The Influence Of Marketing And Learning In Children

The influence of marketing and learning in children

Introduction

Children have a tremendous influence on consumer spending. In fact, in the USA. UU. There are 50 million children 11 years old or less who exercise annual purchasing power of $ 1.2 trillions in direct and indirect spending. His opinions today will influence consumer trends in the future, since 25% of brand preferences persist until adulthood.(Caron,., 1999)

Developing

The interest of marketing and media communicators in children’s consumers has increased recently. The idea of marketing for young consumers is not new, but they are the ways to integrate children into the marketing place. Marketing includes not only the product, its price and the point of sale, but also the promotion and design of the package. According to Young, most people do not differentiate between advertising, marketing and promotional activities. In any case, commercialization in Western countries began to focus on children, mainly in the sixties. This is understandable, since it is known that children and young people are an important group of consumers. Mercadologists began to be aware of the growing power of persuasion of children about their parents’ purchase behavior. Children and young people, not being a strong and economically powerful group, are attractive to marketers for their ability to convince and persuade their family environment.

In developed economies, this fact is certainly linked to the sufficiency of money in families, the wide range of merchandise available in the market, as well as to the financial resources of children (pocket money, gifts and summer jobs).

However, it was not always the case when, for example, children’s toys ads were designed to adapt to adult viewers, not children (Caron,., 1999).

It does not mean that children in that era did not influence the purchase behavior of their parents, and as the author points out, rather it means that merchandologists should discover the marketing value of children later. This knowledge was shown in a mass marketing pressure, using children and young people, about consumer behavior in homes. Therefore, this essay focuses on the process that the child becomes a client (that is, how they learn consumer behavior). We will discuss the main sources that influence a contemporary child in their behavior of socialization, economic behavior, psychological theories on which marketing communication is mainly based, etc.

A large part of the marketing debate for children has focused on advertising that spreads mainly on television and online. Mercadologists are in a division to increase the focus on the child consumer and serve as educators and advisors. Commercial organizations are integrated into programs focused on consumer literacy, carry moral messages in social marketing, etc.

Another reason why it is necessary to look at the child consumer is the fact that while marketing develops, the consumer also develops. The communication channels that were valid in the past are becoming obsolete and are no longer addressed to consumers. The development of the whole society contributed greatly to this situation. Development includes globalization, open market, online service 24/7, growth of social sites, new communication technologies that allow a personalized marketing approach and many more.

It is known that each generation has its own unique collection of values and that they are made up of cultural and cultural factors and the political environment where they grow and that is then reflected in their values, attitudes and opinions. In this context, we talk about the generation approach to consumer behavior. The current generation of children and young people has access to better medical attention, better education, greater number of toys and better toys and also to a wide variety of professions, unlimited access to information and rapid connection with everyone.

This is the Z generation (people born after 1993) also called Global Generation.

This generation is formed by the so -called digital natives who cannot live without new technologies. They are also described as Google genus, since they use this site to search for information and do not think about the context and links between facts and events. On the other hand, it is a generation that uses these modern technologies for their growth and personal education (Lindstrom, M. 2004).

Brands are an integral part of contemporary childhood, especially in the case of generation Z . Therefore, it is not surprising that the advertising budget of fast food and drink products for children has increased in recent years . Studies show that a child is able to recognize brands at a very early age (18 months to 3 years) and then attribute a meaning (koulopoulos, t. 2016)

Orientation in brands increases considerably when the child becomes part of the social environment that is filled with his classmates (for example, in the kindergarten). The influence of pairs is very strong and can be explained in the context of consumer culture theory. The pressure of the social group has an impact on the way the child perceives what is great and rejects the products that the group qualifies as ‘linked’. The members of the Z generation (especially adolescents) are idealistic, ecologically and socially sensitive (Wiener, N. 2004)., What we can see in several portals and social sites. They are not afraid of ‘fighting’ against political structures and those that have power when they witness the injustice committed against someone or the environment.

The purchase and consumption processes depend on the level of mental and physical development. Therefore, to understand the socialization of the consumer of children and young people, it is important to take into account the theories of psychological development. These theories allow us to understand the development of children’s skills as consumers.

