Effectiveness of Animated Spokes Character in Advertising Targeted to Kids

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to find the effectiveness of using animated characters in advertising targeted to kids. The research design was quantitative and its research type was causal. The respondents of the study were ‘Pre-primary school going kids’ from nine different schools belonging to different areas of Karachi, Pakistan. Data was analyzed through Classification Regression Tree (CRT).The findings of this research study reveal that liking of the animated spokes character has a significant effect on product and brand character recognition, Product-Character Association and brand preference. It is recommended that companies should use such animated cartoon characters that are attractive and appealing to enhance brand recognition and recall. Marketers should employ animated characters in commercials or small cartoon films to build emotional bond with children to develop the brand preference among kids. The majority of earlier related studies has been descriptive in nature. This study has used relatively advanced measurement technique like CRT thereby making methodical contribution. It is especially useful considering the paucity of research studies on advertising targeted at kids in Pakistan.

Keywords: Children Buying Behavior, Animated Character , Advertising Effectiveness,, Brand Preference, Brand Association, Brand Recall, Brand Recognition