Abstract

Advertising normally provides information to consumers about product or service, basically to assist consumers make decisions whether or not to buy the product or service. It is sometimes directed to children who are vulnerable to this commercial message and cannot effectively grasp the meaning because it may be biased and does not give true picture of the product or service. Therefore, it become necessary to understand better the communication processes involved while children watch and react to these advertisements. This paper therefore, examines the content of selected commercial messages to children in Lagos, that is, what and how it is been communicated to them. The sample consists of 430 children, ranging from 5 - 12 years old and their parents. Result from the frequencies calculated indicated that majority of the children were attracted to the music (54%) of the commercial and peer group (25%) play significant role in influencing children purchased demand. The chi-square statistic further revealed that television advertisement does not have significant effect on children (χ² = 0.367, P < 0.05). In the study the parents (45%) also found that majority of the commercials shown to the children have some kind of disclaimer. The study recommended that parent should watch and discuss content of television commercials with the children and tell them what they should look for in those commercials. There is also need for children to play major role in those commercials for it to have better effect on them.

Key words: Commercial messages, disclaimers, peer group, children’s reaction, television product or service.