NO NEED TO FEAR NUCLEAR POWER

NO NEED FEARING NUCLEAR POWER

Some people are a bit skeptical of the idea that Kenya is planning to build its first nuclear plant by 2022 to boost its domestic energy consumption. In the last concluded 3^rd Conference on Nuclear Energy in Africa held in Kwale, a member of the Departmental Parliamentary Committee on Energy, Communication and Information Hon. Richard Tongi was quoted saying that Kenya is not yet ready to have nuclear power.

What are some of the things that makes many people fear nuclear power? According to a survey done by member of staff at Kenya Nuclear Electricity Board, majority of Kenyans do not understand the whole meaning of  generation of electricity using nuclear power. To some, using nuclear power means making of nuclear bomb and that means preparing for war. However, for a few educated elite groups, their arguments against nuclear energy   are based on its cancerous brought about by emissions of radioactive radiations from the nuclear power plant reactors. Others, base their arguments on the probability of nuclear reactors being a target for terrorist attack.

Generally, a nuclear reactor works by using the energy that is released when the nucleus of a heavy atom splits. That process is called fission. In reactors, fission occurs when uranium atoms are hit by slow-moving neutrons. Absorbing these excess neutrons sometimes causes the atoms to break apart. As the nucleus splits, it releases energy, in the form of heat. In a boiling water reactor, this heat becomes steam, which drives turbines to generate the electricity.

About the fear of cancerous effect, it is true that radiations released from nuclear reactors can cause cancer. As radioactive material decays, or breaks down, the energy released into the environment has two ways of harming a body that is exposed to it. It can directly kill cells, or it can cause mutations to DNA. If those mutations are not repaired, the cell may turn cancerous as said by Kathryn Higley, director of the Oregon State University department of nuclear engineering and radiation health physics.

Nonetheless radioactive emissions is short-lived and will be around for only about two months after an exposure, said Andre Bouville of the National Cancer Institute,  who has studied radiation doses from the fallout of the 1986 Chernobyl explosion in Ukraine. So, if the exposure to the air comes after that time, radioactive and more specifically iodine, does not pose a health risk, said Bouville. It also need a huge amount of radiation for it to cause a health risk. For example, no increase in cancer rates were observed after the release of radioactive from a power plant on Three Mile Island in USA in 1979.

Nuclear power plants routinely produce radioactive gases and liquid wastes during normal operations. A plant has tanks designed to store gas and liquid radioactive materials that are generated during normal operation. The radioactive elements are retained for occasionally before they are used for reaction to reduce the threat of emission of radioactive radiations. During normal operations, penetrating radiation emitted from the radioactive materials in the reactor and in the systems and buildings of the plant are not able to expose someone outside the boundary of the plant. Nevertheless, in any plant radiation monitors are placed on the fence line surrounding the site to directly measure any radiation leakages that might occur.

In countering the terror scare Kenya Nuclear Electricity Board, executive chair, Hon. Ochilo Ayacko, recently said that the plant reactors will be designed to withstand the impact of airplanes and bombs just not to mention the heavily armed security that will be guarding the various sites. This will happen after the new legislation passed by parliament that will oversee the board mandated with overseeing operations of the yet to be established nuclear power plant(s) such as safety, inspection of sites and issuing of licenses as well as cancellation.

Fukushima accident also had installed a lot of fear among many governments in starting of nuclear power plants towards generating of electricity.  Climate Change Scientist, James Hansen, says that the plant at Fukushima was built to withstand only a 3 meter Tsunami using the old technology that proved to be disastrous. However with the current new technology, in case of tsunami or earthquake occurrence, the plant can easily shut down itself and cool down without power, says Hansen. In the case of Fukushima the reactors could not cool down without the power. This means therefore there are very minimal risk if any associated with nuclear power compared to advantages that are more than enough. 

Recommendation Letter for Housekeeping job

15^thJanuary, 2015

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

REF: RECOMMENDATION LETTER FOR CAROLINE 

This letter is my personal recommendation for Caroline Atieno Ang’weny. Caroline worked under my supervision from 15^th May, 2013 until 1^st January, 2015 as Guest Room Attendant. I found her to be consistently pleasant, tackling all assignments with dedication and a smile.

Besides being a joy to work with,Caroline is a creative person who is able to give solutions as well as come up with innovative approaches to her assigned duties. I was very impressed with Caroline’s ability to complete all assigned work in a timely and professional manner. Caroline would begin and, in most cases, complete her tasks earlier than her peers. She has successfully developed several housekeeping tactics in our hospitality industry that have resulted in efficient service delivery and customers satisfaction.

During her employment, Caroline proved to be an efficient, hardworking and punctual employee. Though she was an asset to our housekeeping department, Caroline was also extraordinarily helpful in other departments because of her efforts in motivating other employees.

I highly recommend Caroline for employment. She is a team player and would make a great asset to any organization.

Feel free to contact the undersigned for any additional information or clarification.

Yours sincerely,

Head of Department (H/K),

 For xxx Hotel.

IMPACT OF TELEVISION ADVERTISING ON CHILDREN’S INFLUENCE TOWARDS THEIR PARENT PURCHASES: A CASE STUDY OF CHILDREN IN CHUKA TOWN

IMPACT OF TELEVISION ADVERTISING ON CHILDREN’S INFLUENCE TOWARDS THEIR PARENT PURCHASES: A CASE STUDY OF CHILDREN IN CHUKA TOWN


ABSTRACT

Children usually play a major role in decision making when it comes to purchase of household items. They influence their family purchasing decision. The influence is sometimes impacted by adverts that they see on television or hear through radio. This study was to find out the impact of television advertising on children’s influence towards their parent purchases. The research design used in this study was case study design. This is a study that seeks to describe a unit of study in detail, in context and holistically. It is a way of organizing educational data and looking at the object to be studied as a whole. In a case study, a great deal can be learned from a few examples of the phenomena under study. Children in Chuka town in Tharaka-Nithi County were used as case study through their parents who were the respondents. This is because some children below five years could not read and even understand the content of the questionnaire that was used for data collection. A sample population of 30 respondents was used in this study. Out of these, 20 were males whereas 10 were females. Questionnaires were administered physically by the researcher. Where there were challenges of literacy, the researchers posed the questions to the respondents and filled in the questionnaires. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Percentages were used to analyze data. The study revealed that television advertising has a lot of impact on children towards influencing their parents’ purchases. According to the study, children influence their parents purchasing decision mainly on food items. Since the influence is catalysed by advertisement, the researcher recommends that advertisers should not use children in their adverts and that there should be no deception in the message content for adverts on products that target children.

