Read the following text.
TARGETING YOUTH
ADVERTISEMENTS TARGETING CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS ARE PROFOUNDLY INFLUENTIAL.
TEENS ARE THE CONSUMERS OF TODAY AND OF THE FUTURE.
WHEN A BRAND CONNECTS WITH A TEEN, IT CAN TAP INTO A LIFETIME OF LOYALTY.
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While advertising is not the only influence on children's consumer behaviour, research has consistently shown its power.
For example, in a study in Dutch schools, 52% of elementary school children specifically mentioned brand names when asked what gifts they wanted for Christmas.
A new ground-breaking survey of professionals who work in youth-related fields shows that they feel it is appropriate to begin marketing to children at age 7, on average.
Corporations capitalise on the age-old insecurities and self-doubts of tweens (ages 8 to 12) and teens by making them believe that to be truly cool, you need their product.
The 1990s corporations discovered that the youth market was able and willing to pay top dollar in order to be «cool».
So, marketers are targeting tweens and teens also because of their substantial buying power.
Today, these youths influence purchases bought for the household.
Teen anger, activism and attitude have become commodities that marketers appropriate, package and then sell back to teens.
It's getting harder to tell which came first:
youth culture, or the marketed version of youth culture.
For example, advertisers use hip-hop culture to sell products such as Sprite, and the emergence of extreme sports coincided with the branding of associated products such as skateboards.
Identity-oriented branding also encourages disapproval of anything different, be it a different generation, different cultural group or different school clique.
The way advertising separates kids from their parents is particularly insidious, according to child psychologist Allen Kanner.
Essentially, advertisers encourage rejection of the older generation's preferences to the point of trying to create an official statement about what is cool for teenagers.
Teens are brand-conscious and brand-loyal at an early age.
They buy brands that reflect their style, and use them to fashion an image for themselves.
They say it's perfectly okay to pay extra for a well-known brand, even though some agree that brand isn't always the best indication of quality.
In addition to brand consciousness, no other age group displays such an affinity toward shopping.
This age group also outpaced others in both the number of times they shop per month, and the average time they spend in stores.
(www_youthXchange.
net/main/b262_ advertising_youth-b.
asp (2007) (abridged and adapted))
1.
List three reasons given in the text as to why advertisers focus on young consumers.