As someone who is interested in marketing, with a six-year-old daughter who absorbs every advertisement she sees on the television and constantly acts for the latest fad, I pounched on this book when I saw it in the Reading branch of Waterstone's and read it from cover to cover in a weekend. And I loved it. It's Consumer Kids by Ed Mayo and Agnes Nairn. The sub-title is: How Big Business is Grooming Our Children For Profit.
So are big businesses really grooming our kids?
It would appear so. With the children's market worth billions of pounds it is not surprising that businesses are trying to target children and the younger the better, it would seem. They also want children to pester their parents for toys and other desirables.
According to the book, marketers are aware that put under enough 'pester power' parents will eventually give in to these demands and buy the products being asked for, often as a way of saying "I'm sorry" for the lack of quality time they have available.
I'll admit to giving in to this myself although it only seems to work for about half an hour then the excitement of the gift has worn off. And when the demands for new things are constant it sometimes seems harder to say no, especially in the middle of a crowded Tesco on a Saturday afternoon.
According to the book, marketers are also marketing to children so that they then influence products that parents buy. They are aware that children can play a role in many family buying decisions, and not just small purchases like food but larger ones too like buying a car and choosing a family holiday. And if marketers get children on their side they are more likely to still buy their products as teenagers and then as adults.
By the time my daughter is a teenager she'll probably know more about computers then me, so she'll probably end up choosing the one I buy, she'll probably see certain brands of car as uncool so she'll have an influence over what a drive. She'll probably be a lot more 'brand aware' than the average adult because there will be a whole generation like that. And she'll have gained a lot of this knowledge from her own exposure to the commercial world, through advertising on Internet sites, in magazines, on the television, though the targeted messages that will no doubt be sent to her mobile phone, and so on and so on.
And what happens when we, as parents, aren't in a position to give in to the type of pester power than children seem so good at? Well often this creates friction in households and children can end up thinking less of their parents. And according to the book, children who think less of their parents, think less of themselves.
So is there a solution to the problem of businesses targeting our children and increasing their levels of materialism to such a degree that they will only end up disappointed with the products and with their parents?
The book offers several ideas which the authors have combined in The Parents' Manifesto. It identifies three main areas where parents can have an impact - through nurturing enterprise, compassion and resilience. Suggestions, under these headings, include encouraging children to work for their pocket money, discouraging money making as a goal in itself, discussing with children what might go on behind low-priced products, educating them about marketing tactics and tricks, and discussing how food, fashion and success are sold to us.
It sounds like a brilliant place to start.
