Running Head: ADVERTISING

A Comparison Between Adult and Children's Advertising on Television

Matthew A. Brown

Western Connecticut State University

Abstract

The study examines the way advertisers attempt to persuade children to buy a product compared with attempts to persuade adults. Are there differences in the way that advertisers try to get a child to buy a product compared to adults? The researcher used a structural analysis to look at twenty television commercials; ten aimed at each group. Various aesthetic elements were looked at to determine the answer to this question. The history of advertising was also looked at because children were not always a target audience. The purpose of advertising has also changed. Advertising used to tell the audience where and when to buy a product. Today, advertisers try to persuade the audience to buy a product. The study found that there were many similarities between the types of elements used to attempt to persuade each group.

Advertising: Children vs. Adults

Advertising has been a part of American society ever since the 1600's. The question that the researcher asked is: how do advertisers try to get children to buy a product compared to adults? In order to look at how advertisers try to appeal to both children and adults, it is important to see how advertising has changed over time. Looking at how advertising has changed helps the consumer to see why the advertisers choose various techniques to sell their products.

According to Goodrum (1990), shop signs, the earliest billboards, have been in use in the colonies since the early 1600's. The first daily newspaper, which began in 1784, had 10 columns of advertising in a paper of 16 columns. This ratio of ads to news continued right into the 1800's. It is important to note the difference in the purpose of the advertisements. Eighty percent of the copy covered land, slaves, and transportation. The other 20 percent covered goods offered by local merchants and descriptions of newly published books. The points of these ads were simply answering the readers two questions--where and when (13-15)?

Goodrum (1990) says how the 1800's was an important time for advertising. As industrial production increased, the need for advertising also increased. The reason for this is because more and more goods were made in distant places, so advertising allowed these places to advertise to different communities. Due to the increase of competition between advertisers, the need for advertising agencies became important. Businesses needed help in locating newspapers in other communities to sell their products, they used advertising agencies to help make this possible. The first agents bought space in newspapers at a discounted rate and then sold the space to advertisers at full price. Advertisers saw their loyalty tied to the newspapers. By the end of the nineteenth century, advertisers started helping write the ads. The agencies were now allies with the advertisers trying to get the best possible deals from the newspapers. This is similar to the way advertising agencies still work today. The confusion over whose side an advertising agency was on is still a back and forth issue right up until the present. Up until this point, advertisements were just a couple of lines in the newspaper. By the end of the nineteenth century the ads were larger and involved various styles of print, many also used pictures to sell the product. Advertisements were becoming more elaborate (16-20).

Goodrum (1990) says how the Civil War also had a major role in shaping the development of advertising. The need to produce hundreds of thousands of uniforms helped in stimulating the mass production of clothing. With the men gone to war, the women got out of the house and went to work in the clothing factories. Since women now had to work, they did not have time to be at home and do all of the chores. It became more acceptable for women just to go out and buy the things that they needed. Women working also led to food and products to be prepackaged, also making it easier for the working woman. Another role that advertising played was the introduction of new products. The advertisement had to explain the benefits of the product, as well as justifying the money it would cost the reader to make life brighter, easier, and more fun. By the turn of the century advertisements went from being black and white to color (20-25).

Goodrum (1990) goes on to say that another event that affected advertising was the Depression. During this time advertisers started to use research to help sell their products. Twenty-five percent of the country was unemployed, there was little money to be spent and therefore few goods were sold. Since not a lot of people were buying products, advertisers had figure out who was buying the products, as well as how to appeal to them. This is how advertising research got started, and is still used today (26-38).

Goodrum (1990) says that television also shaped how advertisers sold their products. From the research that was done in the thirties and early forties, advertisers were able to design ads that "looked like" the identified audience, talked like it, and were shown doing things that the audience did. Advertisers frequently sold the identical product in four or five different packages at different prices and in different sizes to appeal to different audiences. The first commercials on television were more expensive than print advertisements, and lasted for two minutes. As television ads became more and more expensive, advertisers cut and shortened the message so that the story was told in seconds rather than minutes. This changed advertising because advertisers had less time to influence a person to buy their product. This is how the use of catchy slogans and jingles came to be popular. It was a quick and effective way to get consumers to remember a product. This technique is still used today (39-48). As products became mass produced, this created competition between the companies that were making the products. Now two or more companies were trying to sell to the same group of people. Advertisements were used to try to get the consumer to buy their product rather than another company's product.

