Executive Summary
Persuasion knowledge—the understanding that advertisers want people to buy something—is developed by children at a young age; however, some children develop this knowledge sooner than others. The age at which children develop persuasion knowledge has been a topic of research interest since the 1970s, and just recently researchers have begun to ponder whether certain developmental effects may drive or facilitate persuasion knowledge in preschool children.
This article examines the role of “theory of mind” as a developmental variable in children’s emerging persuasion knowledge. Theory of mind is a form of social development that has been investigated by academics in psychology for the past two decades. Theory of mind refers to a person’s ability to theorize about the likely behavior of another, given an understanding of that person’s mental states. This ability usually develops between the ages of three and five. Theory of mind is sometimes referred to as “mental state understanding” because children who have developed a theory of mind will appreciate that another person’s thoughts and feelings may differ from their own. Conversely, children who have not yet developed a theory of mind will assume that others share their same mental states and will judge that others’ future behaviors will be consistent with their own (others will want the same toys, enjoy the same foods, and generally know the same things as them).
Across two studies, the authors test 111 children for individual differences in theory of mind. They assess the children’s persuasion knowledge using a five-trial task in which the children view an advertisement and then communicate to the researcher (by pointing to response option pictures) what the advertiser wants them to do. In each of two studies, theory of mind explains a significant amount of variance in children’s performance on the persuasion knowledge task. This effect was significant after accounting for age and language effects. The results suggest that children who have a greater capacity for thinking about the thoughts of others demonstrate an earlier understanding of advertising persuasion, perhaps because they have an advanced ability to think about the thoughts and persuasive intentions of an advertiser.
Findings contribute to a theoretical understanding of how children develop persuasion knowledge. The major contribution comes from showing that theory of mind is a strong predictor of the performance on persuasion knowledge tasks. This supports the propositions of several prior researchers that theory of mind may be prerequisite to children’s development of persuasion knowledge. The authors conclude that to detect persuasive intent in advertising, children must first be able to understand that another person’s inner mental states differ from their own mental states. Although the data show an emergence of persuasion knowledge in preschoolers, it should not be assumed that preschool children have a sophisticated ability to think critically about advertising messages. In terms of legislation, they continue to be vulnerable and deserving of protection.
Biography
Anna R. McAlister is a postdoctoral research fellow in the UQ Business School at the University of Queensland, Australia. She holds a PhD in Developmental Psychology and a graduate degree in higher education. Her research interests center on children’s responses to advertising, linking their consumer behavior to various aspects of social, cognitive, and language development. Anna’s research has appeared in British Journal of Developmental Psychology, British Journal of Psychology, and Cognitive Development, and her papers (coauthored with Bettina Cornwell) have won best-paper awards at the American Academy of Advertising Conference (2009), the Australasian Society for Behavioural and Health Medicine Scientific Conference (2009), and the Society for Consumer Psychology Conference (2008).
T. Bettina Cornwell (PhD, University of Texas) is Professor of Marketing and Sport Management at the University of Michigan. Before joining the School of Kinesiology at the University of Michigan in 2007, she was a professor and cluster leader in Marketing at the University of Queensland in Australia. Her research focuses on marketing communications and consumer behavior, especially with regard to international and public policy issues. Articles on the topics of consumer behavior and sponsorship-linked marketing have recently appeared in Journal of Advertising, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Research, and Psychology & Marketing.
Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Volume 28, Number 2, Fall 2009
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