TABLE OF CONTENT

ABSTRACT iv
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES vii
ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYM ix
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND THE STUDY 1
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1
1.2 Statement of the problem 3
1.3Objectives of the study 4
1.3.1 General objective 4
1.3.2Specific objectives 4
1.4Research questions 4
1.5 Hypothesis of the study 5
1.6Justification of the study 5
1.7Limitation of the study 5
In this study some limitations came to play. Finances were not adequate in printing of literature materials during the study. The six-month research period provided was inadequate to conduct the research due to demands of course work. Another limitation was the difficulties in filling in questionnaires that were used in the study among parents who could not read and write. 5
1.8 Scope of the study 5
CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW 6
2.1 Introduction 6
2.2Theoretical Framework 6
2.2.1. Hypodermic needle theory 7
2.2.2 AIDA 9
2.3 Conceptual framework 10
A conceptual framework is typically derived from theoretical framework (Mutai, 2000). It shows relationship between concepts. The relationship as Glatthorn (1999) stipulates, are often presented visually in a fashion chart, web diagram or other types of schematic representation. According to Mutai (2000), a conceptual framework explains facts and their relationship. 10
2.4.1 Presentation of advertising message 13
2.4.2Attitude of children towards televised adverts 15
2.4.3Understanding of televised adverts content 16
2.4.4Recognition of bias and deception in advertising 18
2.4.5 Items bought by parents when they go for shopping 19
2.4.6 Influence of children on purchasing decision 19
2.4.8 Family income level 22
2.4.9 Summary 23
CHAPTER 3 - RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 25
3.0 Introduction 25
3.1 Research design 25
3.2 Target Population 26
3.3 Sampling frame 26
3.4 Sampling technique and sample 27
3.5 Research Instruments 27
3.6 Data collection procedure 28
3.7 Pilot tests 28
3.8 Validity 28
3.9 Reliability 29
3.10 Data Processing and Analysis 29
CHAPTER 4 - DATA COLLECTION, ANALYZING AND PRESENTATION 30
4.0 Introduction 30
4.1 Data collection instruments 30
4.2 Methods of data analysis 31
4.3 Data/information presentation 31
4.3.1 Establish how advertising message is presented on television. 31
4.3.2 Determine the attitude of children towards televised adverts. 34
4.3.3 Household items that parents buy when they go for shopping and influence of children on purchase of those household products 35
CHAPTER 5-SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 41
5.1 Introduction 41
5.1 Summary of the findings 41
5.3 Conclusions 42
5.4 Recommendations 43
5.5 Suggestions for Further Studies 43
REFERENCES 44
APPENDICES 54
APPENDIX A 54
Transmittal letter 54
APPENDIX B 56
QUESTIONNAIRE 56
APPENDIX C 60
BUDGET 60
APPENDIX D 61
WORK PLAN 61

 
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 1: Conceptual framework diagram 12
Figure 2: Bar graph showing percentage of respondents of advertising message presented on television 32
Figure 3: Bar graph showing responses of advertising message presented on television as shown on the bar graph below 33
Table 1: Attitude of children towards televised adverts 34
Figure 4: Pie chart showing proportion of household items that parents buy when they go for shopping 36
Figure 5: Pie chart showing proportion of respondents influenced by their children to buy household items 37
Figure 6:Pie chart showing proportion of items that children influence their parents to buy 38
Figure 7:Pie chart showing proportion of how helpful items that respondents bought as a result of being influenced by their children. 38

 
ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYM

AIDA Attention, Interest, Desire, Action

 

CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND THE STUDY

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Advertising is a structured and composed non-personal communication of information, usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature, about products (goods, services, and ideas) by identified sponsors through various media (Arens, 2006). Advertising is directed to groups of people rather than individuals. These people could be consumers who buy products for their personal use or consumers who have an influence to the purchasers of the advertised products. One of the most common long-term complaints about advertising is that there is just too much of it (Arens, 2006). Many companies are competing for attention for their products and this has led to clutter of advertisements.
Advertising is persuasive in order to attract the targeted consumers to a product, service, or idea. It reaches the target audience through various media such as television (Arens, 2006). Television advertising has numerous advantages over other media, including creativity and impact, coverage and cost effectiveness, captivity and attention, and selectivity and flexibility (Belch & Belch, 2004). Research shows that on an annual basis, children spend more time in front of the television than any other activity except for sleep (Dietz, 1990). This makes many children to be exposed to television adverts.
On average, children see tens of thousands of TV commercials each year. This includes many adverts for unhealthy snack foods and drinks. Children and youth see, on average, about 2,000 beer and wine adverts on TV each year (Boyse, 2010). There has been a long-standing debate as to whether advertising targeted at children should be permitted (Macklin, 1987). Those who oppose a ban on television advertisements targeted at children argue that there is established research demonstrating that children can distinguish advertising from television programs even at the age of four ( Macklin, 1987). Livingstone (2004) considers age trends in children’s developing understanding of advertising, noting the broad conclusion from developmental psychology that children begin to learn to discriminate adverts from programmes at around 4 years old. Experts say that between three or three and a half months, children start to believe that brands communicate their personal qualities, for example, that they’re cool, or strong, or smart. Reaching their second birthday, they’re asking for products by brand name (Giroux 2009).
According to Arens (2006) while most children and parents are still joint consumers, more and more children are becoming sole decision makers. Children, normally will ask their parents or guardians to buy them products that they have seen being advertised on the television when the advertised product is being aired. Not because it is a necessity but simply because they believe the advertised product match what they need in life, for example growth. The parents also have occasionally fallen victims of buying products their children have demanded not because they had planned but because of the pressure mounted on them by their children (Mehrotra & Torges, 1977). This happens after the children or a child has seen the advertised product on the television.
Young children do not understand that the main aim of advertisers is to make their products sell so they even employ deceiving words to nudge their target audience (Arens, 2006). Children are not mature enough to differentiate what is right and wrong. Hence they will follow everything that is broadcasted on television advert. They tend to believe that whatever advert they see on television is true (Arens, 2006). What they see in the advert will be brought up into their daily lives as well.
Various reviews of the literature have been published for example Young (1990) and Adler et al. (1980) that suggest that any advertising directed at children exploits their vulnerability. Studies have been done on how children understand the advertising content and found that only few older children understand the persuasiveness of advertising content (Andronikidis & Lambrianidou, 2008). Other related studies have been done on the effect of television viewing on children’s conceptions about nutrition and health (Lears, 1992). In contrast to many previous research efforts, this study attempts to find out how parents have been influenced by their children to buy certain products advertised on television.


