adv erg am ing

8/2/2019 Adv Erg Am Ing

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The author would like to thank James Wilkie, Kyle Chamberlin, Victoria Blainey, Barbara McDonald, and Nicole Horne for their time,

dedication and many contributions to this project.

At the Foundation, the project was directed by Victoria Rideout, vice president and director of the Foundations Program for the

Study of Entertainment Media and Health.


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A kAiser fAmily foundAtion report

elizAbeth s. moore

AssociAte professor of mArketing

university of notre dAme

july 2006


4/57

table o contents

IntRoDUctIon 1

ResearchPurpose 2

MetHoD 2

ResearchApproach 2

Sample 2

ResearchInstrument 3

DataAnalysis 4

oVeRVIeW o InDInGs 4

aDVeRGaMes 5

DistributionoGamesacrossWebsites 5

CategoriesoGames 5

BrandExposures 6

ChoicesinGamePlay 6

FeaturestoExtendGamePlay 7

bRanD eXPosURes beYonD tHe GaMes 8

NumberoBrandVariants 8

PrevalenceoBrandIdentiiers 8

TelevisionCommercials 9

TwoKeyCategoriesoAdvertisingClaims 10

1.BrandBeneftClaims 10

2.NutritionalClaimsandInormation 11

cUstoMIZInG tHe VIsItoRs eXPeRIence 12

WebsiteMembership 13

WebsiteCommunities 14

ViralMarketing 15

OtherAttemptstoPersonalize 16MaRketInG PaRtneRsHIPs 17

MediaTie-Ins 17

PromotionsandSponsorships 19

eDUcatIonal content 20

eXtenDInG tHe onlIne eXPeRIence 21

ProvisionoExtraBrand-RelatedItems 22

ForgingLinkstoProductConsumption 23

ExpandingUsageOccasionswithNewRecipes 25

LinkstoOtherWebsites 27

WebsIte PRotectIons oR cHIlDRen 26 PrivacyProtectionsandAgeBlocks 26

InormationorParents 26

AdBreakReminders 27

sUMMaRY anD conclUsIons 27

ReeRences 30

enDnotes 32

tables 35

IGURes 41

aPPenDIces 49


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KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION

IntRoDUctIon

Advertisingisa pervasivepresenceinthe livesomost

American children. Estimates suggest that young people

watchoverthreehoursotelevisionperday(Roberts,Foehr

andRideout2005)andareexposedtoanywhererom23,000

to40,000televisioncommercialsinasingleyear(FTC/DHHS2006;Kunkel 2001). Emergingmedia such as the Internet

haveurtherexpandedadvertisingsreachandoernovelop-

portunitiestotargetthisyoungaudience.Estimatessuggest

that98%ochildrenssitespermitadvertising,andthatmore

thantwo-thirdsowebsitesdesignedorchildrenrelyonadver-

tisingortheirprimaryrevenue(Neuborne2001).Commercially

sponsored websites containing games and promotions de-

signedorchildrenarealsoanemergingorceontheInternet.

Concernaboutchildrensabilitytocomprehendandcriti-

callyevaluatethesesalesmessageshasstimulatedresearch

anddebateormorethanthreedecades.Thescopeothis

debatehasbroadenedinrecentyearsasnewadvertisingven-

ueshavebecomeavailable.Withthesignicantriseinlevelso

childhoodobesity,particularquestionsarebeingraisedabout

the impacts o oodmarketing. Twocomprehensivestudies

haverecentlybeenpublished,onebytheInstituteoMedicine

intheU.S.,andanotherbytheFoodStandardsAgencyinthe

U.K.whichattempttoassessmarketingscontributiontothe

obesityproblemthroughareviewotheexistingempiricalevi-

dence(Hastings2003;InstituteoMedicine2005).Byneces-

sity,thesereviewsareheavilyocusedontheimpactsotelevi-

sionadvertisingbecausethishasbeentheprimaryresearchemphasisovertime.Relativelylittleisknownaboutthenature

andeectsoemergingmediasuchastheInternet,product

placementsorbuzzmarketing.Yet,commentatorsonallsides

otheissuerecognizethatthepictureisincomplete,andthat

themanynewormsomarketingactivitytargetedatchildren

needtobeinvestigatedaswell.

OneotheperceivedstrengthsotheInternetisitscapac-

itytoengenderhighlevelsointerestandengagement.Con-

sumershavetoseekoutdesiredcontent,andinteractwithitin

someway.Thisisaninherentlyactiveprocess:surngthrough

awebsitedemandsacontinuingseriesodecisionsandac-tions. Itis thiseaturethatdistinguishesthe Internet roma

morepassivemedium like television. Rather thancapturing

childrens attention or 30seconds, the advertiser may now

engagechildrenorseveralminutesinthispotentiallypower-

ul,interactivemedium.Someestimatessuggest,orexample,

thatvisitorsspendanaverageo25minutesonagamingsite

(e.g,Bertrim2005;FattahandPaul2002;Pereira2004).1Sites

or children are designed tobe playul and highly involving,

withbrandimmersionasanessentialobjective(Ferrazziand

Benezra2001;Goetzl2006).

Articlesappearinginthebusinesspressgenerallysugges

thatadvergamesareacommoneatureonwebsitesdesigned

or,andvisitedbychildren.Theseadvertiser-sponsoredvideo

gamesembedbrandmessagesincolorul,un,andast-paced

adventures.Theyarecreatedbyarmortheexplicitpurposeopromotingoneormoreoitsbrands.Thisisevidentinthe

termitsel,whichisderivedromcombiningthewordsadver-

tisementandvideogame(Grossman2005).Advergames

areaparticularormobrandedentertainmentwhichisthe

insertion o a brand within an entertainment property (e.g.

productplacementinlm,televisionshoworvideogame).In

sodoing,thelinesbetweenentertainmentandadvertisingbe-

comeblurred.

Childrenappeartobewillingconsumersothesemarket

ing communications. Approximately 64% o children (ages

514)whoaccesstheInternetdosotoplaygames(U.S.Dept

oEducation2003). More than13.1million childrenages2

to11usetheInternet,andtheirnumbersareincreasingrap

idly(Larson2004).Nielsen/NetRatingsreportedthatusage

among211year-oldsincreased34%inOctober2005over

thesametimeperiodtheyearbeore(Goetzl2006).Evenvery

youngchildrenareactiveparticipants.Sixty-sixpercento46

yearoldsliveinhomeswithInternetaccess,56%canusethe

computerbythemselves,and30%havevisitedawebsiteo

children(Rideout,VandewaterandWartella2003).

Brandedentertainment is aast-growingand potentiallyhighlyeectivewaytoreachconsumersinuniqueandcom

pellingways.Growthinthisareaisbeingdrivenbyadesirein

themarketingcommunitytoparticipateinthedevelopmento

allormsoentertainment(OGuinn,AllenandSemenik2006).

Advergamingitselisexpandingveryrapidly.ArecentPrice

WaterhouseCoopersestimateprojectsave-oldincreaseby

2009over current spendinglevels (quoted inBertrim2005)

Major advertising agencies such as Young & Rubicam and

StarcomMediahaverecentlylaunchednewvideogamedivi-

sionstoservethisemergingclientneed.

Beyonditspowertocreatebrandengagement,theInternehasseveraladditionaladvantagesromamarketersperspective

First,itisacost-eectivewaytodeliverabrandmessage(Bertrim

2005).Whilethecosttoairatelevisioncommercialin2004

rangedromapproximately$7toover$30perthousandviewers

(depending on the daypart), there are nomedia distribution

costsonceawebsitehasbeencreated.Estimatessuggestthat

whendevelopmentcostsarespreadacrossgameplayers,an

advergamecancostlessthan$2perthousandusers(Pereira

2004).So,therearerealeconomicecienciestobegained

ThetechnologyotheInternetalsoprovidesaudiencetracking


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4 ITS ChILDS PLAY: ADvERgAMINg AND ThE ONLINE MARKETINg OF FOOD TO ChILDREN

capabilities.Whileitcanbedicultoramarketertogaugethe

impactoatelevisioncommercial,theInternetallowsamuch

morepreciseassessmentviameasuressuchasthenumber

ovisitors,timespentonasite,repeatvisits,etc.Atamore

undamentallevel,theInternetcanserveasacentralorganizing

platorm or an entire integrated marketing communications

program (Aaker 2002). It can be used tocreatesynergiesamongvariousbrandbuildingprogramssothatthetotalimpact

isgreaterthanitwouldotherwisebe.

Forchildren,anadvergamingwebsitecanbeaplaceto

play,andtoexplore.Asaormomediatedcommunication,

it departs in signicant ways rom television, the medium

advertisers have traditionally used to reach children. As a

result,questionshavebeenraisedaboutchildrenscapacityto

interpretandassesscommercialmessagesinthisenvironment

(e.g., Montgomery 2001). With more and more children

gravitatingtotheInternet,greaterinsightintothenatureand

impactsothesewebsitesisneeded.

Rrh Purp

Although questions have been raised about the nature

and impacto advergamingwebsites, therehavebeen no

systematicempiricalanalysesothisnewmodeocommunicating

withchildren. Withinthelastyear,anumberoeorts have

been initiated by business, government, sel-regulatory and

consumeradvocacygroupstoreviewthispractice(seee.g.,

Harkin2005;Mayer2006;NationalAdvertisingReviewCouncil

2005).However,tothispointthesegroupshavehadtorely

primarilyonanecdotalevidenceintheirtreatmentotheissue.

Thus, the purpose o this research is to obtain an

accuratedepictionothestateoonekeyaspectoood

marketingcommunicationsthataretargetingchildrenonline:

child-orientedcontentoncorporatewebsites.Todoso,an

in-depth analysis ocontenton suchsiteswasconducted

(e.g.,MasterFoodsskittles.com;Wrigleysjuicyruit.com).

Althoughoodadsarealsoplacedonothertypesowebsites

orchildren(e.g.,nick.com,neopets.com)thesesitesarebeyond

thescopeothisstudy.Giventhepaucityoevidenceonthe

topicoInternet-basedadvertisingtochildren,thecurrentstudyshouldsignicantlyadvanceunderstandingothisnon-traditional

marketingapproach.Conceptually,itwilllikelystimulateanalysis

o the apparent blurring o boundaries between advertising

andentertainment,anditsimplicationsorpersuadingyoung

consumers.

MetHoD

Rrh apprh

Toaccomplishtheseobjectives,acontentanalysisomajo

oodadvertiserswebsiteswasconductedduringthesummer

and all o2005. This isanobservationalresearchmethod

used to scientically analyze communications. A contenanalysisisastudyothemessage,ratherthantheintentothe

communicatorortheperceptionsotheaudience(Kassarjia

1977).Thus,theocusisontheessentialpropertiesoth

stimuliitsel. Giventheevolvingnatureo theInternetasan

advertisingmedium,itisparticularlyimportanttogaininsigh

intowhatchildrenencounterwhentheyvisitthesewebsites.

As a research method, content analysis has been applied

toawide rangeo topics in the socialsciences, aswell as

advertisingissues(e.g.,Alexanderetal.1998;BelkandPollay

1985;MaherandChilds2003).Itproducesananalysisthatis

objective,systematicandquantiable(Kassarjian1977;Kolbe

andBurnett1991).

smp

Atotalo96brandswereidentiedascandidatesorthe

study.Anumberosystematicstepsweretakentoidentiy

thesebrands,andtolocaterelevantwebsites.Thesesteps

aredetailedbelow.

