Marketers and the child consumer Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9500 words

Marketers and the child consumer - Thesis Example The paper tells that marketing to children has been of immense interest to marketers in recent times. Marketers use advertising to inform, communicate, persuade, entertain, and sell to the viewer. Children have become attractive markets not only because they can influence their parents’ purchase decision but also because they have their own income through jobs or allowances from parents. Their immense purchasing power has tempted the marketers to exploit the situation. Besides, certain characteristics such as repetition, branded characters, celebrity endorsements, and interesting production features enhance the importance of television as a medium. Advertisers use stealth marketing techniques and have started embedding or placing the product in movies or TV shows. They also use advergames where the tweens feel the flow of information. The fast food restaurants entice the vulnerable minds with the promise of a toy on their visit. Advertisers have also exploited the school arena to reach out to the children. Advertisements can be found on report cards, on school book covers, on school buses and the intention is to demonstrate their commitment to academic excellence. While there are debates and studies on how food advertising has led to increased incidences of obesity in tweens, there is no conclusive study to confirm this. However, advertising for children has certainly enhanced consumerism and the children feel they can decide what they want and when they want. Suddenly the children feel grown up and want to look and feel older. This may not be a positive impact as the childish innocence is lost a very early age. The study concludes the materialism and consumerism should not be promoted through advertisements directed at tweens. The appropriate marketing technique should contain relevant and important information about the product, its benefits and the potential adverse impact. Recommendations for further studies were made and limitations highlighted. Table of Contents Chapter I Introduction 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Rationale for the study 2 1.3 Research aims and objectives 3 1.4 Structure of the study 4 1.5 Significance of the study 5 Chapter II Literature review 2.1 Chapter overview 6 2.2 Definition of tweens 6 2.3 The child consumer 7 2.4 Media used for marketing to children 10 2.5 Marketing techniques used by advertisers 13 2.6 Impact of advertisements on children 15 Chapter III Methodology 3.1 Chapter Overview 17 3.2 Research Philosophy 17 3.3 Purpose of the research and phenomenon 17 3.4 Epistemology 17 3. 5 Research Strategy 19 3.6 Data collection 19 3.7 Justification for secondary data 20 3.8 Data analysis 20 3.9 Limitations 20 Chapter IV Findings 4.1 Chapter Overview 21 4.2 Cause of changes in tweens’ consumer behavior 21 4.3 Marketing techniques used by advertisers 22 4.4 Impact of advertising and marketing 26 4.5 Television as the most important medium 29 4.6 Discussions 29 Chapter V Conclusion & Recommendations 5.1 Conclusion 31 5.2 Recommendations 33 References 34 Tables & Figures Table 2.1 Media Channels that reach the tweens 11 Table 2.2 Media use by Tweens 12 Figure 4.1 Tweens shopping without parents 22 Figure 4.2 Pleasure & Fun 23 Figure 4.3 Excitement and surprise 26 Figure 4.4 Lollipop as a â€Å"popping candy† 26 Chapter I Introduction 1.1 Background Marketing to children has been of immense interest to marketers in recent times. Marketing campaigns have three-fold purpose –

Religion in Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Religion in Society - Essay Example It is important to note however, that the sociology of religion should not be confused with the philosophy of religion as the latter does not look into the claims of religious beliefs. Since not all religions are the same, one will always find religion in some way, shape, or form even in the most primitive of human societies. It is become of these various forms of religion that sociologists have recognized the need to study its relation to the development of our society in general (Crossman, Ashley, â€Å"Sociology of Religion†). Therefore when one speaks of the study of the sociology of religion, he means the study of the religion as a belief and social institution. The study of religion in relation to our society is quite important because religion is not merely an individualized belief system, it is one of the oldest standing social institutions around. It is a method that helps shapes the society that we live in by offering a specific social pattern for those with the same beliefs to follow. The reason that these people follow specific teachings and learning from the religion is because religion seeks to answer some questions that man has about his existence and his role in society. It is this gray area of religion that has sociologists asking questions about it. Questions such as (Crossman, Ashley, â€Å"Sociology of Religion†): How are religious beliefs and factors related to other social factors like race, age, gender, and education? How are religious institutions organized? How does religion affect social change? What influence does religion have on other social institutions, such as political or educational institutions? By understanding how religion has a direct effect on our society, sociologists can further understand the mindset of a society that is based upon a belief system that varies far and wide in relation to its population. They come to unravel the secrets of human society in relation to religious beliefs and organizations that manages to influence social change when necessary. However, unlike regular sociology, religious sociologists do not use mathematical or statistical data for their interpretation. Rather, they base their studies upon interviews with religion members, organizational leaders, and observation of vari ous religious services. Due to the many choices afforded to individuals in terms of religious freedom, it is important to understand the individual rational behind a person's choice of religion. This freedom of choice is believed to be based upon the Rational Choice Theory. By definition, the rational choice theory is based upon the belief that (Hak, Durk H. â€Å"Rational Choice Theory†): Scientific (macro)problems have to be solved at the level of individuals (acting purposively). The hard core consists of an empirical generalization—some would say axiom—stating that individuals choose the most efficient means as they perceive them for the attainment of their goals. Individuals, because of human nature, make a rational trade-off between costs and profits. Costs and rewards are both material and immaterial, and also are personal and situational. In relation to religion, the rational choice theory is a highly and heatedly debatable topic. This is because religio us point of views pertaining to the rational choice theory need to leave room for personal preferences and individual choices (Hak, Durk H. â€Å"Rational Choice Theory†). With religion viewed as a system of compensating for the shortcomings of people, the rational