1.2 Statement of the problem
In recent years, there has been rise in purchase especially among parents on products that are meant for children and family in general (Mehrotra & Torges, 1977). Some parents who purchase the products have been influenced by their children to purchasing the products. Other parents have ended up buying products that have caused health complications to their children, not because they wanted to but because their children wanted their parent to buy them the product. Despite this effect, most of the time you find that in a family a child determines what type of food components the family members take in a meal (Mehrotra & Torges, 1977). Some parents have assumed this responsibility to their children not knowing that young children are not mature enough to differentiate what is right and wrong (Boyse, 2010). The decision made by children to influence their parents to buy certain products such as food stuff, toys or even clothes is prompted by the adverts seen on television. If parents do not choose for themselves what is good for their children but rather rely on their children to make their own decisions, then the behaviour of children will be affected by the televised adverts. This will change the nurturing responsibility of the parents. As a result the future generation will be indecisive as they will rely on adverts from television to make choices of what to buy for themselves and their children. This is detrimental for development of an individual because they might end up buying things that they don’t need.


1.3Objectives of the study

1.3.1 General objective
The main objective of the study was to investigate how children influence their parents to buy certain products that they see advertised on television.

1.3.2Specific objectives
The specific objectives of this study were:
1. To establish how advertising message is presented on television.
2. To determine the attitude of children towards televised adverts.
3. To find out the various kinds of household items that parents buy when they go for shopping.
4. To examine the influence of children on purchase of household products.

1.4Research questions
The following research questions were formulated from the objectives of the study:
1. How is advertising message targeting children presented on television?
2. What is the attitude of children towards advertising messages presented on television?
3. What kind of household items do parents buy when they go for shopping?
4. Do children play a role in the purchase of household items?

1.5 Hypothesis of the study
There is a significant relationship between items that parents buy when they go for shopping and what their children see advertised on television.

1.6Justification of the study
Acknowledging that commercials are one way of increasing sales in an attempt to make profits to advertisers; the findings of this study would help parents to cease relying on children’s influence when it comes to buying house hold items which the children have seen advertised on television, hence help them make purchase dependent on priorities and financial capabilities.

1.7Limitation of the study
In this study some limitations came to play. Finances were not adequate in printing of literature materials during the study. The six-month research period provided was inadequate to conduct the research due to demands of course work. Another limitation was the difficulties in filling in questionnaires that were used in the study among parents who could not read and write.

1.8 Scope of the study
The study was carried out in Chuka Town, Tharaka-Nithi County. Chuka Town has an area of 169 square kilometers with a population size of about 8126. Respondents were parents who buy household items and children who are affected by the advertising content.


CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
This chapter entails review of literature related to the study as well as theories that the study falls under, formulation of a conceptual framework, highlights of existing literature related to the study, summarizing the reviews and determining research gaps.

2.2Theoretical Framework
There is no universally accepted definition of the term theory. Different writers have defined theory in different ways. But as a researcher my concern was to make judgment at which theory was fitting. Glatthorn (1999) state that a theory is a series of concepts organized into assumptions and generalization that tend to hypothesize about a phenomena. Cresswell (1994) define theoretical framework as simply a set of concepts and a proposed relationship among structures that is intended to present or model something about the world. The theoretical framework guides me as a researcher in the problem area and facilitates understanding and aids in providing a basis for predicting what might occur. A theoretical framework is an essential tool of research in stimulating the advancement of knowledge still further (Verma and Breed, 1981).
This study was based on the following theories:
i. Hypodermic needle theory
ii. AIDA theory
The leading theory emphasized for this study was hypodermic needle theory.


2.2.1. Hypodermic needle theory
According to Katz and Lazarfeld (1955), the theory is rooted in 1930s behaviorism and is viewed by many to be obsolete today. Again, Katz and Lazarfeld stated that the phrasing ‘hypodermic needle’ is meant to give a mental image of the direct, strategic, and planned infusion of a message into an individual. This theory explains how media posses the power in mobilizing and changing the physiological and psychological way of thinking and living among the people that are exposed to it. The effects can be grouped into a criterion of timing, content, type, explanatory mechanisms and direct and indirect effect (Katz and Lazerfeld, 1955).According to Dana Griffin (2013), the theory claims that information, passes into the audience members’ consciousness as a mass or single entity, without regard for individual opinions, experiences or intelligence. It then has the power to influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by ‘shooting’ or ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response.

Both images used to express this theory (a bullet and a needle) suggest a powerful and direct flow of information from the sender to the receiver. The bullet theory graphically suggests that the message is a bullet, fired from the "media gun" into the viewer's "head" (Berger 1995). With similarly emotive imagery the hypodermic needle model suggests that media messages are injected straight into a passive audience which is immediately influenced by the message. They express the view that the media is a dangerous means of communicating an idea because the receiver or audience is powerless to resist the impact of the message (Berger 1995). There is no escape from the effect of the message once one has interacted with it through the mass media. The population is seen as a sitting duck. People are seen as passive and are seen as having a lot media material "shot" at them. (Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet, 1968). Public is vulnerable to the messages shot at them because of the limited communication tools and the studies of the media's effects on the masses at the time (Davis & Baron 1981).They often think that what is presented on the media is true.
Exposure to media content can have an effect which may last for a short period, long period or at times, for a life-long period. This is an occasion through which depending on the number of times that an individual is exposed to an advert and the extent of the concentration over that particular time. This can change the beliefs and attitudes as well as the cultural fundamentals of a particular group of people. It could however be said that, the longer a person is exposed to the media content the more it determines how long that effect would be on the person. This shows how the hypodermic effect needle could harm an individual. The more you receive the injection over a long period of time, the higher your risks of adapting the status quo as part of you and normal even when it might not be the case (Atawura, 2010).
Mostly, the content of the media that are talked about include obscenity, the media and the effects of advertisement on children (Atawura, 2010). It is believed on the authority of the media to hold the ultimatum to the dissemination of right information and because of that many people do not take any care to analyze the content and source of the information. This causes the audience to take whatever the media provides, whether it is good for them or not. Moreover, many people are cleaned from what they do and do not do and put in them a new sense of way of belief that what the media provides is good and devoid of negativity (Atawura, 2010). According to Philip Atawura (2010), children exposed to adverts are brainwashed into believing that aliens used to advertise certain goods, when they purchase their products, they would be like them.

2.2.2 AIDA
AIDA was created by Strong in 1925 and is a behavioural model that has as purpose to ensure that an advertisement raises awareness, stimulate interest, and leads the customer to desire and eventually lead to an action (Hackley, 2005).
The model is seen as a highly persuasive and is said to often unconsciously affect our thinking
(Butterfield, 1997).With the AIDA model, Strong suggests that for an advertisement to be effective it has to:
1. Command Attention
2. Lead to Interest in the product
3. And then to Desire to own or use the product
4. Lead to Action (Mackay, 2005)
For the advertisement to contribute to success it has to be designed so that the customer passes through all these four phases, with all being equally important. The model implies that advertising should inject memorable and believable messages that will make consumers triggered to act in a certain way (Brierley, 2002).According to the theory, before a person takes an action to buy a product, he/she must first pass the first stage of attention where he/she notices the existence of the product in the market. The person then shows an interest into purchasing the product and then the desire to use the product after which he/she takes the action to buy the product.

