Marketing to Subcultures
An, S., & Kang, H. (2019). Korean children’s understanding of social media advertisements: An
An Exploratory study of Ad Recognition and skeptical attitudes toward advertising, Journal of
Consumer Behaviour, 2019(18), 387–398. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1778
There is currently a heavy presence of advertisements on the Internet, which have
bombarded children with many different forms of advertising, like advertisements. Such advergames
that are aimed at capturing and attracting the attention of children are often embedded in
interactive games. The advertisements are often about unhealthy foods with high sugar and calorie
content. It is in this light that Soontae An and Hannah Kang conducted research to explore how
Korean children understand social media advertisements.
The authors were particularly interested in how ad recognition skepticism toward
Advertising affects children’s susceptibility to commercial influences. The duo surveyed a sample
of 556 children aged between 7 and 11. The results of their survey revealed that half of the
children had the ability to recognize social media advertisements and understand that they were
a form of advertisement. Another half of the children could not recognize such advertisements.
Through comparisons, An and Kang discovered that the older students could recognize
commercial influences better than the younger ones. The children in lower grades, those who are
females, and those who utilized the Internet more often were more likely to have the intention of
visiting the advertised store.
The researchers hypothesized that as children advance in their grade levels from second
to fifth grade, they become better at recognizing social media advertisements as a type of
advertising (An & Kang, 2019, pp. 390). The researchers also predicted that the children’s
skeptical attitudes toward advertising increased with an increase in their grade level from second to
fifth. The results of their study supported their hypotheses and they concluded that as children
As they grow older, they are more likely to recognize advertisements and become more skeptical of
advertisements.
These forms of advertisements to children through advergames adversely affect their
cultures, including their food choices. This is because after younger children play the interactive
advertisements, they become interested in consuming the advertised food, which often involves
foods with high calorie and sugar levels. The end result is that children are more likely to
develop weight and health complications.
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