Parent Versus Child Reports of Parental Advertising Mediation: Exploring the Meaning of Agreement

Abstract

In a survey among 360 parent-child dyads (children aged 8–12 years), parent and child reports of parental advertising mediation activities were examined. The first aim was to investigate how parent-child agreement in reporting mediation differed by family and child factors. Results showed that agreement was highest in communication-oriented families and between parents and girls. The second aim was to examine the role of agreement in predicting the mediation outcome (i.e., reduced materialism). Both measures predicted the mediation outcome, but its effectiveness was contingent on parent-child agreement. Mediation was most effective when parents and children both reported that parents often discussed advertising.

Notes

^aColumn values with different superscripts differ significantly at p < .01.

^bColumn values with different superscripts differ significantly at p < .01.

* p < .05.

*** p < .001.

*p < .05.

*** p < .001.

¹The literature on parental mediation has so far identified three strategies that parents use to modify media effects: active mediation (i.e., talking to children about television), restrictive mediation (i.e., setting rules restricting children's television viewing), and social coviewing (i.e., simply watching television with children) (e.g., Valkenburg et al., 1999). In the present study, the focus is on active mediation because this has repeatedly been shown to be most effective in reducing advertising effects (Austin, 1993; Buijzen & Valkenburg, 2005).

²Mothers and fathers did not differ significantly in reporting advertising mediation, t(349) = .82, p = .41.

³The complete scales can be found at the authors' Web site: http://www.cam-ascor.nl/