CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Children today are advanced in many ways when they are compared to children in the past generations. One of the ways of their advancement is traceable to their exposure to audio-visual messages in television and the internet. However, these messages contribute to moulding a child.
Production is said to be the creation of goods and services and has often been said to be incomplete without getting to the final consumer. However, it is one thing to produce and also another thing for the product to be accepted by the consumer. In the process of trying to make the goods acceptable in the market and for the producers to remain in the market, the producers do everything possible for the consumer to know about the existence of their product, place of purchase, its uses, availability and advantages, hence the concept of advertising.
Advertising today has become a major part of organisations and businesses, it enables marketing communication. Advertising has played major roles in organisations most of which cannot be over emphasized. Advertising has changed our world, most advertisements play with our thoughts and emotions. Advertising is not an economic activity but it articulates different ideas, attitudes and values which shape our social life and consumption pattern.
Advertising is one of the most important tools organisations use to direct persuasive messages to target buyers and publics. It presents the most persuasive possible selling message to the right prospects for the product or service at the lowest possible cost Bakare (2008:3).
According to Nwogbunyama (2008:3) “advertising is the use of paid for space in a publication, or time in a television, radio or cinemas, usually as a means of persuading people to take a particular course of action or to reach a point of view. It may also be taken to include posters and outdoor advertising”. Advertising is such a strong influence in our society that it determines our needs, what we care about, how we raise our children, what our interests are etc.
In this light, advertising has over the years used children as a tool to persuade consumers into buying a product. However, one important point to note about advertising is that it is a planned communication. According to Arens(2008:7) cited in Asemah (2011) “advertising is the structured and composed non-personal communication of information, usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature, about products, services and ideas by identified sponsors, through various mass media”. Advertising describes or draw attention to a product, service or event in a medium in order to promote sales or attendance.
Dominick (2007:321) cited in Asemah (2011) says that advertising is any form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods and services, usually paid for by an identified sponsor. However, some people argue that the use of models in advertising enhances advertising messages, message recall and brand recognition as well as helping to create positive attitudes towards the brand and creating a personality for the brand. It is important to note that advertising is usually paid for and not free and it is also paid for by an identifiable sponsor, one who can be held responsible. The sponsor can be an organization or an individual.
The advertising industry is growing the same way the communication industry is growing. Advertising Association of the UK defined advertising as a means of communication with the users of a product or service.
Advertisements are messages paid for by those who send them and are intended to inform or influences people who receive them. “m.economictimes.com/definition/advertising.
In today’s world, advertisers use every possible media to get their message through. It does this via television, print (newspapers, magazines, journals), radio, internet etc. Television is a popular means of communication and consequently has become a major channel of reaching people with advertising messages. Television carries hundreds of advertising messages. Asemah (2011:22). However, the industry comprises companies that advertise agencies that create the advertisement, media that carries the advertisement and a host of people like editors etc. as an industry; advertising did not take off until the arrival of the various mass media: print, radio and television. www.apa.org/pubs/info/reports/advertising-children.aspx.
Furthermore, it is important to note that commercials did not appeal to children until the advent and widespread adoption of television and grew exponentially with the advent of cable television. Opportunities to advertise to children further expanded with the explosive growth of the internet and thousands of child-oriented web sites. Nevertheless, Television among all the channels of communication stands out when it comes to using children for advertisement. Children are more attracted to what they see which gets stocked in their memory and is hard to forget and fade off. The audio visual medium (television) appeals to the children and when too exposed affects their thinking and behavior.
Advertisements are trying to influence the way one thinks or change minds about something through the continuous exposure of children to the television, they come across various adverts. In order to make advertising more appealing, advertisers bring children and teenagers into advertising that will appeal more to children especially children related products. Nevertheless, there have been various regulations guiding advertising. Advertising has always been regulated in one way or another, if not by formal rules and regulations then by normative ethical principles that set the boundaries of what can be said in commercial speech and in what context. Asemah (2011:116).
Decree 93 of 1992 established the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON. It has various codes of advertising practice. Asemah (2011:116). Concerning children models, it states that children must not be used as models in advertising tobacco and alcoholic products or for other restricted products and devices.
