Few studies focus on how children’s environment affects their ability to cope with contemporary advertising. This study uses multilevel analysis techniques to explore how parents’, classmates’, and teachers’ characteristics influence primary school children’s dispositional advertising literacy, while acknowledging these children’s own individual features. To this end, three surveys were conducted, resulting in four data sets linking information obtained from 9- to 12-year-old children (n = 392), their peer group (children aggregated per class; n = 22), their parents (n = 191), and their teachers (n = 22). The results show that children’s cognitive and attitudinal advertising literacy is to a large extent (12%-13%) determined by class-level processes (especially peers). Children’s moral advertising literacy is primarily an individual matter (1%), albeit greatly influenced by their teachers. In general, parents’ impact is mainly expressed through socioeconomic factors.
AustinE. W.MuldrowA.AustinB. W. (2016). Examining how media literacy and personality factors predict skepticism toward alcohol advertising. Journal of Health Communication, 21, 600-609. doi:10.1207/s15327027hc0904_3
2.
AustinE. W.PinkletonB. E.FunabikiR. P. (2007). The desirability paradox in the effects of media literacy training. Communication Research, 34, 483-506. doi:10.1177/0093650297305233
3.
BanerjeeR.DittmarH. (2008). Individual differences in children’s materialism: The role of peer relations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 17-31. doi:10.1177/0146167207309196
4.
BourdieuP. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. London, England: Routledge.
5.
BoushD. M. (2001). Mediating advertising effects. In BryantJ. A. (Ed.), Television and the American family (pp. 397-414). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
6.
BuckinghamD. (2005). The media literacy of children and young people: A review of the research literature. Available from www.ofcom.org.uk
7.
BuijzenM.ValkenburgP. M. (2005). Parental mediation of undesired advertising effects. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 49, 153-165. doi:10.1207/s15506878jobem4902_1
8.
ColemanJ. S. (1961). The adolescent society: The social life of the teenager and its impact on education. New York, NY: Free Press of Glencoe.
9.
CornishL. S. (2014). “Mum, can I play on the internet? Parents’ understanding, perception and responses to online advertising designed for children. International Journal of Advertising, 33, 437-473. doi:10.2501/IJA-33-3-437-473
10.
CorsaroW. A.NelsonE. (2003). Children’s collective activities and peer culture in early literacy in American and Italian preschools. Sociology of Education, 76, 209-227. doi:10.2307/3108466
11.
De JansS.Van De SompelD.HuddersL.CaubergheV. (2017). Advertising targeting young children: An overview of 10 years of research (2006–2016). International Journal of Advertising. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/02650487.2017.1411056
12.
del Mar PàmiesM.RyanG.ValverdeM. (2016). How intervention can empower children as consumers in dealing with advertising. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 40, 601-609. doi:10.1111/ijcs.12305
13.
De PauwP.De WolfR.HuddersL.CaubergheV. (2018). From persuasive messages to tactics: Exploring children’s knowledge and judgement of new advertising formats. New Media & Society, 20, 2604-2628. doi:10.1177/1461444817728425
14.
De PauwP.HuddersL.CaubergheV. (2018). Disclosing brand placement to young children. International Journal of Advertising, 37, 508-525. doi:10.1080/02650487.2017.1335040
15.
DowneyD. B. (1995). When bigger is not better: Family size, parental resources, and children’s educational performance. American Sociological Review, 60, 746-761. doi:10.2307/2096320
16.
EvansN. J.HoyM. G. (2016). Parents’ presumed persuasion knowledge of children’s advergames: The influence of advertising disclosure modality and cognitive load. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 37, 146-164. doi:10.1080/00913367.2013.774602
17.
FransenM. L.VerleghP. W. J.KirmaniA.SmitE. G. (2015). A typology of consumer strategies for resisting advertising, and a review of mechanisms for countering them. International Journal of Advertising, 34, 6-16. doi:10.1080/02650487.2014.995284
18.
FreemanD.ShapiroS. (2014). Tweens’ knowledge of marketing tactics: Skeptical beyond their years. Journal of Advertising Research, 54, 44-55. doi:10.2501/JAR-54-1-044-055
19.
FriestadM.WrightP. (1994). The persuasion knowledge model—How people cope with persuasion attempts. Journal of Consumer Research, 21, 1-31. doi:10.1086/209380
20.
FujiokaY.AustinE. W. (2003). The implications of vantage point in parental mediation of television and child’s attitudes toward drinking alcohol. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 47, 418-434. doi:10.1207/s15506878jobem4703_6
21.
Gonzalez-ValenzuelaM. J.Diaz-GiraldezF.Lopez-MontielM. D. (2016). Cognitive predictors of word and pseudoword reading in Spanish first-grade children. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 774. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00774
22.
GoodT. (1979). Teacher-effectiveness in the elementary-school. Journal of Teacher Education, 30, 52-64. doi:10.1177/002248717903000220
23.
HayesA. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (1st ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
24.
HemmerechtsK.AgirdagO.KavadiasD. (2017). The relationship between parental literacy involvement, socio-economic status and reading literacy. Educational Review, 69, 85-101. doi:10.1080/00131911.2016.1164667
25.
HuddersL.De PauwP.CaubergheV.PanicK.ZaroualiB.RozendaalE. (2017). Shedding new light on how advertising literacy can affect children’s processing of embedded advertising formats: A future research agenda. Journal of Advertising, 46, 333-349. doi:10.1080/02650487.2015.1090045
26.
JeongS.-H.ChoH.HwangY. (2012). Media literacy interventions: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Communication, 62, 454-472. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01643.x
27.
JohnD. R. (1999). Consumer socialization of children: A retrospective look at twenty-five years of research. Journal of Consumer Research, 26, 183-213. doi:10.1086/209559
28.