Advertising has become an important part of our society. Hall (1984) states that: The average American watches six hours of television every day. A great deal of what is seen during this time is commercials. Commercial television, as its name suggests, owes its existence to its sponsors. It hardly matters to advertisers what type of moronity is aired by the networks, as long as consumers continue to watch (9).

This study asks if there are differences between the way advertisers try to get a child to buy a product compared to an adult.

Ever since advertising began in the 1600's, adults have been the focus of advertising. This is mainly because adults are the ones who make the money, so they are usually the ones that buy most of the products. One technique advertisers use to try to sell their product is to try and persuade to consumer to buy their product. The idea of persuasion is an important aspect in advertising because it tries to get the consumer to want to buy a product. Advertisers want consumers to choose their product, and seek to persuade them that it is something that they need. Chadhuri (1995) says that "the consumer comes to associate the brand as a status instrument that obtains rewards and stays punishments" (424). This means that if the consumer chooses their product, it will make the life of the consumer easier. Saying that the product will make their life easier, helps to persuade the consumer that it is something that they need. Advertisers also try to persuade the consumer that their particular product is better than the others. This is true for advertisements aimed at both children and adults.

Hall also says:

Commercials create an ideal world, and so their "reflection" of society emphasizes the attractive and the desirable. Television viewers respond to this ideal and not only want to possess the products advertised, but also wish to be like the people in the commercials. Actors and actresses live the charmed life of fairy-tale characters whose problems are solved in sixty seconds or less. Viewers often envy these characters and covet their beauty, self-confidence, and self-satisfaction. While there is little doubt that commercials influence consumer behavior, it is the consumers themselves who determine the content of commercials (1984, 42-44).

In order for advertisers to be successful, they have to figure out who their target audience is. Next, advertisers have to figure out how to get that audience to buy the product. Jowett (1986) says:

A target audience is selected by the propagandist for its potential effectiveness. The propaganda message is aimed at the audience that is most likely to buy the product. Modern marketing research, enhanced by computer technology, enables an audience to be targeted easily (159).

Once an audience has been selected, how does the advertiser get them to buy a product? Jowett says:

source credibility is one of the contributing factors that seems to influence change. People have a tendency to look up to authority figures for knowledge and direction. Another way is the use of group norms. Research on group behavior has shown that people will agree with the group even when the group makes a decision contrary to privately held beliefs and values (164,165).

This is important because advertisers can use this aspect to sell their product. If advertisers say that everyone else is using the product, it may influence the individual to try the product.

Hall (1984) discusses how advertisers use other techniques to sell their products to adults. One technique is the use of identifiable characters to sell a product. Hall states:

The Quaker Man, a Benjamin Franklin look-alike, first appeared in the 1880's. He is one of advertising's first, and most enduring, identifiable characters and has graced oatmeal boxes for over five generations. Debonair Mr. Peanut is one of the best-dressed identifiable characters and has been around since 1916. Planters Peanut and Chocolate Company held a contest to come up with a trademark to promote its salted Virginia peanuts. The winning entry was submitted by a fourteen-year-old school boy, and Mr. Peanut was born. The Campbell Kids have been around since 1904 and are famous for saying that Campbell's Soups are "M'm, M'm good!" Some other identifiable characters that have been around since the fifties and sixties include: the Clydesdale horses, the Maytag Repairman, and the Pillsbury Doughboy(14-27).

These characters are important because they have helped to identify products for several generations, as well as influence consumers to try the product. If they were not successful, they would not still be used today.

