ABSTRACT
TV and other screen experiences can expose children to commercial messages that are designed to influence their consumer urges. Advertising is highly prevalent in many forms of screen-based entertainment, both in regular TV outputs and interactive screen experiences offered by newer technologies. As well as traditional advertising formats that have become increasingly regulated, there are many new forms of brand promotion that target children in unconventional ways. Many of these new promotional forms may not be perceived as “advertising” by children, even those with some level of consumer literacy, and may also fall through the regulatory net for the same reason. As well as reviewing the traditional literature about how children can be persuaded or otherwise influenced by advertising, this chapter considers what is known about newer forms of online and interactive marketing and the challenges they pose for parents and regulators.