The model may be seen by many as the strongest advertising theory, but has long been criticized by different sections of the advertising community. According to critics, they claim that there is no evidence that customers behave in this rational, linear way. They mean that mass media advertising in general fail to stimulate desire or action. The model ignores the role of context, environment and mediation in influencing the effectiveness of the advertisement. The advertising world has because of this, lately turned into focus more on the two main behavioural responses: awareness and interest. They mean that all four phases are not equally important and to be successful the advertiser has to look further into the behavioural phases (Brierley, 2002).
Another criticism that the model has met is that it represents only high-involvement purchases. According to AIDA customers always goes through this rational process when buying products, but many say that purchases more often are spontaneous (Hackley, 2005).
2.3 Conceptual framework
A conceptual framework is typically derived from theoretical framework (Mutai, 2000). It shows relationship between concepts. The relationship as Glatthorn (1999) stipulates, are often presented visually in a fashion chart, web diagram or other types of schematic representation. According to Mutai (2000), a conceptual framework explains facts and their relationship.
The conceptual framework below underscores the fact that, both parent and children do purchases for products which they use at personal level and for home use. The purchase is greatly dependent on the content that they see being advertised more specifically on television which influences their purchasing decision. Television is used to transmit the advertising message that in turn influences the purchase of both children and their parents.
Not all products that are advertised and are seen by parents or children will be bought by individuals who are exposed to it but rather the purchase will depend on a number of intervening factors. Purchase of a product will only be done when there is enough money to purchase the same. Both children and their parents will buy products they saw advertised on the television only when they have money. The overall purchase of household goods or of family will be majorly influenced by children who at the time of wanting to buy individual personal items were limited due to financial constrain.
Other intervening factors are religion, age and gender. In religion, for example Islam, pork advert will not be taken seriously as both parents and children are not likely to buy products from the same as it will compromise their religion. Gender is another intervening factor that determines the purchase of both parents and children, for example in children purchases; girls are likely to buy baby dolls whereas boys are likely to buy toy guns.
In this framework, parent purchases and children purchases are the dependent variable while influence and televised adverts are independent variables. Intervening factors are financial status of family; religion and gender.




2.4.1 Presentation of advertising message
According to Wikipedia, (2013) commercial advertisement on television is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization, which conveys a message, typically to market a product or service. The vast majority of television advertisements today consist of brief advertising spots, ranging in length from a few seconds to several minutes. Advertisements of this sort have been used to promote a wide variety of goods, services and ideas since the invention of television.

Many television advertisements feature songs or melodies or slogans designed to be striking and memorable, which may remain in the minds of television viewers long after the span of the advertising campaign (Wikipedia, 2013).

Marketers recognize that ‘impact’ is important when promoting products to children (Clark, 1997). Verbal communications mean very little at this age so marketers rely on graphic techniques such as innovative, colourful and exciting packaging combining appropriate symbols and characters (Sensbach, 2000) in order to direct attention towards their products in television adverts. To keep children interested in a promotion, marketers rely on the use of eye-catching and action-filled advertising (Matthews, 1997). Character-merchandising is another useful strategy for younger children who respond well to friendly, age-appropriate characters with whom they can form bonds (Clark, 1997). Such strategies are less appropriate for slightly older children (aged 8-12 years) who are moving towards adult tastes (Acuff, 1997).

Advertising planners recognize that adolescence reflects an important time of change for young people who become increasingly selective about what interests them. They know that creating appealing promotion for children requires a different approach and that social acceptance is extremely important (Matthews, 1997). Because teenagers are extremely image-conscious and keen to affiliate with particular social groups they are particularly sensitive to the power of branding. Advertisers therefore create sophisticated promotions and brands that contain symbolism and imagery relevant to and consistent with the social norms of the target group.

Studies show that real life and animated characters are affected in attracting children’s attention to television programming and advertising. Characters attract positive responses when children identify features about the characters they like (young children in particular); or identify emotionally with characters (older children in particular); and are positively associated with memory of and attitudes towards products advertised (Mc Neal, 1992).

Empirical evidence indicates that premium offers work to attract children and create in the product. Although premiums may affect children’s interest in and preferences for products, behavioural outcomes, such as request and purchases do not necessarily follow as a result (Brand, 2007). Children who are exposed to television advertising are exposed to new ideas about product that interest them. Simple correlation research in the US indicates that children in pre-operational stage (typically aged to two to six) who view more television advertising, request products more (Brand, 2007).

Atkin (1975) state that the use of animation techniques in television food adverts was found to be particularly strongly associated with children’s food adverts in comparison to non-food adverts aimed at children and adult-oriented food adverts. The use of animation or mixed formats was seen as being an indicator of the “light” or “humorous” tone of children’s food adverts; much less humour was observed in both adult-oriented adverts and non-food adverts aimed at children (Atkin, 1975).

Companies targeting children are keen to create foster and develop brand loyalty among young people to encourage continued, regular consumption (Valkenburg, 2000) when advertising on television. At around the age of 8 years, there is evidence that children are beginning to respond to advertising in a more sophisticated way. At this stage, they start to evaluate and consider the messages to which they are exposed and are capable of responding to them in a more mature and informed way (John, 1999).

2.4.2Attitude of children towards televised adverts
Livingstone and Helsper (2004) reviewed research on the formal features of television advertisements directed to children. They noted that different age groups responded to different formal stimuli in commercial. For example, colours and characters tended to attract and affect young children, and message text attracted older children. This research indicates that advertising may be created for children with their cognitive abilities in mind to leverage or accommodate their stage of cognitive development. Livingstone and Helsper (2006) conclude that there was little empirical evidence cited in support of the claim that younger children are more vulnerable to advertising influence. Lewis and Hill (1998), cited in Livingstone and Helper (2006) found that children continued to be influenced by advertising even as they become more cynical, as did adolescents. Livingstone and Helper conclude that precisely because literacy levels vary with age, different processes is not useful in explaining children’s response to advertising and its influence.

Christian Derbaix and Claude Pecheux (2003) formulated a scale to assess the attitude of children towards advertising in general. Several studies on children and advertising have examined children’s ability to distinguish deception in advertising. One study found out that children can be effective decision makers, as they are capable of forming attitudes on the basis of information presented in television commercials (Deborah, Brian & Bobby, 1983).

2.4.3Understanding of televised adverts content
While many marketing practitioners tend to believe that children as young as three or four years of age understand the persuasive intents in adverts (Donohue, 1980) several others hold a contrary view. They maintain that children are generally unable to understand adverts’. Persuasive agenda and thus tend to become easy targets for commercial persuasion (Wilcox, 2004). While older children may understand the inherent bias of advertising, younger children fail to do so and tend to interpret commercial claims and appeals as accurate and truthful information (Kunkel, 2004). Those who have positive attitude towards an advertisement tend to actually purchase the advertised product themselves or request their parents to purchase it; and those who have negative attitude towards it may simply ignore the advert and do not take any step to purchase the advertised product (Evra, 1990).