Children have also become an important target audience for advertisers. Looking at how the view of children has changed in advertising helps in understanding how important children have become to advertisers. As more children appeared in advertisements, advertisers then used the idea of children in commercials to sell products to other children. Children then became an important target audience. Alexander (1994) talks about how the image of children has changed in advertisements during the twentieth century. The portrayal of children has shifted from where they were "seen but not heard" to where they are the central beings in the family. The American society was not particularly child oriented early in the twentieth century. After World War II birth rates went up, and society became much more child oriented. Children became status and success symbols. This view of life was capitalized on by advertisers and the media because mothers at home with a lot of children meant profit. By looking a various magazine advertisements, Alexander found that as children became more central to the family, the proportion of advertisements picturing children also increased (745-747). This is important because advertisers had begun to realize the importance of children in advertising. This caused them to focus on children as a target audience and figure out how to get children to want to buy a product.

Eiss (1994) also discusses children in advertising from 1890-1960. Eiss stated "Children are used in advertising to portray the idea of family, and the importance of family" (335).

Hall (1984) looks at how the advertiser influences the child to buy a product. Hall states that "Some of television's most ingenious commercials are seen by a minority of viewers, those preadolescents who tune in to Saturday morning children's TV programming, known as 'Kid Vid'" (100). One very effective technique that is used by advertisers is the use of characters to sell their products. It gives children a figure to watch, and look up to. Many of these characters are cartoons, also fitting in with the shows that the children are watching. Many of these characters are still popular among children today. Hall talks about how these characters were established, and the popularity of these characters. Many of these identifiable characters began in the fifties. One of the first characters portrayed on television was Barbie. Hall said:

This fashion doll was introduced in 1957. Barbie is the best-selling children's toy of all time and made by the Mattel Company. Barbie was originally portrayed less as a doll than a glamorous female ideal surrounded by soft music, breathless announcers, and sets that gave no indication of how small she really was. Young girls yearned for Barbie the way they saw her on television. They were disappointed when they could neither obtain all of Barbie's clothing and accessories, nor duplicate her commercials' theatrical effects at home. Barbie's commercials have changed significantly since her early days(102).

Another set of memorable characters that Hall talks about came from the makers of Kellogg's cereal in 1958. Some of the characters that are still around today are Tony the Tiger, Snap! Crackle! and Pop!, and Cornelius Rooster. In 1960, Hawaiian Punch came up with Punchie who would ask his sidekick Oaf "Hey! How about a nice Hawaiian Punch?" Oaf would always answer "Sure!" and Punchie would wind up and deck Oaf with one roundhouse blow. This was the longest running gag in all of television, and can still be seen today. Kids found this slapstick gag irresistible; it was repeated thousands of times over two decades.

In the 1970's General Mills came out with their own set of characters to try to combat the Kellogg's Company. Some of the characters they came up with were Cap'n Crunch, Sonny, and the Trix Rabbit. Another long-running gag in children's television is the Trix Rabbit's devious attempts to taste Trix cereal. In his black and white debut in the fifties, he introduced himself: "I'm a rabbit, and rabbits are supposed to like carrots. But I hate carrots. I like Trix!" This began his efforts, now going on for forty years, to trick children into giving him a taste. "Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids," he is constantly reminded by children as he attempts, without success, to fool them into giving him a taste. During the 1976 presidential election, a campaign was held in the Trix commercials to see if the rabbit should get a taste of the "raspberry red, lemony yellow, and orangey orange." Children were asked to send in their ballot to choose the outcome. Over 99 percent of the ballots were pro, so the rabbit finally got a taste and went berserk with ecstasy. Even today the rabbit is still trying to get another taste of Trix, but so far has been unsuccessful(102-112). The purpose of using these characters is similar to those used in influencing adults; to get them to remember the product.