Selection of Product Categories and Brands. A key

objectiveintheselectionprocesswasto identiyoodbrands

thathavebeenheavilyadvertisedtochildren.Becausetelevision

has been the primary medium used to reach children, TVadvertisingexpendituresduringchildrensprogrammingwere

usedtonamerelevantcandidates.Designationasachildrens

programisbasedoninormationsuppliedbyTribuneMedia

Services(TMS).TheFeaturesDepartmentoTMSdetermines

on a weekly basis which television shows are intended o

childrenbasedoninormationsuppliedbythenetworksand

cablechannels.Severalweeksotheirlistingswereexamined

andtheollowingmedia:(1)Saturday/Sundaymorningnetwork

TV, (2) Daytime (MF) network TV (including early morning

daytime,andearlyringe/news),and(3)CableTV(alldayparts

togetheraccount orallchildrensprogramming listings (with

theexceptionotheDisneyChannel,whichdoesnotpermitoodadvertising).

To identiy oods advertised in thesemedia, Competitive

MediaReports (CMR) data rom 19992003was reviewed.

AppendixAlistsallcategoriesooodsadvertisedinthosemedi

duringthatve-yeartimeperiod.Todeterminewhichothes

product categorieswerepotentiallyrelevant tothestudy, two

judgesindependentlycodedeverybrandadvertisedaseithe


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achildrensbrand(uptoage12)oranadultbrand.Allbrands

thateitherexplicitlytargetchildren,orwhosecommunications

werelikelytobeointeresttothem,werecodedaschildrens

brands. To be as inclusive as possible, brands that were

promotedtoamoregeneralaudience(i.e.,childrenandteens,

childrenandadults)werecodedaschildrensbrands.Brands

whosemarketing communications appeared to be targetedsolely at parents were coded as adult brands even though

children may be consumers o these products (e.g., inant

oods). Inter-coder reliability or thisclassicationwas94%,

anddisagreementswereresolvedthroughdiscussion.

Analysis then proceeded or all product categories in

which any childrens brands appeared (see Appendix A or

listing).Tosimpliytheanalysis,someproductcategorieswere

subsequentlycombined(e.g.,candyandgum). 3Thisresulted

in a set o12 product categories including: (1)breads and

pastries,(2)candyandgum,(3)breakastcereals,(4)cookies

andcrackers,(5)ruitjuicesandothernon-carbonateddrinks,

(6)icecreamandrozennovelties,(7)peanutbutterandjelly,

(8)preparedoodsandmeals,(9)restaurants,(10)saltysnacks,

(11)carbonatedsotdrinks,and(12)othersnacks(e.g.,yogurt,

ruitsnacks,granolabars).

Signicant variation in market structure (i.e. number o

brandentrants,andmarketshare)existsacrosstheseproduct

categories.Asaresult,specicbrandswereselectedineach

category on the basis that they ellwithin the top 8085%

o television advertising expenditures or that product class

(based on the CompetitiveMediaReportsdata rom19992003). Thus, the emphasis is on the ood brands in each

productcategorythathavetraditionallybeenheavyadvertisers

tochildren.Ninety-sixbrandswereidentied:thesearelisted

inAppendixB.4

SelectionofWebsites. Websites or thesebrands were

includedinthestudyitheprimaryaudiencewasjudgedtobe

children(uptoage12),oriasiteincorporatedcontentthat

wouldlikelyappealtoayoungaudience(eveniteen-oradult-

ocusedcontentwasemphasized). 5Forexample,thewonka.

comsiteclearlyemphasizesactivitiesorchildren.Asapointo

comparison,thehersheys.comsitehassubstantialcontentoranadultaudiencesuchasrecipes,promotionsandcorporate

inormation, yet also includes games, downloadable items,

crats,ande-cardslikelytobeointeresttochildren.Both

othesetypesowebsitesareincludedinthestudysample.

Websitesnot ociallyaliatedwith a studybrandwere not

includedinthestudy(e.g.,consumer-createdsites).Norwere

internationallybasedsitesincludedintheanalysis.Asnoted

earlier,child-orientedsitesthatacceptoodadvertisementsbut

thataresponsoredbyanothertypeorm(e.g.,Nickelodeon

nick.com)werealsoexcluded.6Tobeincludedinthesample

awebsitehadtobesponsoredbyaoodmanuacturer.

Sevendecisionrulesweredevelopedtolocatecorporate

sponsoredwebsitesoreachotheoriginal96brandsinthe

study.For14othesebrands,nositesmeetingthedecisioncriteriawereoundandtheyweredroppedromallsubsequen

analyses. Specic decision rules or selecting the sites are

detailed inTable 1. Themost commonwayto locatesites

wasbylookingatthebrandspackagingorthewebaddress:

53% o sites were identiedby this method. Examples o

othersuccessulapproachesincluded:(1)insertingthebrand

name(e.g.,www.rootloops.com)intotheaddresslineothe

webbrowser(47%hitrate),(2)searchingromthecompany

websiteorlinkstoachildrenssiteorgamingsection(45%)

and(3)searchingtherst10resultsproducedbyinsertingthe

brandnameintotheGooglesearchengine(49%).Seventy-

onepercentothesamplewaslocatedthroughtwoormore

approaches,withsomeidentiedbyasmanyasveorsixo

thedecisionrules.Thus,thesiteswerenotdiculttond.This

searchprocessproducedatotalo77websites.Giventhat

somesitescontainmultiplebrandsinthestudy(n=21)aswell

astheactthatsomebrandsappearonmultiplesites(n=22)

thenalsampleincludedatotalo107brand/sitepairs.

Rrh Irum

Althoughtheoriginalaimothestudywastoinvestigate

advergamingitquicklybecameapparentthatthewebsites

containedmanyadditionalactivitiesandattributesopotentialinterest.Asaresult,anumberowebsiteeaturesinaddition

tospecicsaboutthegameswereincorporatedintothestudy

(e.g.,viralmarketingattempts,childprotectionpolicies,media

tie-ins, promotions). A three-part coding instrument was

developed to address this broader set o issues. The rs

sectionocusedongeneralaspectsothewebsite;thesecond

centeredonspecic details abouta studybrandspresence

onthesite,andthethirdsectionwasspecictoeachwebsite

game. Thisinstrumentwasdesignedtobecompleted asa

coderstudiedthewebsite.

All pages o the study websites were coded.7

In theend,morethan4,000uniquewebpageswerecoded.The

instrumentwasthoroughlypre-tested,andnecessaryrevision

weremadeinthespringo2005.Tosupplementthecoding

ocontent,tracdatawaspurchasedoreachothewebsites

romNielsen/NetRatingsorthesecondquartero2005(or

211year-olds).


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D ayi

The study websites were independently coded by two

judges.8Attheoutset,eachjudgereceivedseveralhourso

training(approximately20hours)usingthesurveyinstrument

tocodewebsitesthatweresimilarto,butoutsideo,there-

searchsample.Aspartothetrainingprocess,coderswere

givendetailedwritteninstructionsexplaininghoweachothesurveyquestionswastobeinterpreted.Atereachpreliminary

sitewascoded,thejudgeswerebroughttogethertocompare

theirresponses, review questiondenitions,and resolveany

disagreements.Therewereatotalovejudges.Teammeet-

ingswerealsoheldinthisearlystagetoaddressperceived

ambiguitiesinspecicquestions.Throughthisprocess,asat-

isactorylevelopreliminaryagreementwasachievedamong

eachpairocoders(andwritteninstructionsweremodiedas

necessary).Oncethetrainingprocesswascomplete,twocod -

erswererandomlyassignedtoeachsite.Eachwebsitewas

thenindependentlycoded,anddisagreementswereresolved

throughdiscussionatercodingwascompletedbybothjudges.

Screenshots(i.e.,pictures)werealsocapturedorallpageson

eachwebsite,whichwereusedtohelpresolvedisagreements

thatarose.Theaverageinter-judgeagreementlevelacrossthe

setoquestionswas96%:therewerenosignicantdierences

betweenpairsocoders.

oVeRVIeW o InDInGs

Eighty-ve percent o thebrands originally identied or

studyhave awebsitethateitherdirectly targets children, orcontainscontentthatwouldlikelybeointeresttothem.One

othestrikingeaturesthatemergedintheearlystagesothis

researchistherangeoactivitiesavailableonthesewebsitesas

wellasthelevelodierentiationacrossthem.

Although the research was initially ocused on adver-

games thereweremanyadditionaldimensionsonthe sites

thatarelikelytobeointeresttoaresearchaudience.Some

othesitesareverysimple,containingewactivitiesorgames,

andothersarequiteelaborate,incorporatingnotonlygames

buteaturessuchaspromotions,viralmarketingeorts,mem-

bershipopportunities,aswellasmovieandtelevisiontie-ins.ItisalsothecasethatindividualmarketersareusingtheirInternet

spaceindierentways,someinaashionthatisovertlyinor-

mational,andothersinwaysthataremuchmoreocusedon

unandentertainment.Eachotheseattributesothesitesis

examinedinthesectionsthatollow.Beoreturningtospecic

eatures,itmaybeuseultoidentiysomeothemajorstruc-

turalwaysinwhichthewebsitesvary.

For example, one o the keydistinguishing characteris

ticsisthenumberooodbrandspresentonawebsite.Sev-

enty-threepercentothesitescontainedonlyasinglebrand

Amongtheremaining27%,asmanyas41oodbrandswere

present(somemoreprominentlydisplayedthanothers).On

thesemulti-brandsites,therewasanaverageoninebrands

persite.Notallothebrandsthatappearonthewebsiteswereincludedinthestudy(becausetheocuswasonheavyspend

ers).However,itisuseultokeepinmindthatasitevisitors

exposuretooodproductsmayextendintoanumberoprod

uctcategories,andacrossseveralbrands.

Thereisalsovariationintheprimaryaudienceortheweb

sites.Althoughtheobjectiveothestudywastoocusonweb-

sitestargetingchildren,somesitesincorporateeaturesthatare

likelytobeointeresttoamoregeneralaudienceaswell.For

example,somesitesemphasizedinormationoradultsorpar

ents(12%othebrand/sitepairs),butchild-orientedconten

wasalsoembeddedwithinthesite(oteninaseparatesection)

Othersappearedtotargetteensdirectly(9%),buttherewer

activities including games, music and sports sponsorships

thatwerelikelytoappealtoayoungeraudienceaswell.Sites

thatweredirectlycenteredonactivitiesorchildrencomprise

68% othe sample. The remaining 11% containedconten

someportionowhichwouldlikelybeointeresttoeachothe

threedemographicgroups.Insomeotheanalysesthatol

low,sitesemphasizingchild-andteen-orientedcontent(77%

othesample)arecomparedtothosethatalsocontainconten

oradultsororamoregeneralaudience(23%othesample).

Whenwebsitesdieronthebasisoaudiencecharacteristics,thisisnotedinthediscussionospecicndings.

To address the question o audience size, Nielsen/Ne

Ratingsdataorthesecondquartero2005wereused.There

wereatotalo12.2millionvisitsbychildrenages211across

thesetostudywebsitesduringthatthree-monthperiod. 9

Thereweresignicantvariationsamong thesites in the

studyintermsothenumberoyoungvisitorstheyattracted

Inordertoexplorewhetherthereweredierencesinthecon

tentandeaturesbetweenthemorepopularandthelesspopu-

larsites,theNielsendatawereusedtodividethesampleintotwogroupsbasedonaudiencesize.Therst,thelowvisitors

group,represents73%othestudybrands.Thesecond,the

highvisitorsgroup,includesallremainingsites.Thesebrands

constitute27%othesample.10Thehighvisitorandlow

visitorwebsitesinthestudysharemanyothesamecharac-

teristics,yet there aresomediscernabledierences. Where

dierencesareapparentbetweenthesetwogroups,theyare

notedinthepresentationoresults.


