Orientation
to TV ads among US & Japanese teens
Adolescents and children in
the US and Japan offer increasingly desirable
market segments for manufacturers the world
over. And considerable advertising efforts are
targeted at the youth market as the kids now
have more disposable income and conviction power
than in the past and are believed to be more
conscious of fashion and brand. A study conducted
to compare the attitudes towards advertising
of the US and Japanese youths revealed that
teens of the two countries differ in important
ways in their TV viewing patterns, amount of
parental mediation, attitudes towards advertising
and preferences for different types of ads etc.
Age-wise
TV viewing pattern
Whereas viewing peaks in early teens and then
falls off through the latter part of high
school in the US, older adolescents in Japan
do more viewing than younger ones. The largest
cultural difference is between 12-year-olds.
The 16-year-olds in both countries watch about
the same amount of TV.
Difference
in TV viewing time
There are several reasons for the acute difference
in viewing time between Japanese and American
12-year-olds. Japanese 12-year-olds take part
in intensive after-school activities such
as music lessons, sports clubs or calligraphy.
More importantly, Japanese 12-year-olds study
very hard for rigorous junior high entrance
exams. Conversely, American 12-year-olds have
few school-related time constraints and do
not need to study for entrance exams. There
are also cultural differences in the amount
of programming available to 12-year-olds.
In Japan, programming considered appropriate
for 12-year-olds is available only in the
late afternoon, until about 5.30 or 6.00 pm.
Japanese prime-time TV is not considered appropriate
for 12-year-olds who often have an early bed
time. A recent study reported that half of
American children/teenagers aged between 10-17
have a TV set in their bedroom. Japanese teens
do not usually have such an unlimited access
to TV. While 78 per cent of US teens reported
having personal access to TV, only 28 per
cent of Japanese teenagers reported individual
access.
Parental
mediation
Both age groups in both the countries have
a similar amount of parental mediation in
viewing. Parents in both countries do about
the same amount of co-viewing with their children,
with more co-viewing done with the 12-year-olds
than with the16-year-olds - both cultures
expect older adolescents to be more independent.
Studies reflect the emphasis on a stronger
non-verbal parental mediation style in Japan,
while American parents are more verbally explicit
about the media use expectations.
Attitudes
towards ads
Differences in exposure to TV, parental overseeing
of media and parental mediation of consumer
behaviour were not paralleled by differences
on the dependent variables of attitudes
towards advertising, purchases due to advertising
and preference for different type of appeals.
Japanese and US teens react in similar ways
to advertising, suggesting that if the ads
are successful in the US they should also
be successful in Japan. In the US, liking
of advertising seems to be just an extension
of the entertainment function of TV viewing.
More the US 12-year-olds view the ads, the
more positive their attitude grows towards
advertising in general. However, the relationship
does not hold for the16-year-olds, suggesting
a shift related to cognitive stage. Perhaps,
as American adolescents gain more consumer
independence, they begin to want TV ads to
serve more instrumental and less entertainment
functions. Younger adolescents in the US view
advertising as primarily entertaining while
older American adolescents and Japanese adolescents
may use advertising to better inform their
consumer behaviour.
The most intriguing finding of this study
is that despite cultural differences in TV
exposure, parental media mediation and consumer
socialisation, there is no difference between
Japanese and US adolescents in their attitudes
towards and preferences for different types
of advertising. Furthermore, early adolescents
do not differ from later adolescents on the
same variables. What do differ are the patterns
of interaction between these variables, suggesting
that Japanese adolescents and American late
adolescents may have more instrumental uses
for advertising, to inform their newly acquired
purchasing freedom. If so, advertisers may
also wish to present more sophisticated arguments
for brand superiority when targeting this
population.
Source: Orientations to TV advertising among
adolescents & children in the US &
Japan, Sherry, John, Greenberg, Bradley and
Tokinoya, Hiroshi, International Journal of
Advertising, No 18, 1999
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