Parent-adolescent interaction and the family's effect on adolescent tv skepticism: An empirical analysis with Turkish consumers

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the moderating effects of parent-child co-viewing of TV and parents' discussion of content with children in the context of the family's effect on children's skepticism towards TV advertising.Design/methodology/approach - A survey of 296 consumers aged 12 to 16 in Ankara was conducted using a structured questionnaire. Constructs were measured using established scales.Findings - It was observed that the co-viewing of advertisements with parents increased the family effect. On the other hand, discussion of advertising with parents reduced the family effect. The conclusion was that parent-child co-viewing of advertisements can alter the children's perceptions of advertisements through personal assessments.Research limitations/implications - This is an exploratory study and has limited generalizability as it has been conducted solely in one city, Ankara, Turkey. Any further research should include perspectives from other cities in Turkey and from other countries. In addition, frequency of TV viewing has not been taken into account. Further research could investigate gender differences and cohort effects on the issues investigated in this study.Practical implications - The design of advertisements should include perceptions of both parents and children in order to convey meaningful messages in advertising. Furthermore, advertisers should take into account the ecology of viewing in the household where Turkish people in extended families view TV commercials.Originality/value - Although the issue of adolescents and advertising is widely explored in the USA, there has been limited investigation on adolescents' receptivity to advertising in other cultures. Although it is likely that some aspects of adolescent consumer behavior are universal across cultures, studies such as that documented in this paper provide opportunities to investigate what is happening in different settings.