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Thediscussionospecicndingsisorganizedintoseven

majortopics.Therstocusesonthegames,includingtheir

requencyooccurrence,varioustypes,andprominenceothe

brandlogoandproductpackagewithinthem.Then,theanaly-

sisshitstowebsiteactivitiesthatextendbeyondtheadver-

gamesthemselves.Inthesecondsection,theoveralllevelo

brandexposureschildrenexperienceonthesitesisreported,whetherintheormospecicbrandmarks,appearancesin

televisioncommercialsorviabenetclaims.Thesendingsare

discussedinrelationtonutritionalinormationandclaimsthat

alsoappearonthewebsites.Inthethirdsection,theanalysis

turnstomarketerseortstocustomizeavisitorsexperience,

whetherthroughmembershipopportunities,orviralmarketing

(i.e.,involvingachildsriend).Sectionourexaminestheuse

omarketingpartnershipsorbrandalliancesonthesites(e.g.,

consumerpromotion,movieortelevisiontie-in).Educational

activitiesareaddressedinsectionve.Insectionsix,specic

methodsusedtoextendtheonlineexperiencebeyondthesite

visitareoutlined,(e.g.,collectionobrandrewards,download-

ablebrandextras)andtheirprevalencereported.And,inthe

nalsection,evidencerelevanttoexistingwebsiteprotections

orchildrenispresented.

aDVeRGaMes

Onlinegamescanprovideamorehighlyinvolvinganden-

tertainingbrandexperiencethanispossiblewithconventional

media.Atleastonecommentatorhascharacterizedgaming

sitesasvirtualamusementparks(Goetzl2006).Imagine,orexample,thatNestlePush-upFrozenTreatsarepoppingupall

overtheplace,anditsyourjobtobopembackdown.11For

everypopthatyoubop,youearnpoints,andasyoubecome

moreskilledatthegame,youcanprogressromtheeasyto

amediumorhardleveloplay.Thebrandpackageisthe

visualcenterpieceothegame(itpopsuprepeatedly),mak -

ingthebrandeasiertorecalllater.ThisisBop-a-Popone

othegamesonthekids.icecream.comwebsite.Itisbutone

illustrationoanimaginativearrayogamesthatareavailable

orchildrentoplay.Intotal,546uniquegamescontainingone

ormoreoodbrandswerecountedonthestudywebsites.O

these,431gamescontainstudybrands(andarethebasisortheanalysishere).12Thesegamesarenotevenlydistributed

acrosssites.

Diriui Gm r Wi

Notallothewebsitesemphasize,orevenincludegames.

Overall,73%othesitesinthestudypostedoneormoregames

containingoodbrands.Thismeansthat27%donotinclude

any games, but instead incorporate other kinds o content

thatwouldlikelyappealtochildren.Amongthegamingsites,

therewasasubstantialrangeinthenumberogames(roma

minimumoonegametoamaximumo67onsite).Figure1(a

Figures&Tablesarelocatedatthebackothereport)depicts

thedistributionoood-relatedgamesacrosswebsites.13As

shown,thereissubstantialvariationaroundthemeanoseven

Oneotheactorsthatdierentiateasitewithmoregamesthan

othersiswhetheritcontainstwoormoreoodbrands.Onthesinglebrandsitestherewereanaverageo3.6games,andon

themulti-brandsitestheaverageroseto16.4gamespersite,

asignicantdierence(F=19.13,p


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(or marks) was recorded or each game containing a study

brand. These include: (1)the ood item (e.g.,CapnCrunch

cerealinabowl),(2)aproductpackage,(3)abrandcharacter

(iany)and(4)thebrandlogo.Identierssuchasthesecanbe

usedtodrawconsumersattention,andhelpthemtorecognize

andrememberthebrandonsubsequentoccasions.Insome

cases, particularlyor sports-relatedgames, thepresenceobrands canmakethemseemmore realisticthantheymight

otherwisebe(The Economist 2005).AsshowninBox1below,

97% (or 420 games) incorporateat leastone type obrand

identier.15Eightypercentcontaintwoormore.

Exposurelevelsto each o theourbrandidentiersare

reportedinTable3,atthebackothereport. Asindicated,

brandlogoswerethemostvisible,appearingin86%othe

games.Theotherthreeindicatorswerealsoevidentbutnot

tothesamedegree(rangingromappearancesin43%to57%

othegames).However,inadditiontopresenceorabsence,

wealsoaskedhowprominentthesethreebrandelementsarewithinthegames.Specically,orthepackageandooditem,

towhatextentdotheseappearasaprimarygamepiece(e.g.,

objectogameistocatchasmanyFrootLoopsaspossiblein

abowl)?Othosewithapackageincorporatedintogameplay,

in39%othecasesthepackagewasjudgedtobetheprimary

orocalobjectinthegame.Whenooditemsareincorporated

intogameplay,theyaretheprimarygamepiecein58%othe

cases.And,whenthebrandcharacterisincluded,prominence

wasjudgedonthebasisthatthereissomeinteractionwiththe

characterduringthegame(e.g.,charactertalksorisclickedon

ormovement).Brandcharacterswereprominentin63%o

thegamesinwhichtheyappear.

Overall, oneormoreothe brandmarks (i.e., package

ooditem,character)isprominentin64%othegamesinwhich

theyappear.Thus,thereisaveryhighprobabilitythatachild

willencounterabrandinsomeorminthegamesheorshe

choosestoplay.Brandsrepresentanintegralcomponento

thegameswhetherasgamepieces,prizesorsecrettreasure.

Inalargemajorityocases,morethanasinglebrandidentierwillbepresent,andinmanygamesthebrandcharacter,ood

itemorpackagetakescenterstage.

chi i Gm Py

Onemechanismtoincreaseaplayersleveloengagemen

in a game is to personalize the experience in some way

Givingachildthereedomtochoosehisgameplayer,select

anopponent,ordesignthegamespaceislikelytostimulate

greaterinterest.Overall,39%othegamesincorporatedoneor

moresuchelements.Figure2organizesdierentapproaches

usedtopersonalizethegamesintothreebroadcategories:(1)

choiceoplayers,(2)designogamespaceand(3)selecting

themodeoplay.Speciclistingsinthethreecategoriesare

representativeo the typesoapproachesused,but areno

exhaustive.

Asshown,childrenaremostrequentlygiventhechoiceo

theirgameplayeroropponent(52%ochoiceoptionsinvolve

players). Sometimes the player is a brand character or a

vehiclethathasabrandlogoonit.Inothercases,theplaye

isananimatedchildthatcanbenamed,orgivenaparticula

hairstyleor clothing. Inaddition,childrenmay begiven the

choiceohowtoplaythegame(optionstochoosethelevelodiculty,orstyleoplaywouldbeincludedheree.g.,typeo

baseballswing).And,nallychildrenmaybeallowedtodesign

aspectsothegamespace(e.g.,colors,music).Byproviding

suchchoiceoptions,marketersmaybedrawingmoreocused

attention to, and higher levels o involvement in the game

itsel.

Box 1: Brand IdentIIers In Games

types o BrandIdentIIers

percentaGe oGames

0 3%

1 17

2 40

3 29

4 11


11/57


ur exd Gm Py

Therearesomeeaturesthatmayhelptosustainachilds

interestinagame,bothduringasinglesitevisitandperhaps

on returnvisits. Onemechanism thatmight have such aneect is to structure a game so thatmultiple levelscan be

achievedasagameplayersskillsimprove.Theleveloplay

can serveasa benchmark againstwhichpersonalprogress

canbemeasured.Itsetsupachallengethatagamercantry

toachieve.Structuringagamesothatpointscanbeearned

mayhaveasimilareect.Playerscanmonitorhowwellthey

aredoingandhowmuchtheirscoresimprove.Settingtime

limitsorplaymayalsoencouragegamerstotrytobeattheir

priorperormanceinthetimeallotted.Eachothesestructural

aspectsoagamecanhelptomotivateaplayertochallenge

themselves,andsototryagain.Forty-vepercentothegames

oermultiplelevelsoplay,69%awardgamepoints,and40%

incorporatetimelimitsosomesort.

Beyond the potential or challenging onesel, there are

moreovertmechanismsthatagamedesignermightusetotry

toencourageextendedplay.Explicitlyaskingaplayerithey

wouldliketoplayagainattheendoagameisoneexample

(71%othestudygamesincludedsuchanoption).Specic

recommendationsoothergamesthevisitormightenjoymay

alsoextendtimespentonthesite,andperhapsexpandthe

numberoactivitiesthatareworthreturning or (22%othe

gamesincludedarecommendationosometype).And,39%othegamesinvitegamerstoposttheirhighscorestoaleade

board,asonthepopsicle.comsite.

The public display o scores invites competition, and

encouragesgameplayerstoreturntothesitetoseehowwell

theyarearingagainstit.Itmayalsomotivatesomeplayersto

trytoimprovetheirplaceintheoverallstandings.Rewarding

highscorerswithextragameeaturesorprizes(e.g.,specia

downloads)mightalsobe ways toovertlyencouragerepea

play,butneitherisincorporatedinmanygames.Only5%o

games reward good game perormancewith extra eatures

andjust5%giveprizes.

Overall, there are a variety o game eatures that may

helptostimulateextendedplay.Someotheseinvolveover

encouragementwhileothersaremoresubtle,relyinginstead

ona gameplayers desire tochallengehimsel orhersel to

improveascoreorreachahigherleveloplay.


12/57


bRanD eXPosURes beYonD tHe GaMes

Oneothequestionsposedearlyinthestudyocusedon

howmuchbrandandcompanyinormationchildrenwouldac-

tuallybeexposedtowhenvisitingthesesites.Forexample,

would children have many exposures to product packages,

brandcharacters,orlogosastheyclickedthroughthesite,orjustaew?Wouldtheybeexposedtoexplicitbrandbenetor

nutritionalclaims?Iso,whatisthenatureothoseclaimsand

howprevalentarethey?Anumberoapproacheswereused

totryto address thesequestions. The resultsthatollow in

thissectionpertainonlytothenon-gameareasothesites.In

otherwords,theyexcludebrandexposureswithinthegames

andgamemenus(thoseexposuresareinadditiontothosere-

portedhere).

numr brd Vri

Theprominenceothebrandidentiersisdriveninpartby

thenumberobrandvariantsorstockkeepingunits(SKUs)

depicted(e.g.,cherryversusgrapefavor).Asshownbelow,

therewasawiderangeinthenumberovariantsorSKUspre-

sentedorthestudybrands.

Arelativelylargerangemightbeexpectedgiventhetypes

oproductcategoriesadvertisedhere.Forexample,breakast

cerealshadewervariantsoverall(range:1to4,mean=2)than

acategorylikecandy(range:2to41,mean=10)wheremore

extensiveproductlinesarecommon.Fromthemarketersper-

spective,theInternetcanbeanadvertisingvenuethatispar-

ticularlywell-suitedorinormingconsumersaboutthearrayo

productormsandfavorsavailable.Whileitmightbedicult

tocommunicatemuchaboutanentireproductlineinthespaceoa30-secondtelevisionad,itismoreeasilyaccomplishedon

theInternet.Inormationandsellingpointscanbeconveyedat

alowvariablecostorallSKUsoered.So,generallyspeaking,

itisinthemarketersinteresttopresenttheullrangeoalterna -

tivestheyoer.Itisthenletuptotheconsumertosearchor

asmuchoraslittleinormationasheorshechooses.Insome

cases,thismaymeansitingthroughalargenumberobrand

variants:heretheoverallrangewasrom1to95.

