Between Consumerism and Protectionism Attitudes Towards Children, Consumption and the Media in...

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Childhood

DOI: 10.1177/0907568209335315 2009; 16; 355 Childhood

Margit Keller and Veronika Kalmus consumption and the media in Estonia

Between Consumerism and Protectionism: Attitudes towards children,

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355

BETWEEN CONSUMERISM AND PROTECTIONISM

Attitudes towards children, consumption and the media in Estonia

This study measures attitudes towards childrens

vulnerability or empowerment within consumer

culture, based on data from a representative

population survey (N = 1475) conducted in

Estonia in 2005. The study use indices comprised

of assessments of consumption practices and

assertions pertaining to the endangered vs

empowered child debate in consumer and

media studies. The results of the analysis show

that consumerism and brand valuation are more

strongly predicted by age and income and opinions

about childrens vulnerability to advertising

are mostly influenced by education and gender.

Attitudes on the socializing role of the media are

poorly explained by sociodemographic variables,

although income and education play a more

important role.

This article addresses the debate of recent decades in the sociology of child-hood, consumption and media studies, and focuses on the dichotomy of a passive and manipulated vs an empowered and creative child, in the context of the global media and consumer society. Our goal is not to give a new impetus to this relatively tired discussion, but instead to bring theoretical formulations to an empirical level. We analyse how popularized versions of theoretical debates about the consumer and media societys impact on children are related to different sociodemographic variables (age, gender, income and education). We also look at how these variables relate to consumers self-reported patterns of consumption and brand valuation, as well as how different opinions are related to each other. To reveal which of the sociodemographic variables was the strongest predictor, regression analysis was used.

Four thematic blocks form the basis of our study. The first block is con-sumerism, which, in broad terms, is based on Bauman (1992), and refers to production and appropriation of symbolic goods with the aim of constructing identity and relations with other people. Related to this is branding as a

MARGIT KELLER AND VERONIKA KALMUS

University of Tartu

Keywords: Estonia, consumerism, media,

protectionism, socialization

Mailing address:Margit Keller

Institute of Journalism and Communication, University of Tartu, 18 likooli St, 50090

Tartu, Estonia. [email: [email protected]]

Childhood Vol. 16(3): 355375 The Author(s), 2009. Reprints and permissions:

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DOI: 10.1177/0907568209335315



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strong symbolic mechanism of global capital and consumer society (see Langer, 2004). The third theme is the media as an agent of socialization (see Buckingham, 2000, 2003; Kalmus, 2006a), and the fourth is advertising as a powerful institution of the consumer society, whose impact on childrens values and behaviour, as well as on parentchild relationships, has been studied and discussed extensively in recent years (e.g. Andersen, 2007; Buijzen and Valkenburg, 2003). One of our objectives is to see whether and how peoples relations with consumerism and branding are associated to their opinions of childrens vulnerability or empowerment vis-a-vis market power and media culture.

The following section of the article gives a brief outline of the theoretical framework used to operationalize the main indicators in our survey. We cannot give an exhaustive overview of the whole debate and all relevant research (for a good summary see Martens et al., 2004), but we highlight some key points. After that we describe the data and research design, followed by the presenta-tion of findings.

From protectionism to optimism: bipolar views of children and consumer/media society

Endangered childrenIn the past three or four decades, there has been intense debate about changing childhoods, which have been brought about by wider social changes, often accounted for in terms of the development of the information society, consumer culture and risk society. This debate is characterized by a continuum of viewpoints ranging from those lamenting the loss of the innocence and safety of childhood to those celebrating the emancipation and empowerment of the younger generation. As Cook (2004b: 5) points out:

Each view emphasizes some overemphasize a position along a continuum, oftentimes to the point of enforcing a dichotomy: the child often is either exploited or empowered by the market. News media tend to emphasize the former, marketers the latter, with parents often stuck somewhere in between.

On one end of the continuum stand the critics of childrens media and consumer culture (from sociologists to news reporters). First, research and criticism focuses on sedentary lifestyles of children that result in obesity and unhappiness, accompanied by an insatiable desire for new goods and experiences (see Kline, 2005; Livingstone, 2005; Schor, 2004).

Second, relationships between parents, teachers and children, and the changing structure of authority are addressed. For instance, Postman (1983) argues that electronic media, especially television, have rendered information uncontrollable. The dangerous mysteries of adult life (particularly sex, drugs and violence) are no longer hidden from children. More importantly, adults have lost power over the symbolic environment of the young in the age of



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electronic media. As Buckingham (2000: 39) observes, in most such accounts children are granted little or no independence: all educational proposals are addressed to adults, urging them to take greater steps to protect or control children, or to help children resist the influences of the media and the market. These authors tend to highlight the anti-adultism of childrens media and the consumer world, which defines children and youngsters in opposition to adult authority (Kenway and Bullen, 2001; Schor, 2004).

