The rights of the young consumer
Girls in adolescence are being, on a daily basis, subjected to a great number of advertising messages that are trying to influence their consumer choices and behaviours through television, smartphones, tablets and various social networks. How prepared are you, though, to detect if the advertised product is something that you really want and need? Has it ever occurred to you that maybe some of these advertisements are violating some of your fundamental rights?
The way a product is promoted forms needs, creates or changes consumer habits and evokes desires. This is why several scientists have identified children and adolescents as a vulnerable age group in terms of developing a healthy consumer behaviour.
Some of the advertisements, displayed daily, can be described as aggressive, while others are trying in some way to steer your behaviour towards the desired direction, ignoring your personality and your interests. It is very important to always pay attention to the source of the advertising message and distinguish a reliable source from an unreliable. So, apart from the measures that need to be taken from the responsible bodies, regarding the institutional recognition of children and adolescents as consumers and the diffusion of issues concerning digital and TV marketing, in order to raise awareness, maybe it is also time for you to become more sensitized and acquire your own critical ability towards the advertising messages you receive. You need to think about whether you are interested in an advertising message, whether what’s presented in it is realistic and whether the advertised product is important to you. It is significant to learn how to distinguish between the advertisements that are relevant to you and interest you and the advertisements that are excessive, presenting the products in an idyllic way, in order to allure you.
Tips:
- Don’t diffuse your personal information on the internet e.g. your home address, your telephone number, which school you are attending or where you are at the moment.
- Avoid clicking on various digital advertisements of dubious source. Among other things, they may contain viruses that could harm your computer or activate charges on the bill of your mobile.
- Never perform an online purchase before discussing it with an adult you trust.
- Inform your parents if a web page you once visited made you feel awkward or requested too much personal information.
Just remember that as an “adolescent consumer” you have rights, just like adults do. Claim them!
In collaboration with:Niki Daliana
Career Councillor, Scientific Associate of the Greek Society of Adolescent Medicine
Artemis Tsitsika
Ass. Professor of Pediatrics - Adolescent Medicine, Scientific Coordinator of the Program "PROLEPSIS» ran by the Greek Society of Adolescent Medicine