Prv brd Idiir

Thereareanumberowaysthatavisitormightbeexposed

toabrandonawebsite.Forexample,explicitbrandbenet

claimsmightbemade(thesearediscussedinalatersection).

Inaddition,therearethebasicbrandidentiersormarkstha

maybeusedtohelpconsumersrememberabrandlater.In

thisstudy,anumberobrandidentierswererecordedinclud-ingtheourexaminedinthegames:(1)brandlogo,(2)brand

character,(3)productpackage,(4)brandinproductorm(e.g

pictureoFruityPebblesinabowl),aswellastwoadditiona

indicators,(5)textothebrandname,and(6)corporatelogo

Giventhecommercialnatureothesampleitwasanticipatedat

theoutsetthattheseidentierswouldbepresentonthesites,

itjustwasntcleartowhatextent.

Themostcommonidentierthatappearedisabrando

corporatelogo.Althoughveryewbrandsusebothlogosex-

tensively,many(approximately75%)useoneothetwologos

onalmostallpageswithinasite.So,orthemajorityosites,a

childislikelytoseeabrandorcorporatelogooneachpagehe

orshevisits.Otheridentiersvarymoreintheextenttowhich

theyareused.Forsomebrandstheproductoritspackaging

isemphasizedwhileorothersacharacterorthebrandname

itselaremoreprominent.

Togainanoverallpictureoexposurelevels,thepresence

orabsenceoeachothesixbrandindicatorswastalliedor

everypageonthewebsites,andthenaddedtogethertocreate

asummarybrandpresencemeasure.16Thismeasurecanbe

usedtodeterminehowmanydierenttypesobrandidentiersormarksappearonthepagesoawebsite.Here,theovera

meanistwobrandmarksperpage.Thismeansthat,onaver

age,oreverypagethatachildclickson,heorsheisseeing

twodierenttypesobrandreminders(typicallyalogoandon

other).However,asshownbelow,thereisevidenceosome

varianceintheextenttowhichdierentormsobrandidenti

ersareused.

Box 2: Brand VarIants on sItes

numBer o BrandVarIants (sKus)

percentaGe oBrand/sIte paIrs

1 26%

210 43

1120 16

21+ 15

Box 3: Brand IdentIIers on sItes

types o Brand

IdentIIers17

percentaGe o

Brand/sIte paIrs

0 0%

1 36

2 41

3 16

4 7


13/57


Theobservedrangeisrom1to4typesobrandidentiers

perpage(withatheoreticalrangerom0to6).Onsomesites,

thereareewertypesobrandexposures(e.g.,or36%othebrandsonlyasingletypeoindicatorispresentoneachpage),

whileonotherstherearemore(e.g.,or23%othebrands

threeormoretypesoidentiersappearperpage).Inspection

othedistributionoscoresthussuggeststhatthereisarange,

butthatitisrelativelyraretoencountersitecontentthatdoes

notcontainsomebrandreinorcement.

tvii cmmri

Theincreasing popularity o theInternetand othernew

mediaarepromptingchildrensadvertiserstorethinkhowthey

areallocatingtheirmarketingdollars(SteinbergandFlint2006).

Toreachchildreneectivelyamorediversearrayomediaisrequiredthaneverbeore.So,withregardtopolicyoptions,

considerationothisnewmediaenvironmentiscrucial.Tech-

nological developments are also blurring the lines between

oneadvertisingmediumandanother.Forexample,television

commercialsarenowrequentlyappearingonwebsites(Larson

2004).Thisisenabledbyasterconnectionspeeds,andin-

creasedbroadbandaccessthatallowsmarketerstoputvideo

ontheirsitesthatmanyvisitorscanreadilyaccess.

Amongthewebsitesinthisstudy,justoverhal(53%)had

televisioncommercialsavailableorviewing.18Theseappea

moreotenonchild-orientedsites(60%)thanonsitestargetedatamoregeneralaudience(32%)(=4.76,p


14/57

0 4 ITS ChILDS PLAY: ADvERgAMINg AND ThE ONLINE MARKETINg OF FOOD TO ChILDREN

Kelloggsbrandcharacters.Achildcanearnstampsbyview-

ingthecommercialsiheorsheisaregisteredmember(site

registrationpossible onlywithparentalpermission). Stamps

canthenberedeemedtoplayspecialgamesonthesite.

So,theactivitiesonthewebsitereinorcethemessagein

thetelevisionad,andviceversa.Intermsototalexposure,

theInternetcapturesallothequalitiesotelevisionadvertising,

andthenoersmore.

tw ky cgri advriig cim Marketersmayalsoinormsitevisitorsabouttheirbrands

bymaking specic claimsabout them. Here, one ormore

claimsweremadeor83%othestudybrands.Advertising

claims can be broadly dened as explicit statements about

the characteristics oa brand, its use orsuggestedusers.19

Twobroadclassesoclaimswerecodedinthisstudy:nutrition

claims,andwhatarereerredtohereasbrandbenetclaims

(e.g.,taste,convenience,variety).Specicsub-categorieso

claimswithin each o these twocategorieswerederived, in

part,romaFederalTradeCommission(FTC)studyoadvertis-

ing,nutrition,andhealth(IppolitoandPappalardo(2002).20

Findingsrelatedtotheprevalenceobrandbenetclaims

arereportedinthenextsection(detailedevidenceregarding

nutritionalclaimsollow).Overall,brandbenetclaimsaccount

or80%oallclaimsmadeonthewebsitesinthisstudy,and

nutritionclaimsrepresent20%othetotal.

1. brd bf cim

Brandbenet claimsrangeromsensory-basedcharac

teristicsothebrand(e.g.,taste,texture,appearance,aroma

tonewbranddevelopments(e.g.,newfavorsorpackaging)to

suggestedusersorusagesituation(e.g.,greatorkids)toex

perientialelementsemphasizingunandeelings.Thesekinds

oclaimswerereadilyapparentonthesites.

Acrossthesample,over1,500benetclaimswererecord

ed:theseareorganizedinto13sub-categories.InTable4,the

requencyoeachtypeobenetclaimislisted,andexamplesareprovided.Asshown,tasteclaimsarethemostcommon

typeoclaim,representingover27%othetotal.Claimso-

cusedonsuggestedusesorusagesituationsarealsowide-

spread(13%),asareappealstounandeelings(10%).Com

parativeappeals(1%),andprice-orientedclaims(1%)areused

muchlessrequently.Thisisquiteconsistentwithearlystud

iesotelevisionadvertising(e.g.,Barcus1980).Price-oriented

andothertypesoinormationalappealshavetraditionallybeen

relatively rareduring childrens televisionprogramming. This

patternseemstoholdorchild-orientedwebsitesaswell.

Benetclaimsarenotequallydistributedacrossbrandsintendedaudiencesorproductcategories.Asshownbelow

or79%othesampleoneormoreexplicitclaimsweremade


15/57

KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION 3

However, there is signicant variation in the number o

claimsreported(romaminimumo0 toamaximumo160

claimsperbrand).Todetermineitherearepatternsthatdistin-

guishbetweenbrandswithahighversuslownumberoclaims,

aseriesocomparisonsweremadebyaudiencecharacteris-

tics,singleversusmulti-brandsitesandbyproductcategories.

Thisprovedtobequiteinteresting.

First,nodierencesareapparentasaunctionothenum-

berositevisitors.However,therearedierencesasaunction

oaudiencetype. Whenchildrenand teensare theprimary

audienceorasite,ewerclaimsaremade(mean=10.8),as

compared to thosewith a more general audience (mean =

24.7)(F=7.15,p


16/57


(88%) than one that targets childrenand teens (38%), (F=

19.31p


17/57


Wi Mmrhip

Onceawebsiteiscreated,gettingvisitorstospendtime

onthesiteandtoreturnlaterisoneothekeydicultiesthat

marketershaveencounteredinpromotingtheirbrandsonthe

Internet.Asitethatisabletoattractvisitorsoverandover

againisconsideredastickysite(OGuinnetal.2006).Suc-

cessindrawingrepeatvisitorsdependsonanumberoac-

torsincludingthecontent,itseaseouseandentertainment

value.Newandexcitingcontentiscertainlyoneapproachor

drawinganaudience.Membershipsthatoeradditionalincen-

tivesoraccesstospecialactivities,promotionsorgamesare

anotherwaytoencourageparticipation.Forexample,Wonkas

ClubDuboersaccesstogames,apersonallyfavoredhome

page,specialscreensaversande-cards.

Forty-twopercentothestudywebsitesoeredanoption

toregister,joinacluborbecomeamember.Severalothese

membershipopportunitieswerenotmadeavailabletochildren

butwereopenonlytothosevisitorswhowereatleast13years

oage.Asshown,childrenweregiventheoptiontobecomea

memberon25%othewebsitesinthestudy.

On a subset o these, children can become members

without providing much identiying inormation (12% o tota

sample).Forexample,achildmaysimplybeaskedtocreate

ascreennameandpasswordwhentheybecomeamember

Onthesesites,parentalpermissionisnotrequired.However,

thereareotherwebsites(13%ototalsample)wherepersona

inormationisrequestedatregistration.Incompliancewithth

ChildrensOnlinePrivacyProtectionAct(COPPA),23thecorpo-

ratesponsorsothesewebsitesobtainveriableparentalper-

missionbeorecollectinganyidentiyinginormationromchil-

dren.Oneothreemechanismswasusedtoobtainparenta

consentonthesesites:(1)emailsenttoparentwithresponse

Box 6: memBershIps

optIon proVIded or chIldren aGe 12 and underto Become a memBer?

y n

25% 75%

Is parental permIssIon requIred to reGIster?

13% 12%


18/57


required,(2)emailsenttoparentwhothenneedstogotothe

site and provide creditcard inormation (to veriy their adult

status),or(3)writtenparentalpermissionrequired.Withone

exception,allothemoreteen-orientedsitesoeredmember -

shipopportunities.However,youngerchildrenwereeithernot

permittedtoregisteratall(openonlytoages13+)orveriable

parentalpermissionwasrequiredinallothesecases.

Membershipmayallowaccesstoavarietyospecialsite

eaturesandbenets. Illustrativeexamplesarepresentedin

Figure3.Cautionininterpretationshouldbeusedheregiven

the small sampleo sites that oermembership to children

(under12).Somesitesemphasizegamingenhancementsto

theirmemberssuchasregularupdatesonnewgames,access

tospecialorsecretgames,bonuspowerorsecretliveswithinagameortheopportunitytoretainapersonalrecordo

highscoresand/orpostthemtoaleaderboard(e.g.,nabisco-

world.com).Forexample,ongushers.comvisitorshavethe

opportunitytocreateandurnishtheirownroom.Onsub-

sequentvisits,thechildcanvisittheroomthatheorshehas

designedandupdateitasdesired.

Members may also be special ly inormed about new

developmentsonthesite,suchasnewbrands,exclusiveo

ersornewtelevisioncommercials.Promotionalentriessuch

assweepstakessometimesrequiremembershiporsiteregis

tration.Onthemoreteen-orientedsites,membersmayeven

havetheopportunitytoposttheirideasoropinionsonthesite

(e.g.,mycoke.com).Thereareamultitudeocreativeoptions:

notwositesarealike.

