100 101 O di Ólos O for Ólos by exhaustion. «Generally, children’s advertising purpose is very simple: it is widespread to induce them to torment their parents – and to do that for good5». Behavioural habit translated, by neuromarketing practice, into dual messaging campaigns: advertisings of the same product, diversified for mothers and children, in order to provide attractive and targeted information depending on cognitive power of the listener. In order to focalize paths by which marketing transmits its data to young consumers, Four P are suitable for an easier storage of the most important dynamics of neuromarketing persuasion – because flows of information are inevitable, but mediation capabilities are more urgent than ever. price represents an aspect only apparently referred to, or exclusively influencing, adults in their purchasing decisions. The power of this instrument should not be underestimated in juvenile sector, due to their already mentioned increase, compared to the past, in material or virtual economic availability. promotion plays a fundamental role in many respects. Ads are short, dynamic, colourful and festive, simple and linear. They have been conceived to capture high-stimulation levels, as to spontaneously tune in magic-animistic child thought. Advertisements are able to provide immediate gratification, consequently the persuasive pressure of marketing operations has a more powerful effect on them, right because they are considered weaker from an emotional point of view, especially in early stages of development. In fact, it is well known that «developmental-age psychology and children marketing have long been working side by side6» . Holistic analysis of cognitive development’s evolutionary stages in relation to the world of consumption shows that child is more vulnerable to marketing solicitations up to 7 years, preschool age, in which he is not yet able to take the right distances and rationally evaluate all those marketing operations directly addressed to him. It is this phase in which parental role and educational support, especially at school, are crucial to development of child's critical skills. A kind of care that must persist even up to 8-10 years, age in which cognitive development is not yet complete. Third P belongs to the product. The vast majority of foodstuff whose promotion is directed to younger consumers is deemed unhealthy because of its high content of saturated fat, sodium and simple sugars. We are mainly talking about the Big Five [sweets, breakfast cereals, savoury snacks, fast food, drinks], most popular food categories not only in Europe, but also in North America, Australia and Asia. Through advertising bombardment such products, already cataloged as junk food, are instead highly appreciated by children compared to other healthier ones, like fruits and vegetables, almost never advertised. Beyond these intrinsic characteristics of the product, proper marketing matter concerns extrinsic ones, among which there is packaging. Package consists of an organization of elements [such as shape, color, materials, words, images] telling the product they are keeping. Therefore, packaging has to talk to the consumer, attracting him and helping him choosing in a busy and varied commodity exposure: it allows visual surfacing of the products amidst chaos of supermarket shelves, it facilitates differentiation from competitors, it creates a material contact thanks to linguistic and formal channels, communicating desired values. Last P is the one concerning place. To reach consumers, food products need to pass through a place of purchase whereby user can have a direct contact with goods themselves. It is here that the child begins to build a good part of the cognitive patterns based on consumption: up to 5 years, he sees supermarket as the place to satisfy his desires regarding sweets or snacks, while around 9-10 years he begins to understand the goods’ exhibition criteria, to recognize types of products offered for sale and their main brands. Exchange of information is an inevitable – and training, from a holistic point of view for the growing individual – game to participate. But to maintain its fundamental ludic dimension it is necessary, on the part of the adult, a profound consciousness and knowledge of its most insidious cotés by monitoring, selecting and mediating. A colourful and glittering package, if underestimated in its real content, can dazzle in a sense that could, in the future of his child, become all but pleasant. suggested bibliography To read history, secrets and critical insights about the fast food world, we recommend the reading of Fast Food Nation. The dark side of the all-American meal [whose book was made into the homonymous feature-film, directed by Richard Linklater and starring Bruce Willis and Ethan Hawke, worldwide released in 2006]. For a more academic reading, providing an overview of neuromarketing techniques not only related to the world of nutrition, it is useful to consult Consumer psychology by Nadia Olivero and Vincenzo Russo, both professors respectively at Bicocca and IULM universities in Milan. For a provoking reading, bringing to light the new evolutionary dynamics of the younger generations under attack by marketing, with a warm and reasoned invitation for parents and teachers to react, it is suggested Born to buy: the commercialized child and the new consumer culture. 6 Juliet B. Schor, Born to buy: the commercialized child and the new consumer culture, ed. Scribner, 2005
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