The real message and objective of advertising is effective communication and understanding between producers and consumers. The role of advertising in marketing and branding or product management is without questioning. The role of advertising as a marketing promotion tool therefore is to ensure product or services flow through the appropriate channels and also to act as catalyst in acquainting the target audience and also to induce customers or client action which will benefit the source of the communication process. Bakare (2008)
Nwokoye (1978) cited in Bakare (2008:13) defined advertising as any form of non-personal communication through the mass media that is paid for by an identified sponsor in a particular course of action or to reach a point of view.
1.1.1 Brief History of Milo
Milo beverage is produced by Nestle Foods. Nestle foods was produced by Henri Nestle in the mid eighteenth century. Milo is a chocolate malt and milk powder which is mixed with hot or cold water to produce a beverage which is popular in many parts of the world. Milo was originally developed by Thomas Mayne in Sydney, Australia in 1934. It is marketed and sold in many countries
Milo is most commonly sold as a powder in a green tin often depicting various sporting activities. Milo derives its name from the famous Greek athlete and wrestler, Milo of Crotona, after his legendary strength. Milo is available as a premixed beverage in some countries and has been developed into a snack bar and breakfast cereal.
1.1.2 Milo Commercials and Portrayal of Children Models
When we view Milo advertisements, there is no doubt that they give a positive portrayal of children. Milo commercials portray the things a child can do if he or she takes Milo. One can see their promotion of intelligence and great strength especially in the field of athletics. Milo aims to underline the importance of sport in the growing years making Milo a must have beverage for kids.
Milo advertising is building on the fact that a mother’s greatest wish is to see her child succeed and fulfill his/her potential. While she does her best to prepare the child for life ahead, she knows that success in life needs more than skills learnt from books. Milo tries to make mothers to make their children grow in sport. www.exchange4media.com/advertising-news/milo-launches-new-ad-campaign-milo-grow-with-sports-68520.html
When we view Milo commercials, we see these children taking part in various athletic competitions with strength with their mothers at the side of the being happy seeing the display by the child. Milo promotes sports like basketball and football and also showing the children with sharp brains and intelligence. In one of the scenes, a child is seen dribbling pass other players, scoring a goal, taking off his shirt with ‘Thank you mum’ boldly written on it.
The children and teenage models are used to give a good light of children models in advertising because most audience members do not perceive them as advertising tools but rather as minors who should not be used as advertising tools. Milo however portrays children as message disseminators and product/brand promoters.
1.1.3 Nutritional content of Milo Beverage
Milo is a chocolate malt beverage that can be prepared with hot or cold milk or water. It offers essential vitamins and minerals to meet the nutrition and energy demands of young bodies and minds. Milo has long been known as an energy beverage strongly associated with sport and good health. The essential vitamins and minerals in Milo include:
Calcium for strong teeth and bones
Iron to carry oxygen to the body’s cells
Vitamin A for healthy eye sight
Vitamin B1 and B2 to help release energy from foods.
Vitamin C to keep skin and gum in good shape.
Retrieved from www.nestle.com/brands/all brands/Milo
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Advertising has been a strong force, thus its message/content sophistication has the ability to induce listeners and viewers to fall for its content. Advertisements play with our minds and intellect. Advertisers try to change our perception in order to follow their own brand. However, this persuasion is done through message sophistication. Sophistication is manifested in attention grabbing advertisement copies which virtually compel recipients to pay undivided attention. In advertising for children, it has become a usual practice for advertisers to use children to pass certain message thereby bringing about the concept of children models.
However, in advertising to children, Baran (2002) argued that advert exploit children. According to him, children are not intellectually capable of interpreting the intent of television advertisements nor are they able to rationally judge the worth of advertising claims. He also sees children advertisements on television as inherently unethical and questionable. In spite of the growing research that proves that there is a direct link between advertising and its influence on consumer psyche, there is a direct counter argument that consumers dictate their own path. We still need to know if children in advertising affect the audience.
Over time, there have been various perceptions of the use of children in advertising. Some regulatory bodies have gone as far as setting boundaries as to how children should be used in advertising. These perceptions are becoming conflicting therefore the study seeks to know the perception of the use of children models in Milo advertisement.
1.2 Objectives of the Study
The major objectives of this study were to:
Find out audience perception of children models in advertising.
Examine the importance of children models in advertising.
Determine how effective is the use of children in Milo advertising concerning the buying behaviour of the audience
Ascertain how Milo commercials have portrayed children models to the audience.
