Socio-Economic Considerations in Marketing to Children Via New Media. Lynne Eagle, Sandy Bulmer and Anne de Bruin, Massey University Abstract Currently new media such as the Internet are poised to become a major part of the marketing and communication mix to not only adults but also children. This poses challenges and heralds debate on both the Internet’s impact on and accessibility by children – the debate on the latter centring on equitable access across socio-economic levels. This paper reviews the literature on this debate and related issues. It reports on a New Zealand empirical study of the perceptions of parents across a range of socio-economic levels regarding their children’s use of electronic media such as the Internet and the relative strength of the Internet as an advertising medium for child-related products. The insights obtained form the basis for a concluding discussion of the implications for marketing communication strategies. Introduction Children constitute a significant and valuable market for many businesses. In competing for the consumer dollar, marketers are looking to new media for potential communication opportunities. The convergence of media such as radio, print and on-line services to a digital platform offers considerable promise to marketers. At the same time concerns are being voiced regarding its impact on children. The development of a new medium is usually greeted with either dismissal or predictions that the new medium will totally replace the old (Coffey and Stipp, 1997) but there is widespread acceptance that communicating and transacting via the Internet (including to children) will become a major part of the marketing mix. Less clear, however, is the actual impact of the Internet on children’s lives and its effectiveness as a marketing communication medium. This paper reviews the literature and reports on a New Zealand empirical study of parental perceptions of their children’s use of the Internet. The implications of these findings with regard to the role of the Internet as a marketing communication medium are delineated. Background and Literature Review Children today have greater exposure to television and advertising in general than previous generations. In recent years the rise of the so-called ‘Generation Y’, with cynical attitudes towards marketing activities, has been partly attributed to extensive exposure to media advertising during childhood. Children consume television, rented and owned videos, as well as playing electronic games on Gameboy and PlayStation machines. They also hear about ‘cool’ websites from through the media and from friends - particularly sites linked to entertainment products such as TV programmes and movies (e.g. www.pokemon.com ). Wartella and Jennings (2000) state that computer and videogames are a source of conversation and interaction among many children. Such knowledge, as cultural currency, is part of a much broader phenomenon, extending across a wide range of marketing activity (see Bulmer, 2001; Ritson and Elliott, 1999). The potential strength of new electronic media, individually and collectively as agents of socialisation, learning and cultural ‘cool’ appears to ANZMAC 2002 Conference Proceedings 281