenders is reflected in the way that large store as ‘’Boots’’ have ranges of products such as cosmetics, CDs and magazines specially targeted to them. ‘’Datamonitor’’, on the other hand state that young people expand their spending power further than these everyday goods to include more expensive purchase such as cosmetic surgery, laptops, mobile phones etc. The significance of children and young people as consumers increases dramatically. One of the reasons could the influence that children can have on their parents’ spending. The skilful wearing down of parental resistance is referred to colloquially as ‘’pester power’’ ( M.J.Kehily, 2003)

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Buckingham (2011) point out that children becoming consumers in their own rights. As the market develops new ways to talk to children, and children, in turn, have an impact on parental consumption. (Kehily 2012)

In the 21st century, however, the idea of children as consumers started to be questioned. Parents have become more aware of the advertising techniques and the underlying purpose of these techniques – playing on children’s dreams and creating desires. As a result, they went on a campaign against such practises, claiming that children should not be exposed to something their young minds could not comprehend (James ...

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Children as consumers
Document Details
  • Author
    Authors Avatar rose_roza
  • Author Type
    Student
  • Word Count
    1217
  • Page Count
    7
  • Level
    University Degree
  • Subject
    Social studies
  • Type of work
    Coursework
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