Children’s perceptions of television advertising in urban China

Abstract

Explores the attitudes to TV advertising of Chinese children, the “little emperors/empresses“ who now have enormous influence on the market, largely as a result of the one‐child policy that China adopted in 1979; like children elsewhere, they appear to pay less attention to commercials as they get older and become more sceptical about their truthfulness. Outlines the methodology used in the research, differences between Hong Kong and mainland children, children’s favourite commercials, and their views of advertised versus non‐advertised brands. Moves on to regulation of children’s advertising: unlike many Western countries, there is a lack of specific regulation of TV advertising to children, and the rapid though uneven growth of TV advertising in China has led to irresponsible practices.