Now that television commercials are a lot shorter, advertisers have less time to influence its audience. Another technique that is used in trying to get the consumer to buy a product is the use of a jingle or slogan. Hall says that "Often a jingle will be the most memorable element of a commercial. Knowing that a snappy tune will implant a sponsor's product firmly in the consumer's mind, advertisers often design their commercials around a jingle or an instrumental 'hook.'" (146). Hall goes on to talk about other "classic" jingles that can still be seen today. Some of these include General Electric's "We bring good things to life," and Rice-A-Roni's "The San Francisco Treat" jingle which began in 1958. The Oscar Mayer company also has a way with jingles. Andy Lambros first sang his "My Bologna Has a First Name" jingle in the 1975 commercial "Fisherman." The same commercial was still shown in the eighties, ten years later. Andy became the most popular spokeschild since Mikey, the spokeschild for Life cereal. Although both Pepsi and Coke have changed their slogans over the years, their target audience has been the same, the younger generation (146-166).

What are the effects of advertising on the American society? Dyer (1982) says:

It is hard to pin down the social effects of advertising in any precise numerical sense. It may be possible to measure the effectiveness of single messages. Advertising is generally successful in the sense that one can normally chart a growth in the sales of a product after a corresponding increase in advertising. This, however, is not always true for all products. Some products are bought in volume independently of advertising. For example, it is possible that the purchase of washing machines is directly attributable to mass advertising. It is equally likely that people buy washing machines despite advertising because they prefer them to the alternatives - laborious, scrubbing, boiling, wringing, etc. In other words an alternative casual explanation for a rise in washing machine sales may be that people have come to the rational decision that they are useful things to have in the home. So when considering 'effectiveness,' it is difficult to prove any short-term and one-to-one effects of advertising, and it is probably unnecessary to argue over detailed findings(79).

Dyer goes on to say that:

In some respects the influence of advertising can be attributed to recent technological improvements and innovations in the production and distribution of pictorial and visual representations of reality. I agree with Marshall McLuhan's aphorism 'the medium is the message' (that the influence of the media is a result of their technology). The consumer must recognize that the images conveyed by the media have, over the past thirty years, become so sophisticated and persuasive that they now organize the consumers' experiences and understanding in a crucially different way. The visual imagery of advertisements used to be simple, and less important than the words. Today the situation is reversed. We live in a world of spectacular and exciting images. The word 'image' now refers to a fabricated or shaped public impression created with the help of visual techniques. An image can sell soap, toilet paper, whisky, a corporation, a celebrity, a politician or a political party(82).

Hall say that:

Commercials provide a unique perspective on the consumer society that is the root of American culture. Certainly, video ads have influenced that culture. And, as significantly, they represent a new pop art discipline as intricate as Japanese haiku, for thirty seconds is all the time that commercial-makers have to tell their stories. The skill needed to synthesize music, plot, dance, animation, and other elements into these half- minutes is unique. By stingily making the most of every second as time itself increasingly becomes the most precious commodity, advertisers have unwittingly expanded the capabilities of television and film as they strive to make an impression (167).

The use of various aesthetic elements is another technique used by advertisers to sell a product. One aspect is the use of color. Zettl (1990) says:

Color adds a new dimension to everything. It brings excitement and joy, makes us more aware of the things around us, and helps us organize our environment. A child likes to play with toys that are brightly colored. The colored lights at a rock concert push the high energy of the music even higher. In purchasing a car, many people feel its color is as important as the car's performance. Every day, consciously or unconsciously, we make judgments based on color (55).

Another aspect is the use of various types of lighting. Zettl (1990) also states:

Light is essential for life. It is the key ingredient of visual perception and orients us in space and time. Light is the signal that our eyes receive and our brain translates into perceptions. Television and film are pure light shows. The control of light, called lighting, is therefore paramount to the aesthetics of television and film. Lighting, then, is the deliberate manipulation of light and shadows for the specific communication purpose (19).

The field of view is also used in advertising. Zettl (1990) says:

Varying the field of view from a longer to a closer shot not only clarifies the event but also intensifies it. Field of view means how much territory a shot includes and from what distance or how far away we seem to look at the event (215, 216).

Another aspect is the use of time. Zettl (1990) says:

Various aspects of time and motion, within the context of television and film, is one of the most important steps in the discussion of various aesthetic fields. After all, the basic structure of television and film is the moving image. We seek to manipulate, to control, time (237).

