viernes, 14 de enero de 2011

Analyzing -Young people, young media by Sonia Livingstone and Moira Bovill; London School of Economics and Political Science-

Sonia Livingstone and Moira Bovill, the authors of the research that I'm going to analize, conducted the study by first considerating the media as they create a special enviroment. They classify the radio in comparison with other media as listening and noncomputer media, defining it as transparent communication, conceived as a family media who don't consume individually.
The radio is the penultimate machine that young children do not have at home and they don't have in their room. The radio (it isn't clear in the study what type of radio they're referring) is the first choice of media consumption of very few children, especially heard from girls whose consumption increases with age, but regardless of sex. The percentage goes up if we talk about the consumption of music to relax, but the authors do not just find the place in which they can classify, as it can be included in all media from talk radio to television until of hi-fi or video, talking also about the most popular formats like Mp3 or Ipod.
Instead they see computers and books as they consume media for learning, they perceive radio only for entertainment when radio could also be one of them. The respondents acknowledge that they consume radio in a more casual way and it is the environment where they're least concentrated (12%) ahead of phone and video. However, they put more attention when radios broadcast music. In another study, they evaluated the low level of consumption of the radio in British homes despite the number of machines. They say: “ while we cannot simply infer children’s access from a knowledge of household media provision, the balance struck between common and personal provision of media is indicative of family strategies in incorporating new forms of media into their domestic culture and daily routines”. The radio is the fifth device that children would be in your room and it was in the same position evaluating the only device you have, and hearing is the last of the entertainment-related activities that children choose in case of boredom. It is also the eighth activity they see their parents do. Scanell demonstrated in a study in 1988 that television schedule mark the hours for the consumption of other media. Nearly all (99%) have access to either a hi-fi or radio, and almost all (86%) listen to it. On average, children and young people listen to music on 5 days per week, for 91 minutes on a typical day, making an overall average of one and a quarter hours per day (76 minutes).
As we already mentioned, there are differences in consumption in terms of sex and age. Amongst the minority who do not listen to music, there are nearly twice as many boys as girls, and girls spend around an hour and a half a day listening compared with just over one hour for boys. Following age patterns, the numbers listening to music in their free time increase from under three-quarters (71%) at 6-8 to almost everyone (97%) at 15-17.When they have between 6 and 8 years old, children listen to music for around half an hour per day. With 15-17 years old those who listen at all spend on average just over two hours doing so. The popularity of music is growing up: few listen to music only occasionally, and for teenagers, ‘heavy’ use becomes increasingly common (typical of 38% of 15-17 year old). Neuman's studies in 1991 showed in the other hand the limited influence that the use of radio exercised in handling the children time to do homework or go to bed.
With the arrival of new radio technology has shifted to the narrowcasting and podcasting, specialising in particular types of music, and transmitting these at more varied times of day than broadcast television. In consequence, each new medium may result in a larger number of media options for children. And it can be more powerful, because the way that the media are becoming integrated within an ever-smaller, more multifunctional black box which does everything and over which we have control allow us to listen the radio and our music wherever we want.
Taking in count the type of families, radio is more consumed from one-parent families whose children are more likely to have less expensive items such as books, walkmans and radios if we compare with children in reconstituted families are particularly likely to have screen entertainment media. They dedicate an important space to investigate the importance of the music for children and teenagers as part of their conversation and the improvement that they have in their social relationship if they have this system.

martes, 11 de enero de 2011

The state of the relation between radio, consumerism and children.

The Cognitive theory developed by Piaget classifies children into four stages according to their development: sensorimotor (0-2 years), pre-operational (2-7years), Concrete Operational (7-11 years) and formal-operational (11-adult). After two years, children have enough knowledge and skills in order to experience the pressure of consumer society, but particularly from 7 when they are less egocentric and they can develop a multidimensional and logical thinking that enables the assessment of the world around them. The media are so inevitable in that circle. Social and economic trends have limited the relationship of children with the media, highlighting the television and the publications over the others (Beltran, 1999; Ballesta, 1998; Garita, Onandia and others,1998).

Despite this, the study of Children's Satellite Network (1993) and a Drotner, Kirsten (2001) say that 91.2% of U.S. children between 2 and 11 years listen to the radio at least 7 hours week and this is heeding until 17 years old. The radio is heard between 3 and 7 in the evening or morning, and also on weekends. They are the centre of a market where they spend 4.2 billion dollars a year to satisfy their own desires with money that is not all theirs. At this point, our study line is divided in two: first, the psychological evaluation of the external market, i.e. the willingness of children to listen to the radio and to encourage such programs; and second, the psychology of marketing and advertising which are attached to this type of programs and allow them to continue on the air. The external market is booming now, looking for a simple format that appeals to adults, but mainly dedicated to children. And that may be one of the problems, since according to the Arbitron study conducted in 1993, most of the programs that children hear, they do so influenced by their parents and not because they really like them. For example, Radio Disney recognizes that its content has been created for mothers and children alike.

