Children's Persuasion Research Articles

Effectiveness of the use of threats in communication with children (aged from 8 to 12)

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the ability of threatening communication to favorably modify children’s preventive behavior (8–12 years old) in the context of dental hygiene. It also seeks to identify the type of threat that promotes the most children's persuasion (physical/social threat). Multi-method qualitative study was conducted followed by an experimental study to test the influence of threatening communication (social or physical) on children's emotional, cognitive and behavioral responses.Design/methodology/approachThis study applies a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. First, multi-method qualitative study was used to explore the experience of children's exposure to threatening dental hygiene communications (focus groups, projective technique, individual interviews with dentists, etc.). Then, an experimental study based on a survey data collection to 1496 schoolchildren was conducted to test the influence of threatening communications (social or physical) on children's emotional, cognitive and behavioral responses. Indeed, different experimental situations were created by varying at each time the type of ads to which children were exposed.FindingsResults indicate that using threat communications can be a powerful way to convince children to adopt healthy dental hygiene behaviour, and that physical threats are more effective than social threats.Originality/valueThe originality of this study is to focus on children’s’ affective and cognitive reactions to threatening dental health communication. This by emphasizing the nature of the threat used in communication (physical or social threat).

Comparing measures of persuasion knowledge adapted for young children

AbstractYoung children under 8 years old are viewed as especially vulnerable to marketing communications because they do not have sufficient knowledge about the purpose of persuasive advertising messages, also known as children's persuasion knowledge (CPK). However, a review of 25 studies that have tested CPK effects, on primarily older children, finds inconsistent or no support for CPK. The lack of support depends on the effect studied, and a measurement challenge because of young children's limited capabilities in reading and responding to questions from interviewers. Thirteen measures of CPK have been tested but not compared for CPK effects. These measures were simplified to nonverbal options for young children and tested on a sample of 4‐ to 7‐year‐old North East Chinese children (n = 233). These measures were each tested in relation to the children's age (positive), their skepticism toward advertising (positive), their disbelief of false claims in a TV commercial (TVC) (positive) and their affect toward the TVC (negative). Only two measures of CPK show any expected associated responses with “knowing the source” of advertisements the best measure. Perceived marketer intentions had no expected associations, nor did the age of the child. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of theory, measurement, and applications for marketers and public policy.

Transferring game attitudes to the brand: persuasion from age 6 to 14

ABSTRACTThis paper aims to replicate previous findings regarding the differential impact of TV advertising and advergames on children's brand attitudes and pester intentions. Using a large data-set (N = 940, Mage = 9.8, SD = 2.4), with children ranging between 6 and 14 years old, the influence of passive exposure to TV advertising is compared to active exposure to an advergame. In addition, the potential moderating effect of age is explored. In a between-participants experiment, Flemish children were randomly assigned to watch a TV ad, play an advergame, or a no marketing control condition. Results revealed that children who had played the advergame reported significantly more positive brand attitudes compared to children who had watched the TV ad and children in the no advertising exposure control group. Children's pester intent was significantly higher for the advergame compared to the TV ad, but not compared to the no advertising exposure control group. The findings further showed that children's attitudes towards the ad format mediate the impact of the advertising format on pester intent. The advergame was indirectly more persuasive than the TV ad since children reported more positive attitudes towards the advergame compared to the TV advertisement. Moreover, this mediation effect did not differ by children's age. Persuasion knowledge did not mediate the influence of the advertising format on pester intent since children's persuasion knowledge was not significantly related to pester intentions regardless of children's age.

How Media and Family Build Children's Persuasion Knowledge

ABSTRACTThe changing media landscape alters media use and advertising exposure, which impacts advertising literacy. We investigate socialization forces (media, family) on advertising persuasion knowledge in preschool children. Findings from in-depth interviews with 29 parent–child dyads revealed prevalent on-demand mobile media use with less live commercial TV viewing and parental co-viewing. Preschool children are exposed to fewer commercials in their home yet are still exposed to advertising messages outside the home, which parents view as having powerful, direct effects on their children. Our data reveal perceptions of children's coping effects, as well as parental strategies for addressing advertising for their children. Future research related to the nature of parents' persuasion knowledge and advertising literacy discussion among their children is advised.

