In our day to day we are surrounded by advertising, advertisements and new marketing strategies that companies create so that we consume products or services. Usually the target customer is adults, since we are the ones who have the purchasing power to buy whatever is being advertised. But what you probably do not know is that much of the marketing used in children’s products such as toys or children’s clothing is aimed directly at children. With this you will ask yourself: Why do they direct marketing to children if they are not the ones with the purchasing power? Well, the answer is easy, children are more malleable than adults, if they see a toy on television they will get attention immediately, if they see something that is being promoted by their favorite character, they will love it. It is easier to get the attention of children than adults. I’ll give you an example, when I was little at Christmas time they used to deliver under the doors of the houses a newspaper of stores like Éxito, in which they put all the toys that the store sold, when I wrote my letter to the Child God with this newspaper writing down in a list every object or toy that caught my attention. We can say that most parents, mothers or relatives would do everything possible to keep their children happy, it is for this reason that the influence of marketing on children works for businesses and increase their sales.
Something that we must keep in mind is that not all marketing is aimed at a product, sometimes it is aimed at services such as the use of social networks or web pages. When I was little it was not common for children to have so much influence from the internet, there was no Instagram, twitter, Facebook or reddit; all this shows the influence that the idea of »social interaction» has on children and young people, they want to have every social network that their friends have. Now marketing is allied with the idea of »being cool», with the idea of being «part of the bunch»; we could say that marketing has its ups and downs, as a sure father or mother you do not like the idea of a company or a website capturing your child and having influence over him.
Another evidence that marketing and advertising is present in the daily lives of our children is the dissemination of new lifestyles. Advertising is shaping society as it has the power to decide what is shown to society and what is not. Advertising presents new lifestyles, values and principles. Advertising presents a product or a service as a necessity to lead a certain lifestyle which will ensure that there will be people interested in buying the product. We can see this on Instagram, as celebrities or «influencers» present the new trends and how important it is for people to possess certain objects. That is why they are called «influencers», because they influence a certain audience to buy or lead a certain way of life. It is for this reason that as parents we must constantly keep our children in mind, maintain a healthy relationship where they share with those who follow and who learn every day on social networks. At this point in technological evolution, we can not prevent children and young people from being surrounded by social networks or influences. But if we can accompany them to see what catches their attention and that sells them social networks.
Advertising imposes an ideal in terms of physical image, lifestyle, proposes to reach «happiness» by consuming the products and services it disseminates, which makes that anyone who is influenced by advertising try to reach the ideal away from your own reality. Always remind your children that there is no better life and lifestyle than being original and following your own ideals.
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