I was surprised to read this in article that nowadays advertising companies target kids and retired persons. They think this is the most effective way to sell a product or service. In families it is kid who usually inspire parents to buy a product. Gone are the days when the aged person in the family used to take buying decision . So you can see a definite shift in advertising patterns. They use images and colors that can attract kids to it. On the other hand they also focus on aged persons, especially those who are retired from jobs. They mainly target the money left with these senior citizens which they want to use for buying products and services. They can be easily tempted to buy costly products. If they are able to convince them well it could be an excellent opportunity.
Two main reasons can be pointed out regarding kids and elderly. First these groups of population is the one which is hooked on the tv. Secondly these group of people can't be refused to by the other family members. Like kids will force you to buy them something similarly elderly people will practically order you to get them a product regardless of your opinion. It is true that if you as a family member don't obey them they might buy it themselves from their savings. It is a nasty way of getting your products sold but that is how businesses are done. We the viewers just have to emphasize that not all that glitters is gold to these group of people, otherwise we just can't save cash.
I would say because kids are usually entertained and when they seem something new that is over exaggerated, they tend to want it. For elderly people, it is simple. The older we get the more feeble we can be at times. When we get older, we aren't as fit or strong as someone in their thirties and need appliances to help.
I totally agree with @Decentlady that this is the group that is likely to be hooked to the television. Children are used as a bait, to fish money from their parents' pockets and really prove to be too good at their job. As for the elderly I would like to relate this to a certain joke, which actually happens to be a reality. When one is young, you have all the time and energy in the world but sadly, no money. When you are middle aged, you have money and energy, but sadly no time. When you are old, you have money and time but unfortunately, no energy. It is this time and money that advertisers need. The time to convince you to buy and your money to buy their item.
I agree with @Decentlady because they are the one's who watch lot of television and if you can impress the kids with your products they will somehow manage to convince their parents to buy it. And with the elders they will order you to buy them or else they will get that from their savings. I don't encourage this type of promotional activities.
Yes it is true as such groups spend most time watching TV since they don't work and have much time in their hands. Parents will most likely buy most of what their kids want as that why they feel that's what they work for and kids can be very demanding. For the elderly is hard to deny them anything since they are very much taken care of.
That's because children and aged people cannot think rationally and cannot over come the temptation. An adult can control his ming when he wants to eat chocolates. he will tell himself that he has diabetes and he should not eat chocolate. However, a diabetic child or an old man cannot avoid eating chocolate even though they should not eat chocolate. Because of this reason ads focus on kids and oldies.
They are the easiest target for advertisers as luri stated they rarely think rationally and they are easily tempted and attracted to unnecessary things.
You See kids and old people watch the most TV, listen to radio more and have a lot of spare time to look out for things. They can easily influence the rest of their family. Another point is that they do not have responsibilities so it is very easy for them to throw money around. The old people don't have any young kids to care for, most of them have all these pensions to spend around.
I have no reason to believe this as I see countless Ads that would woo youngsters too. There is never a day for example mobile upgrades are not advertised and mobile upgrades is a craze with youngsters.
Most of the advertisements that we see on television that target seniors are for medications of one kind or another, and they always show pictures of happy seniors playing with their grandkids or strolling on the beach together, especially when they get to the disclosure part that says all of the dangers of the particular drug. Other than that, there are some ideas for gadgets, or things like specialty canes or walk-in bathtubs, that mainly only a senior would be interested in. Holidays, especially Christmas is the biggest time for targeting children . They usually have holiday programs on the television, with ads for the newest children’s toys.
A lot of advertising companies and organisations focus on the young generations as well as old people since they are easy to convince.
I think that a lot of times, the advertising is different depending on which television channels that you usually watch. My husband likes to watch the channels that feature the old movies and television series from the 1950’s, which probably attracts mostly the older generation of Baby Boomers that remember these old programs and the actors and actresses of that day. Fox News is more of a conservative station, and the advertisements that we often see on there are for buying gold, and things that would be of interest it a business person. He also watches the singing programs , like The Voice, and that mostly has ads focused towards younger people or families. I think that the advertisers try hard to put their ads on the stations where their target market will mostly be watching.
Any product that is appropriate for children is best advertised with children as the target market. Children are easier to convince and they have a sort of buying power by pestering their parents on a particular product. An example here is the Jollibee which is a competitor of McDonalds’s. Most of Jollibee’s commercial are for children or the younger generation. That probably made them the number 1 fastfood store.
Excellent point, @Alexandoy and that is exactly the strategy that made McDonalds so large in the first place. When they first started out in the United States, they sold cheap hamburgers, usually by the bag (5 for $1 back then) just like most of the other drive through burger stands did. Then, McDonalds started adding little toys and kiddie meals, and next a colorful clown. This worked so well that they were selling hamburgers right and left (as the saying goes), even though they had really bad publicity because their hamburgers were mostly TVP (textured vegetable protein... soybeans in this case) and not all meat as they advertised. Nevertheless, the cheap hamburgers was a great way to feed the kids of next to nothing, and it was now where the kids begged to go so they could have their Happy Meal. From there, McDonalds started adding playground areas for the kids, and this made them even more popular. Now, the parents could sit and relax with a cup of coffee while the kids ran and jumped and wore themselves out at the playground while the hamburgers were cooking. McDonalds had found their niche, and it worked great for them. Eventually, those little kids grew up and became parents, and since McDonalds had been their favorite place to eat for all of their lives, it was naturally where they now took their own children. So, what started out in the early 1960’s as just another fast food place made it to the largest hamburger seller in probably the whole world now.
I think this is because they are the ones who are easily convinced on what they see on the advertisements. I remember when I was so young, I always point out on things that I see on the advertisements, and because I am the only child, they let me buy what I want and need.
Oh, God! Let's not overgeneralize so much. How can you say that aged people cannot think rationally? Are you implying being old equals crazy or stupid? I don't think so. I wonder what your grandmother would think of you, if she heard you say this. You have a point on kinds not being able to control themselves though. I suppose this is one the reasons for ads being targeted at them. Kids are notorious for getting what they want and whining to their parents when they don't get it. The elderly simply spend more time watching TV than anyone else. I reckon that's why companies want to push their products to them through television advertising.
They are the target audience for advertisers and marketing agencies since they are the most vulnerable group in terms of decisions.