Other authors add to the cognitive approach the impact of the social environment on the development of the individual, which also manifests itself in the acquisition of consumer behavior. Some of the authors argue that children are active agents in the economic behavior learning process. In addition, economic socialization is the process by which the child assimilates knowledge about consumption practices and the economic world. The understanding of economic notions depends on the cognitive apparatus of children, as well as their market interpretation methods.(Piaget, J. 1964)

Another important theory that explains how the child learns to recognize the world and integrate it into his experience and behavior is social learning theory . Describes a process based on two key phenomena: observation and imitation. Children adopt new behaviors imitating or modeling. They learn consumer behavior through these processes, which is called observation learning (Piaget, J. 1964)

Children mimic the consumer behavior of the most relevant models: parents, brothers, companions and idols of the media. Children try to reproduce what they observe in their environment . Learning through observation is a form of cognitive learning (Aqueff, D. 2010)

Therefore, social learning theory is based on the knowledge of behavioral learning theory that works with the notions of reinforcement and punishment. Then, children are active in learning and reinforcement of their new habits, new behavior patterns. We are witnessing a reciprocal determinism, which is when the environment affects the child and the child’s behavior affects the environment (Lawrence, D. 2003)

Another approach that explains how children become active members of consumption is a vision of children’s participation in sociocultural activities, especially how they participate in consumer activities. Emphasis is placed on the social and cultural environment that forms the individual in all aspects, including consumerism [49]. The social and cultural environment denotes the environment in the family, school or religion, which forms the child’s personality, mainly their language and cultural meanings. The child becomes part of the society in which he acquires participation skills in everyday social life so that the individual does not develop on his own, instead of interacting with other people and the environment.

L.S. Vygotsky explains the development processes as a result of the social interaction, history and culture of the particular environment where the child grows, while considering the influence of the natural environment (that is, evolutionary and biological) . Through daily activities, the child assimilates conventional consumption language and acquires a set of consumption social standards (Vygotsky, L. S. 1997). Vygotsky argue that it means mainly an understanding of brand concepts, price, quality, products comparisons, dominated references, identity search and membership within a group. In addition, the child in the social and cultural environment learns consumption practices through interaction with other members of society (relatives, classmates, teachers, etc.). The child compares his experience with others and not only in face -to -face relationships but also through institutional systems.

In marketing, we can see the cultural differences of consumers in packaging, advertising or taste, which as a result have an impact on the different experiences of children with children who grow in different social and cultural environments. Therefore, the child learns consumer behavior through different types of guidance (parents, companions) and also through different forms of semiotic tools (language, advertising, packaging, etc.) . The child is not only a passive receiver of news related to consumer behavior, but it is also an active individual learning and develops persuasion, language and other social skills. (Inhelder, B., & Piaget, J. 1969)

The answer to a question about when consumer socialization begins must be from birth. The child acquires the first experience of consumption in the family through clothing, food, toys, television or purchases with parents. In a sense, the child is part of social behavior in the family even before birth. Future parents prepare for their role in a very responsible way. They take care of choosing products and services for the future mother (training, DVDs, clothing, food accessories, etc.) and for the offspring (clothes, furniture in the baby’s room, etc.). Parents can also choose to buy a new, more spacious home, or larger and safer cars. In addition, the child gets the consumer experience not only from the brothers (for example, playing Internet games, seeing internet advertising) but also from their classmates and family or friends of the family. Consumers often use the same brands as their parents, where we can see a connection between the consumer model of parents and their children. This fact is used by marketing communication in the so -called loyal client education and care. Here we can see the use of nostalgia elements, that is, the return to the past, in the ads and in the packaging.

Conclusion

The child consumer today is more than ever surrounded by medial messages that influence their values, attitudes, experiences and also in the behavior of consumer -oriented society. For this young generation, television advertising represents only one aspect of its consumption experience, and other media, especially the Internet, have much more power .In addition to television, the child consumer is influenced by medial messages of advertising posters, posters, websites, clothing, text messages, magazines, packaging, radios, store shelves, video games, ads in different types of media or banners in banners inWebsites. We must also be aware that the products reach the child at school (P. Eg., In bags, notebooks, pen cases) or in recreational courtyards where the logos of the companies that invest in the construction or renewal of the recreation courtyard are part of the socially responsible marketing. They find each other. Therefore, for the sake of the protection of children and young people, it is essential to know the main socialization agents that play an important role in economic socialization and consumers.

Bibliography

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