TODDLERS CHOOSE THEIR FRIENDS ON WHAT BRANDS THEY LIKE, SAYS STUDY

• From: The Advertiser March 18, 2010 7:21AM

• Young children susceptible to marketing
• They recognise McDonald's, Lego logos
• Study based on Brisbane kindergartens

CHILDREN as young as three are judging their peers on the brands they use.

New research proves what parents have long suspected - children who are still learning how to talk are far more sophisticated and brand-conscious than was previously thought.

Toddlers can recognise some of the world's biggest labels - including McDonald's and Coke - and even choose their playmates on the brands they associate them with, research suggests.

The study, by psychologist Anne McAlister from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is based on the habits of children in Brisbane kindergartens.

The results challenge the accepted rule that children do not understand brands until they are eight.

Dr McAlister said yesterday that the assumption that only older children can be affected by brand advertising was based on flawed studies that had used research methods inappropriate for younger children.

"What they were doing was interviewing and asking children, `What is your favourite brand?' or `What brand of jeans do you want to wear?"' she said.

"If you show them pictures and say `Which one's your favourite?' they can answer that.

"Children in our study were judging other children based on the brands they use, saying things like `I don't want to play with him if they've got McDonald's, I don't want to be fat'."

The research presented the children with the brand-name logos for 50 brands across 16 product categories, such as toys, electronics, clothes and fast food.

About half recognised brands aimed at children, while 20 per cent recognised brands not targeted at them.

Dr McAlister said McDonald's was the most widely recognised brand but others included Hot Wheels, Lego, My Little Pony, Coke, Pepsi, Toyota and even Shell.

Consumer behaviour expert Frank Zumbo said even children aged under three had some awareness of brands.

"Kids are far more sophisticated than we give them credit for and companies invest a lot of time and money reaching out to them. They know the younger they suck them in, the longer they stay," he said.