Although membership does provide additional benets

andaccess,somevisitorsmaychoosenottoparticipate.This

raisesthequestionowhatkindowebexperienceisthenpos

sible.Withveryewexceptions,consumerswerestillpermitted

accesstomostsiteactivitiesevenitheychosenottoregis

ter.Thereweretwokeyexceptions:bothmycoke.comandmillsberry.comseverelyrestrictaccesstonon-members.Inthe

caseoCoke,unlessparentsprovidetheirpermissionthereis

verylittlethatchildrencandoonthesite.

Wi cmmuii

Somesitesareorganizedasaplaceorcommunitytha

achildcanvisit.Itmaybeanisland(e.g.,AppleJacksCinna

Island),acharactershome(e.g.,Kool-AidMansHouse),atree


19/57


house (e.g.,KeeblersHollowtree) ora town (e.g.,Kelloggs

FunKtown).Approximately25%othestudysitesareothis

type.Onsomeothese,visitorstravelthroughthesitealmost

asitheyarewelcometourists.Theyareencouragedtoex-

ploredierentlocations,andcanstoptoparticipateinmany

activitiessuchasplayingagame,goingtothetheater(toseemoviepreviewsortelevisioncommercials),sendingmailtoa

riend,or learningabouta brandcharacter. Not allothese

sitesarecustomized.Thechildcanvisitandexplorethecom-

munitybuttheydosoprimarilyasanobserver.However,there

areothersinwhichthechildparticipatesnotasavisitorbutas

acitizenotheanciulcommunity.Bydenition,theserequire

registrationormembership(andareincludedinthestatistics

providedabove).Perhapsthemostelaborateotheseonline

communitiesismillsberry.com.

Onthissite,achildcreatesacharacter(includinggender,

clothing,hairstyle),aneighborhoodinwhichtolive,aspecichouse,anditsdcor.Thecharactercanshopatdierentstores

(e.g.,grocerystore,bookstore,toystore,hairsalon),checkout

booksatthelibrary,visitthepostoce,checktheiraccountat

thebank,visitthecommunitycenter,contributetoaooddrive,

andvisitamuseum.Gamesandatheaterarealsoavailable

inthearcade. Millbucksarethecurrency: theseareearned

byplayinggamesandcanbespentinthevariousstores.By

participatinginactivitieslikereadingalibrarybookormakinga

donation,thechildcharactercanincreasehisorherstrength,

tness,intelligenceormerit.Thechildcharacterdoesgethun

gryandmusteatinordertomaintainhisorherstrength(the

grocerystorestocksawiderangeooods,romproduceto

brandeditems).GeneralMillscerealsareembeddedinpart

othesite,buttherearemanysectorswherethereisnovisiblebrandpresence.Overall,thewebsiteexperienceiscustomized

totheinterestsothechildwhovisits.Othercommunitybased

sites(e.g.,nesquik.com,lunchables.com)havesomeothese

eaturesbuttendnottobeaselaborate.

Vir Mrig

Thereisextensiveresearchevidencesuggestingthatpeers

canbeanimportantsourceoinfuenceinpurchasedecisions

(e.g.,Moschis1987).Themoreavorabletheinormationanin-

dividualreceivesromriendsoracquaintances,themorelikely

heorshewilladoptaproductaswell.Thereisalonghistory

oresearchinmarketingontheroleoopinionleaderswhohelptostimulatedemandbyoeringadviceandinormationto

othersintheirsocialnetwork(Wilkie1994).Recognizingthe

poweropersonalinormationsources,marketingpractitioner

havedevelopednewapproachessuch asbuzzmarketing,

viralmarketing,anddiusionmarketingtoencouragecon-

sumerstotalktooneanotherabouttheirproducts(e.g.,Dye

2000;KhermouchandGreen2001).Thesearetoolsusedto

trytoproactivelyinfuencewhatissaidaboutarmsbrands


20/57


ratherthansimplyhopingthatpositiveword-o-mouthdevel-

ops.ViralmarketingusestheInternettoencourageconsum-

erstomarkettooneanothereitherviablogsornewsgroups,or

throughpersonalcontact(email)stimulatedbyarmsmarket-

ingeorts(Dobele,TolemanandBeverland2005).

Onetypeoviralmarketingencouragessitevisitorstosend

emailtoriendscontainingabrand-relatedgreeting(e-card)or

aninvitationtovisitthewebsite.Thisoccurredonapproxi-

mately64%othewebsitesinthestudysample.Marketinge-

ortslikethisoneturnemailintoatypeoadvocacyorword-o-

mouthendorsementthatispassedalongromoneconsumer

tothenext.Embeddedintheseemailsarenews,activitiesand

entertainmentthatareavorabletothebrand.Likethewebsite

memberships,thisisaway toincreaseavisitorsinvolvement

withabrand,andtocustomizethesiteexperienceorthem.

Thesekindsoeortsweremoreprevalentonsitesocused

onchild- and teen-orientedactivities (74%)ascompared tothosethatalsoincludedadultcontentaswell(32%)(=11.20,

p


21/57


Onothersites,however,(e.g.,lunchables.com,popsicle.

com),visitorsareaskedabouttopicssuchastheiravoritetype

omusic, things they like todoin thesummerorhow they

spendtimeontheweb,alltopicsthatarenottieddirectlytoa

specicbrand.Inbothcases(brand-relatedornot),children

areaskedtovoicetheiropinionorpreerence.Althoughthis

maybeamoresubtlemeansopersonalizingamessage,itis

awaytorepresentanindividualspointoview.

Overall, when collapsedacrossthese variousmodes o

interactingwithchildren,itisevidentthatamajority(73%)o

thewebsitesincorporatesomemechanismtocustomizethesitevisitorsexperience.Itmaybeassimpleaspostinggame

scoresorchoosingabackgroundcolororsitecontentsthat

helpstomakethebrandinteractionsomehowunique.These

kindsositeeatureshelptodrawthevisitorin,simplybecause

thecommunicationcanbemorecloselytailoredtoindividual

needsandinterests.Thereisakindoproximitytothemes-

sagethatwouldnotbethecasewithmassmedia.

MaRketInG PaRtneRsHIPs

Marketing partnerships, whether through sponsorships,promotionsormediatie-ins,areacommonpracticeintodays

marketplace. When two brands collaborate, there are a

numberopotentialadvantagesromamarketingperspective.

Bothmaygaingreaterexposureorvisibilitywithintheirtarget

audience.Whenalignedwell,eachalsohastheopportunity

to capitalize on the positive brand associations consumers

haveabout theirpartner. And,themessage itselmayhave

greaterimpactbecausethereismorecontentorinormation

to be conveyed. Thus, there may be greater potential o

gainingattentionandgeneratingexcitement.Partnershipsare

also oten cost-eective because advertisingor promotiona

expensescanbesharedbytwobrands.

TheInternetisareadilyaccessiblemediumorcommuni

catinginormationaboutpartnershiporco-brandedactivities

Thewebcanalsobeusedasanintegrativeplatormtobring

togetherdisparatemarketingcommunicationtoolseectively

(Aaker2002).Evidenceobrandpartnershipswasreadilyavail-

ableonthewebsitesinthestudysample.Some90dierenbrandpartnerswereincorporatedinsweepstakes,premiums,

sponsorshipsandotherpromotions.Mostothese(approxi

mately70)werenon-oodbrands(e.g.,SixFlagsAmusemen

Parks, Play Doh, Blockbuster Video, LittleLeague Baseball

HolidayInn).Theremainderwascomposedprimarilyoood

brandsthatarenotpartothepresentstudy(e.g.,TacoBel

Dole,Quiznos).Inaewcases,websitepromotionsinvolved

all othebrandswithina productportolio(e.g., allNabisco

brands)owhichthestudybrandsareonlyasmallsubset.A

numberobrandpartnershipsalsosuracedthroughmovieand

televisiontie-ins.

Mdi tiI

Inthecurrentdebateaboutthemarketingooodtochil

dren,somecommentatorshavequestionedwhetheritisap

propriate to link television showsormovies directly to ood

brands(e.g.,CenterorScienceinthePublicInterest2003).

Thisismostotenaccomplishedviathedevelopmentospe

cialproductvariants(e.g.,SpongeBobMacaroni&Cheese),


22/57


packagingchanges (e.g., special StarWars packaging or

M&Ms),promotions(e.g.,reeRobotstheMovieracersin-

sidespeciallymarkedboxesoKelloggproducts)oradvertise-

ments.Underpinningtheseconcernsistheassumptionthat

aoodbrandwill bemuchmoreappealingtochildrenwhen

itisassociatedwithawell-likedTVormoviecharacter.The

researchresultsonthisissuearesomewhatmixedhowever.

Although there is some evidence suggesting that childrensproductchoicesshitwhenlinkedtoapopularcartoonchar-

acter(Kotler2005),thereisalsoempiricalevidenceintheaca-

demicliteratureindicatingthatchildrenschoicesareunaected

(NeeleyandSchumann2004).Additionalresearchisneeded

toisolatethecircumstancesinwhichcharactersimpactood

choicesandwhentheydonot.However,theevidenceiscon-

sistent in showing that children pay substantial attention to

theseadvertisements.Theyexhibithighlevelsorecognition

oacartooncharacteranditsproductassociation,aswellas

liking or both thecharacter and the advertised brand (e.g.,

Henke1995;Mizerski1995).

Forty-sevenpercent o thewebsitesinthisstudy incor-

poratedsomeormotelevisionormovietie-in.Thus,media

partnershipswerearelativelycommonoccurrence.Thirty-one

percentothesiteshadamovietie-in;25%hadalinktooneor

moretelevisionshows,and9%hadbothmovieandtelevision

ties.Brandsweregenerallypartneredwithlargeblockbuster

moviespopularinthesummero2005.Figure4providesa

listoallothelms thatappearedonthesitesin thestudy

Itwasnotuncommonorthesamelmtobepromotedby

multiplebrands.25Forexample,Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

wasinvolvedinmarketingactivitiesonsevendierentwebsites

So,thereisthepotentialthatachildmayencountermultiple

promotionsinvolvingawell-likedmovieandheavilyadvertised

oodbrandastheyvisitdierentsitesontheInternet.Simi-

larly,somewebsites(approximatelyone-thirdothesiteswithamovietie-in)hadconnectionswithtwoormorelms.

Obviously,eachmovietie-inwillhaveitsowncreativestyle

andexecution.Typically,theyarepartoalargerintegrated

marketingcommunicationseort,whichextendsbeyondthe

webpresence.Forexample,inthesummero2005Marspart-

neredwiththeproducersoStar Warstocreateamulti-ac

etedmarketingcampaign.Tohighlightthemovietie-in,Mars

createdtheChocolateMpirewithinitsM&Mswebsite.The

mpireisa anciulworld thatlinks themovieandtheM&M

brandinavarietyoways.ThereareStar Warsscreensavers

wall-papers and e-cards that embed the M&M charactersTelevisioncommercials and video that link to themovie are

alsoavailableorviewingonthesite.Special,themedproduct

packagingishighlighted,andasweepstakesisincorporated

(althoughnotopentochildrenunder12).Childrencanplaythe

LightSaberTraininggameonthesiteanddownloadapape

lightsaberitheychoose.Together,theseelementsreinorce

theassociationbetweenthebrandandthemovieinacreative

andmemorableashion.


