Day 054 - 24 Nov 94 - Page 31

     
     1
     2   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It looks as if he is saying then that there
     3        is some evidence that between three and four, children
     4        begin to distinguish between commercials and the rest of
     5        the television?
     6        A.  I do not think he is specifically referring here to
     7        commercials.
     8
     9   Q.   He says "commercials and the rest", does he not?
    10
    11   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, one does need to read on over the page,
    12        page 30, the first column.
    13
    14   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  That is where I am, at the top:  "There is
    15        some evidence that between three and four years of age
    16        children classify the world of television into two kinds of
    17        TV fare; commercials and 'the rest'"?
    18        A.  Yes, and at the age of four they begin to have a
    19        distinction between what is on television and everyday
    20        life.  I was going to refer to this later in my evidence
         because this is a very good description of the process by
    22        which children begin to understand what advertising is all
    23        about.
    24
    25   MR. MORRIS:  Would you like to read out the bits of the
    26        following section that you think are important?
    27
    28   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Before you do that, do you think that
    29        children under the age of about four really have much, if
    30        any, influence upon their parents so far as where they
    31        might eat if they were not eating at home is concerned?
    32        A.  Yes, there is evidence that children as young as four
    33        are brand conscious.  To that extent, I think they would be
    34        capable of expressing a preference.
    35
    36   Q.   But I am talking about the success rate with their
    37        parents.  I would have thought, as a matter of principle,
    38        it might become greater as they grew older.  That is why
    39        I asked the question whether you have any view on that
    40        because you are giving the evidence, not me.
         A.  Yes, I think the peak ages of what has been termed
    42        "pester power" are generally considered to be between the
    43        ages of seven and ten ---
    44
    45   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  That does not surprise me.
    46        A.  But that is not to say that young children do not begin
    47        to exert their wants and desires from a very early age.
    48
    49   MS. STEEL:  If, for example, they were out shopping with their
    50        mother, do you think that in a situation where the child 
    51        was out with its parents, do you think it would only apply 
    52        to older children or also to younger children? 
    53        A.  No, I think it starts very young.  It may peak at a
    54        later age.
    55
    56   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  At what age?
    57        A.  I think from as young as the age when children can
    58        begin to articulate.
    59
    60   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What I am asking you, in the light of what