Identifying determinants of young children's brand awareness: Television, parents, and peers

The aim of this study was to investigate the development of young children's brand awareness, and the relative influence of environmental factors (e.g., television, parents, peers) on brand awareness. We presented 196 two- to eight-year-olds with 12 brand logos. After exposure to these logos, we asked children to mention the brand name (brand recall), and to choose the right brand from a number of available visual options (brand recognition). Two- to three-year-olds recalled only 1 out of 12 brands, whereas they recognized 8 out of 12 brands. The results showed that exposure to television was significantly related to the brand awareness of even the youngest children. The findings are discussed in terms of contributions to national and international debates about the ethical aspects of a growing trend to consider infants and young preschoolers as a commercial target group.