Go with the flow: How children's persuasion knowledge is associated with their state of flow and emotions during advergame play

AbstractThis study investigates children's persuasion knowledge towards an advergame. Based on the theory of limited capacity and the PAD dimensions of emotions (i.e. pleasure, arousal and dominance), we propose a model in which persuasion knowledge is associated with game flow, and in which game flow is subsequently related to self‐reported player emotions. To test this model, 200 respondents between 7 and 12 years old were asked to play an advergame and to complete a survey addressing self‐reported emotions, persuasion knowledge and game flow. Structural equation modelling partially confirms our model. Both managerial and ethical implications are discussed in the paper. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

How to Measure Persuasion Knowledge

This study reviews the methods and measurements employed in research using the Persuasion Knowledge Model (Friestad and Wright 1994) across leading journals in advertising and associated fields from 1994–2014. Despite the recommendation from Friestad and Wright to use multiple methods, the dominant methods are experimental and survey, with few qualitative approaches. Although no one standard measure of persuasion knowledge exists, there appear to be reliable and valid scales to measure dispositional persuasion knowledge. There are also situational measures, mostly created or modified by researchers for particular persuasion contexts. Children's persuasion knowledge is assessed through unique audience-specific methods designed for children. Overall, most scholars measure subjective persuasion knowledge with explicit (conscious) assessments to gauge short-term effects. Our systematic review provides scale items and reveals opportunities to develop reliable scales related to other aspects of persuasion knowledge (e.g., appropriateness, perceived effectiveness, coping behaviors, and agents' perspectives).

Entertainment matters! The relationship between challenge and persuasiveness of an advergame for children

We investigate the extent to which the challenge of playing an advergame impacts children's brand attitudes. Results show that brand attitudes are highest for those optimally challenged (i.e. ‘in the flow’) and lowest for those who are underchallenged. However, such effects are qualified by the children's persuasion knowledge (PK) of the advergame; identification of the commercial content has a significantly negative effect on brand attitudes. Further, significant two-way interactions of challenge and PK show that brand attitudes suffered the most for those who are underchallenged and recognized the commercial content. Implications for advergame effectiveness are discussed in detail in this article.

Preschool Children's Persuasion Knowledge: The Contribution of Theory of Mind

Two studies investigate the influence of developmental variables on the emergence of persuasion knowledge in children ages three to five years. Theory of mind (a form of social development) consistently explains a significant amount of variance in children's persuasion knowledge. Theory of mind is a well-researched variable in the developmental psychology literature. This form of social development enables a child to understand the mental states of others and to use that mental state understanding to predict others’ future behavior. The results of the current study indicate that before theory-of-mind development, children are unable to recognize persuasion in advertising, most likely because they cannot think about the intentions of the advertiser. The findings are important to the development of child consumer literacy and contribute to the extant literature by demonstrating that developmental factors can explain how persuasion knowledge develops. The authors discuss theoretical, practical, and public policy implications.

Young Children's Persuasion in Everyday Conversation: Tactics and Attunement to Others' Mental States

Young children’s persuasion tactics, and how these reflected attunement to others’ mental states, were explored in archived longitudinal samples of transcribed at-home conversations of four children, three to five years old. Over 87,000 utterances were examined to identify conversation ‘chunks’ involving persuasion; 1,307 chunks were then coded for who initiated the persuasion, the persuader’s goal, tactics employed, the presence of cues about others’ beliefs and desires, and whether children attended to such information. Analyses suggested that persuasion exchanges were initiated similarly by children and adults, were stable in frequency and length across time, and involved a limited set of persuasion tactics. Children’s attempts to change beliefs increased although explicit mental-state cues were only rarely available. When such cues were available, children more often than not altered their tactics. Implications for our understanding of children’s developing social cognition and theory of mind, as well as the limitations of conversational analysis, are discussed.