Another problematic theme is childrens participation in commerce and the economy: the deterioration of the ideas of the priceless and economically useless child. Childrens growing purchasing power, accompanied by the in-famous nag-factor, increases their role as consumers in terms of money and time spent. This, in turn, changes relations between children and their parents/teachers, as well as with peers (see Zelizer, 2002).

A fourth set of issues revolves around two interlinked themes: the influ-ence of increasing commodity and media consumption by children on the notion of childhood in the most abstract sense and the potential impact of the consumer child on civil society, as well as on social and environmental sus-tainability and justice (Langer, 2005: 269). Regardless of whether the authors see children as endangered, or simply acknowledge that the experience of childhood is undergoing vast changes, the underlying assumption can be sum-marized in Langers (2005: 264) words:

Global commercial culture, whether accessed through the media or encountered as part of the landscape of consumer capitalism, is an important source of symbolic material for children as they put together their projects of self.

Empowered childrenAt the other end of the continuum lie the accounts that see children as empowered agents who are media and consumption savvy and who cannot be manipulated. Very optimistic assertions have been put forward by Tapscott (1998). Much of his argumentation is based on the claim that, for the first time in history, children are more knowledgeable and literate than their parents and teachers about an innovation central to society, that is, computers and the Internet. He argues that the Net Generation will transform all traditional insti-tutions. Families are becoming more open because children are an authority on an important issue. Tapscott confidently defines children and young people as active agents also in their dealings with the media, the market and various institutions.

In consumer studies, the most optimistic view is, unsurprisingly, that of marketers. Lindstroms and Seybolds (2003) Brand Child has become the archetypal construction of the brand and media competent child (see also Cowell, 2001a, 2001b; McNeal, 1999). Commodities and, particularly, brands as the bearers of a products sign value are seen as important identity building blocks. Competent children are portrayed as always being able to judge which brands truly and authentically respond to their needs.



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Sociological and anthropological accounts, which view the child as a significant social person, are not as extreme as the marketers approach; however, they are similar in terms of constructing the child as a creative, autonomous and empowered being (see Zelizer, 2002). Parents shopping for them and with them is often seen as an act of thrift and devotion (Miller, 1998), which cannot be understood only in terms of crass materialism or passive sub-mission to the market lure. In several recent studies, we see the focus shift to branding as a complex phenomenon that creates webs of meanings for children to draw on in their search to make sense of the world (e.g. Nairn and Griffin, 2007). Even the term brand-consumer kid has been proposed (Barcel, 2007). According to Cook (2004a: 151):

Children have become thought of and treated as agentive social actors (by marketers, parents and academics alike) in large part through their increasingly extensive participation in commercial life as consumers and beyond. . . . The place and status of children, and the meaning of childhood itself, are now inseparable from such things as branding and investment.

However, most recent studies stress that balanced research on childrens consumer and media culture has to move beyond the either/or debate and discover how actual positions on the aforementioned continuum are enacted in the everyday life of children and parents, which factors influence their prac-tices and choices in particular economic and sociocultural contexts. In his critique of the contrasting viewpoints described in this section, Buckingham (2000: 62) argues that childhood is changing in much less dramatic and much more ambivalent and contradictory ways. For instance, he concedes that relations of authority and power between adults and children are changing: children are being empowered as experts of new media technologies, as sovereign consumers and as active producers of information. Yet, they are continuously denied the opportunity to exercise democratic control or account-ability as independent social or political actors. Buckingham (2003) also notes that previously distinct boundaries between childrens and adults media worlds are simultaneously disappearing and being reinforced. On the one hand, children have easier access to media content meant for adults. On the other hand, children are increasingly participating in globalizing cultural and social worlds that are inaccessible, even incomprehensible, to their parents and teachers.

Consumer and media culture in post-socialist Estonia

Estonia is an interesting case, since its post-Communist development, parti-cularly in the economic sphere, has been rapid, leading to its promotion as a success story, both in the West and in Estonia (Keller and Vihalemm, 2003). The regaining of independence in 1991 ushered in a transition culture based on a double movement, from plan to market and from totalitarian-ism to democracy (see Kennedy, 2002). These changes have transformed




359

relationships between people and things, i.e. brought about new ways for people to incorporate products and services into their personal lives, in ways that were not possible under the Soviet regime of scarcity of goods and forced homogeneity of lifestyle. But these shifts have also generated new tensions and problems that were not so sharply experienced during the Soviet regime (Keller, 2004).

