Advertising to children: the language of manipulation

Advertising aimed at children has become one of the most lucrative areas of marketing. What appears to be harmless advertisement is in fact a form of communication designed to influence desires and behaviors. Marketers prey on the gullibility of children by employing carefully crafted linguistic strategies that capture their attention and stimulate their desire to own. Children are recognized as a "triple market": current consumers with independent purchasing power, influencers of parental spending, and future adult consumers whose brand preferences are shaped early (Zlatanova-Pazheva, 2019; Janardhnam & Chetana, 2019).