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ToyStorybyDavidCohenAdvertisersliketotakeadvantageofchildren'snaturalcredulity.Inaworldfullofdazzlingadvertisements,howdochildrenreacttothem?Havetheylearnedhowtoweighupadvertisingbeforetheysuccumbtoitspromises?“Why'sthatmangothishandupasock?Don'ttheyknowhowtodoitproperly?That'snotgoingtogetmetobuyit,isit?”carpedoneseven-year-oldabouttheglovepuppetsusedinBurgerKing'sTheLostWorldtelevisionadvertisement.Callitcynicism.Callitsophistication.Nowadaysit'snotunusualtofindchildrenasyoungasfourmakingjudgmentslikethese,claimsNickyBussoftheadvertisingagencyAmmiratiPurisLintasinLondon.Bythenchildrenare“brandliterate”andtheycanseethrough“marketinghyperbole”.Orcanthey?Isadvertisinggearedatchildrenevenethical?Sincethe1970s,thebattlebetweentheforcesforandagainstchildadvertisinghashingedonwhetherornotkidsunderstandthemotivebehindadvertising.Thedebateisfarfromover,butnewstudiessuggestthatBussisontosomething.Eitherchildrenaregettingwisetotheadvertisinggame,andatanearlieragethaninthe1970sand1980s,orinthepastpsychologistsunderestimatedtheiryoungsubjects'abilitytoworkoutotherpeople'smotivation.Itdoesn'ttakeageniustoworkoutwhyadvertisersaretryinghardertomarketdirectlytochildren.Britishchildrenagedfourtofourteenspendanaverageof£2.49eachweek.Thismakesthepocketmoneymarketworthmorethan?ê1.5billionayear,accordingtoarecentreportfrommanagementconsultancyDatamonitor.IntheUSthepocketmoneymarketisworthamassive$64billionayear.Sellingtochildrenhasbecomebigbusiness,andadvertiserswanttomakeitasscientificaspossible.WinthropPublicationsinLondonhasjustlaunchedtheInternationalJournalofAdvertisingandMarketingtoChildren.Onearticlereportsthat60percentofchildrenagedtwotoelevenknowby课文一玩具的故事戴维·柯亨广告客户喜欢利用儿童天生轻信的特点。在一个充满令人眩目的广告世界，儿童对此类广告的反应如何？他们在接受广告承诺之前，是否学会了怎样评价广告呢？“为什么那个人将手伸到袜子里？难道他们不知道怎么做是对的吗？那样子是不会使我买的，对吧？”一名7岁儿童看到汉堡王的电视广告《失去的世界》中的布袋木偶，挑剔地说。你可以管这叫玩世不恭。你可以管这叫精于世故。伦敦灵狮广告公司的尼克·布斯声称，如今见到4岁的孩子做出这样的判断是经常的事。4岁的孩子们已经“精通各种品牌”，并能看穿“广告的夸张”。或者，他们真能么？瞄准孩子的广告符合道德吗？自20世纪70年代以来，赞成与反对儿童广告两股力量之间的斗争，集中在孩子们是否理解广告后面的动机。这场争论远未结束，但新的研究显示，布斯已有所进展。要么是与七八十年代相比，孩子们在更小的年龄懂得了广告游戏；要么是过去的心理学家们低估了这些年幼的研究对象理解他人动机的能力。不需要什么天才就能想象出，为什么打广告的人竭力向儿童直接推销。4至14岁的英国儿童每周平均需花2.49英镑。据数据监控管理咨询处最新报道，这使零花钱市场一年的价值达15亿英镑。在美国，零花钱市场每年达640亿美元巨额。