Consumerism, that is, consumption practices with an emphasis on lifestyle and identity creation, has considerable explanatory power in the context of Estonias emerging consumer society. We have operationalized it by summarizing various single variables in an index (for details see section Data and research design) both in this study and earlier. Consumerism forms coherent patterns with peoples value orientations and self-identification. Most consumerist people are more self-assertive and power-oriented, as well as tending to identify themselves with the successful and global citizens (see Keller and Kalmus, 2004). Also, consumerism has proven to be one of the predictors of peoples self-attributed status in the social hierarchy: more con sumerist respondents tend to place themselves higher on the social ladder (see Lauristin, 2004). Our studies have also demonstrated that the younger age groups are the most consumerist. Therefore, we consider consumerism an indispensable indicator for studying perceived relationships between children and the market.

Quantitative research on childrens and youngsters consumption habits is rather limited; thus, we have to rely on the few qualitative studies conducted so far (Raamat, 2005; Uibu, 2005), which show that independence and the market economy have given rise to symbolic consumption, which forms an important part of young peoples everyday lives. According to these studies, the position of parents is rather protectionist, as they fear that their children are unable to steer adequately through manipulative advertising messages and the overall consumption landscape. Most children do not perceive themselves as being affected by advertisements, yet they desire and buy items they have seen advertised (Jaaska, 2006). It is the same with clothing brands: despite the fact that often youngsters views of brands in general are pejorative, brands still seem to be rather desirable among the respondents. Estonian children and youngsters see the material culture in both expressive and oppressive terms: though different commodities and brands are perceived as cultural resources and a way of self-construction, they equally cause stress by emphasizing ones material welfare, social status, lifestyle and individual and group identity (Raamat, 2005; Uibu, 2005).

Also, rapid development in the field of information and communication technology (ICT) in Estonia has occurred in the post-Soviet era. The growth of access to, and use of, the Internet since the 1990s has been almost exponential. The share of Internet users among the 6- to 74-year-old population rose from 14 percent in autumn 1998 to 65 percent in spring 2007 (TNS Emor, 2007). Differences between sociodemographic groups, especially between different



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generations, in the usage of the Internet and in following global TV channels are still notable: younger people are much more active in this respect. Also, comparative surveys (e.g. MEDIAPPRO, 2006) reveal that Estonian adole-scents (aged 1218) are among the most vigorous and self-confident Internet users compared with their peers in Europe. Moreover, Estonian teenagers are the computer experts in the family: two-thirds of children are never advised or helped by their parents, almost every second child often helps his or her mother and every third adolescent gives advice to his or her father (Kalmus, 2007). On the one hand, such asymmetric communication may result in signi-ficant gaps in understanding between parents and children: 77 percent of adole-scents agree with the statement Adults do not understand very well what children and young people do on the Internet (Kalmus, 2007). On the other hand, teenagers expertise in new media technology facilitates democratic family cultures and reverse socialization (see Livingstone and Bober, 2005) when adults learn from their children or grandchildren how to use computers and the Internet. Our studies also show that the share of Internet users among people in the age range 3064 has risen considerably in the last few years (Kalmus, 2006b).

Data and research design

Our analysis is based on data from the survey Me. The World. The Media, which covered the Estonian population aged 1574. A self-administered questionnaire, together with a follow-up interview, was used. The survey was carried out in November 2005 with a sample size of 1475. A proportional model of the general population (by areas and urban/rural division) and multi-step probability random sampling were used. In addition, a quota was used to include a proportional number of Estonians and Russians in the sample. Fieldworkers applied the method of starting address for sampling the households and the rule of the youngest man for sampling the respondents in households.

We have operationalized the bipolar theoretical assumptions about childrens relationships with advertising, the market and the media in the form of five pairs of oppositional assertions (see Table 1). Respondents agreement with those assertions was measured on a five-point scale (I totally agree with A I rather agree with A Difficult to say I rather agree with B I totally agree with B). With some reservations, we can interpret the percentage of answers Difficult to say to those questions as an indicator of the extent of the lack of reflexivity on the issues.

By summarizing the codes of answers given to several questions measur-ing the same phenomenon, we formed aggregated variables or indices. The five pairs of oppositional assertions were reduced to four indices (see Table 1). The index of protectionism of children against advertising and consump-tion summarizes a respondents agreement with three assertions of type A




361

(I totally agree with A adds two points to the index; I rather agree with A adds one point; the index scale ranges from zero to six). According to the same logic, the index of optimism with regard to advertising and consumption summarizes a respondents agreement with three assertions of type B. The indices of criticism towards the socializing role of the media, and optimism with regard to the socializing role of the media summarize a respondents agreement with two assertions of type A and B, respectively.

