Orig. title: Två perspektiv på den kommersiella delningskulturen: Barns och reklamproducenters tankar om dold reklam
Engl. transl.: Two perspectives on the commercial sharing culture: Children's and commercial producers' thoughts about hidden advertising
Publication details
| Year: | 2017 |
| Issued: | 2017 |
| Language: | Swedish |
| Start Page: | 45 |
| End Page: | 52 |
| Editors: | |
| Authors: | Martinez C.; Sandberg H. |
| Type: | Book chapter |
| Book title: | Marknadsmässig kurragömmalek? Barn, unga och dold reklam |
| Publisher: | Nordicom & The Swedish Media Council (Statens Medieråd) |
| Place: | Gothenburg, Sweden |
| Topics: | Digital and socio-cultural environment; Online safety and policy regulation; Risks and harms; Literacy and skills; Other; Content-related issues |
| Sample: | Recent research literature on the topic; Swedish "children aged 9 and 12". |
| Implications For Parents About: | Parental practices / parental mediation; Parental digital literacy ; Parenting guidance / support |
| Implications For Educators About: | Digital citizenship; Other |
| Implications For Policy Makers About: | Stepping up awareness and empowerment; Other |
| Other PolicyMaker Implication: | More effective regulation of hidden advertisement (oriented to children and young people) |
| Implications For Stakeholders About: | Researchers; Industry |
Abstract
"The point is in fact to create entertaining and educational games from which you learn something. Or that, to put it simply are fun and educational at the same time."
So describes a Swedish marketer the purpose with the advergame his company had developed. Marketing is not even mentioned as a goal, while positive aspects for children like learning and entertainment are emphasized. The fact that hidden advertising is difficult to understand becomes obvious from the way commercial producers and young media users describe their relation to the phenomenon. For younger children, to see hidden advertising and just advertising is challenging, while Swedish commercial producers are vague and evasive in their rhetoric about hidden advertising, which they present as something different from marketing. With our starting point in the recent research on the subject, in this chapter we desribe and discuss the way Swedish children and commercial producers relate their views about hidden advertising on the internet, identifying both interesting similarities and differences in their accounts.
Outcome
Younger children do not generally understand hidden advertising and commercials. In a same way also commercial producers, in their rhetoric, present the clearly marked TV commercials as the archetype of 'commercials' and advertising that hidden advertising then, according to them, deviates from in its nature. Only a small fraction younger children can perceive and identify hidden advertisement on the internet and see its aim as being that of influencing the media user. More educational efforts are needed to cultivate in children this media and information literacy skill and digital competence (of distinguishing online marketing and understanding its aims), even though even that does not automatically protect children from advertisement's (harmful) effects. Also more effektiv regulation is needed, as is stronger adherence to ethical and democratic principles. (Condensed and trans. by coder)