Conceicao Costa
Universidade Lusófona, ECATI, Adjunct
- Media Literacy Education, Children and Media, Branded Content, Social Network Analysis (SNA), Tweens, Children and Brands, and 20 moreBrand Literacy, Media Studies, Development communication, Media Literacy, Self and Identity, Media Education, Media Research, Tecnologias da Informação e da Comunicação (TIC) na Educação, Social Identity, User Experience (UX), Digital Media, Media Anthropology, Children, Gamification, Online research, gamification, research methodology, New Media, Digital Media And New Literacies, Sociology of Children and Childhood, Audience and Reception Studies, and Digital Media & Learningedit
- Conceição Costa is a PhD in Communication Sciences from FCSH - Universidade Nova de Lisboa, researching on Children a... moreConceição Costa is a PhD in Communication Sciences from FCSH - Universidade Nova de Lisboa, researching on Children and Consumption: media culture and the question of identities. She holds a M.A. in Business Communication and Public Relations from the European University and she is a Certified Usability Analyst from Human Factors International (USA). Currently she is an Assistant Professor and Researcher at the Department of Communication Studies, Arts and Information Technologies at Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias (UHLT) in Lisbon, Portugal. She lectures the following courses: Marketing and Advertising; Human-Computer Interaction; Scripting for Virtual Environments.
She is a member of the COST ACTION IS0906 “Transforming Audiences, Transforming Societies” that coordinates research efforts into the key transformations of European audiences within a changing media and communication environment, identifying their complex interrelationships with the social, cultural and political areas of European societies (http://www.cost-transforming-audiences.eu/).
She is a researcher at CICANT, Centro de Investigação em Comunicação Aplicada, Cultura e Novas Tecnologias.edit
No mundo ocidentalizado, a sociedade e a família reconhecem que as crianças têm a sua própria cultura, diferente da dos adultos. Tirando partido da visão social que confere à criança agenciamento e autonomia, bem como do acesso... more
No mundo ocidentalizado, a sociedade e a família reconhecem que as crianças têm a sua própria cultura, diferente da dos adultos. Tirando partido da visão social que confere à criança agenciamento e autonomia, bem como do acesso generalizado à rede, as empresas comerciais intervêm cada mais vez nas culturas infantis. A hibridização do marketing e do entretenimento em ambientes media online e offline deu origem a verdadeiros espaços “comerciais” embebidos no dia-a-dia das crianças. Importa compreender as negociações que ocorrem neste domínio. Que significados atribuem as crianças ao elevado número de mensagens comerciais às quais estão expostas, no ambiente de auto-regulação que se vivencia na Europa e em Portugal? Coloca-se assim a questão da literacia mediática, que apesar das suas múltiplas definições, pode-se dizer que também se traduz em uma forma de empoderamento dos cidadãos nas relações cotidianas estabelecidas com os media. Com o objectivo de se estudar a forma como os pré-adolescentes se apropriam das marcas e o papel das literacias nessa apropriação, daremos conta de um projeto de investigação que analisa em profundidade três comunidades escolares constituídas por alunos do 4º ano do Ensino Básico, de diferente condição social e da área da grande Lisboa. Estudámos a criança no espaço da escola, por um período prolongado, observando-a na sua relação cara-a-cara e via ambientes mediatizados com os pares. O Currículo Nacional Educativo para o Ensino Básico inclui a educação para os media, a par da educação para a cidadania, como uma competência chave para as crianças do Ensino Básico. Um Atelier de Educação Social para os Media foi desenhado e ministrado às crianças e uma avaliação diagnóstica e sumativa da literacia em marcas e publicidade foram conduzidas respetivamente no início e no fim do Atelier. Dado que existia um Web Site para o suporte das actividades de aprendizagem e comunicação na turma, daremos conta dos desafios que os ambientes mediatizados na Internet colocam às práticas pedagógicas atuais.
Research Interests:
This paper introduces the concept of belonging and discusses it in the context of online social networking experience and community experience considering social capital and user’s activities as nuclear concepts to understand collective... more
This paper introduces the concept of belonging and discusses it in the context of online social networking experience and community experience considering social capital and user’s activities as nuclear concepts to understand collective actions and social relationships mediated by online social media technologies. The paper presents an empirical approach based on the study of two local communities and analyses whether interactive social technologies are capable of allowing a greater social involvement and a higher production of social capital, social participation and sense of belonging, encouraging original forms of interaction and social cohesion within communities. The results indicate a positive relationship between the use of social media technology and the increase of social capital and sense of belonging, promoting a discussion about the relationship between virtual and face-to-face communication, the role and influence of social media technologies in communitarian social practices and the relevance of social capital theory within media studies.
