An investigation of television advitising risks affecting South African children

Abstract

This study sets out to investigate one of the significant issues in television advertising, namely, how television advertising affects South African children. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether television advertising and its inherent risks affect South African children, as the researcher believed that it was crucial to explore the nature of television advertising directed at children. A quantitative research approach was selected, and a descriptive research design approach was adopted to achieve the purpose of the study, so that it could answer the research questions. The population of this study is learners in Grade 2 to Grade 7, between the ages of 8 and 13 years old; learners (male and female) from 25 primary schools (4 independent and 21 public), with the total (N = 19 651) learner enrolment in the Pietersburg Circuit of the Capricorn District. A sample consisting of 381 learners was selected from the 25 primary schools (4 independent and 21 public) in the Pietersburg Circuit of Capricorn District to take part in the study. Data were collected using a survey questionnaire. The specialist statistician consultancy captured data through the use of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Data were analysed and are presented in the form of narrative reports as well as bar graphs, pie charts and cross-tabulations. Descriptive statistics were used to execute the data analysis. The findings revealed that most of the South African learners/children felt that TV advertisements have a certain level of influence on their behaviour. This was especially the case among those older than 10 years but younger than 13-years old. Both male and female children share the perception that TV overall and advertising on TV influence their behaviour. They stated that children lack the knowledge or skills and the ability to protect themselves against such influences. However, the results suggested that South African children are very often protected from too many negative influences as they agreed that their parents choose which TV programmes they watch, decide on the hours spent watching TV, and that they are strict regarding TV watching. Also, the findings suggested that children in these age groups or the studied grades had neutral perceptions of the value of television advertisements. The study recommends that more studies, locally, regionally, and internationally, are needed on the nature of television advertising directed at children.