John (1999), in his study, exposed that when children were asked whether commercials always tell the truth, older children tend to be skeptical. He found out that 88% of third graders and 97% of sixth graders believe that advertising does not always tell the truth (John, 1999). Although, at the age of 8, children might be able to understand a lot about the intentions behind advertisements but they still have problems until the age of 12 years (Marshall, 2010).
In research findings on television advertising to children by Jeffrey Brand (2007), the findings were cognitive development mediates children understanding of television advertising and their response to advertising. Other factors, such as parental intervention, media literacy, consumer experience and advertisement separators each play a role in helping children understand television advertising directed to them.

According to Brand (2007) there are two critical stages that make children’s capacity to understand important qualities of television commercials: at five or six years of age, when the majority of children begin to be able to distinguish advertising from program content and around seven, when children begin to recognize the persuasive intent of advertising. However Brand states that children aged two to six tend to view commercials as a form of ongoing entertainment in the line with the programs they are watching. He states further that cognitive development is the demonstrated leading mediator of children’s response to advertising
Beginning around the age of two, children taken shopping by their parents begin to make requests for product during shopping visits (Mc Neal, 1992). Children at this age begin to nag and negotiate with their parent for items demonstrating their focus on self and single qualities or aspects of a product such as its advertised fun (Valkenburg & Cantor, 2002).By the time children are three years of age, they may start to exercise selection of product with their parent’s permission and supervision and sometimes make independent purchases or product selection decisions with parental supervision (Mc Neal, 1992). It is not until about the age of five those children can demonstrate very simple awareness of advertising as distinct from television programming. At the age of six to 11 years children are beginning to understand the persuasive intent of message and the purpose of advertising; and having the ability to explain the persuasive purpose of advertising to others (John, 1999).

In the period between ages 11 and 14, older children and younger adolescents demonstrates higher levels of cognitive processing and these, more than the assistance of training or the intervention of others, contribute to higher order of the sole and function of advertising messages (Robertson & Rossister, 1974).
Younger children have been found to be more confident about the advertised product than their older counterparts who tend not to rely on the quality of the advertised product (Chan and McNeal 2002). Their skepticism about the credibility and truthfulness of adverts in the midst of ad clutter do not allow them to develop positive attitude towards adverts (Rieken and Yavas, 1990).
2.4.4Recognition of bias and deception in advertising
According to John (1999), when children reach 8 years of age and have some understanding of intent, children also begin to recognize bias and deception in advertising. For example, in the Robertson & Rossiter (1974) study, 64.8% of 6-7 year old children reported ‘trusting all commercials’ compared with only 7.4% of 10-11 year olds. Older children are also more capable of reasoning why advertising might be untruthful and provide sophisticated reasons for the motives underlying the bias. With an understanding of advertising’s intent and an ability to recognize bias and deception in adverts, children have been shown to be less trusting and display less liking for advertising. Robertson and Rossiter (1974) also reported dramatic differences in children’s liking for ‘all advertisements’ among different age groups with only 25.3% of 10-11 year old children reporting liking all adverts compared with 68.5% of 6-7 year olds.



2.4.5 Items bought by parents when they go for shopping
From the literature available on this topic, researchers have shown that children have exercised a good deal of influence on the parents’ decisions for buying products, especially among consumables such as breakfast cereal, aerated drinks, fruit juices, and popular electronic goods such as mobile phones. In contrast, children have less influence on decision making for products that are used by the entire family, especially for high cost products, such as cars, furniture and life insurance (Foxman and Tansuhaj, 1988). There are other cases observed where children have influenced their parents to buy a car for the family.

2.4.6 Influence of children on purchasing decision
Rossiter (1978) distinguishes between active and passive influence. Active influence means that the child wants to influence purchase decisions in a direct way by recommending, hinting and/or asking for things (McNeal, 1999).Passive dictation, on the other hand, means that parents are influenced by what they experience their children prefer or need (Wells, 1965). A mother experiencing that her toddler enjoys a specific meal will be more increased to buy or cook this particular food again (Mehrotra & Torges, 1977). Passive influence is mostly unconscious and as a consequence it becomes difficult to observe and measure, therefore, the current study focuses exclusively on active influence.

Ward and Wackman (1972) explored the degree to which children had influence on family decisions about the purchase of various products or services. A questionnaire was sent to 132 “upper and middle/upper classes” mothers of children aged between five and 12 years (Ward & Wackman, 1972). Ward and Wackman (1972) showed that media, especially television, was influential in mothers’ consumer decisions. Children had influence on their mothers’ purchases of products or services, and the relevant decisions of the children were aligned with the consumption trends promoted through television adverts (Ward & Wackman, 1976).

McNeal (2003) found that on average in the United States, children between the ages of four and 12 had an influence on their parents’ buying that was worth 130 billion dollars. Children’s influence on their parents’ buying patterns was varied with each sub-decision stage (Commuri & Gentry, 2000). Children who were “initiators” exerted greater influence on their parents in decisions on buying household products than their non-initiator counterparts (Commuri & Gentry, 2000). Older children exerted greater influence on their parents; a child’s gender was not a significant factor in influencing their parents’ buying decisions (Commuri & Gentry, 2000).

2.4.7 Influence of children on purchase of household products

Greenspan et al. (2002) analyses the extent of children’s influence in purchasing electronic products and identifies the sources of influence among the children. The study concludes that children indeed have a very strong hold in the purchase of these items. They were recognized to be the ultimate decision makers of products such as computer software, mp3 players and PDAs whereas they had a 50% chance when it came to other similar items such as cell phones, digital cameras and internet access. The author concluded by stating that the bread winners are no longer the decision makers of electronics in American households.

Thomson et al., (2007) researched what role the children play in parents purchase decision. They included children as research respondents directly. They interviewed both parents and children one by one. It was followed by a family interview with completion of a decision mapping tool. The result surrounded around the children’s influence behaviour in parents purchase decisions. The children were having direct influence in parents. The children demonstrate the benefits of purchases, remaining persistent and compromising. These behaviours (as mature behaviours) were backed up by product knowledge and information.

According to Kaur and Singh (2006), demographic variables such as ages and genders of children were shown as influential in parents’ purchasing decisions. In one study commissioned by a group of cable television network executives in the United States, the findings showed that 43% of total purchases in the family were influenced by children in the families (Caruana & Vassallo, 2003).Children not only have influenced family purchase decisions for the entire family’s consumption products, but children also have insisted that their parents purchase the products they want as individuals (Kaur & Singh, 2006).

