JACKIE DOHERTY MARISSA EVANS KRISTIN ROCHE BRITTANY SCHILLING MEREDITH VIEIRA The Effects of Marketing on Tween Girls

Subject Characteristics “By the time children reach 10, they are rejecting childlike images and aspiring to more mature things associated with being a teen” American Teen / Tween Girls  American Teen, Aged 13 – 16  Tween, Aged 8-12 Capture their Disposable Income Easily Influenced Age Compression Victoria’s Secret Pink: Keeping the Brand Hot Seymour, L. 2007

Effects of the Media Advertising and media encourage girls to be mindful of appearance and sexuality  47% of 5-12 th graders expressed interest in losing weight after viewing magazine pictures  By 17 years old, a girl has received over 250,000 commercial messages through the media  50% of Saturday morning toy commercials aimed at girls mentioned physical attractiveness Gurian, A.: How to Raise Girls with Healthy Self-Esteem Advertising Youth & Body Image

Victoria’s Secret PINK Loungewear, sleepwear intimate apparel Target group: College age Actual consumers: Tweens 8-14 and Teens Image: cute and playful  Victoria’s Secret umbrella image: sexy Sub brand as a “gateway”  Introduce consumers earlier on  Develop long-term relationships Victoria’s Secret Pink: Keeping the Brand Hot

CoverGirl Taylor Swift NatureLuxe campaign Image: “Makes it easy, breezy, and beautiful to be yourself” Capture younger demographic  Makeover tours  Internet-connected “point-of-entry” kiosks  Tremor: Word-of-mouth initiative Taylor Swifts First CoverGirl Ad Sneak Peek, 2011

Survey Focus Group Conducted online with Qualtrics Polled parents with girls between the ages of 5-18 Focused on perceptions of how their daughters are marketed towards Conducted focus group with five girls, ages Discussed shopping, TV, internet usage, cosmetics, media, celebrities, & more Research Overview

Primary Research Overview Focus Group  Three 12 year olds  One 14 year old  One 16 year old Overall Discovery  The older the girls got, the more aware of the influences and tactics of marketing they were  All denied allowing marketing to influence them  All showed signs that they were being influenced

Primary Research Highlights Finding Highlights  All wore heavy makeup other than one 12 year old  All agreed that 5 th or 6 th grade was an appropriate age to start wearing makeup  All denied shopping online; All were “caught” discussing shopping or browsing online  All view Taylor Swift as their idol and agreed they would buy anything she branded  12 year olds explained that they shopped at Pink, Abercrombie, other branded teen stores because of utility – not popularity or marketing  12 and 14 year olds explained money was not a deciding factor when purchasing; 16 year old said money was the most important factor

Primary Research Quotes Quotes  16 year old on Bratz vs. Barbies: “We liked Bratz because they looked like teenagers. Barbies looked like adults.”  12 year old on Taylor Swift: “I like Taylor because she is not like the other celebrities that do bad things. She’s a good singer, she’s pretty and I like her clothes.”  14 year old: “I don’t understand why so many clothing stores have advertisements with models not wearing any clothes. It’s pointless.”  16 year old on television commercials: “I notice that the same commercials play during all of the shows I watch…when I was younger they influenced me a lot but now I have my own opinions.”

References Wadyka, Sally. (2007). Are Bratz Dolls Too Sexy? Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. Gurian, A. How to Raise Girls with Healthy Self-Esteem. Retrieved from Youth X Change. Advertising Youth & Body Image. Retrieved from Eating Disorders: Body Image and Advertising. (2008). Healthy Place. Retrieved from advertising/menu-id-58/ A New Low For Victoria’s Secret. (2007). American Decency. Retrieved from Media and Girls. (2010). Media Awareness Network. Retrieved from

References Continued Responsible or Not? Marketing To Tweens and Teens. (2008). Responsible Marketing. Retrieved from teens Driving Teen Egos- and Buying Through “Branding”. (2004). American Psychological Association. Vol. 35, No. 6. Retrieved from Jayson, S. (2007). Media Cited For Showing Girls as Sex Objects. USA Today. Retrieved from Cardona, M. M. (2000). Young Girls Targeted By Makeup Companies. Advertising Age. Vol. 71 Issue 49, p15, 1p. Retrieved from Fyfe, K. (2008). CW’s “Provocative: Ad Campaign Targets Teens and Blasphemes God. News Busters. Retrieved from Taylor Swifts First CoverGirl Ad Sneak Peek. (2011). becomegorgeous.com. Retrieved from sneak_peek-3390.html

References Continued Victoria’s Secret Pink: Keeping The Brand Hot. Southern Evangelical Seminary and Bible College. Retrieved from Seymour, L. (2007). Tweens ‘R’ Shoppers. The New York Times. Retrieved from Advertising to Children: Geo Girl Make-up. (2011). The Thoughtful Consumer. Retrieved from Bhatnagar, P. (2004). Victoria’s Secret Teams Up With Coeds. CNNMoney.com. Retrieved from Lamar, M. (2010). Victoria’s Secret Pink is a Brilliant Strategy, Is Your Brand Thinking Ahead. V3 Integrated Marketing. Retrieved from for-future-customers/ The Today Show Online. (2011). Barbie’s 39” bust, 18” waist stir body-image debate. Retrieved from Adersen, Tufle, Rasmussen, Chan. (2008). The Tweens market and Responses to Advertising in Denmark and Hong Kong. Bradford, 9 (3). Retrieved from proquest.umi.com.library.simmons.edu/pqdlink?Ver=1&Exp= &FMT=7&DID= &RQT=309