Children's Responses to Advertising: Who's Really to Blame?

Abstract

Censure of advertisers who sell by inducing children to coerce parents into buying the products may be morally justifiable. But from a practical standpoint, censure or regulation of such advertising is not likely to change the purchasing behavior of parents because it represents an over-simplification which overlooks other, more fundamental causes of that behavior. Two basic causal processes — parental indulgence, and “adoration of youth” — are cited as reasons why parents accede to puchasing demands by their children. Unwanted purchases by parents are seen as an early symptom of personality formation in the child which may be manifested later in life by more serious disturbances.