The Influence of Media Advertising on Children and Youth

Tema ovog završnog rada utjecaj je medijske promidžbe na djecu i mlade. Brojna istraživanja provedena na različitim uzorcima djece, pokazala su koliki je utjecaj oglašavanja. Djeca, kao najveće žrtve reklamiranja, ujedno predstavljaju i najlakši plijen marketinškim stručnjacima koji točno znaju kako ih uvjeriti u nešto. U reklame se godišnje ulažu bilijuni te se one mogu vidjeti na svakom koraku. Kroz rad je prikazan utjecaj promidžbe hrane, alkohola, pušenja te stvari na djecu i mlade. Vidljive posljedice oglašavanja su pretilost, materijalizam, alkoholizam i dr. Uz televiziju kao najčešće korišten medij, marketinški stručnjaci koriste se i internetom kao najdostupnijim medijem promidžbe. Kao važan faktor odrastanja u vrijeme masovnih medija, kroz rad će biti opisan i odnos roditelja, djece i medija. Roditelji imaju veliku ulogu u tome kako će njihova djeca razumijeti reklame, stoga je važno razgovarati s njima. Sam utjecaj reklama opisan je i kroz njihov kognitivni razvoj. Na samom kraju objašnjava se važnost razvijanja medijske pismenosti koja bi možda mogla dovesti do ublažavanja utjecaja reklama na one najmlađe.The theme of this research paper is the effect that media advertising has on children and young adults. Many researches conducted on various patterns of children have shown the true effects of advertising. Children, as the biggest victims of advertising, also present the easiest target for advertisors who know the exact way to persuade children into buying something. Every year, billions of dollars are being invested in the making of advertisements which you can find on every step. In this paper, you will find the effects that food, alcohol and smoking advertisement has on children. The most easily observed consequences that advertising has are obesity, materialism, alcoholism etc. Along with television, as the most popular media, advertisors also use the Internet as the most accessible media there is. As an important element of growing up in the time of mass media, the relationship between parents, children and media will also be explained. Parents play a big part in their children's lives and in the way they're going to comprehend advertisements. That is why it is really important to have a good relationship where you can sit down with your child and talk to them. The effect of advertisements is also described through the cognitive development of children. At the end of this paper, the importance of developing media literacy which could maybe lead to easing the effects which commercials have on the youngest ones is also mentioned