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Thursday 26th October 2006 7:22 am
Mimi Ito: Kids and Commercial Culture
What does “consumerism” mean in an era of Tivo, Internet distribution, niche media markets, and DIY media culture?
Ever since the rise of commercial popular culture for children, parents and educators have worried about what it means for kids to grow up as “consumers.” This used to mean concern about commercials on television that had kids clamoring for junk food and faddish toys. Now with the diversification of children’s media, the growth of alternative distribution channels, and the ability to tailor media input through filesharing and Tivo, kids are growing up in a different kind of commercial media culture. The diverse families we are speaking to as part of our research reveals how complicated these questions about media consumption are in our everyday lives.
In my own household, between Netflix and Tivo, my kids don’t see many commercials. For the shows that they are watching, they go to fan sites, wikipedia, as much as to media industry sites for information. So even though they are “consuming” commercial media, they don’t seem to be living in the same mode of mass consumerism that I was when I was a kid. But I witnessed the power of peer-to-peer marketing when my daughter was introduced to Club Penguin by a friend a few months ago, and she has been bringing her own friends onto the site since then. Unlike Neopets, another massively popular kids gaming site, Club Penguin relies on a membership model for revenue, not advertising. My kids have been clamoring not for the sugary cereals or Disney movies that are advertised on many websites for kids, but rather for the $57.95 yearly membership that would enable them to decorate their igloos and buy clothes for their penguins.
Personalizing media input and penguins are little steps along a longer trajectory towards more customized and activist forms of media engagement. Among
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Anastasia Goodstein
Ypulse
http://totallywiredbook.com
Posted on October 28 2006 3:21 PM
Hi Mimi. Great post! Consumerism for this generation unfortunately has become as natural as the air the breath and the technology they use. I blog about youth marketing every day, and I can tell you there will be very few virtual spaces left that do not have marketers clamouring to get in.
I have less of a problem with this for older teens. They tend to be a bit more media savvy and will reject marketing that is disruptive, inauthentic and does not add value to their digital experiences. They may even punish an advertiser by spreading bad word of mouth about a super annoying pop-up, intrusive text message or an ad that just ruined their in-game experience. On the other hand, whether we like or not, teens are active consumers and tend to really love certain brands (think iPod). So if a brand offers them something online that adds value (something they can customize, extra content that’s interesting, an ad in a game that fits that in-game environment and feels natural to be there to the gamer, etc.), teens will respons positively.
I think for certain virtual worlds, especially for younger kids, a subscription model is the way to go. Parents will pay and the experience will remain pure. Because even when brands try to integrate authentically into the tween space (you mentioned NeoPets), I thought of Toyota Scion in Whyville, I think it’s creating brand awareness (tweens can design their own flying Scions in Whyville, but only Scions...), that I feel younger kids don’t quite have the marketing literacy to understand. At least not without a very involved parent. Teen Second Life is also marketing free at the moment (while adult Second Life is being overrun by brands). They force any adult who wants a presence to set up a separate island where teens can come to them, but they can’t go to the teen grid.
Anyway, more food for thought on this. I love this blog!