In order to measure a more symbolic aspect of consumption (i.e. con-sumption practices and preferences that are more expressive and revealing of peoples identity building and lifestyle), we constructed an index of con-sumerism. This index summarizes positive answers to questions about 11 consumption practices and preferences (each positive answer adds one point to the index, with the scale ranging from zero to 11): having clothes tailor-made; preference for certain clothing brands; buying clothing abroad; considering fit of clothing more important than price; considering brand of clothing more important than price; following a specific style of home-decoration; having a personal hairdresser; having a personal cosmetician; having a personal mas-seur; regular gym going; doing aerobics.

Table 1 Assertion pairs and indices concerning childrens relationships with advertising, consumption and the media

A B

Protectionism of children against advertising and consumption (min. = 0, max. = 6)

Optimism with regard to advertising and consumption (min. = 0, max. = 6)

1 Children are defenceless in the face of advertising and it is easy to manipulate them.

Children are ingenious and think independently; they cannot be manipulated.

2 Advertising targeted at children is harmful; it raises excessive consumerism.

Advertising targeted at children is useful; it teaches children orientation in the consumer world.

3 Children should be kept away from all kinds of advertising and shopping malls, because consumer society corrupts children.

One should go shopping with children and analyse ads with them in order to raise them as conscious consumers.

Criticism towards the socializing role of the media (min. = 0, max. = 4)

Optimism with regard to the socializing role of the media (min. = 0, max. = 4)

4 Through media, children get to know the downside of the adult world too early.

Media help children develop faster and get to know the world better.

5 The media world of children and youngsters is hard to understand for adults and this increases the gap between generations.

Parents can participate in the youngsters world through media and this makes them understand each other better.



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To measure the importance of brands, we use the index of valuation of brands, which summarizes a respondents agreement with two assertions: The brands someone consumes tell a lot about the person and It is important to me what impression the brands I consume make (the answer I totally agree adds two points to the index; I rather agree adds one point; the scale ranges from zero to four).

We analyse how these opinions (single variables and indices) are related to four sociodemographic variables (age, gender, income and education). Most of these variables proved to have remarkable explanatory force in our previous quantitative study on consumerism: younger age groups, respondents with higher income and more highly educated people tended to be significantly more consumerist (Keller and Kalmus, 2004). We expect to find analogous patterns in this study; also, we assume that the same groups tend to value brands more highly. As different age groups vary greatly in terms of life experience, family roles (children, parents or grandparents) and contexts of primary socialization, we expect to find interesting patterns in their attitudes towards childrens relationships with advertising and media. We also assume that more highly educated people may show higher levels of reflexivity and criticism with regard to these problems.

Gender has turned out to be a controversial predictor in previous research on childrens consumption habits: some studies have found girls to be more brand-influenced than boys (e.g. Schor, 2004), while Wilskas (2005) studies in Finland revealed boys as more branded. Our aim is to find out how gender-determined Estonian respondents consumption habits and brand-related atti-tudes are. Also, we assume that, due to relatively gendered role division in parenting in Estonia, respondents sex is a significant factor in determining opinions regarding children vis-a-vis the market and the media.

To reveal which of the sociodemographic variables is the strongest predictor of the phenomena measured by the six indices, we used regression analysis.

Our previous research showed that consumerism is strongly related to value orientations and other cognitive phenomena (Keller and Kalmus, 2004). By analysing correlations between the indices, we expect to find coherent patterns in peoples habits and attitudes related to consumption, children and the media.

Reflexivity and opinions on children, consumption and the media

Figure 1 illustrates the percentage distribution of responses to the five pairs of oppositional assertions. The responses I totally agree with A and I rather agree with A are summarized in the Protectionist/critical pole, and the re-sponses I totally agree with B and I rather agree with B are grouped together in the Optimistic pole. The middle point of these dimensions is represented by the response Difficult to say. With some reservations, we may consider




363

the percentage of those who expressed an opinion as a level of reflexivity, i.e. consciousness and well-shaped opinions on the given issue.

It was easiest to express an opinion about the vulnerability of children to advertising (Assertion 1), while other aspects of the influence of the consumer and media society on children were less readily addressed. The statement pair on the medias role in shaping intergenerational relations (Assertion 5) was most difficult for the respondents.

It appeared that childrens concrete self-positioning (Assertions 1 and 4) was clearer to young respondents (15- to 19-year-olds) when compared to more complex influences of advertising and the media in the process of social-ization (Assertions 2, 3 and 5). In the latter case, older age groups expressed clear opinions more readily.

Education also had an impact on whether people formed a particular opinion or not, but it seemed to be question-specific. In the case of the first two assertions, respondents with higher levels of education had the lowest level of responding Difficult to say, showing their greater readiness and ability to contemplate these issues. However, in other assertions, education level was not a differentiator.

