Many apps for children are misleading and manipulative

American research suggests that 95 percent of apps for children under five contain misleading advertising.
Children are manipulated into making purchases without realising it. According to Justine Pardoen, media parenting specialist at the Dutch Bureau Jeugd & Media and editor-in-chief of mediaopvoeding.nl, this is unethical. “It is taking advantage of the developmental stage those children are in.”

The researchers examined the 135 most popular games for children under five. 129 apps contained some form of advertising, often misleading and manipulative. Almost all the games mentioned in the study are also available in the Dutch Google Play Store. Even games labelled as educational contain a lot of advertising.

The most common form of advertising is the use of a character. Figures such as Barbie and Strawberry Shortcake promote items you have to pay for. In some cases such a character even starts crying if nothing is bought. Another form of misleading advertising is pop-up videos. These are often hidden behind a button with a logo that suggests something other than an advert, for example a button with a teddy bear on it. That makes it difficult, even for adults, to tell the difference between game and advert. Earlier research had already shown that such videos are often not suitable for children.

Unethical

According to Justine Pardoen, it is unethical to expose children to misleading advertising at a young age. “We all say we must protect children against influences that slip past their parents’ watchful eye. Advertisers know perfectly well that they are trying to get around parental supervision. The line between temptation and deception is extremely thin, and far more often than I would like, they are on the wrong side of it.”

According to Pardoen, you cannot expect children to recognise adverts as such. Research has shown that children start to recognise the signals on television from the age of eight or nine. “When it comes to online advertising, children still don’t see it at twelve.” Pardoen says recognising the signals alone is not enough. “They have to learn how to resist it. That requires a great deal of self-reflection, which you cannot expect from a child.”

That requires a great deal of self-reflection, which you cannot expect from a child

Justine Pardoen – Media parenting specialist

Advertising code

According to the Dutch advertising code for children and young people, advertising aimed at children must take their level of understanding and expectations into account, especially regarding the play value, size and performance of the product. “Adverts must not be misleading or unrecognisable,” says Fiona Vening of the Dutch Advertising Code Committee. “If parents see adverts that break these rules, they can file a complaint with the Advertising Code Committee.”

Pardoen thinks much more should be made clear about how the apps make money. “The key word is transparency. If an app is free: why is it free, and which adverts are shown? You are better off buying a good app that you know will not approach children in unsolicited ways. But for many parents that is asking too much.”

Source: AD.nl