Sound is also an important element in advertising. Zettl (1990) also states "television is definitely not a predominantly visual medium; it is an audiovisual medium. Silent television is inconceivable from an informational as well as aesthetic point of view (335)." Zettl then goes on to say "music is one of the most efficient aesthetic elements to create a specific mood (352).

So how do advertisers use these various aesthetic elements to sell their products? The researcher looked at various television commercials to see how these elements could influence children and adults to buy a product. The researcher also wanted to compare the way these elements are used in commercials directed at either children or adults to see if there is a difference.

Methodology

Population:

The population used to analyze adult and children advertisements consisted of twenty television commercials aimed at each group. The children's commercials were selected from those that appeared during Saturday morning cartoons. It was assumed that these advertisements were directed towards children because they appeared during morning cartoons. The commercials that were directed towards adults were those that appeared between eleven and twelve at night. It was assumed that these were directed towards adults because they were shown late at night when most children would be asleep. There was a total of 57 commercials aimed at adults and 55 commercials for children. A random sample was then taken to narrow the total to ten commercials from each group for close examination. This was done by opening a phone book, and without looking, pointing to a number. By using the last two digits of the numbers that followed, the researcher wrote down the numbers that were between one and the highest number for each group. Once ten numbers for each group were selected, the commercials that corresponded with those numbers were used. The researcher also made sure that the same number for each group was not used twice. A list of the specific commercials that were looked at can be found in Appendix 1.

Materials:

The next step was to select aspects of the commercials to look at. A data sheet was used for each commercial to look at various aesthetic elements used in the commercials. The aesthetic elements that were looked at were the use of color, lighting, field of view, time and sound. Two other things that were looked at were the use of a particular character or slogan to sell the product. These specific elements were looked at because they help to create a type of mood. This is done by combining the different elements together to enhance the type of mood the advertiser is trying to create. A structural analysis was used so that that the various elements could be looked at and compared.

Procedure:

Each commercial was carefully analyzed to see what types of elements were used in each commercial. The viewing of these commercials was needed to see if there were differences in the way that advertisers try to get children to buy a product compared to adults. By analyzing each commercial, a comparison can be made. This comparison can help to answer the following questions: Is there a similarity in the use of color in the commercials that were directed toward children, and adults? How is the use of color similar/different compared to each group as a whole? These same questions can also be asked for the use of lighting, field of view, time, and sound. Is there a similarity in the use of a particular character to sell the product? How does the use of a character in children's commercials compare to those directed towards adults? What is the comparison between children and adult commercials in the use of a slogan to sell the product? The use of the data sheet helps the researcher break down the various elements used so that a comparison can be made.

Results

A summary of the results can be found in Appendix 1. The use of color was broken down into two categories: the use of bright, saturated colors and less saturated colors. In the commercials that were directed towards children, all ten commercials that were analyzed used bright, warm colors. The use of saturated colors were used in either the clothing that was worn by the people in the commercial, or the actual color of the product that was being sold. In commercials aimed at adults, only four used bright, saturated colors to sell the product. There were also four commercials that used less saturated, neutral colors. The other two commercials were in black and white, so there was no use of color. Of these two commercials, one did use color when the product was shown.

The next element that was looked at was the use of lighting. This was broken down into the use of chiaroscuro, high contrast, or flat, low contrast, lighting. For the commercials aimed at children, all ten used flat lighting. The commercials aimed at adults were also very similar. Nine of the commercials used flat lighting. One commercial used both flat and chiaroscuro lighting, this was one of the ones that was in black and white.

Another aspect that was looked at was the use of screen space. This included the type of shot used, as well as the positioning of objects on the screen. For commercials aimed at children, all ten used medium to close-up shots. They also all positioned the product in the center of the screen. For those commercials aimed at adults, eight used medium to close-up shots, one commercial just used close-up shots, and one more used medium to long shots. Nine out of the ten commercials placed the product in the center of the screen, and one commercial positioned the product either on the right and left side of the screen or in the center of the screen.

