Page 73 - Workbook2E

HOW MARKETERS AND RETAILERS TARGET THE YOUNG
It Starts Early...
Twelve-year-old Steven
Brown had never used an
automatic teller machine
before, but he quickly
learned while waiting in
line with his dad. When it
was their turn, Steven put
his new children’s ATM card
into the machine, read the
simple instructions, and
punched the buttons. He
swiftly withdrew $40. “I’ve
seen my dad do it a million
times,” he said. “It isn’t too
hard, but kind of boring... since all you get to do is put the card in the machine and get money out.”
Steven was using a new ATM machine designed for children. It was part of a three-step display set up in the bank’s “Discovery Learning Center.” That’s what the bank wants to teach them... What do you want your children to learn about money?
4 Peer Pressure
Using peer pressure to persuade children they’ll “fit in” by buying the latest designer clothes, coolest electronic games, newest videos and CDs, and the most expensive makeup is the key strategy of successful retailers. Starting a new school year is stressful enough for kids, but the additional anxiety of being dressed in the right clothes can be overpowering and financially draining.
Children get the message wearing the “popular brands” and having awesome gadgets are what it takes to be accepted by their peers. It’s only natural to want to fit in and belong. In Abraham Maslow’s work on the hierarchy of needs, he states “a feeling of belonging” is the first social need we experience. It comes right after air, food, water, and safety. No wonder marketers and retailers stress “belonging” in their advertising to young people.
If you want to be the one who shapes your children’s attitudes and habits with money, you’ll need to take an active role.
“Believing in our hearts that who we are is enough is a key to a more satisfying and balanced life.”
~ Ellen Sue Stern
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