Listen to the radio can be part of the socialization process and common conversation with their mates in the same way as they do with the television. McNeal studies in 1992 and Golinko in 1984 confirmed this phenomenon and Piaget corroborated it by one of his most famous phrases: “The older children get, the less egocentric they become and the more they become aware of external events, opinions and intentions”. The radio can use this natural behaviour also in another sense: the society trains its children increasingly confident when making their consumption decisions, used to feel that they can control the information and establishing a strong relationship with brands. If a radio is capable of retaining a listener since childhood, probably he or she hears this station all his/her life. But it seems that even as the medium itself is concerned with evolution. They don't realize that even the form of listening has changed, media can not be defined only by its technology. In a study commissioned by DR in 2000, researchers noticed that the children interviewed had difficulty remembering whether they had been listening to music on the radio, the Internet or another device: the definition of radio in terms of its technology was becoming irrelevant. Music has become one of the most attractive points of this media consumption even by children.

The transmission is shift from analogue to digital and technological convergence has made possible the union of the media, in front of Internet that is making bigger steps, to fight for their differentiation. It has to leave the focus of media for entertainment and return to the spotlight, but also giving time to children to learn how to play, across all consoles and televisions. Clark found in a study that he realizes in 1939 that the success of a children's program depended on the time and how this should be organized, but they tend to poorly improvise, bad planned and the programs are too long and worst distributed that they can last up around 6 hours. Children are a special public: they criticize the faults in a sincere manner and respond when they asked to participate, but programs are encased them only in children's stories and simple songs.

They need something else: children ask for an easy art, but interesting and entertaining at the same time which does not question their values but accept their strengthens. Gender differences also make a distinction, from the age of 15 girls prefer romances and boys prefer music and sports. Regarding the evolution of consumption, girls spend more increasingly time with radio, unlike the boys. In a horizon in which the public and private radio is increasingly homogenized and specialized radio is growing at a slow pace, it seems not very easy.

Radio programs can be profitable in the large commercial radio as Radio Caracol is proving. We do not have to focus these initiatives in the podcast or initiatives that only arise in schools or colleges. Radio for children can also claim its importance. A major component of these programs should be creativity. The announcer should be able to feel beyond the ear. The endless curiosity of children will be invited to fly between stories, soft music, funny noises, games, craft proposals and it should be carefully designed to not transmit panic, be entertaining and catch the attention of its public. Can be addressed without fear and current philosophical issues, calling for participation, poetry, dance, film, actuality, science... Really no expert can ensure a success in this field. They can not even copy because there are little options, but they have to attract a large audience. We warn of the danger of falling into the clichés, children are one of the most complicated public honestly criticize your mistakes and recognize your strengths, not because it must fit in the content easy to read eternal simple conversations. They need activation. Children have much to say and much to learn. We can see what happens if we force a children to only listen our commercial-news radio, they quickly lost the attention because maybe the most attractive sounds are in publicity and they're on air lot of time with plan conversations. Although with music radio they listen and feeling, they don't focus very much on it. It's also a problem generated by a consumption habits, in most cases generated by imitating the behaviour of their parents.

Regarding advertising, marketing and consumption patterns of radio for children, they're covering a wide range of future consumer loyalty starting from 7 years, when more or less are able to distinguish advertising from programming environment. The process of receiving the radio information is more complex than the visual (we acknowledge its supremacy) and it has two phases: the partnership and product recognition, and the recall. The concrete operal-children starts the children's market despite not having fully met all the cognitive abilities.

One study showed that in almost every household has more than one radio, either alone or in combination with other devices (like television, walkman, Mp3) and it is very common that there is one in the bedroom of the young, for example, associated with an alarm clock. Professionals recognize the great difficulty to convince the publicists to put advertising sponsor and maintain the program even though they have the great results from advertising to children on television. This issue should discuss more specifically assessing why they can not go beyond a real advertising, taking better advantage of the medium being aware of its limitations, always respecting because we're making advertising to children that it should not be encouraged to persuade another to buy, talk to strangers, encourage the collecting, drugs, alcohol, promote prejudice or make them feel inferior.

**I'm very sorry if there are some grammar or other type mistakes. In this case, I really would like to be notified. Thank you.