The next aspect looked at was the use of time. This was broken down into the number of shots that were used during the commercial. All commercials that were analyzed were thirty seconds in length. Those commercials that had less than fifteen shots were considered to have a slow rate; fifteen to twenty shots were considered to have a regular rate; and those that had over twenty shots were considered to have a fast rate. For the commercials aimed at children, three had less than fifteen shots; three had fifteen to twenty shots; four had more than twenty shots. The commercials that were aimed at adults, three had less than fifteen shots; three had fifteen to twenty shots; four had more than twenty shots.

The use of sound was also looked at for both types of commercials. This was looked at in terms of whether or not the commercials used background music. For those commercials that were aimed at children, all ten used background music to sell the product. For those commercials that were directed towards adults, eight used background music; the other two commercials did not use background music to sell the product.

The next element that was looked at was the use of an identifiable character, or spokesperson, that was used to sell the product. For the commercials that were aimed at children, five commercials did use an identifiable character to sell the product; five did not use an identifiable character. For the commercials that were directed toward adults, three did use an identifiable character; seven did not use an identifiable character.

The last element that was looked at was the use of a slogan to sell the product. For the commercials that were aimed at children, six did use a slogan to sell the product; four did not use a slogan. For those commercials directed towards adults, nine did use a slogan; only one did not use a slogan to sell the product.

The researcher then looked to see if the commercials used either an identifiable character and/or a slogan to sell the product. For those commercials aimed at children, seven used either an identifiable character or a slogan; two used both an identifiable character and a slogan; one commercial used neither of the two. For those commercials aimed at adults, six used either an identifiable character or slogan; three used both an identifiable character and a slogan; and one used neither of the two.

These various elements were then broken down into percentages to see how the commercials that were aimed at children compared to those aimed at adults. For the elements that are compared, the commercials aimed at children are looked at first, and then those aimed at adults. Commercials aimed at children, 100 percent used bright, warm colors; Commercials aimed at adults, 40 percent used bright, warm colors, 40 percent used neutral colors, 20 percent did not use color. Lighting in children's commercials, 100 percent used flat lighting; adults, 90 percent used flat, 10 percent used both flat and chiaroscuro. The use of screen space in commercials aimed at children, 100 percent used medium to close-up shots; adults, 80 percent used medium to close-up shots, 10 percent used just close-up shots, 10 percent used medium to longs shots. The number of shots in children's commercials were 30 percent used a slow rate, 30 percent used medium a rate, 40 percent used a fast rate; adults used 30 percent used a slow rate, 30 percent used a medium rate, and 40 percent used a fast rate. The use of background music in children commercials was 100 percent; adults was 80 percent did use background music, 20 percent did not use background music to sell the product. The use of an identifiable character was 50 percent in children's commercials; in adult commercials, 30 percent used an identifiable character, 70 percent did not use one. In children's commercials, 60 percent used a slogan, 40 percent did not use a slogan; adult commercials, 90 percent used a slogan and 10 percent did not. Next the use of either a slogan or an identifiable character were looked at. For children, 70 percent used one of the two aspects, 20 percent used both, and 10 percent used neither of the two; for adults, 60 percent used either of the two aspects, 30 percent used both, and 10 percent used neither of the two aspects.

Discussion

Although there was a lot of research done on advertising, and children as consumers, the researcher did not find any research done on comparing the two groups. By looking at how the advertiser uses various elements to sell a product, a comparison can be made between the two groups. The use of color was broken down into the use of bright, saturated colors compared to less saturated, neutral colors. Brighter colors are more likely to catch the consumers attention. If the product is brighter than the background, then it helps it stand out and catch the audience's attention. The researcher believes that the use of bright colors was used more in children's commercials for a couple of reasons. First, the use of bright colors will help catch the child's attention. Second, it can also help separate the product from the rest of the background so that the child can more easily identify the product. The use of bright colors may not have been used as much in commercials aimed at adults because advertisers may have assumed that adults have a longer attention span.

All of the commercials directed towards children used flat lighting. The use of bright, low contrast, lighting can affect the mood, it can help to create a bright, happy mood. In the commercials aimed at adults, the same effect can also be created. The one commercial that used both flat and chiaroscuro light was also in black and white. The shots that used chiaroscuro lighting were more dramatic shots. The use of fast fall-off helped to create this mood.

