We know that kids are being Taught to Prefer Sugar, Fat, Salt, and Fast Food, but we all thought it was mostly TV, radio, and print advertising that is tempting children as young as 2 years old to prefer junk and fast food.
Not so!
There’s a whole new universe of marketing and advertising used to target children and adolescents – digital marketing. These are sophisticated online and social media marketing techniques!
OK, you ask, what IS digital marketing?
- Augmented reality, online gaming, virtual environments, and other immersive techniques that can induce “flow,” reduce conscious attention to marketing techniques, and foster impulsive behaviors
- Social media techniques that include surveillance of users’ online behaviors without notification, as well as viral brand promotion
- Data collection and behavioral profiling designed to deliver personalized marketing to individuals without sufficient user knowledge or control
- Location targeting and mobile marketing, which follow young peoples’ movements and are able to link point of influence to point of purchase
- Neuromarketing, which employs neuroscience methods to develop digital marketing techniques designed to trigger subconscious, emotional arousal
Public Health Law & Policy has put together a new report detailing these tactics and includes research on the impact they are having on teenagers’ behavior.
Get your copy and read it carefully!