KyriakidesL.CreemersB. P. M. (2008). A longitudinal study on the stability over time of school and teacher effects on student outcomes. Oxford Review of Education, 34, 521-545. doi:10.1080/03054980701782064
29.
LapierreM. A. (2015). Development and persuasion understanding: Predicting knowledge of persuasion/selling intent from children’s theory of mind. Journal of Communication, 65, 423-442. doi:10.1111/jcom.12155
30.
LapierreM. A. (2016). Emotion regulation and young children’s consumer behavior. Young Consumers, 17, 168-182. doi:10.1108/YC-11-2015-00566
31.
LinT.-J.JusticeL. M.PaulN.MashburnA. J. (2016). Peer interaction in rural preschool classrooms: Contributions of children’s learning-related behaviors, language and literacy skills, and problem behaviors. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 37, 106-117. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2016.04.001
32.
MaX.ShenJ.KrennH. Y.HuS.YuanJ. (2016). A meta-analysis of the relationship between learning outcomes and parental involvement during early childhood education and early elementary education. Educational Psychology Review, 28, 771-801. doi:10.1007/s10648-015-9351-1
33.
MallinckrodtV.MizerskiD. (2007). The effects of playing an advergame on young children’s perceptions, preferences, and requests. Journal of Advertising, 36, 87-100. doi:10.2753/JOA0091-3367360206
34.
McAlisterA. R.CornwellT. B. (2009). Preschool children’s persuasion knowledge: The contribution of theory of mind. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 28, 175-185. doi:10.1509/jppm.28.2.175
35.
McNealJ. U. (1992). Kids as customers: A handbook of marketing to children. New York, NY: Lexington Books.
36.
MeyerD. J. C.AndersonH. C. (2000). Preadolescents and apparel purchasing: Conformity to parents and peers in the consumer socialization process. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 15, 243-257.
37.
MoschisG. P.ChurchillG. A. (1978). Consumer socialization: A theoretical and empirical analysis. Journal of Marketing Research, 15, 599-609. doi:10.2307/3150629
38.
NairnA.FineC. (2008). Who’s messing with my mind? The implications of dual-process models for the ethics of advertising to children. International Journal of Advertising, 27, 447-470. doi:10.2501/S0265048708080062
NelsonM. R. (2015). Developing persuasion knowledge by teaching advertising literacy in primary school. Journal of Advertising, 45, 169-182. doi:10.1080/00913367.2015.1107871
41.
NewmanN.OatesC. J. (2014). Parental mediation of food marketing communications aimed at children. International Journal of Advertising, 33, 579-598. doi:10.2501/IJA-33-3-579-598
42.
PinkletonB. E.AustinE. W.CohenM.ChenY.-C. Y.FitzgeraldE. (2008). Effects of a peer-led media literacy curriculum on adolescents’ knowledge and attitudes toward sexual behavior and media portrayals of sex. Health Communication, 23, 462-472. doi:10.1080/10410230802342135
43.
RozendaalE.LapierreM. A.van ReijmersdalE. A.BuijzenM. (2011). Reconsidering advertising literacy as a defense against advertising effects. Media Psychology, 14, 333-354. doi:10.1080/15213269.2011.620540
44.
RozendaalE.OpreeS. J.BuijzenM. (2016). Development and validation of a survey instrument to measure children’s advertising literacy. Media Psychology, 19, 72-100. doi:10.1080/15213269.2014.885843
45.
RozendaalE.SlotN.van ReijmersdalE. A.BuijzenM. (2013). Children’s responses to advertising in social games. Journal of Advertising, 42, 142-154. doi:10.1080/00913367.2013.774588
46.
SagarinB. J.CialdiniR. B.RiceW. E.SernaS. B. (2002). Dispelling the illusion of invulnerability: The motivations and mechanisms of resistance to persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 526-541. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.83.3.526
47.
ScullT. M.KupersmidtJ. B.ErausquinJ. T. (2014). The impact of media-related cognitions on children’s substance use outcomes in the context of parental and peer substance use. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 717-728. doi:10.1007/s10964-013-0012-8
48.
SirinS. R. (2005). Socioeconomic status and academic achievement: A meta-analytic review of research. Review of Educational Research, 75, 417-453. doi:10.2501/IJA-31-4-719-740
49.
SnijdersT. A. B.BoskerR. J. (2012). Multilevel analysis: An introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modeling. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
50.
ValkenburgP. M.BuijzenM. (2005). Identifying determinants of young children’s brand awareness: Television, parents, and peers. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 26, 456-468. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2005.04.004
51.
Van HoutteM. (2005). Climate or culture? A plea for conceptual clarity in school effectiveness research. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 16, 71-89. doi:10.1080/09243450500113977
52.
VanwesenbeeckI.WalraveM.PonnetK. (2015). Young adolescents and advertising on social network games: The influence of parents and school on advertising literacy and behavioural intentions. Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap, 43, 392-415.
53.
WayneA. J.YoungsP. (2003). Teacher characteristics and student achievement gains: A review. Review of Educational Research, 73, 89-122. doi:10.3102/00346543073001089
54.
WeiM.-L.FischerE.MainK. J. (2008). An examination of the effects of activating persuasion knowledge on consumer response to brands engaging in covert marketing. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 27, 34-44. doi:10.1509/jppm.27.1.34
55.
WicksJ. L.WarrenR.FosuI.WicksR. H. (2009). Dual-modality disclaimers, emotional appeals, and production techniques. Journal of Advertising, 38, 93-105. doi:10.2753/JOA0091-3367380407
56.
ZaroualiB.De PauwP.PonnetK.WalraveM.PoelsK.CaubergheV.HuddersL. (in press). Considering children’s advertising literacy from a methodological point of view: Past practices and future recommendations. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