As to other sociodemographic variables, no significant differences in the levels of reflexivity can be observed.

Although the majority of the respondents stated that, while advertising is harmful and manipulative, they felt that children should not be blindfolded and should be educated to become skilful in the consumer world. The first assertion pair is the most black and white: 78 percent of the respondents thought that advertising manipulates children (see Figure 1). In respect to the third, most radically prescriptive pair of assertions, most of the respondents

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Asse

rtion

1

Asse

rtion

2

Asse

rtion

3

Asse

rtion

4

Asse

rtion

5

Protectionist/Critical

Difficult to say

Optimistic

Figure 1 Agreement with assertions about childrens relationships with advertising, consumption and the media (in percentages)



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expressed an optimistic viewpoint. Apparently, keeping children away from advertising and shopping malls seems unrealistic in everyday life.

Opinions about the socializing role of the media were more ambivalent and dispersed. A significant number of the respondents (43 percent) agreed that through media children get to know the downside of the adult world too early (Assertion 4). This viewpoint was most characteristic of the oldest age group. At the same time, the largest group of respondents (47 percent) saw the media as a connector between generations (Assertion 5). The most optimistic group in this respect were people aged 4564.

On the aggregate level, protectionism in regard to advertising and con-sumption had a higher mean value than the optimistic side of the scale (see Table 2; the mean difference was significant at .000). Thus, Estonian respond-ents, in general, tended to be relatively protectionist and normative towards relationships between children and the consumer society. Optimism about the socializing role of the media, however, was higher than criticism (the mean difference was significant at .000).

Consumerism, protectionism and optimism in sociodemographic groupsAge: As expected, opinions about brands and consumerist practices were age specific. As Table 2 illustrates, young people aged 1529 valued brands most and were the most consumerist. The mean of the consumerism index was highest among 15- to 19-year-olds (3.2), and more than twice as high as in the oldest age group. It is also noteworthy that in a similar survey, carried out at the end of 2002, only 9.5 percent of the youngest age group reported very high consumerism (see Keller and Kalmus, 2004), whereas in this study the same indicator was 23.2 percent.

Protectionism was highest among the generation of parents (ages 3044), while optimism regarding advertising and consumption, as well as regarding the media, was lowest in this group. Obviously this age group daily faces prob-lems of socializing children in the consumer and media society, which causes concern as well as setting high (self)-expectations for parents (see also Uibu, 2005). The youngest age group was least protectionist, probably because they had no wish to admit to their own vulnerability and manipulability.

In the older age group, protectionism in regard to advertising and con-sumption was lower, while optimism was higher. This may have been due to grandparents having less involvement in educating children in terms of their consumer socialization path.

Interestingly, optimism towards the socializing role of the media was highest among 45- to 64-year-olds. A possible explanation lies in the fact that among people in this age range, the share of Internet users has risen remarkably in the last few years (Kalmus, 2006b). As recent adopters of new media technology, they may be more enthusiastic about its role in con necting




365

Tab

le 2

Con

sum

eris

m, p

rote

ctio

nism

and

op

timis

m b

y ag

e (m

eans

)

Ind

ices

All

151

920

29

304

445

54

556

465

74

FS

ig.

N14

7515

127

339

326

320

918

6

Val

uatio

n of

bra

nds

(max

. 4)

0.32

0.43

0.45

0.33

0.22

0.30

0.18

5.4

.000

Con

sum

eris

m (m

ax. 1

1)2.

373.

202.

902.

691.

961.

861.

3936

.2.0

00P

rote

ctio

nism

aga

inst

ad

vert

isin

g an

d

cons

ump

tion

(max

. 6)

2.29

1.96

2.35

2.49

2.24

2.26

2.16

2.8

.017

Op

timis

m w

ith r

egar

d t

o ad

vert

isin

g an

d

cons

ump

tion

(max

. 6)

1.01

0.90

0.92

0.90

1.11

1.16

1.12

2.9

.013

Crit

icis

m t

owar

ds

the

soci

aliz

ing

role

of

the

med

ia (m

ax. 4

)0.

790.

740.

750.

800.

680.

810.

99N

S

Op

timis

m w

ith r

egar

d t

o th

e so

cial

izin

g ro

le o

f the

med

ia (m

ax. 4

)0.

900.

950.

840.

801.

031.

040.

862.

7.0

18



C H I L D H O O D 1 6 ( 3 )

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generations. Also, as parents of older children or grandparents, they may be less concerned with the risks and problems related to young childrens media use.

