Children as Vulnerable Consumers in Online Environments

• Published date: 01 December 2019
• Author: Ann‐Marie Kennedy,Katharine Jones,Janine Williams
• Date: 01 December 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12253

1478 THE JOURNAL OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS

ANN-MARIE KENNEDY, KATHARINE JONES, AND JANINE

WILLIAMS

Children as Vulnerable Consumers in

Online Environments

Children are seen as vulnerable consumers, yet little research has con-

sidered why they are more vulnerable than adults in an online con-

text. This conceptual article uses an ecological paradigm to explore the

underlying mechanisms that bring about vulnerability for children in

general and specically when interacting with online marketer created

material. It does this by using the denition of a vulnerable consumer

outlined by Baker, Gentry, and Rittenburg to focus on how market-

ing inuence creates power imbalance, hinders consumption goals, and

affects personal and social perceptions of self, leading children to be

vulnerable consumers in online contexts. A social ecological concep-

tual framework is presented that demonstrates the interdependence of

children’s vulnerability with the social structure of their environments.

Finally,in discussing how marketers are ultimately the agents in control

of creating a fair marketplace for children online, policy implications

are given.

Children have been identied as a unique group of vulnerable con-

sumers in the online context (Ringold 2005). Due to children being active

co-constructors in their childhoods (Tisdall and Punch 2012), while at the

same time experiencing developmental decits (John 1999, 2008), chang-

ing concepts of self (Sebastian, Burnett, and Blakemore 2008), and having

unique dependence on socialization agents, children have an increased like-

lihood of experiencing transient state-based vulnerability online that differs

from adults or those with other vulnerabilities. Despite this, there are rel-

atively few studies on their vulnerability in marketing and none on their

vulnerability in the online marketplace and thus there is little to guide pol-

icy on marketer/child interactions in this online context.

John’s (1999) theory of consumer socialization predicts that young

children will rely on perceptual characteristics of advertising until around

Ann-Marie Kennedy (ann-marie.kennedy@canterbury.ac.nz) is a Senior Lecturer at University

of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. Katharine Jones (katharine.jones@aut.ac.nz) is Lecturer

at Auckland University of Technology, Mayoral Drive, Auckland, New Zealand. Janine Williams

(janine.williams@vuw.ac.nz) is Lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington, Rutherford House,

Lambton Quay, Wellington,New Zealand.

The Journal of Consumer Affairs, Winter 2019: 1478–1506

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12253

Copyright 2019 by The American Council on Consumer Interests

WINTER 2019 VOLUME 53, NUMBER 4 1479

7, become increasingly analytical between 7 and 11 and by 11–13 be

reective processors, capable of understanding advertising’s persuasive

intent. Early research found children recognize advertisements from as

young as 3, and are competent at recognizing advertising by 5 years in

television environments (Levin, Petros, and Petrella 1982). This supports

this consumer socialization framework and the perceptual reliance of

young children.

More recent work incorporates theories of mind and executive func-

tioning skills to explain children’s cognitive development in relation to

advertising literacy (Moses and Baldwin 2005). This review nds that

while children as young as eight may comprehend the persuasive intent of

advertising, they may not be able to utilize this knowledge until much later.

Evidence from both the traditional and new media environment supports

this prediction, nding that high conceptual (cognitive) advertising liter-

acy does not translate to negative brand attitudes (De Pauw, Hudders, and

Cauberghe 2018; Vanwesenbeeck, Ponnet, and Walrave 2017b), reduced

pester intent (Neyens, Smits, and Boyland 2017), or decreased purchase

requests (De Jans, Hudders, and Cauberghe 2017; Hudders, Cauberghe,

and Panic 2016). This was even the case when children’s conceptual

advertising literacy was increased via disclosure (De Pauw, Hudders, and

Cauberghe 2018; Hudders, Cauberghe, and Panic 2016).

Children are likely to be intentionally and unintentionally exposed to

marketing activities (Brenkert 1998), especially with the advent of the

Internet. Further evidence from the online environment nds advertising

literacy is impaired in the more cluttered and interactive online envi-

ronment. Acquisition of this knowledge comes later (at least 14 years)

than for traditional formats in terms of their recognition of website and

banner advertising (Ali et al. 2009; Vanwesenbeeck, Opree, and Smits

2017a) and conceptual (cognitive) advertising literacy in the context of

advergames (Hudders, Cauberghe, and Panic 2016). Unless children have

a critical attitude to persuasion attempts (Hudders, Cauberghe, and Panic

2016; Rozendaal, Buijs, and van Reijmersdal 2016a), most research nds

they cannot resist the persuasive inuence of online advertising whether

they recognize it or not. Marketing that takes advantage of the greater

vulnerability of children as online consumers is unfair and unethical,

rendering the online context unique to the ofine context and in need of

further explication which this article seeks to provide.

We thus aim to extend the literature, thinking and policy around

the unique context of children’s vulnerability in their interactions with

marketers online. We do this through the development of a conceptual

framework that combines previous understanding of adult vulnerability