Advertisers' Implementation of CARU Guidelines for Advertising Targeted at Children

Abstract

A total of 297 children's commercials were content-analyzed in order to examine the extent to which advertisers have adhered to the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) guidelines for advertising directed at children. Five predominant tactics (derived from the guidelines) used in the ads were compared for those targeted at younger children (12 or less) versus older children (13 and over). Results suggest that advertisers adhered to some guidelines (e.g., representation of ethnic groups in the ads matches well with the general population), but still need to pay attention to other aspects (e.g., high amounts of violence or aggression portrayed in ads targeted at younger children). The impact of product category and commercial length was also discussed.