theendofOctoberwhattheywantforChristmas,andthatforgirlsunderseventhebiggestdecidingfactoriswhattheyseeontelevision.Conferencesandconsultanciesabound.Pay￡2000andyoucanattendKidPower99atanyoneofastringofEuropeanvenues.Themeetingsofferworkshopson“whatworkswithkidsandwhy”,“peergroup1marketing”andhowto“thinklikeakid”.Consultancyfirmswilltellyouhowtobuild“awallofcommunication”toinfluence“yourcoreconsumerlifestyle”fromthemomentsaidconsumeristwoyearsold.MeanwhiletheLondon-basedChildren'sResearchUnit(CRU),afor-profitorganisation,surveysthetastesof7000children,threetimesayearintheirschools,viatheInternet.Childrenarenotoriouslyfickle,andadvertisershaveahardjobkeepingupwiththeircapricioustastes,explainsGlenSmith,theunit'sdirectorandapsychologistwhoalsoeditstheInternationalJournalofAdvertisingandMarketingtoChildren.Forafee,marketresearcherscanbuy“hottopix2spots”inthesurvey,hesays.Thereare,ofcourse,regulationsinmostcountriesspecificallytoprotectthechildconsumer.IntheUK,“advertisingmustnottakeadvantageofchildren'snaturalcredulityandloyaltyandmustnotarouseunreasonableexpectationsoftoysandgamesbyspecialeffects”,saysHelenaHuntoftheIndependentTelevisionCommission(ITC).“Childrenmustalsonotfeelunderpressuretobuy.”AndtheITCCodeworks,accordingtotheAdvertisingAssociation'sJamesAitchison.“Lessthan1percentofcomplaintsreceivedbytheAdvertisingAssociationin1998relatedtoadsfortoysorgames,”hesays.Butwhatcountsastakingadvantageofachild'snaturalcredulity?Andisn'tthatanimpossiblestandardtomeet,ifachilddoesnotevengraspthenotionthatadsaretryingtosellsomething?Ifontheotherhand,childrenareawareofthepurposeofads,thoseaimedatchildrenarenomoresinisterthanthoseaimedatadults.Thebackdroptotoday'sresearchonkidsand向儿童销售已成为一笔大买卖，打广告的人必须尽可能使它具有科学性。伦敦温斯偌浦出版社刚刚发行了《国际儿童广告与销售学刊》。一篇文章报道，60%的2至11岁小孩到了10月底，都知道自己圣诞节需要什么。对7岁以下的女孩来说，最主要的决定因素，是她们在电视上见到的东西。研讨会与咨询很多。花上2000英镑，你便可以参加99儿童威力研讨会在欧洲的系列会场中任何一场会议。会议提供专题研讨会，关于“什么对儿童起作用，为什么”，“同年龄组销售”及如何“象孩子一样思考”等。咨询公司就会告诉您，怎样建立“交际之墙”，从消费者两岁开始来影响“你的核心消费者的生活方式”。同时，位于伦敦的赢利机构“儿童研究所”，通过国际互联网，在一年之内3次对在校7000名儿童的味口进行调查。儿童们以口味易变而著称。格伦·史密斯是该研究所的主任兼心理学专家，主编《国际儿童广告与销售学刊》，他解释道，广告客户很难满足儿童反复无常的味口。他说，市场研究者花点钱就能购买调查中的“热门话题”。当然，多数国家都有具体保护儿童消费者的规定。在英国，“广告不能利用儿童天生的轻信与真诚，不能用特殊的影响，不合理地引起对玩具和游戏的期望，”独立电视委员会的海伦娜·亨特说。“不能让儿童感到必须购买的压力。”据广告协会的詹姆斯·艾奇孙说，独立电视委员会的法规已开始生效。他说，“1998年广告协会收到的对玩具或游戏广告的advertisingisthecognitivetheoryputforwardover70yearsagobythefamousSwisspsychologistJeanPiaget.AccordingtoPiaget3,childrengothroughfourstagesofcognitivedevelopment－amodelthat,withrelativelymodesttweaking,stilldominateschildpsychologytoday.Betweentwoandsevenyearsold,childrenareinthe“pre-operational”stage.Completelyegocentric,theyareatthemercyoftheirimmediateperceptions.Theylackwhatpsychologistscalla“theoryofmind”:theydon'tunderstandthattheworldlooksdifferentfromanotherperson'sperspective,orthatotherpeoplecanhavemotivesanddesir