Marketing Infantil: A Criança, a Publicidade e o Consumo
Ana Catarina Martins Correia Soares 
1
1 ISCET – High Institute of Business and Tourism Sciences, Porto, Portugal
To cite this text:
Soares, A. C. M. C. (2009), Marketing Infantil: A Criança, a Publicidade e o Consumo, Percursos & Ideias, Vol. 1, pp. 5-15.
Abstract
Advertising directed at children is a subject that has been strongly debated over the last few years. The advertisers are spending each time more and more in this segment, because of the perception that this market is so large. Simultaneously parents, teachers, and others, want to learn about how the advertising directed at children really is. And the children’s consumption behaviour? We can reach some conclusions: it is developed through the period of childhood until adolescence; it is developed through several stages, starting with the basic ability to distinguish commercials from other programming, passing through a central understanding that advertising has a persuasive intent, and finishing with a more sophisticated point of view. Less clear is the mechanism responsible for the development in the understanding and knowledge of children about the domain here in question.
A child can not be classified as intrinsically defenceless, being highly conditioned by aspects such as: context, experiences and cognitive development.
Keywords
Child, Socialization, Consumption, Autonomy, Discernment.