Fourth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

The advertising industry is blamed for spreading unsustainable consumption patterns around the world over and encouraging excessive consumption among children. This study’s main purpose is to explore children’s awareness of the dimensions of advertising literacy based on Malmelin’s model (2010). This is done through identifying the main elements that attract children’s attention in advertising, as well as measuring their purchase desire after watching repeated ads of the same brand. A survey on a sample of children in three Egyptian governorates was used over a period of two months in 2017. Findings show that the main elements that attract children’s attention in advertising were first the information the ad provides. The characters in the ad came in the second place, followed by audio effects. In the last two places, came celebrity appearance and using various visuals and colors respectively. Findings also showed that 41.6% of the respondents wanted to buy a brand after watching repeated ads for it, while 20.3% felt that repeated advertising meant that the brand was not good enough. The study shows the importance of advertising literacy for children. Children look to advertising as an important information source; a fact that requires further effort in working on their advertising literacy skills to give them the chance to enjoy ads and protect them from undesirable effects.

Presenters

Sara Khater
Teaching Assistant and doctoral student, Department of Public Relations and Advertising, Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University, Egypt

Dina Orabi