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ChangingMinds Blog! > Blog Archive > 10-Sep-10

Friday 10-September-10

Brands from Birth

How early are children susceptible to advertising would you say? Go on, have a guess. Five? Six? Earlier? And how important is this? Research amongst students and old people has shown that participants were quicker to recognise brand names they had encountered from 'birth'.

When we are very young we are a blank slate and images and words make a deeper and more lasting impression. Later, we feel more favourable towards words and pictures that we find easier to process (the "fluency effect") -- and those which were imprinted earlier stand at the front of the queue.

Although there are ethical questions to consider, the implications for companies is immense. If you want to sell more to adults in 20 years time, then you need to start advertising to children now. There might even be a case for bringing out or giving away baby and child products. Anything you can do to get early recognition helps. Of course you can double up by promoting to parents too. The possibilities are endless!

Reference:
Ellis, A., Holmes, S., & Wright, R. (2009). Age of acquisition and the recognition of brand names: On the importance of being early. Journal of Consumer Psychology http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2009.08.001