To what extent can advertisements depicting children who are adultified and more specifically sexualized have an impact on children's attitudes and behaviours ?

Abstract

A particular marketing trend that we can see in advertising nowadays is very questionable: the way children are adultified and sexualized. That makes us wonder about the well-founded of this trend and the psychological impact that has on a child and on their attitudes and behaviors (and on their parents’ attitudes and behaviors). Researches tend to show that this problematic has real consequences on children and young consumers and by doing so, request concrete actions from the concerned actors (such as policy-makers) who have an important role to play in the ethical side and the positive evolution of advertising. My goal is to concretely show to managers and policy-makers what the impact on children and young consumers is thanks to existing researches but also thanks to data that I will collect from children themselves. Also, how to use this knowledge in order to improve the regulations, the way marketing is used and how to advertise to this young audience.