Influence of television advertisement in the food habits among the Children in Kerala

Advertising is a form of marketing communication used to persuade an audience to take or continue some action, usually with respect to a commercial offering, or political or ideological support. Advertising are usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via various media. Television is the most powerful media among them. Commercial ads often seek to create a need in the minds of people and to generate increased consumption. Another significant trend regarding future of advertising is the growing importance of the niche market using targeted ads. Advertisement of Food products mean for children is example of niche market advertising. It makes a child, a consumer even before the age of 5. The new generation of children are spending most of their time in front of television and their eating habits are somehow influenced with the advertisements. This research paper makes an attempt to find out the level of influence of television advertisement on the eating habits of children in Kerala. This study is based on the response of 150 parents who have child in between 3-10 years, in Malappuram and Calicut districts in Kerala. The data is collected with the help of an interview schedule. Data is analyzed with the help of simple percentage and presented in bar and pie diagrams. This paper concludes that TV ads severely affecting the eating habits of children and the government has to take necessary regulations to control the unrealistic offers and misleading acts in the ads at least for children based food products.