Advertising Standards Bureau Review of Operations 2015 | Page 22

Research Report
g
Community perceptions of advertisin
directed primarily to children

Colmar Brunton Social Research

December 2015

g directed primarily to children

Community perceptions of advertisin

Produced for the Advertising Standards

Bureau by

Independent research
Community perceptions of advertising directed primarily to children
In 2015 the ASB commissioned research to explore community perceptions about
advertising to children. The research, conducted by Colmar Brunton Social Research,
explored the extent to which the Board’s decisions were in line with community views.
The research consisted of an online survey of 1,209 Australians, representative of the
Australian population in terms of age, gender and location with participants shown 10
advertisements which had previously been considered by the Board.

December 2015

The research specifically considered what makes an advertisement directed primarily to
children and what makes a product have principal appeal for children as per the Australian
Association of National Advertisers (AANA) Code for Advertising and Marketing
Communications to Children (the Code) and the Australian Food and Grocery Council
(AFGC) Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative (RCMI).

Research results in brief
General acceptability of advertisements
Prior to being shown any details of the Code, the majority of respondents deemed most
of the television advertisements as acceptable to be broadcast at all times of the day. The
only exception to this was an advertisement for underwear, which only 41 per cent of
respondents thought was appropriate to be shown on TV at any time.
An internet advertisement which featured an image of a child also had a low level of
acceptability, with only 57 per cent of respondents believing it was appropriate to be shown.
The level of concern about these advertisements indicates a continuing level of concern
about the depiction of children in advertisements. The high level of acceptability for the
remaining advertisements indicated a low level of concern about the marketing of toys or
food and beverage products to children.

Directed primarily at children
When determining who an advertisement was directed primarily towards, the perceptions
of the general public were in line with the Board for six of the 10 advertisements. The
public’s perceptions were borderline for two of the advertisements and differed from the
Board’s determination for the remaining two. Where perceptions were different, the public
believed the advertisements were not directed primarily to children, and the Board had
taken a stricter view in deciding they were.

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Advertising Standards Bureau