Gender: Table 3 displays differences between males and females. As expected, womens consumerism was higher, since the index contained several appearance- (clothing, fitness) related indicators, which generally are more valued among women. Although when compiling the questionnaire we dedicated considerable attention to designing questions and attributes men could identify with, men were still obviously cautious when answering questions with even remotely feminine connotations. At the same time, men tended to value brands as potential status and lifestyle indicators more than women did.

Interestingly, men were considerably more protectionist regarding ad-vertising, consumption and children, whereas women were more optimistic. Previous research also suggests that mothers are more involved when it comes to raising children as consumers, both in terms of providing necessary consumer goods for them, as well as influencing their value formation (see also Carlson et al., 1992; Uibu, 2005). When it comes to assessing media as a socializing agent, men and women exhibited no differences. This may be explained by the more abstract nature of the assertions about the media, which probably evoked no assumptions related to gendered role division in parenting.

Income: Table 4 shows differences between three income groups. Quite predictably, valuation of brands and consumerism was closely related to income per family member. Those who have more money at their disposal have a greater choice of affordable brands, which in turn leads to more awareness of the distinctions brands can create among consumers.

Table 3 Consumerism, protectionism and optimism by gender (means)

Indices Males Females t Sig.

N 687 788

Valuation of brands (max. 4) 0.38 0.27 3.0 .002Consumerism (max. 11) 2.19 2.52 3.6 .000Protectionism against advertising and

consumption (max. 6)2.43 2.17 3.0 .003

Optimism with regard to advertising and consumption (max. 6)

0.85 1.14 4.9 .000

Criticism towards the socializing role of the media (max. 4)

0.81 0.78 NS

Optimism with regard to the socializing role of the media (max. 4)

0.85 0.95 NS




367

Income did not play a role in how protectionist respondents were in terms of advertising and consumption. Respondents with low and average income, however, were more optimistic in this respect. We believe that such opinions were not directly influenced by income; rather, the influence factor behind income was age. Namely, lower income per family member tends to be characteristic of retired people (in particular the age group 6574); also, elderly people were inclined to be more optimistic in regard to advertising and consumption. The low-income group was also more critical about media as a socializing agent.

Education: Table 5 displays differences between three educational groups. Respondents with secondary and higher education were more consumerist.

Table 4 Consumerism, protectionism and optimism by income per family member (means)

Indices Low Average High F Sig.

N 502 461 455

Valuation of brands (max. 4) 0.25 0.33 0.39 5.3 .005Consumerism (max. 11) 1.97 2.32 2.90 36.0 .000Protectionism against advertising and

consumption (max. 6)2.28 2.23 2.39 NS


1.04 1.09 0.90 3.6 .028


0.88 0.79 0.70 3.4 .035


0.85 0.90 0.98 NS

Table 5 Consumerism, protectionism and optimism by education (means)

Indices Below secondary

Secondary Higher F Sig.

N 281 817 340

Valuation of brands (max. 4) 0.31 0.30 0.37 NSConsumerism (max. 11) 1.95 2.33 2.90 24.3 .000Protectionism against advertising

and consumption (max. 6)1.81 2.31 2.63 2.00 .000


1.16 1.00 0.89 4.65 .010


0.68 0.81 0.84 NS


1.03 0.86 0.90 NS



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A possible explanation is their greater attention to appearance (e.g. a need to look good at the workplace); this might also be connected with the higher income of more educated people.

It is not surprising that people with higher education are also the most protectionist and least optimistic about children and consumption. A higher level of education raises awareness of the potential damage caused by the manipulative influence of advertising and excessive consumption. At the same time, educational differences in the level of criticism towards the medias role were not statistically significant.

General thought patterns and tendencies

In order to reveal more general thought patterns behind the different phen-omena analysed in this study, we calculated correlations between the indices. Predictably, valuation of brands and consumerism correlated (Pearsons r = .17; p < .001); thus, more consumerist people tended to place a higher value on brands as notable indicators of status and lifestyle. A more interesting finding were the correlations between valuation of brands and protectionism (r = .13; p < .001), and valuation of brands and criticism (r = .10; p < .001). We may assume this is connected with reflexivity, i.e. when one acknowledges the importance of brands for contemporary consumers self-formation and identity, one also tends to be more aware of the dangers this may bring along. Consumerism had weak, though statistically significant, correlations with pro-tectionism (r = .06; p < .05), as well as with both indices of optimism (r = .06 and r = .07, respectively; p < .05).

Protectionism and criticism were highly correlated (r = .45; p < .001): those who were more negative in terms of the manipulative power of advertising also tended to view the medias role as a socializing agent negatively. Corres-pondingly, the strong positive correlation between the two indices of optimism (r = .49; p < .001) reveals an underlying set of beliefs, according to which children are active agents in their dealings with advertising and the media, and the latter can play a positive role in the process of socialization.

