Chapter 5: Peers

Chapter 5 Peer pressure is often subtle and comes more from our desire to be liked than from external pressure to conform.

• You may have heard ads produced by the group: Parents: The Anti-drug. This group produces a range of materials for parents, employers, schools, and faith-based organizations to use in discussing and preventing substance use with youth. Links to an even broader range of resources is available through the US Department of Justice. One publication includes a section on Peers and Their Relationship to the Family that provides a good summary of information on peer influences and how they function. Note that peer influences are strongest in the presence of no countervailing influences (i.e. positive parent-adolescent relationships) and tend to be indirect, rather than direct.
• TeenAdvice.com provides a nice summary of information on peer pressure. In particular, you will want to follow the excellent, in-text links to more information.

• "Media literacy" is the general term used to describe the ability to critically analyze the media messages surrounding us. Resources aimed at helping youth develop those skills are available through the Educators' Resource Desk.
• Facts about advertising to children and teens, plus additional resources, have been compiled by The New American Dream and by the National Institute on Media and the Family. Don't forget advertising on the Internet, which has significantly changed the playing field for media advertisers. A discussion of advertising in the school, including a representative of The New American Dream and an advertising firm specializing in children, is available on-line through the Diane Rehme Show.
• The World Advertising Resource Center is a portal aimed at marketing, advertising, and media professionals. "Children" is the topic of one of their most popular searches, and provides over 500 articles on youth advertising. These articles can be accessed through a 7-day free trial membership, and include studies of the role that program context plays on how well memorize ads, how alcohol producers boost sagging sales by energizing the youth market, and how changing eating trends affect marketers. A truly fascinating resource.
• ERIC Digest provides a broad range of articles written by experts in the field. Although most articles are available on-line, many cannot be linked to directly. Instead, articles must be accessed on-line by going to the Eric Database and entering the document number in the search engine. You may find the following information useful, particularly because they talk about types of advertising you may not think of at all.
  • Educating the Consumer about Advertising: Some Issues (ED332255)
  • Advertising in Schools (ED389473)
• There are companies who earn their living through placing products in films, television shows, or photographs. As advertising, these placements can be particularly effective because they are being used by attractive characters, the viewer is exposed to the product, but the viewer does not usually notice that he/she is the target of advertising. Because of this, many of the normal defenses we use to protect ourselves against advertising are down. Checking out some of these sites may give you a new insight into this aspect of the advertising industry.
  • Leo television capitalizes on produce placements
  • Feature this!
  • The Entertainment Resources and Marketing Association is the professional organization representing this industry. This site discusses the benefits of product placement and will walk you through the process from the perspective a potential advertiser.
  • Kidscreen.com is a magazine entirely devoted to 'reaching children through entertainment'. Search their on-line archive of articles for information on how product placement is used to market to children and adolescents. Try keywords 'adolescents', 'tweens', or 'product placement'. Their discussions of both the type of media adolescents are interested in and how they should be marketed to are particularly interesting. You will need to subscribe to their e-mail newsletter (free for a trial membership) to receive access to archived materials.

Advertisers

• Mountain Dew
• Abercrombie & Fitch (particularly note which picture goes with which category, the lifestyle section, and the difference between the main site and the children's site.
• MTV
• Blue Adventure
• Adrenaline Magazine
• The Travel Channel