23/57


Televisiontie-inswithstudybrandswerealsoevident(as

notedabove,presenton25%osites).Figure5providesalist

othetelevisionprogramsthatappearedonthesites.Slightly

morethanhalothesitesthathadaTVtie-inincorporatedtwo

ormorespecicprograms:oneincludedasmanyasninedi-

erentshows.26Thesetie-insappearindierentways.Some-

timestheyareprimarilyanannouncementospecialpackaging

(e.g.,NestlePop-UpswithScoobyDoopackaging).Inothercases,theyaretiedinwithpromotions(e.g.,aprizeromNick-

elodeonorthePepperidgeFarmGoldshsweepstakes),oras

arewardtomembers(e.g.,specialpreviewsromMTVonthe

Starburstsite).Televisiontie-inscanalsobeusedtoeducate

orinorm.Intheexampleabove,SpongeBobandthePower-

puGirlshelptocommunicatethebenetsomilk.

Prmi d sprhip

Oneothemostprominentmaniestationsobrandpart-

nershipsonthesitesissalespromotion.Consumerpromo-

tionsareincentivesusedbyamanuacturertocreateapercep-

tionogreaterbrandvalue. Thegoalis tomotivateproducttrial, encourage the purchase o larger quantities, or oster

repeatpurchases (OGuinn etal.2006). Consumerpromo-

tionscantakemanyorms,includingsweepstakes,contests,

premiums,sampleoers,coupons,and rebates. Essentially,

theyareattemptsbymarketerstocreateexcitementandtoen-

courageconsumerstopurchasetheirbrandsratherthanthose

oa competitor. Oneormoreothese typeso promotions

appearedon65%othesitesinthestudy.Thisproportionmay

actually underestimate the requencyo occurrence because

promotions that appearedon the sitesbut thatwere exclu

sivelytargetedatadultswerenotcoded.Fortypercentoa

websitesinthestudyhadasweepstakesorcontest,and31%

incorporatedapremiumoer.Samples,rebatesandcoupons

weremuchlesscommon,appearingononly1%othesesites

Promotionaloerswereequallywell-representedonthesite

thatattractalargenumberoyoungvisitorsaswellasonthose

thatreachewerchildren.

Sweepstakesareapopularpromotionaltoolamongmar

keters.Approximately75%opackagedgoodsmarketersuse

sweepstakesandalmostone-thirdoU.S.householdspartici-pateinoneeachyear(Shimp2007).Fromamarketersper

spective,theyoeranumberoadvantages.Theyarerelatively

inexpensive,simpletoexecuteandcanhelpincreasedistribu-

tionatretail.Theyalsoattractconsumersattentionandcan

buildenthusiasmaboutabrandwhilereinorcingitsimage.The

sweepstakesand contestsonthewebsitesoerprizes tha

arelikelytogeneratesubstantialexcitementamongchildren

Forexample,onthebubbletape.comsite,winnersreceivea

Nintendo Game Cube System and on the pgoldsh.com

site,childrencanwinatriptotheNickelodeonStudiosinLos

Angeles,amongotherprizes.Campbellsmysoup.comhasan

ongoingseriesoSouperstarsweepstakese.g.,Souper-starIsland(winatriptoaCaribbeanisland),SouperstarCas

tle(winaweekatanEnglishcastle),SouperstarFantasy(win

atriptoamoviepremiere).Visitorsareencouragedtoreturn

tothesitetoseewhatthenextbigpromotionaleventwillbe

Onsubway.com,childrenbetweentheageso812havethe

opportunitytobecomeaSubwayChampion(withparenta

permission).Winnersreceivea$10,000collegescholarship.


24/57

0 4 ITS ChILDS PLAY: ADvERgAMINg AND ThE ONLINE MARKETINg OF FOOD TO ChILDREN

Sweepstakesandcontestsinvolvingchildrenhavesome

uniquedimensionsasamarketingapproach.Thereisthepo-

tentialthatyoungchildrenmightdevelopunrealisticexpecta-

tionsabouttheirchancesowinning.Becausethispotential

isknowntoexist,theCARU(2003)sel-regulatoryguidelines

speciyhowpromotionaloersmightbestbecommunicated

tochildren.Byvirtueothenatureopromotionsthatappear

onstudywebsites,parentsarenecessarilyinvolvedeitherto

enterand/ortoclaimaprize.So,childrenarenotparticipating

independently.

Asnotedabove,premiumoersalsoappearonmanyweb-sites(31%oallsites).Thesearemerchandiseitemsoeredby

amanuacturerasagittoconsumers,andlikesweepstakes

areusedtotrytostimulateproducttrialorencouragerepeat

usage.Insomecases,thesepromotionsrequirethepurchase

oa product inorder to take advantageothepremiumo-

er.Forexample,onHersheyskidztown.comsite,visitorswere

abletoobtainreemovieticketsorthere-releaseoE.T.,but

multiplepurchasesoReesescandywererequiredtodoso.

Otherrequirementsmayalsobemade,thatdonotinvolve

abrandpurchase.OnCheBoyardeescheboy.comsite,or

example,anoeroareeCheBoyardeeSuperballismadetochildren.However,togettheballtheyneedtoberegisteredin

theCheClub(whichrequiresaparentspermission),andplay

agameonthesitethattheymustthenemailtoariend.This

exampleillustrateshowpremiumoerscanbeusedtoencour-

ageparticularconsumerbehaviors,inthiscase,viralmarket-

ing.Sometimesthepremiumsinvolvemerchandisewhichmay

serveasabrandreminder(e.g.,aHersheyHappinessT-shirt

withthebrandlogoontheront),andinotherstheydonot.So,

boththeconsumerandthemarketercanbenetromthese

oers.Theconsumerreceivesadesireditem,andthemar-

keterbenetsthroughpositiveimpactsonthebrandimage,its

infuenceasabrandreminder,andperhapsasamotivatoro

purchasebehavior.

eDUcatIonal content

Inadditiontothemanyotheractivitiesalreadynoted,some

marketersalsouseaportionotheir site toprovideconten

withaneducationalemphasis.Anumberodierentsubjecareaswereemphasizedhere,rangingromhistoricalactsto

science,math,health,generalnutritionandsports-relatedis

sues.Forcodingpurposes,educationalmaterialwasdened

asactivitiesthatdeveloptheknowledge,skillorcharactero

siteuserson topics otherthana oodbrand, its ingredients

ormanuacturer.Figure6listsexamplesosomekeytopics.

Thirty-vepercentothesitescontainedoneormoretypeso

educationalinormation.Toillustrate,ononeotheMcDonalds

sites(ronald.com),inormationaboutdinosaursisincorporated

asshowninthepictureabove.Siteswithabroadaudienc

weremarginallymorelikelytoincorporateeducationalmate

rial(53%)thanthoseocusedmoreexclusivelyonchildrenandteens(29%)(=3.42,p


25/57


oborderline educationalmaterial or advercation was also

codedandillustrativeexamplesareprovidedinFigure7. For

example,onKelloggsFunKtownsite,inormationisprovided

about the Tonymobile, itsbasicengineeringandconstruc-

tion.Similarly,Hersheysprovidesinormationaboutthemak-

ingochocolate, includinga video touron its hersheys.com

website,whichwasalsodirectlylinkedtokidztown.com.One-thirdothesitesinthestudyincorporatedthistypeocontent,

inwhicheducationalinormationisembeddedinanadvertising

message.

Foryoungchildrenwhoareinthemidstolearningtodis-

tinguishbetweenadvertisingandothermodesocommunica-

tion,thishassomepotentialtocauseconusion.Thereisclear

evidence in the academic research literature indicating that

childrenneedtoacquireatleasttwokeyinormationprocess-

ingskillstoevaluateadvertisingeectively.First,theymustbe

abletodistinguishbetweencommercialandnon-commercial

content.Second,theymustbeabletorecognizeadvertisingspersuasiveintent andusethisknowledge to interpretselling

messages.

Oncechildrendeveloptheseskillstheyarethoughttobe-

comemoreskeptical,andthusmorecapableoresistingad-

vertisingsappeal(e.g.,Boush,FriestadandRose1994).How-

ever,academicresearchershaveshownthatchildrenwhohave

thecognitiveskillstodiscountcommercialmessagesmaynot

dosowhentheyseeanadunlesstheyareexplicitlyreminded

(Brucks,ArmstrongandGoldberg1988).Ithelinesbetween

advertisingandeducationalcontentbecomeblurred,thismay

taxayoungchildsabilitytodisentangleandthenevaluatethe

sellingmessage(Moore2004).

eXtenDInG tHe onlIne eXPeRIence

Therearemultipleapproachesthatamarketermightuse

toextendavisitorsonlineexperience.Perhapsthemostbasic

istolinkthewebsitetootherbrand-relatedadvertising.Inter

netadvertisingisreadilyintegratedwithotherormsomedi

advertisingandpromotion.Atthemostbasiclevel,eachorm

otraditionalmediaadvertising can list awebsiteURL. Fo

example,incorporatingawebsiteaddressinatelevisioncom-

mercialorlistingitonaproductpackagearesimpleandeasily

executedapproaches(asnotedearlier,websiteURLswerelist

edonover50%othebrandpackagesinthestudysample).

Makingtelevisioncommercialsavailableorviewingona

websiteisanotherwaytolinkmultipleadvertisingmedia.As

partoan integratedmarketingcommunicationsplan, these

brandmessagesarelikelytobebetterrecalledandmoreper-

suasivewhentheyappearinmultipleadvertisingvenues(e.g.,

NaikandRaman2003;ShultzandSchultz2004).


26/57


Prvii exr brdRd Im

Thereareothermethodsthatmarketersmayusetotry

toextendthechildsonlineexperience.Onewayistopro-

videbrand-relatedcontentthatchildrencankeeponcetheyleavethesite. Theseareitems thatcanbedownloaded,or

printedandsaved.Insomecases,suchextrasmayprovide

theopportunityorabrandmessagetobereinorcedoveran

extendedperiodotime.Itcanbeaveryeectivewaytoretain

abrandpresencebeyondtheInternet,andappearstobequite

common.Amongthebrandsinvestigatedhere,76%oered

atleastoneextraitem.Asshownbelow,52%oeredtwoor

more.

Theseextrascantakeavarietyoorms(approximately

70inthisstudy),manymorethanwereanticipatedattheout-

set othis research. Tobetterconvey the rangeo options

available, they havebeen organizedinto10categories, andaresummarizedinFigure8.Althoughmostotheitemsap-

peartobeocusedonplayorentertainment,aewincorporate

aneducationaldimension.AsshownintheFigure,themos

commontypeoextrawasadesktopeaturesuchasabrand

wallpaper,screensaver,ordesktopicon(representing39%o

allitems).Brandreminderssuchaspicturesobrandcharac-

tersorlogoswerealsocommonplace,aswerebrand-related

artactivities,gamesandtoys.

Lessrequent(althoughpresentormultiplebrands)were

healthandwellnessactivities,whichcenteredonexercisetips

orinormation.Avarietyootheractivitiessuchaspartyplan-

ningandshoppinginducementswerealsoobserved,butonly

inasmallnumberocases.

