How does the accessibility of commercials impact young adults?
It is a widely known fact that today more than ever young adults are being consumed by technology. One of the major types of technology teenagers are fixated on is the TV. Companies now have the opportunity to market specific products depending on what TV shows these young adults are watching. Commercials are readily accessible to young adults, especially commercials that are judge as controversial commercials. An American stat reveals just how available TV commercials are to young adults proving that the average child is exposed to around 40,000 television commercials a year. This turns out to be over 100 commercials in one single day.
A study completed in the US found that teens see more commercials on alcohol than any other product. When I found this out I thought to myself – What kind of message is this sending to the youth? To prevent underage viewers seeing these there has been an effort to not air such commercials where at least half of the intended viewers are underage. I think that even though advertisers may be trying to control the accessibility of the ads there are still young adults watching shows that are probably beyond their age category. With that being said the accessibility of commercials based on alcohol is very open to young adults. Strategic thought has been placed on when certain commercials are aired depending on the audience.
However, I do not think that they have thought about the repercussions teens may face after being influenced by these commercials. It’s evident that these ads about alcohol are accessible to all young adults who watch TV.
I was also wondering if teens really understood the intended message that was trying to be portrayed? A study completed in the US found that the “sexy message” that advertisers were trying to get through is effective. Many teens were able to list commercials in which they thought were sexy. Some of the top commercials included; Victoria Secret, Herbal Essences, and Levi’s. The fact that young teens are able to make a list of these commercials is evidence that proves teens do understand what the intended message of the ad is.
The control of accessibility is a very confusing concept to me, how do televising companies even start to control the intended audience. In my opinion the control on television programs comes from the parents rather. Obviously I appreciate the efforts to avoid Viagra commercials on the family channel... but it seems impossible to avoid unintended audience to see these commercials on other channels.
ReplyDeleteI also struggle with this concept because in reality we have no control over what other individuals may watch on TV. I agree that parents definitely need to control the amount and content of what their young adult children are viewing.
ReplyDeleteBut on the other hand, why should advertisement companies be able to send any message they want? There should be some form of filtering (which I am sure there is) so that middle school students are guided in the right direction.
In the end there is no way that we can ultimately cover children's eyes. They will somehow still view these commercials and make their own opinions. But where and how these decisions are made? I think that is very important.
I agree with what Kalee said about avoiding Viagra commercials on the family channel, but most YA watch other channels than the family channel. In my practicum a lot of the students watched the same TV as I do such as: Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, CSI, etc. When these shows are being aired I do not think there are any boundries set on which commercials can be shown. If YA are watching these shows they are exposed to many different commercials and there is not much anyone can do about it. Parents can forbid their child from watching the show, but then they can go on their computer and watch them online. So really what is a parent going to do lock their child in a basement?
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