TV adverts, materialism, and children’s self-esteem: The role of socio-economic status

Abstract

Levels of debt and poor mental health are at an all-time high among UK families, while the gap between rich and poor has also widened. Exposure and susceptibility to advertising, belief that purchased products will lead to happiness (materialism), and poor mental well-being have been shown to be linked in previous research, but the role of children’s socio-economic status has seldom been taken into account. A greater understanding of the effects of this dynamic among those without the ready money to purchase highly advertised and desired products is important, particularly given the connections with children’s low self-esteem. This study aimed to (1) quantify differences in TV advertising exposure, materialism, and self-esteem between deprived and affluent children, (2) measure differences in susceptibility to the effect of TV advertising exposure on materialism between deprived and affluent children, and (3) measure differences in susceptibility to the effect of materialism on self-esteem between deprived and affluent children. It was found that children from deprived backgrounds were more materialistic than children from affluent homes, and that this was the result of both higher exposure to advertising and higher belief in the credibility of advertising. At the same time, we found that children from affluent backgrounds were more susceptible to advertising’s reinforcing effect on materialism, whereas children from deprived background were more susceptible to materialism’s detrimental effect on self-esteem. Two different dynamics appear to be at play in the two groups. This adds a new dimension to our understanding of the role of advertising in a society with high levels of inequality.