Researchers (Caruana & Vassallo, 2003; Kaur & Singh, 2004) focused on parents’ perceptions of their children's’ influence found that influence to be a result of the communication patterns between the parents and the children. These findings came from multiple samples consisting of parents and their children. Kaur and Singh’s study (2004) was administered privately with an on-site questionnaire so that younger children could participate and ensured that responses were spontaneous and without parental intervention. The main purpose of studies by Kaur and Singh (2004) was to investigate whether parental communication style had an effect on children’s perceived influence on purchases.

On the other hand, Mangleburg (1990) noted that children could influence the family decisions but the children’s power to have a role in the development of these decisions was dependent on certain factors. Mangleburg differentiated children’s intervention in family decisions according to the following factors: Children’s influence was higher regarding products that were directed towards them, or in other words the products children would use or consume.

It is common to have children and/or parents evaluate on a scale to what extent different family members exert influence on the buying decision of different types of products. Ward, Wackman and Wartella (1977), for example, developed a scale to measure the consumption autonomy of children, consisting of three different constructs: the degree of children’s independence of product choice, the degree of children’s independence of product purchase and the degree to which parents yield to product requests. Also, for this method it has to be added that honesty could be a problem. Children as compared to parents, for example, usually seem to overestimate their influence (Foxman and Tansujah, 1988). The extent to which a child influences family purchase decisions depends on several factors, the most important of which are product type and family level of income.
2.4.8 Family income level
Beatty and Talpade (1994) observed that family income has been one of the important factors in creating children influence on parents purchase decision. In most of the high income families gender as well as age does not matter and advice from everyone is respected and heard. Szybillo and Sosanie (1977) found that children had more influence in the family decisions related to food than those related to the purchase of expensive products, such as cars. This is dependent on the cost of buying the items.
Moschis & Churchill (1978) suggested that in high income families more parent–child interactions take place related to purchase decisions making, because they have more exposure to economic world than low income families. Beauty & Talpade (1994) verified that children in high income families will have more influence on family purchase decisions, what can be explained due to accessibility of funds. However, Young (1999) found that children in low income families make more purchase requests because they are more frequently exposed to advertising than children of high income families.

In earlier research by Gorn & Goldberg (1977) found that parents in low income families valued the children’s purchase requests more as compared to high income families and hence children in such families influenced the family purchase decisions more than high income families. Although children in low income families should have lower participation in family purchase decisions and these families can afford risking their constraint budget, but literature is not clear on this point. This may imply that children might not have a very strong direct influence in the purchase of a family home, as it is a high cost product to be used by the whole family.

2.4.9 Summary
From the literature review done, it is clear that that television advertising has a lot of influence to purchasing behaviour of families who are exposed to it. The most vulnerable to television advertising are children who influence their parents into purchasing products based on what they see advertised.

According to literatures reviewed, children could influence parents’ purchase decisions in the ways that children understood the value of a product and stated their preferences as consumers. The degree to which parents might be influenced by their children in purchases of food, playthings, or entertainment might be dependent on family level of income and financial stability. Children had more influence on their parents regarding the purchase of specific products (Mehrotra & Torges, 1977; Szybillo &Sosanie, 1977) Children were found to have less authority and less influence on family related products which involved more financial resources and more influence for their personal usage products (Manglerburg 1990). However, there is a gap in the studies as they do not tell which specific products children have an influence on to their parents.

In studies of Ward & Wackman (1972) family income was also found to have a positive relationship with children’s influence. Atkin (1978) confirmed that children influence is higher in high income families or economically sound families however, there is a gap in the study as it does not explain the probability of children influencing the total household purchase in low income families. The literature reviewed does not address the degree to which children influenced their parents for specific product or service purchases especially in families where there is conflict conditions. It might be assumed that children’s influence was limited as the family is not united. The reviewed literature does not clearly indicate how the children respond to the advertising whether it is positive or negative response.
The current study will focus on the role of children influencing the purchases of their parents based on what they see advertised on television when having to buy food, playthings, or entertainment products. The study will cut across high, low and middle income families examining the impact at which children influence their family members especially parents in their purchase for household items.

CHAPTER 3 - RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction
In this chapter, procedures that were used to collect and analyze data are discussed. These include research design, research site, population, sampling techniques, research instruments, and data collection procedures and data analysis. This chapter presents the activities and procedures that were followed in the process of establishing the impact of television advertising to children in influencing the purchasing behavior of their parents. The methodology adopted was based on the research aim and objectives to ensure that the results effectively answer the prevailing research questions.

3.1 Research design
Kombo and Tromp (2006) define research design as the structure of research. Orodho (2003) defines it as the scheme outline or plan that is used to generate answers to research problems. It constitutes the blue print for the collection, measurement and analysis of data (Kothari, 2003). The research design that was in this study was case study design. This is a study that seeks to describe a unit of study in detail, in context and holistically. It is a way of organizing educational data and looking at the object to be studied as a whole (Kombo and Tromp, 2006). In a case study, a lot can be learned as it gives a lot of insight and better understanding of the phenomena under study.
In this study, Chuka Township was used as it has diverse population of people with different economic status. The primary data was collected by questionnaires while secondary data was obtained from the internet and books.
The factors that were considered in the study included socio-economic status of the parents and literacy level. The socio-economic status was used in the context that only parents who had television set and had children less than 17 years of age were given questionnaire to fill.

3.2 Target Population
Mugenda and Mugenda (2003) define a study population as an entire group of individuals, events or objects having observable characteristics. The population for purposes of this study was parents at Chuka town. The study was carried out at this site since it is the only sub-location that has few members. It is also the sub-location where its dwellers have several televisions set according to statistics obtained from Tharaka-Nithi County statistics office. The estimated population of Chuka Town is 8126 while the total number of household is 2916 according to statistics obtained from Chuka statistics office from the 2009 population census.
It is mostly parents who buy household items and who also do the purchasing of items. Therefore, the target population was the adult population from which the samples were drawn from. This study area was composed of families that have both parents and single parent; these were some of the factors that were considered during data collection.
3.3 Sampling frame
A sampling frame is a list of people or items that form a population from which a sample is taken from. Sampling frame was developed based on details of population obtained from the office of statistics in Chuka. The number of household was 2910 with population of 8126.

3.4 Sampling technique and sample
Sampling technique that was used in this study was simple random sampling. In this technique, a researcher uses a relatively small clearly defined population. Orodho (2001) defines a sample as part of large population, which is a representative of the larger population. A process of selecting a number of individuals or objects from a population such that the selected group contains elements representatives of characteristics found in the entire group. According to Kasomo (2009,) sample size depends on factors such as the number of variables in the study the type of research design, the method of data analysis and the size of accessible population. For descriptive studies, this author suggests that 10% of the accessible population is enough. Based on this, the researcher used a sample of 291 from a population of 2916.