The use of screen space and field of view includes the type of shot, as well as the positioning of objects on the screen. The use of screen space can help in identifying what the focus of the commercial is by directing the audience's attention to a certain object. All the commercials aimed at children used medium to close-up shots. The use of these shots can also help get the child's attention by having the product take up most of the screen space. By having the product centered in the center of the screen also makes it easier for the child to identify the product. Most of the commercials that were aimed at adults also used this technique, although there were a few exceptions. The use of medium to close-up shots can make an object or person seem larger. This helps to draw the audience into the commercial. It can also help catch the audience's attention by varying the shots that are used.

The use of time was broken down into three different groups. This was done to compare the different rates of shots used. Less than fifteen shots per commercial was considered a slow rate by the researcher because that meant that the average shot was more than two seconds in length. This allows the audience to focus on each shot and makes it easier to comprehend each shot. Fifteen to twenty shots per commercial was considered a regular rate because it meant that each shot was between 1.5 and 2 seconds in length. This still allows the audience to pay attention to each shot and identify the various elements involved in each shot. The commercials that had more than twenty shots per commercial were considered to have a fast rate. This was because each shot was about a second in length. At this rate it is hard for the audience to pay attention to each shot. The audience is bombarded with visual stimuli and can not focus on all the elements that are involved in each shot. When the researcher was analyzing these commercials, the use of slow motion was needed to look at the various elements that were used in these commercials. These results may have been similar because the advertiser may have been trying to get the same results. The commercials that used a fast rate were trying to make the product seem more exciting. Since the images are constantly changing, the brain is also constantly being stimulated, thus, making the product seem more exciting.

Sound is another important aspect in advertising. The type of music used can also help to identify the audience that the advertiser is trying to apply to. All the commercials that were aimed at children used some type of background music. These commercials used some type of fast, catchy beat that the child would be able to identify, as well as enjoy. Most of the commercials aimed at adults also used background music. One example of this was for the Ford pick-up truck. Country music was used for this commercials. It involved a country music singer in a barn playing guitar, and various Ford trucks driving in a field. The sun was shining into the barn, creating a bright warm place. The trucks were shown to be not only fun to drive, but also dependable. A stereotypical role of "country western" people driving pick-up trucks was assumed by the advertiser, this was further influenced by the use of music in the commercial.

The use of an identifiable character or slogan to sell a product is also important elements in advertising. When these two elements were combined together, the results between adult and children advertisements were similar. For commercials aimed at children, 70 percent contained either an identifiable character or a slogan, 20 percent contained both elements, and 10 percent contained neither of the two elements. Sixty percent of the commercials aimed at adults contained one of the two elements, 30 percent contained both elements, and 10 percent contained neither of the elements. The main difference was in the commercials that contained only one of the elements. For the commercials aimed at children 50 percent contained an identifiable character, and 60 percent contained a slogan. In the commercials aimed at adults, 30 percent contained an identifiable character, and 90 percent contained a slogan. When these elements were combined together, 90 percent of both groups contained either one of these elements or both of these elements. This means that the advertiser is trying to get the consumer, whether an adult or child, to remember the product. It also seems that this is an effective way to get the consumer to remember the product, since 90 percent of the commercials use this technique.

The most surprising conclusion from analyzing these events was the similarity between the way that advertisers appeal to both groups. Despite the difference in use of color, many of the other aspects that were looked at had similar results.

