Impact of Television Advertising on Social Awareness of Children

Kids' mindsare just like wet clay whose shape is dependent upon the skills of the adults-parents and family, teachers and the environment in which they breathe. Due to advancement in technology and increased affordability, almost every family today in our nation owns a television set and a connection. As a result, they are openly exposed to many programs and advertisements are aired on the channels, which may have a positive or a negative impact on the child's mind. Thus, it is very necessary to find out how far television commercials have been successful in playing a role to shape the young minds. The purpose of this research paper is to accomplish two objectives-to understand various influences of television advertising on children aged between 6 to 11 years and to investigate the relationship of these influences to social awareness of children. The literature concerning major influences of television in children was systematically reviewed and then statistically tested using step-wise regression. It was found that advertising is positively and as well as negatively influencing the young minds. On one hand social awareness has a high relation with hygiene related knowledge, it is also encouraging children to demand a particular commodity to improve academic performance or develop better physical attributes. The result of this study may be very useful with the advent of other non-traditional medium and increased use of mobile and internet amongst children and other personal variables like lifestyle.