3.5 Research Instruments
Data was collected through primary and secondary sources. Data from questionnaires formed the primary data while secondary data were drawn from the internet and other publications relevant to the research. The questionnaires were framed on the basis of the objectives and hypothesis to be tested. The questionnaire is intended to offer the advantage of uniformity to all respondents as they give the same questions (Mugenda&Mugenda, 1999). According to Kothari (2007) the questionnaires are appropriate instruments because they have the ability to collect large amount of information in a reasonably quick span of time. In addition, Churchill, (1991) says that questionnaires guarantees confidentiality of the source of information through anonymity while ensuring standardization.
3.6 Data collection procedure
Data collection is the ultimate research activity as it provides the basis for answering the research questions. The proposed study employed primary data collection where the data were collected from the respondents using close ended questionnaires. The close ended questionnaires standardized the respondents’ responses thus eliminating the challenge of lack of response uniformity in the data analysis process. Questionnaires were administered physically by the researcher. Where there were challenges of literacy the researcher posed the questions to the respondents and filled the questionnaires himself. The questionnaires restricted the respondent to the necessary answers and thus avoided time wastage. Interview methods were also used in other cases.

3.7 Pilot tests
To determine the effectiveness of the questionnaire, the researcher issued 10 questionnaires to some parents at Ndagani Market who have a child or children at their home and at the same time have television set. Research experts assessed the questions. Once the survey questionnaire was approved, samples of 10 participants from the target population were sampled randomly at Ndagani to fill in the questionnaire.

3.8 Validity
According to Mugenda and Mugenda (1999) validity is the accuracy and meaningfulness of inference which is based on the research results: It’s the degree to which results obtained from analysis of the data actually represent the variables of the study under study. The research instrument was validated in terms of content and face validity. The content related technique measured the degree to which the questions items reflected the specific areas covered. Validity helped the researcher to ensure that the research instruments were accurate by making necessary adjustments after conducting a pilot study and ensuring that questions were getting the right response to measure what was needed.

3.9 Reliability
According to Mugenda and Mugenda (1999), reliability is a measure of the degree to which research instrument yield consistent result after repeated trials. Reliability was important because it enabled the researcher to identify any inconsistencies and ambiguity in the research instruments and made the necessary adjustments so that data collected had more reliability. This was achieved by the researcher conducting a pilot study and making the necessary changes in the research instruments by reframing the questions so that they could be understood more clearly by the respondents.

3.10 Data Processing and Analysis
Data was edited in the field for accuracy. Data collected were both qualitative and quantitative. Consequently, the data was analyzed using descriptive and quantitative statistics. The results are presented using graphs, tables and pie charts in order to compare responses from various students. This was done with the help of Microsoft excel.




CHAPTER 4 - DATA COLLECTION, ANALYZING AND PRESENTATION
4.0 Introduction
This chapter covers the analysis of the data, presentations and discussions of the results for the study on assessment of impact of television advertising on children’s influence towards their parent purchases in Chuka town. In this study a total of 30 respondents were sampled from Chuka town. These respondents were aged between 18 and 70. Out of these, 20 were males whereas 10 were females.

The objectives of this study were to:
i. Establish how advertising message is presented on television.
ii. Determine the attitude of children towards televised adverts.
iii. Find out the various kinds of household items that parents buy when they go for shopping.
iv. Examine the influence of children on purchase of household products.

4.1 Data collection instruments
Data was collected through primary and secondary sources. Data from questionnaires formed the primary data while secondary data was drawn from the internet and other publications relevant to the research. The questionnaires were framed on the basis of the objectives and hypothesis that were tested. The questionnaire intended to offer the advantage of uniformity to all respondents as they give the same questions (Mugenda&Mugenda, 1999). According to Kothari (2007) the questionnaires are appropriate instruments because they have the ability to collect large amount of information in a reasonably quick span of time. In addition, Churchill, (1991) says that questionnaires guarantees confidentiality of the source of information through anonymity while ensuring standardization.

4.2 Methods of data analysis
Data was analyzed with the help of Microsoft excel percentage and proportions were used.
4.3 Data/information presentation
The findings are presented in graphs, tables and pie charts where percentages and proportions are used. The presentation is as follows.
4.3.1 Establish how advertising message is presented on television.
The first objective of the study was to establish how advertising message targeting children is presented on television. The results are summarized in the bar graphs below:











Figure 2: Bar graph showing percentage of respondents of advertising message presented on television




Figure 3: Bar graph showing responses of advertising message presented on television as shown on the bar graph below

From the two bar graphs above, the study found out that about 70% of the respondents sampled have a television set at their homes while 30% of the respondents sampled did not have a television set at their home. 33% of parents who responded to the questionnaire indicated that their children watch television during day time while 56% of the respondents sampled indicated that their children watch television at night because during day time their children go to school. However 10% of the respondents indicated that their children watch at night time that is after school in the evening and at night after taking supper.
The study also showed that 66% of the respondents sampled watch television once a day while 33% watched television more than once. However, from the sampled parents 95% responded to have been exposed to televised adverts. According to the study 73% found the advert content beneficial while 26% of the sample respondents did not find any televised advert beneficial. Also based on the results presented on the two bar graphs 73% of the respondents indicated that the televised adverts were presented in a good manner while 26% of the respondents did not like the manner in which the adverts were presented on television.
4.3.2 Determine the attitude of children towards televised adverts.
The second objective of the study was to determine the attitude of children towards televised adverts. Table 1, summarizes the findings.
Table 1: Attitude of children towards televised adverts

Number %
Parents whose children are exposed to television (total=29)

Yes 27 93.103
No 2 6.897

Televised advert likeability
(total=30) Yes Food adverts 18 60
Clothes adverts 6 20
Electronic devices adverts 3 10
Other adverts 2 6.667

No 1 3.333

Televised adverts influence on child/children attitudes
(total=30) Strongly influences 6 20
Fairly influences 16 53.333
Never influences 8 26.667


Many children are exposed to television adverts. A whopping 93% of the respondents in that category confirmed that their children are exposed to televised adverts. For those who did not have television set at their home, indicated that their children got exposed to watching television in neighbouring houses that owned TV sets. 6% of the respondents disagreed that their children were not exposed to televised adverts.

Many children like adverts that deal with food. According to result indicated in table 2 of the findings, 60% of respondents’ children liked televised adverts to do with food. 20% of the respondents indicated that their children liked adverts to do with clothing while 10% of the respondents indicated that their children were interested in electronic related adverts. 6% of the respondents from the questionnaire indicated that their children liked other televised adverts such as for perfumes.
4.3.3 Household items that parents buy when they go for shopping and influence of children on purchase of those household products

The third and fourth objectives are various kinds of household items that parents buy when they go for shopping and examining the influence of children on purchase of those household items that they buy.