Onthebasisothestudysample,itthusappearsthati

isaverycommonpracticeamongmarketerstocreatebrand-

relatedactivitiesdesignedtoextendbeyondthesitevisit.These

activitiesarewide-ranging,andtypicallyverybrand-centered

Box 7: Brand-related extras

numBer o extrasoered

percentaGe oBrand/sIte paIrs

0 24%

1 24

24 37

5+ 15


27/57


Asaresult,theyhavethecapacitytoreinorceandaugment

thebrandmessagechildrenseeonline.Inessence,thebrand

exposurecannowfowintothechildseverydaylie.

rgig li Prdu cumpi

Anotherwaythattheonlineexperiencecanbeextended

isbycreatingalinkbetweentheweb-basedcontent,andthe

actualconsumptionothebrand.Ratherthansimplyproviding

moreadvertisinginormationorentertainmentviatheInternet,

themarketermayattempttousetheonlinepresencetodirectly

encourageproductusage.

Oneapproachthatamarketermightusetoconnectan

onlineexperiencetoabrandisthroughtheoerospecialin-

centivesorrewardsthatareobtainedintherealworld.Forexample,onbubbletape.comsitevisitorscangetreeNintendo

gametipsbyenteringcodesromspeciallymarkedpackages

o Bubble Tape gum. Similarly, on sillyrabbit.millsberry.com

childrenareencouragedtousethecoderomspeciallymarked

boxesoTrixcerealtosavetheirgamescoreintheHallo

Fameonthewebsite.Incentivessuchasthesecanbeused

tostrengthentheconsumersrelationshipwithabrand,pro-

motebrandloyalty,aswellasenlivenawebsiteexperience.

Inthisstudy39%othesitesoeredprogramsthatencour

ageconsumerstoaccumulatebrandpoints,codes,stampso

universalproductcodelabels(UPCs)ofine.Table10shows

howthesepointscanbeusedoncetheyarecollected.Among

thebrands thatoertheserewards, thevastmajority (97%

oerpointsthatconsumersobtainromtheproductpackage

(38%oallstudysites).

Thus,in almost allcaseswhereapointsprogramis o

ered,itisnecessaryoraconsumertopurchasethebrandin

ordertotakeadvantageoarewardsspecialbenets.Byre-

quiringmultiplepointsortokens,themarketerhopestoestab

lishapatternorepeatpurchase,andultimatelycommitmentto

thebrand.Althoughparentstypicallyactasgatekeepersina

purchasedecision,thereisextensiveevidencetosuggestthatevenyoung childrencanexertsubstantial infuenceover the

productchoicesthataremadewithinahousehold(e.g.,Galst

andWhite1976;Isler,PopperandWard1987).

Inthestudysample,thewebpresencewasusedtoa

cilitate consumption in two essentialways. One approach

was tousethewebsitesimplyasavehicle tocommunicate

inormation about promotions, merchandise discounts, o

premiumsthatareobtainedo-line. So, premiumssuchas

brandedclothingortoysthatcouldbeearnedbysavingUPCs


28/57


mightbeadvertisedonawebsite.Detailsareprovidedasto

whatrewardsorprizescanbeearned(orwon),buttheactual

redemptiontakesplaceofine(typicallyviathemail).27Inthis

case, thewebis usedprimarilyto inorm consumers o the

promotionaloerandpersuadethemtoparticipate.Thisap-proachwasapparentonhalothesitesthatincorporateda

pointcollectionprogram(19%oallsites).Theletcolumno

Figure9illustratesthekindsoitemsconsumersareaskedto

collectandtherewardsavailable.

Asecondapproachusedtoencourageproductconsump-

tiontiesmoredirectlytothewebsitesthemselves.Onapproxi-

matelyonehalothesiteswithapointsoer(or20%oall

studywebsites), rewards are redeemed or entries are input

online.Consumersareencouragedtocollectcodesorgame

piecesromaproductpackagewhichtheycanthenenteron

thewebsite togainaccessto a reward. Here, thewebsitebecomes the actualpurveyorothe reward. So,the link is

orgeddirectlybetweenproductuseandrewardsreceivedon

thewebsite.AsshownintherightcolumnoFigure9,visitors

maygainaccesstodownloadableitems(e.g.,specialscreen-

savers),earnadditionalcustomizableeaturesonthewebsite

(e.g.,itemsoryour roomon the site), acquire thechance

toplaynewgamesoradvancedlevelswithingames,orenter

promotionstowinprizes.Eachotheseislikelytobeattractive

tochildren.

Oneothewebsitesthatincorporateapointsprogramis

postopia.com,whichpromotesPostchildrenscereals.Thisi

acreative,anciulandanimatedworldinwhichthereareman

activitiesandgamestoplay(atthetimethesitewascoded,

thereweremorethan40uniquegamescontainingtwostudbrands).28 Giventhisemphasis,mostotherewardsinvolve

gamingenhancements.Childrenobtainpostokensromthe

insidefapoacerealbox.Ontheoutsideothepackage,there

isapicturelettingpotentialpurchasersknowthatpostokens

arecontainedinside.Tokensarethenenteredonthewebsite

Childrenusetheonlinecoinstounlocksecretlevelsorextra

livesaswellastogainaccess tospecialactivities. Forex

ample,accesstospecialtelevisionbloopersorNickelodeons

Fairly Odd Parentsisavailableonlytothosewhohavetoken

toredeem.29

Through these kindso activities, themarketer has theopportunity to establish a direct connection between the

entertainmentonthewebsiteandactualconsumptionothe

brand.Whenmultiplecodesorpointsarerequired,thereisan

attempttopromoterepeatbrandusage,andithelpstocreate

repeatvisitstothewebsiteaswell.Fromachildsperspective

thereisnowatangiblelinkbetweenwhatbrandtheychoose

andtheunheorshehasonawebsite.Thereissomeresearch

evidenceindicatingthatthismaybeapowerulreinorcement.


29/57


Olderchildren(1112yearolds)mayactuallybemoreattentive

totheentertainmentprovidedbyanadvertisementthanyounger

children(78yearolds),andmorelikelytoallowittoshape

their perceptions o product usage (Moore and Lutz 2000).

So,whenthesiteisentertaining,thebrandmayseemtotaste

better.

expdig Ug oi wih nw Rip

Becauseo itscapacitytoprovidedetailedcontent,the

Internetcanbeanecientandcost-eectivemediumorcon-

veyingnewinormationaboutabrandanditspotentialuses.In

additiontoenlargingmarketdemandbyattractingnewusers,

rmsmayalsotrytoincreaserevenuesbyencouragingnew

usesormorerequentconsumptionamongexistingusers.

Onewaythatoodmarketerscanencourageadditionalin-

terestintheirbrandsisbyprovidingconsumerswithnewand

appealingrecipes.Notonlydoconsumersappreciatethese

eorts,butmarketershavetheopportunitytoexpandpotential

usageoccasionsortheirbrand.Alikelybyproductisincreased

consumerinvolvementwiththebrand.Approximately23%o

thesampleprovidedrecipeseaturingthatbrandasaningredi-

ent.30Forsomeothesebrands,ahugenumberorecipes

appear:therewaswidevariability,rangingromalowotwoup

toamaximumo218recipesperbrand,withanaverageo34.

Theavailabilityonutritionalinormationandtherecipeseaseo

preparation(oraccessibilitytochildren)werealsostudied.

Theseresultssuggestthatwhenrecipesareoered,there

isgenerallyaneorttomakethisactivityoneinwhichachild

mightparticipate.Giventhetypesobrandsunderinvestiga

tioninthisstudy,recipeswerenaturallylimitedtoasubseto

productcategories(e.g.,breadsand pastries,candy,cereal

cookies/crackers,non-carbonateddrinks,othersnacks,pea

nutbutterandjelly,andsotdrinks).Thismayaccountinpartorthelowerrateonutritionalinormationprovided.Notsur

prisingly,recipesweremorecommononsiteswithagenera

audience(64%)relativetothosethatocusmoreexclusivelyo

childrenandteens(11%)(=30.09,p


30/57


WebsIte PRotectIons oR cHIlDRen

Given childrens status as a vulnerable audience, key

stakeholdersagreethatadvertisingtargetingthisgroupmust

beconductedinaairandresponsiblemanner.Youngchil-

drenarereadilypersuadedbecausetheydonotyetpossess

thecognitiveskillsthatenablethemtoullyevaluateadvertisingmessages(seee.g.,John1999orareview).Anyadvertising

targetedatthisgroupthusneedstotakeintoaccounttheir

level omaturity, sophistication and knowledge. This basic

premiseisacknowledgedbymarketers,andisinactoneo

theoundationalprinciplesintheChildrensAdvertisingReview

Unitssel-regulatoryguidelines(CARU2003).

Becausetelevisionhasbeentheprimaryadvertisingmedi-

umusedtoreachchildrenovertheyears,protections(whether

governmental regulations or sel-regulatory eorts) have o-

cusedprimarilyonthatmedium.However,thetechnological

capacityotheInternetallowsornewmodesocommunica-

tion,andasaconsequencetheneedoruniqueormsopro-

tectionsmayarise.Todate,theprimaryemphasishasbeen

placedonprotectingchildrensonlineprivacyviatheChildrens

OnlinePrivacyProtectionAct(COPPA).

At thesame time,CARUhasinstituted aseto general

guidelines(inadditiontoprivacyissues)toadviseadvertisers

onhowto communicatewith childreninanageappropriate

wayontheInternet(seeCARU2003).CARUcontinuestore-

viseandupdatetheseguidelinesasnewusesandpotential

concernsaboutthismediumemerge.Thus,thedevelopmentoexistingprotectionsinthisarearefectsanongoingeort,

andonethatislikelytocontinueintheoreseeableuture.

Oneothegoalsothisstudywastoexaminethekindso

protectivemechanismsthatarealreadyinplaceontheweb-

sites.Threeprimarytypesoapproacheswereidentied:(1)

privacyprotectionsandageblocks,(2)provisionoinormation

orparents,and(3)adbreaksorreminderstochildrenabout

thepresenceoadvertisingonthesite.

Privy Pri d ag b

Asnotedearlierinthediscussionomembershipopportu-nities,marketersarecareultoscreenchildrenundertheageo

13whennecessary.Somesitesdonotrequestanyinorma-

tionatallromthosewhowanttoperusethesite(romeither

adultsorchildren)(e.g.,Hersheyskidztown.com),sothereis

noage-screeningmechanism.Otherscollectonlyverybasic

identiying inormation,suchasa screen name to recognize

sitevisitors,orarstname,andemailaddressthatisusedonly

oncetosendane-cardorgreeting.Stillotherssimplyexclude

childrenunder13romparticipatinginasiteactivitysuchas

registeringonthesite,enteringasweepstakesorpurchasing

productonline.Onallsitesinthisstudywherepersonaldata

isrequestedandchildrenarepermittedtoparticipate,some

mechanismisinplacetomakesurethatyoungchildrendono

submitanypersonalinormationwithoutparentalpermissionForexample,toobtainapassport(register)onKelloggsFunK

townsiteaparentorguardianmustinputacreditcardnumber,

thusmakingitquitedicultorachildtosubverttheprocess.

Somewebsitesdoanage check (byasking or the visitors

birthday)andthenrequestaparentsemailaddressithechild

isunderthirteenyearsold.

Irmi r Pr

Virtuallyallothesitesinthestudy(97%)providedsome

inormationexplicitlylabeledorparents.Typically,therewasa

separatetabon thesiteshomepagethatdirectedvisitorsto

aspecialsectioninwhichparentalinormationwasincluded

Inmanycases,thisinormationwasdirectlylinkedtothesite

rather thanon thesite itsel. Thus,itwas readilyaccessible

(andhenceincludedinthecountshere).

