This important source for students, researchers, advertisers and parents reviews the debates about advertising to children, and presents new information about children's understanding of advertising. Contributing authors analyse food and alcohol advertising and their effect on children and young people, and explore the point at which children can first identify advertisements and when they can understand that advertisements are persuasive messages. As well as reporting research about television advertising, this volume includes studies about advertising to children in new media, including web pages, search engines, and advergames. There is a discussion of the new ways that marketers reach children, for instance through the internet or with product placement, as well as practical explanations of how parents and educators can help children become more critical of advertisements.

Mark Blades is Senior Lecturer in Developmental Psychology at the University of Sheffield, UK. He is co-author of the textbook Understanding Children's Development, now in its fifth edition.
Caroline Oates is Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Sheffield Management School, UK. She has co-authored Advertising to Children on TV: Content, Impact and Regulation with M. Blades and B. Gunter.

Fran Blumberg is an Associate Professor in Fordham University's Division of Psychological & Educational Services, USA. She edited Learning by Playing: Video Gaming in Education.

Barrie Gunter is Professor of Mass Communication at the University of Leicester, UK. He is a Psychologist by training and worked in the broadcasting sector for 15 years before moving into the academic world.

1. Introduction; Barrie Gunter, Caroline Oates, Fran Blumberg and Mark Blades

2. Do Very Young Children Understand Persuasive Intent in Advertisements?; Moondore Ali and Mark Blades

3. The Development of Children's Scepticism about Advertising; Maria T. Chu, Mark Blades and Jane Herbert

4. Commercial Food Promotion to Children; Emma J. Boyland, Joanne A. Harrold, Tim C. Kirkham and Jason C.G. Halford

5. Alcohol Advertising and Young People; Barrie Gunter

6. Advertising to Children in China; Kara Chan

7. Parents' Beliefs about, and Attitudes to, Marketing to Children; Caroline Oates, Nicki Newman and Athanasia Tziortzi

8. The Family's Role in Children's Interpretation of Advertising; Moniek Buijzen

9. Linkages between Media Literacy and Children's and Adolescents' Susceptibility to Advertising; Fran C. Blumberg, Lauren A. Frankle, Brian Kelley and Jessica M. Williams

10. Under the Radar: How Embedded Commercial Messages in TV and the New Media Influence Children without their Conscious Awareness; Laura Owen, Charlie Lewis and Susan Auty

11. Young Children's Ability to Identify Advertisements on Television, on Web Pages and on Search Engine Web Pages; Shiying Li, Megan Pickering, Moondore Ali, Mark Blades and Caroline Oates

12. The Influence of Advergames on Children's Consumer Choices and Behaviour; Amanda E. Staiano and Sandra L. Calvert

13. Conclusions; Caroline Oates, Fran Blumberg, Barrie Gunter and Mark Blades