 
Figure 4: Pie chart showing proportion of household items that parents buy when they go for shopping








Many parents buy food items for the household this is because according to the data collected a total of 86% of parents indicated to buy the same. However, only 10% of the respondents buy clothes for household items and 3% on electronic devices. There were no responses on other household products and none also indicated that he/she never went shopping.


Figure 5: Pie chart showing proportion of respondents influenced by their children to buy household items



According to the pie chart above 90% of respondents indicated to have been influenced by their children to buy household items while 10% of respondents indicated that they were never influenced by their children to buy household products.




Figure 6:Pie chart showing proportion of items that children influence their parents to buy


83% of respondents agreed that their children influenced them majorly to buy food items while 13% of respondents indicated to have been influenced to buy clothes by their children and 3% on electronic devices. There were no responses on other household products that parents buy.





Figure 7:Pie chart showing proportion of how helpful items that respondents bought as a result of being influenced by their children.



Out of the 30 respondents,56% indicated that the items they bought due to their children’s influence were very helpful to them while 20% indicated that the items were fairly helpful to them and 23% of the respondents indicated that the items they bought was not helpful at all to them.





Figure 7: Pie chart showing proportion of respondents that were influenced by their children to buy items advertised on television.


A proportion of 93% of the respondents indicated that the items they bought had been advertised on television while only 6% indicated that the items they bought had never been advertised on television



 
CHAPTER 5-SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Introduction
The purpose of the study was to investigate how children influenced their parents to buy certain products that they saw advertised on television. This chapter presents a summary of the major findings; conclusion, recommendations and suggestion for further studies.
5.1 Summary of the findings
On the basis of analyzed data, presented in chapter (4), and the study’s objectives, the following were the major findings of the study.
On how advertising message is presented on television, the study revealed that there is likability in the manner television advertisements are presented. Though deception in the manner the content is presented is there, generally the advert on television are always in good taste. Based on the result, 73% of the respondents indicated that the televised adverts were presented in a good manner.
On the attitude of children towards televised adverts, the study revealed that children like the adverts especially the ones to do with food items and are accompanied by music. 60% of respondents’ children liked televised adverts to do with food.
On various kinds of household items that parents buy when they go for shopping and influence of children to buy the products, the study revealed an overwhelming power of children to influence their parents to buy products especially on the ones they have previously seen advertised on television. 93% of the respondents indicated that the items they bought as a result of influence by their children had been advertised on television According to the results, children influenced their parents mainly on food items more than other household products such as clothes and electronics.

5.3 Conclusions
Children play a very important role in influencing their parents to buy certain items at home. From the findings children influence their parents mainly on food items in comparison to other household products such as clothing and electronic appliances. From the findings in chapter four above, significant relationships have been established between the ways parents purchase food items when they go shopping in relation to food adverts on television. The major catalysts for the purchase of these items are children who persuade their parents to buy them based on the seductive messages accompanying the product advertised.
Many children do not realize the deception in the adverts rather; they take the content of the advert to be true. Parents should not rely on children who cannot make rational decision on their own to determine what items they buy for the family. They should make decisions to buy products that they feel suit their family needs. Though older children realise the deception in advertisements, they can still influence their parents to buy items that they want out of a personal need but not family in general.
Parents should therefore rely on their own conscience when purchasing household items. However, they should keenly at times take into consideration suggestions from their children, especially the older ones.
 
5.4 Recommendations
Based on the research findings, the researcher recommends the following;
i. Family financial stability should be looked at when it comes to influence of children in the purchasing decision. Children in rich families are likely to have more influence in purchasing decision than their colleagues in low income families. This is because their parents have the money to buy what their children demand.
ii. Advertisers and marketers should not use children in their adverts and brands. This is because children are likely to identify themselves with product that they see their fellows used to advertise whether the products are good or bad. They can then influence their parents to buy the same products.
iii. Advertisers should not use deceptive messages especially on products that children are likely to influence their parents to buy.

5.5 Suggestions for Further Studies
Further research should be done on the influence of television advertising in influencing adolescents towards their parent purchases. Secondly there should be assessment of to what extent do they influence their parents and whether the influence is active or passive. Last but not least, implementation strategies and obstacles facing advertisers and marketers in presentation of advertising message on television and the deception in the advertising content.
 
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APPENDICES


 
APPENDIX B

QUESTIONNAIRE

Kindly respond to the following questions to the best of your ability. This is an academic research geared towards fulfilling the requirements of the award of a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Media in Chuka University. DO NOT write your name on this document. This information will be confidentially used for the intended purpose.
PART A: BACKGROUND INFORMATION
PART A
General Information (Please tick as appropriately)
1. Gender Male ( ) Female ( )
2. Age 18-25 ( )
26-36 ( )
37- 47 ( )
48- 58 ( )
59-69 ( )
70 and above ( )

3. Do you have child/children?
Yes ( ) No ( )
4. If yes, specify by indicating the number
Number ( )
5. Do you have television set at your home
Yes ( ) No ( )
6. If yes, how often do your child/children watch television?
Day time ( ) Night time ( ) Both day and night time ( )
7. How often do you watch television in a day?
Once ( ) More than once ( )
PART B
Advertising message presented on television. (Please tick as appropriately)
8. Have you ever been exposed to televised adverts?
Yes ( ) No ( )
9. If yes, do you find them beneficial?
Yes ( ) No ( )
10. If Yes/No in (7) above explain why?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………


11. What is your opinion on how televised adverts are presented?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

PART C
Attitude of children towards televised adverts (Please tick as appropriately)

12. Are your children/child exposed to televised adverts?
Yes ( ) No ( )
13. If yes in (10) above, do the children/child like the televised adverts? Specify if yes, the type of advert.
Yes ( ) specify ……………………………………………………………….
No ( )
14. Do televised adverts influence your child/children attitudes?
Strongly influences ( ) Fairly influences ( ) Never influences ( )
PART D
Household items that parents buy when they go for shopping and influence of children on purchase of those household products (Please tick as appropriately)
15. Which household items do you buy when you go for shopping?
Food items ( ) Clothes ( ) Electronic devices ( ) Others……………….. None ( )
16. Has any of your child/children influenced you to buy any of these items mentioned in 13 above?
Yes ( ) No ( )
17. If yes, which one?
Food items ( ) Clothes ( ) Electronic devices ( ) Others……………. None ( )
18. Were any of the items you bought helpful to any of you?
Very helpful ( ) Fairly helpful ( ) Not helpful ( )
Explain why you think so…………………………………………...........................................
19. What were the child/children’s arguments of wanting the items bought?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
20. Have any of the items your child/children influenced you to buy been advertised on television?
Yes ( ) No ( )

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. GOD BLESS YOU.

APP