Avarietyotypesoinormationwereincludedontheweb

sites.Table11listseachothetypesandtheirrequencyo

occurrence.AsshownintheTable,amongthesitesthatdo

provideinormationorparents,themostcommonormspeci

edwhatinormationis(orisnot)tobecollectedromchildren

(96%).Thus,sitesthatstatetheirpolicyeitherthroughanex-

plicitstatementothetypesodatatheycollectromchildren,orastatementindicatingthatnoinormationiscollectedrom

childrenonthesiteareincluded inthis total. Ineithercase

parentsareexplicitlynotied.

Legal inormation and disclaimers are also present on

mostsites(91%),aswerestatementsabouttheuse(ornot)

o cookies31 (84%). Explicit statements about compliance

withCOPPAregulationswereoundon76%othewebsites

and47%specied adherenceto CARUsguidelines.32Less

commonweretipsonchildrensInternetsaety(35%).Gener-

allyspeaking,itisreasonabletoconcludethatthereisuseu

inormationavailableorparentsitheychoosetoreviewsitepolicies.Tosupplementtheseeorts,manyothesites(87%

alsoprovideanadditionalmechanismorparentstocontact

thermitheyhavequestionsorconcerns(typicallyacontac

uslinkand/oramailingaddressandphonenumber).


31/57


ad br Rmidr

Oneothelongstandingconcernsaboutchildrenspro-

cessingotelevisionadvertisinghascenteredontheircapacity

todistinguish between editorial andadvertisingcontent. To

helpchildrenmakethisdistinction, theFederalCommunica-

tions Commission (FCC)prohibits program-length commer-

cialsandhostselling(FederalCommunicationsCommission2006).Thesepoliciesareintendedtoavoidmisleadingyoung

audiencememberswhomaybeconusedwhencommercial

charactersorproductsareembeddedin theprogramsthem-

selves.TheFCChasalsotraditionallyrequiredthatadvertisers

insertcommercialseparatorsinprogrammingintendedorchil-

dren(Kunkel2001).Theseareshortsegments(approximately

veseconds)shownbeoreandatercommercialbreaksde-

signedtoremindchildrenwhentheyarewatchingadvertise-

ments,andtoencouragethemtobemorevigilantinhowthey

processthecommercialmessages.

OntheInternet,theboundariesbetweenadvertisingand

othercontentmaybehardertodistinguish.Therearenotthe

naturalbreaksbetweencommercialandnon-commercialcon-

tentwhichtypiytelevision.Thus,thereisgreaterpotentialto

blurthelinesbetweenadvertisingandentertainment.And,the

needtoremindchildrenwhentheyarelookingatadvertising

stillexists.Inact,CARUsguidelines(2003)doseemtosug-

gest that advertisingcontent should beclearly identiedas

suchonproduct-drivenwebsites(p.8).Someadvertisersin

oursample attemptto providesuchreminders. However, it

appearstheyareintheminority.

Onthesitesthatdoprovideareminder,mostbothdene

whatitmeans,andpresentitonmultiplelocationswithinthesite.Forexample,postopia.comrepeatsthereminderonev-

erypageoitsextensivewebsite.Thesereminderscantakea

varietyoorms:examplesareprovidedinFigure10.Itshould

berecognizedhoweverthatnopublishedresearchyetexists

thatshowshoweectivetheseadbreakremindersareor

children.Asresearchonthistopicdevelops,naturalquestions

arisewithregard tothe ormat(s), sizeand placemento re-

mindersthatareworthpursuing.

sUMMaRY anD conclUsIons

Thisstudyistherstsystematicanalysisothecontento

onlineoodmarketingtochildren.Theocushereisononeas

pectotheonlineenvironment,corporatewebsitesthateither

targetchildrendirectlyorcontaincontentthatwouldlikelytobe

ointeresttoyoungchildren(uptoage12).Ouranalysisshowsthatthemajorityooodbrandsadvertisedtochildrenontelevi-

sionarealsopromotedtothemontheInternetthroughthese

websites. Amongan initial set o96 oodbrands (selected

becausetheyareamongtheheaviestadvertisersooodsdur

ingchildrens televisionprogramming),85%hada corporate

orbrandwebsitethatwouldlikelyappealtothisyoungaudi-

ence.33Thereareothermethodsthatmayalsobeusedto

reachthisaudiencesuchasonlineadvertisingthatappearson

popularchildrenswebsites(e.g.,nick.com,neopets.com)and

adsplacedinexistingvideogamesthatarebeyondthescope

othepresentstudy.

Toinvestigateoodmarketerswebsitesin-depth,acon

tentanalysiso82oodbrandsappearingon77dierentweb

sitesandmorethan4,000uniquewebpageswasconducted

(becausesomebrandsappearonmultiplesitesthenalsample

includesatotalo107brand/sitepairs).Thestudywebsites

wereeasytond.Asanexample,over50%listedthewebsite

addressontheproductpackage.Thesesitescontaingames

andother activities thatsignicantly expand childrens expo

suretobrand-relatedcontentbeyondwhattheymightseeina

30-secondtelevisionad.

ThetechnologyotheInternethasenabledcreativenew

orms o marketing communication including advergaming

(video games that embed brand messages within them)

Among thewebsites inthisstudy,73% includedat leaston

advergame(rangingromaminimumoonegamepersitetoa

maximumo67).Intotal,morethan500gamescontainingone

ormoreoodbrandswereavailableonthestudywebsites. 34A

leastonetypeobrandmarkoridentier(e.g.,brandcharacter

productpackage,ooditem,brandlogo)wasincludedin97%

othegamesanalyzedinthestudy,andwasprominentinat

least64%othem.Inadditiontothebrandexposuresduring

gameplay,therewasanaverageotwotypesobrandidenti-ersonallotherpageswithinawebsite.So,whetherchildren

areplayingagameorengaginginotherwebsiteactivities,there

isevidenceocontinuingbrandexposure.

Box 9: ad BreaKs

ad BreaK or ad alert proVIded or chIldren?

y n

18% 82%

I yes, Is the ad BreaK shown on multIplelocatIons wIthIn the sIte?

79% 21%


32/57


Beyondthegames,therewasawidevarietyobrand-re-

latedcontentavailablesuchastelevisioncommercials,media

tie-ins,promotions,viralmarketingandwebsitemembership

opportunities. Fity-three percent o all studywebsites had

televisioncommercialsavailableorviewing.Almosthal(47%),

incorporatedamovie(e.g.,Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith)or

televisionshowtie-in(e.g.,Nickelodeons Fairly Odd Parents).Promotions (e.g., sweepstakes, premiumsor ree gits) that

maybeointeresttochildrenarealsoacommoneaturein

theonlineenvironment,appearingor65%othebrandsinthe

study.However,byvirtueothenatureothesepromotions

childrencannotparticipatewithouttheassistanceorpermis-

sionoparents.

Viralmarketingisalsoincorporatedwithinmanywebsites

toencouragechildrentotalktooneanotheraboutabrands

website.Onapproximately64%othesites,childrenaregiven

theopportunitytosendemailtoriendsintheormoane-

greetingorinvitationtovisitthesite.Thesemessagesaretypi-

callyhighlybrand-ocused,containingabrandname,logoor

brandcharacter.Emaileortssuchastheseareawaytocus-

tomizethesitevisitorsexperience.Websitemembershipsare

another.On25%othestudywebsites,childrenareoered

theoptiontobecomeamember(note:whenpersonalinorma-

tionisrequested,parentalpermissionisrequired).Membership

mayallowaccesstospecialsitebenetssuchasgamingen-

hancements(e.g.,newgames,bonuspoweringames),sneak

peeksatnewbrand-relatedcontent(e.g.,specialoers,new

favors,celebrities)oropportunitiestocustomizesomeportion

othewebspace(e.g.,createmyroomonthesite).

Theonlinespacemayalsobeusedtomakespecicad-

vertisingclaimsaboutabrand,ortoprovidesometypeoedu-

cationalmaterial.For83%othebrandsinthisstudy,oneor

morespecicadvertisingclaimsweremade.Thesemaybe

eitherbenetclaimsrelatedtoattributessuchataste,popular-

ityoruse(e.g.,AmericasavoriteruitygumromJuicyFruit)

ornutritionclaims(e.g.,30%lesssodiumthanourcheddar

goldsh, romPepperidgeFarm). Benet claims are much

morecommon,accountingor80%oallclaimsmade.Apart

romspecicadvertisingclaims,27%othesitesoergeneral

adviceabouteatingahealthydiet,and51%provideinorma-tionsuchasnutritionacts,ingredientlists,orallergens.Ad-

ditionaleducationalinormationisprovidedon35%othesites

ontopicsrangingromhistoricalacts,dinosaurs,astronomy,

sportsorgeographytogeneralnutritionandhealth.Examples

o adveraction,denedhere as theblendingoadvertising

andeducation(e.g.,unactsaboutanimalsonapagewhere

animalcharactersaresaidtoloveHostesssnacks)alsoap-

pearon33%othestudywebsites.

Marketingoerscanbedevelopedtotrytoextendabrand

experiencebeyondaninitialwebsitevisit.Oneapproach,em-

ployedon39%othestudywebsites,istoencourageconsum-

erstocollectbrandpoints,universalproductcodelabels(UPCs)

orstampsbypurchasingspecicbrands.Oncethepointsare

collected,theycanbeusedoravarietyopurposessucha

participatinginpromotions,gainingaccesstonewgames,ointhepurchaseobrand-relatedmerchandise.Throughthese

kindsoincentivesadirectlinkiscreatedbetweenwebconten

andtheconsumptionoaparticularoodbrand.

Asecondapproachthatamarketermightusetoextend

thewebsiteexperienceistoprovidebrand-relateditemstha

canbedownloadedorprintedandsaved.Amongthebrands

inthisstudy,76%oeredat leastoneextraitem(over50%

oeredtwoormore).Theseitemscantakemanyormssuch

asbrand-relatedscreensaversorwallpaperorachildscom-

puter,picturesobrandcharactersorpackages,artsandcra

activities(e.g.,PopsicleStickArt)ortoys(e.g.printablesur-

board).Functioningasbrandreminders,theseextrashav

thecapacitytoreinorceandampliytheproductmessagechil

drenseeonline.

Marketersrecognize that children area vulnerableaudi

enceand thatadvertising targetingthisgroupmustbecon

ductedinaairandresponsiblemanner.Thisisaundamenta

principleotheCARU(2003)sel-regulatoryguidelines.Some

websiteprotectionsorchildrenarecurrentlyinplace.Because

theInternetenablesnewandevolvingmethodsocommuni

catingwithchildren,theneedoruniquetypesoprotectionsorchildrenmayarise.On97%othestudywebsitestherewasin-

ormationspecicallydesignedorparents.Amongthesesites

most (96%)speciywhat inormation isto becollectedrom

children(iany),andalargemajorityprovidelegalinormatio

(91%),statetheircompliancewithCOPPAregulations(76%)

andtheirmanagementocookies(84%)amongotherinor

mation.Themarketersinthisstudywerealsocareultoobtai

parentalpermissionipersonalinormationwasrequestedo

anyreason(e.g.,toparticipateinapromotion,tobecomeasite

member).Therewerenoexceptions.


33/57


OntheInternet,theboundariesbetweenadvertisingand

othercontentmaybe harder or achildtodistinguish. This

mediumdoesnothavethenaturalbreaksbetweencommercial

andnon-commercialcontentwhichtypiytelevision.Yet,the

needtoremindchildrenwh

adv erg am ing

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