According to Palmer (1980), children's advertising consists of four product categories- toys, candies, fast-food, and cereals. These four categories account for 80 percent of all ads broadcast on children's television (275). The researcher looked at the types of commercials that were analyzed to see if these categories were still valid in advertising that is directed towards children in today's television. The researcher found that, excluding candies, 80 percent of the commercials consisted of either toys, fast-food, or cereals. The percentage for each of these groups was then looked at. Thirty percent of the commercials were promoting toys, 20 percent fast-food, 30 percent cereals, and the other 20 percent were advertising something other than the four categories. These results confirm that the types of products advertisers sell are similar to those advertised almost twenty years ago. The researcher then looked at adult commercials to see if they could be categorized. The categories were broken down into vehicles, alcoholic beverages, hygiene and health products, and appliances. Ninety percent of the commercials that were analyzed contained one of these product types. When these categories were broken down, 40 percent advertised a type of vehicle, 10 percent advertised an alcoholic beverage, 30 percent for personal hygiene or health products, 10 percent for appliances, and 10 percent contained a product not in the four categories. Because the types of commercials are similar, the techniques used to sell the products are also similar. The types of commercials are different for children and adults, but within the groups there are similarities. The types of commercials are listed in Appendix 3.

There is not a lot of previous research comparing the results that were found, but it was an opportunity to look at how advertisers appeal to adults and children. From the research done, the types of products that are sold to each group are different, but the techniques that are used to sell the products are similar.

One thing that could have been done to improve the research that was done was to use a larger sample of commercials to analyze. Due to the time needed to analyze these commercial effectively, the researcher had to use a small sample. In future research, a larger sample may be needed to see if the results are the same. The results were useful because it does show that there are many similarities in the way that advertisers try to get children to buy a product compared to adults. The researcher was surprised by these results because it was assumed, by the researcher, that there would be a greater difference between the two. This assumption was made because they are two different target audiences and it was thought by the researcher that the techniques used would also be different.

The research that was done was important for a couple of reasons. First, is that not a lot has been done in comparing adult and children advertisements. The results show that there are a lot of similarities in the way that advertisers appeal to these two groups. Another reason why the research that was done is important is because it can be applied to research done in other areas of advertising. It showed that the categories for children's advertising have basically stayed the same over the last twenty years.

References

Alexander, V. (1994). The image of children in magazine advertisements from 1905 to 1990. Communication Research, 21, 742-765.

Chaudhuri, A., & Buck, R. (1995). Affect, reason, and persuasion advertising strategies that predict affective and analytic-cognitive responses. Human Communication Research, 21, 442-441.

Dyer, G. (1982). Advertising as communication. New York: Methuen.

Eiss, H. (1994). Images of the child. Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press.

Goodrum, C., & Dalrymple, H. (1990). Advertising in America: the first 200 years. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

Hall, J. (1994). Mighty minutes: An illustrated history of television's best commercials. New York: Harmony Books.

Jowett, G., & O'Donnell, J. (1986). Propaganda and persuasion. New York: Sage Publications.

Palmer, E., & Door, A. (1980). Children and the faces of television. New York: Academic Press.

Zettl, H. (1990). Sight sound motion: Applied media aesthetics. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Appendix 1

Children

1) Golden Grahams
2) Smud
3) Waffle Crisp
4) Chucky Cheese
5) Wendy's Kids Meal
6) Tonka
7) Star Wars Movie
8) Tyco Rebound
9) Caprisun
10) Cheerios


 

Adults

1) Ford Truck
2) Tylenol
3) Nissan
4) New York Times
5) Accura
6) Dodge Ram
7) Budwieser
8) Sure
9) MCI
10) Puffs Tissues


 

 

Appendix 2

	Children	Adults
Color	10 - Bright, Saturated colors	4 - Bright, saturated 2 - neutral, less saturated 2 - black and white
Lighting	10 - Flat lighting	9 - flat 1- flat and chiaroscuro
Field of view	10 - MS to CU	8 - MS to CU 1 - CU 1 - MS to LS
Time	3 - slow 3 - regular 4 - fast	3 - slow 3 - regular 4 - fast
Sound	10 - Yes	8 - Yes 2 - No
Identifiable Character	5 - Yes 5 - No	3 - Yes 7 - No
Slogan	6 - Yes 4 - No	9 - Yes 1 - No

Appendix 3

Children
Toys: 30%	Fast-food: 20%	Cereals: 30%	Candies: 0%	Other: 20%
Adults
Vehicles: 40%	Alcoholic Beverages: 10%	Personal Hygiene/Health Products: 30%	Appliances: 10%	Other: 10%

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