Regression analysisIn order to reveal which of the sociodemographic variables had the strongest effect on the indices, we carried out linear regression analysis (see Table 6). We achieved the best fit of the regression model in the case of the index of consumerism: the model explains nearly 20 percent of the total variance, whereas all independent variables (age and income, in particular) were signi-ficant predictors. This can be explained by the fact that the index of consumer-ism involved statements about clear-cut and presumably factual consumption practices and preferences, which are directly influenced by ones lifestyle and economic possibilities. The latter, in turn, were strongly related to socio-demographic characteristics. Other indices summarize agreement with more




369

Tab

le 6

Res

ults

of r

egre

ssio

n an

alys

is

Dep

end

ent

varia

ble

sC

onsu

mer

ism

Val

uatio

n of

b

rand

sP

rote

ctio

nism

aga

inst

ad

vert

isin

g an

d

cons

ump

tion

Op

timis

m w

ith r

egar

d

to a

dve

rtis

ing

and

co

nsum

ptio

n

Crit

icis

m t

owar

ds

the

soci

aliz

ing

role

of

the

med

ia

Op

timis

m w

ith r

egar

d

to t

he s

ocia

lizin

g ro

le

of t

he m

edia

Mod

el fi

tR

2S

ig.

R2

Sig

.R

2S

ig.

R2

Sig

.R

2S

ig.

R2

Sig

.

.197

.000

.023

.000

.033

.000

.029

.000

.008

.001

.006

.012

Ind

epen

den

t va

riab

les

S

ig.

S

ig.

S

ig.

S

ig.

S

ig.

S

ig.

Age

.34

.000

.11

.000

NS

.08

.002

NS

NS

Gen

der

a.

15.0

00.0

6.0

38.0

9.0

01.

13.0

00N

S.

06.0

19In

com

e.2

1.0

00.0

8.0

02N

SN

S.

09.0

02.0

6.0

24E

duc

atio

n.1

4.0

00N

S.1

7.0

00.

10.0

00.0

8.0

08.

06.0

29

a Gen

der

was

rec

oded

into

a d

umm

y va

riab

le w

here

0 =

fem

ale

and

1 =

mal

e.



C H I L D H O O D 1 6 ( 3 )

370

abstract assertions, which could probably be explained by other cognitive phenomena, such as beliefs and values, rather than by sociodemographic char acteristics. Nevertheless, some independent variables in our models have greater explanatory power. For instance, valuation of brands was, similarly to consumerism, more strongly predicted by age and income. The two indices summarizing opinions about childrens vulnerability to advertising and con-sumption were mostly influenced by education and gender. The indices sum-marizing opinions about the socializing role of the media are, in general, poorly explained by sociodemographic variables; among them, however, income and education played a more important role.

Discussion

This study attempted to reveal how popular versions of theoretical viewpoints are distributed across different sociodemographic groups.

On the whole, the opinion of the vulnerability of children to advertising was most easily expressed, while other aspects of the influence of consumer and media society on children were less readily addressed. This may be explained by the prevalence of advertising-related debate in the media. It seems that adver-tising was viewed as an archetypal institution of the consumer society, which symbolically incarnates many of the problematic themes referred to earlier. It also appears that questions related to childrens self-positioning were clearer to young respondents when compared to more complex phenomena related to advertising and the media in the process of socialization. However, we have certain reservations and do not interpret the response Difficult to say as unequivocally indicating a lack of reflexivity. It may also demonstrate, for some people, an acknowledgement of the complexity of these issues, which impedes choice between either/or positions.

As protectionism in regard to advertising and consumption had a higher mean value than the optimistic side of the scale, we conclude that adults, as well as youngsters, tend to be relatively protectionist and normative in terms of the consumer society. This may be explained by the rapid growth of the consumer market and the relatively new phenomenon of marketing to children in post-socialist Estonia. Both children and grown-ups are faced with constant negotiations between media and market-generated desire, peer pressure, economic constraints and moral ambiguities. These tend to be intensified by the relative novelty of the consumer society and parents and grandparents personal, vivid memories of the Soviet past, which evoke nostalgia for a purer life uncontaminated by the consumer race for status and market-produced satisfaction of desire (see Keller, 2004).

Opinions about the socializing role of the media are more ambivalent. Still, our respondents tended to agree with the critical discourse about the media as corrupting the innocence and safety of childhood. At the same time, the largest number of respondents see the media as a connector of




371

generations; they do not perceive the childrens media world as inaccessible and incomprehensible (see Buckingham, 2003). A possible explanation lies in the overall fascination with new media in Estonia: the share of Internet users has risen remarkably in the last few years; children teach their parents about the secrets and possibilities of the Internet universe; and public discourses can be characterized as celebrating an image of Estonia as a successful e-state, and as lacking reflexivity and criticism on potential risks and problems related to childrens use of new media.

