Impact of Television Advertisement on Buying Behaviour of Adolescents Essay

Market arena in India has been witnessing several changes in character and complexity since the last few years. These changes include a higher reach of mass media, particularly due to an increased penetration of satellite channels, availability of a greater assortment of products and services, a higher level of consumer spending on items other than basic necessities, a more discerning choice behavior exhibited by consumer preference for better value in products and services. A gradual development of the economy has indeed influenced these changes. However, the most important impetus for the transformation of markets is the visible increase in competition. Given these signals, the key question vexing most companies is: how does one compete and grow in rapidly changing and competitive markets? The answer is Television Advertisement. Television the great invention of J. K. Baird has today became a mass media of modern communication; as a result there has been an increase in great amount of commercial propaganda. Today’s producer invests huge amount of money on TV advertisement and in finding new ways of attracting consumers towards his products. As a result consumerism is the new religion of the day. Consumerism is having great effect on various groups of the society. Adolescents are the important group of the society. So, it will be of great use to find-out how television advertising affects them? In the city consumerism had already begun to spin its web. Adolescents are the main targets of this, which attempts to change their consumption pattern, lifestyle & views. Consumerism is also influencing adolescent’s buying behaviour & higher desire of acquiring luxurious goods in their future-life. In short the producer of today is trying to capture the market by focusing its special attention towards adverting by keeping adolescents in their point of view. The best example of consumerism is advertising strategy adopted by China for capturing market. Their main focus is on adolescents. China has gained great share in the international market due to adverting its adolescents-related products. They became successful in earning foreign revenue just by changing adolescent’s psychology through advertising. This example of China depicts how a growth rate in economy is accelerated by mere advertising for adolescents. In 1991 Indian Government introduced new ‘Industrial Policy’ and adopted the concept of ‘Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization, as a result there is rapid growth in Industrialization. Many foreign and multinational companies entered into Indian market to sell their products. To capture the market many producers are engaged in advertising their products on Television. TV advertisements are displayed in a very attractive manner. Generally the help of film stars and cricket stars is taken for advertising the products. This strategy of the producers is having a great impact on buying behavior of adolescents. Adolescents get easily attracted towards these TV advertisements and try to follow their favorite film stars and cricket stars. TV advertisements are playing a crucial role in changing the buying behavior of adolescents. Today adolescents prefer to buy luxurious goods and desires to live a comfortable life in future. Today there is a drastic change in eating and clothing habits of adolescents due to TV advertisements as a result there is increased profitability of the producers. Meaning of Basic Terms Adolescence  Adolescence (lat adolescere,(to) grow) is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development that occurs between childhood and adulthood. This transition involves biological (i. e. pubertal), social, and psychological changes, though the biological or physiological ones are the easiest to measure objectively. Historically, puberty has been heavily associated with teenagers and the onset of adolescent development. [1][2][3][4] In recent years, however, the start of puberty has seen an increase in preadolescence and extension beyond the teenage years, making adolescence less simple to discern. 1][5][2] The end of adolescence and the beginning of adulthood varies by country as well as by function, as even within a single country there will be different ages at which an individual is considered mature enough to be entrusted with particular tasks, such as driving a vehicle, having sexual relations, serving in the armed forces, voting, or marrying. Also, adolescence is usually accompanied by an increased independence allowed by the parents or legal guardians and less supervision, contrary to the preadolescence stage. Puberty Puberty is the stage of the lifespan in which a child develops secondary sex characteristics (for example a deeper voice or larger adam’s apple in boys, and development of breasts and more curved and prominent hips in girls) as his or her hormonal balance shifts strongly towards an adult state. This is triggered by the pituitary gland, which secretes a surge of hormones, such as testosterone (boys) or estrogen and progesterone (girls) into the blood stream and begins the rapid maturation of the gonads: the girl’s ovaries and the boy’s testicles. Some boys may develop Gynecomastia due to an imbalance of sex hormones, tissue responsiveness or obesity. Put simply, puberty is the time when a child’s body starts changing into an adult’s body. The onset of puberty in girls appears to be related to body fat percentage. Girls start going through puberty earlier than boys, although there have been cases of boys having signs of puberty as early as the age of 9. The average age for girls to start puberty is 10-12 while the average age for boys to start puberty is 12-14. Adolescent psychology Adolescent psychology is associated with notable changes in mood sometimes known as mood swings. Cognitive, emotional and attitudinal changes which are characteristic of adolescence, often take place during this period, and this can be a cause of conflict on one hand and positive personality development on the other. Because the adolescents are experiencing various strong cognitive and physical changes, for the first time in their lives they may start to view their friends, their peer group, as more important and influential than their parents/guardians. Because of peer pressure, they may sometimes indulge in activities not deemed socially acceptable, although this may be more of a social phenomenon than a psychological one. [6] This overlap is addressed within the study of psychosociology. The home is an important aspect of adolescent psychology: home environment and family have a substantial impact on the developing minds of teenagers, and these developments may reach a climax during adolescence. For example, abusive parents may lead a child to â€Å"poke fun† at other classmates when he/she is seven years old or so, but during adolescence, it may become progressively orse, for example, the child may now be using drugs or becoming intolerably violent among other classmates. If the concepts and theory behind right or wrong were not established early on in a child’s life, the lack of this knowledge may impair a teenager’s ability to make beneficial decisions as well as allowing his/her impulses to control his/her decisions. In the search for a unique social identity for themselves, adolescents are frequently confused about what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong. ‘ G.  Stanley Hall denoted this period as one of â€Å"Storm and Stress† and, according to him, conflict at this developmental stage is normal and not unusual. Margaret Mead, on the other hand, attributed the behavior of adolescents to their culture and upbringing. [7] However, Piaget, attributed this stage in development with greatly increased cognitive abilities; at this stage of life the individual’s thoughts start taking more of an abstract form and the egocentric thoughts decrease, hence the individual is able to think and reason in a wider perspective. 8] Positive psychology is sometimes brought up when addressing adolescent psychology as well. This approach towards adolescents refers to providing them with motivation to become socially acceptable and notable individuals, since many adolescents find themselves bored, indecisive and/or unmotivated. [9] Adolescents may be subject to peer pressure within their adolescent time span, consisting of the need to have sex, consume alcoholic beverages, use drugs, defy their parental figures, or commit any activity in which the person who is subjected to may not deem appropriate, among other things. Peer pressure is a common experience between adolescents and may result briefly or on a larger scale. It should also be noted that adolescence is the stage of a psychological breakthrough in a person’s life when the cognitive development is rapid[10] and the thoughts, ideas and concepts developed at this period of life greatly influence the individual’s future life, playing a major role in character and personality formation. [11] Struggles with adolescent identity and depression usually set in when an adolescent experiences a loss. The most important loss in their lives is the changing relationship between the adolescent and their parents. Adolescents may also experience strife in their relationships with friends. This may be because of things their friends do, such as smoking, that they feel if they don’t do, they’ll lose their friendship. Teen depression can be extremely intense at times because of physical and hormonal changes but emotional instability is part of being a teenager. Their changing mind, body and relationships often present themselves as stressful and that change, they assume, is something to be feared. [12] Views of family relationships during adolescence are changing. The old view of family relationships during adolescence put an emphasis on conflict and disengagement and thought storm and stress was normal and even inevitable. However, the new view puts emphasis on transformation or relationships and maintenance of connectedness. Consumer behavior