Quite predictably, the youngest consumers valued expressive dimen-sions of consumption most and their consumerism is also growing most rapidly along with the general rise of living standards in Estonia. This is the generation of the children of freedom, born at the very end of the Soviet Union or after Estonia regained independence. According to Langer (2005: 262), for these children the symbolic resources for . . . self-formation are increasingly commercial in origin, and childrens capacity for spontaneity and creativity is exercised within a commercially constituted life world. At the same time, their parents generation expressed the greatest concerns with the responsibility to socialize children as competent consumers and citizens, roles that sometimes go hand in hand, but more often tend to force families to face the conflict between opposing notions of private and public, materialist and non-materialist, global and local (or western and Estonian) and commercially produced and self-made.

Men tend to value brands more highly, and at the same time are more protectionist in terms of children and consumption, whereas women are consu-merist in their own orientations and more optimistic when it comes to children and consumer culture. This resonates with the gender-determined division of labour in parenting. Women, being relatively consumerist, yet responsible mothers, obviously view themselves as sufficiently empowered and active agents to believe in successfully tackling the demanding consumer mother role. We may assume that being consumerist oneself, but attempting to raise children in a very protectionist manner, could lead to considerable cognitive dissonance.

Respondents with higher education were more consumerist, but also the most protectionist and least optimistic when it comes to children and the consumer world. It seems that these people perceive their life world (e.g. work-place, social contacts and status) as presenting them with specific require ments for consumption, while at the same time their educational capital (relatively greater familiarity with versions of the aforementioned theoretical and public debates) and analytical skills make them more sensitive to potential dangers caused by global capitalism.

Correlations between indices demonstrate that the opinions formed cer-tain patterns. It is interesting that there were correlations between valuation of brands, protectionism and criticism. Behind this, we see a type of consumer who is reflective and conscious of the potential hazards and negative impact,



C H I L D H O O D 1 6 ( 3 )

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particularly for children, imposed by the consumption- and media-saturated society. At the same time, they appropriate commercially produced and branded goods and services into their personal life world, accepting their sign value and symbolic power. These seemingly opposing phenomena are con-nected, which once more emphasizes the need to move beyond either/or, both in theoretical discussion and empirical data interpretations. Contrary to our expectations, consumerism had weak and ambiguous correlations with atti-tudes towards childrens relationships with advertising and the media: among consumerist respondents we found both protectionists and optimists. Thus, we need to acknowledge that how consumption is experienced in practice is immensely more complex than contradictory theoretical assertions and can never simply be determined by them.

While consumerism was well predicted by sociodemographic variables (age and income, in particular), regression analysis on other indices (especially the ones concerning the socializing role of the media) did not produce equally good models. We assume that peoples understanding of those relatively ab-stract questions can be better explained by other cognitive phenomena, such as beliefs and values; thus, further research is needed in this respect.

Although consumption and media use are increasingly more global in nature, especially for the younger generations, there are still several aspects characteristic of the developing and small Estonian post-socialist market society that help to explain the patterns of opinions and practices outlined in this study. For more than 15 years, the dominant ideology in Estonia has been very liberal, complemented by a remarkable e-optimism. Both of these factors have placed consumption and new media at centre stage for large numbers of people, especially the young. However, commercial communi-cation targeted at children is limited compared to the old western consumer societies. Moreover, it exists mostly in the form of traditional mass-market TV or print advertising, complemented by some specifically child-oriented com-mercial websites. Very sophisticated new media-based marketing strategies, as outlined, for example, by Montgomery and Chester (2007), are scarcely used by local companies and brands. Also, there has been a lack of debate and research on the impact of international marketing on Estonian children, which leads us to believe that awareness of media- and market-related risks, both online and offline, is low. Thus, fairly clear-cut opinions about advertisings harmful effect on children exist, but other aspects of the complex media and consumption landscape are a relative blind spot for parents and children themselves, as well as for the mass media and policy-makers. As commercial enterprises tend to always be several steps ahead of the academic, as well as policy-making, community, we sense a strong need for more debate and for building bridges between the different groups, in order to enhance media and consumer literacy, not only among children but also among parents, grand-parents and teachers, who in many respects, due to their complex historical legacy, are still learning to consume.




373

Acknowledgements

The preparation of this article was supported by grant No. 6968, financed by the Estonian Science Foundation, and grant No. SF0180017s07, financed by the Estonian Governmental Scientific Research Support Scheme.

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