Research Interests:
Round Table 1: Media literacy: ambitions, policies and measures Participants: • Sonia Livingstone, Professor, LSE - Chair • Paolo Celot, Secretary General, EAVI – European Association For Viewers’ Interests • Susanne Ding, European... more
Round Table 1: Media literacy: ambitions, policies and measures
Participants:
• Sonia Livingstone, Professor, LSE - Chair
• Paolo Celot, Secretary General, EAVI – European Association For Viewers’ Interests
• Susanne Ding, European Commission, Directorate General "Education and Culture"
• Jane Rumble, Media Literacy Group, Ofcom
• Kirsten Drotner, Professor, University of Southern Denmark and DREAM (Respondent)
Conference Panel: Media literacy: ambitions, policies and measures
Participants:
• Sonia Livingstone, Professor, LSE - Chair and paper presenter
• Ben Bachmair, Professor, University of Kassel, and Institute of Education, University of London
• Conceição Costa, Assistant Professor and researcher at CICANT-Lusófona University, Lisbon
• Tao Papaioannou, Assistant Professor, University of Nicosia, Cyprus
• Kirsten Drotner, Professor, University of Southern Denmark and DREAM (Respondent)
Participants:
• Sonia Livingstone, Professor, LSE - Chair
• Paolo Celot, Secretary General, EAVI – European Association For Viewers’ Interests
• Susanne Ding, European Commission, Directorate General "Education and Culture"
• Jane Rumble, Media Literacy Group, Ofcom
• Kirsten Drotner, Professor, University of Southern Denmark and DREAM (Respondent)
Conference Panel: Media literacy: ambitions, policies and measures
Participants:
• Sonia Livingstone, Professor, LSE - Chair and paper presenter
• Ben Bachmair, Professor, University of Kassel, and Institute of Education, University of London
• Conceição Costa, Assistant Professor and researcher at CICANT-Lusófona University, Lisbon
• Tao Papaioannou, Assistant Professor, University of Nicosia, Cyprus
• Kirsten Drotner, Professor, University of Southern Denmark and DREAM (Respondent)
Research Interests:
This paper presents an empirical study with children and discusses how Social Network Analysis (SNA) could be valuable in sensing children sociability with their peers as well their participation in a Web 2.0 platform. For one year long,... more
This paper presents an empirical study with children and discusses how Social Network Analysis (SNA) could be valuable in sensing children sociability with their peers as well their participation in a Web 2.0 platform. For one year long, participant observation took place under a “Media Education and Citizenship program” aimed to four-grades of an elementary private school in Lisbon. The learning program made usage of a Web Site. Apart from establishing statistic information about individual accounts usage, such as: who posts first, who participates more on polls, who creates and publishes more content, we are particularly interested in the analysis of the relations among community “actors”- the social network.
Under the present study, the findings related to group social cohesion and power, will be presented and SNA is discussed as a potential tool to evaluate children participation in their school community and its relation with children well-being and learning outcomes.
KEYWORDS: Children Communities, Social Network Analysis, Internet and Education
Under the present study, the findings related to group social cohesion and power, will be presented and SNA is discussed as a potential tool to evaluate children participation in their school community and its relation with children well-being and learning outcomes.
KEYWORDS: Children Communities, Social Network Analysis, Internet and Education
Research Interests:
The ubiquity of media in our society and the use of the Internet and in particular the World Wide Web as a convergent medium for a huge diversity of content and formats (movies in cinema and in YouTube, radio and cartoons on the Web and... more
The ubiquity of media in our society and the use of the Internet and in particular the World Wide Web as a convergent medium for a huge diversity of content and formats (movies in cinema and in YouTube, radio and cartoons on the Web and TV, social networks) has been a concern of academics, educators and governments. In what concerns to children audiences, the focus has been on safety and security of children and the correspondent online data protection.
Questions of the impact of subliminal forms of marketing communication target to children start to emerge in a world where marketing strategies and entertainment are more and more connected.
The main goal of this study is to explore what children aged from 8-10 years old think of brands, ads and their purpose. Can they understand the difference between a brand and an advertisement? Do they like/dislike ads? From which place/media/person they recognize brands and ads (even if they don’t use or know the product)?
We are interested in questions such us: if children socialize more and more with media, what are the risks and the opportunities? Do they need a media literacy program or do they learn by themselves to distinguish informational and persuasive media?
To answer these questions we have been working with an elementary school community (class) since March 2009. We have been using an ethnographic approach and our conceptual framework is based on the Activity Theory. The activities developed with children (community) are about old and new media learning, supported by the usage of a private Web Site (tool) (http://amigos.realcolegio.pt) and moderated by the researcher.
The question of the engagement with new media and how to design and use such IT platforms at school is also discussed. The relationship of these children with media as “users”, as “spectators” and as “creators” has been observed and the results will be presented1.
Keywords: children studies, media literacy, participative web design, marketing to children, online communities, activity theory.
Questions of the impact of subliminal forms of marketing communication target to children start to emerge in a world where marketing strategies and entertainment are more and more connected.
The main goal of this study is to explore what children aged from 8-10 years old think of brands, ads and their purpose. Can they understand the difference between a brand and an advertisement? Do they like/dislike ads? From which place/media/person they recognize brands and ads (even if they don’t use or know the product)?
We are interested in questions such us: if children socialize more and more with media, what are the risks and the opportunities? Do they need a media literacy program or do they learn by themselves to distinguish informational and persuasive media?
To answer these questions we have been working with an elementary school community (class) since March 2009. We have been using an ethnographic approach and our conceptual framework is based on the Activity Theory. The activities developed with children (community) are about old and new media learning, supported by the usage of a private Web Site (tool) (http://amigos.realcolegio.pt) and moderated by the researcher.
The question of the engagement with new media and how to design and use such IT platforms at school is also discussed. The relationship of these children with media as “users”, as “spectators” and as “creators” has been observed and the results will be presented1.
Keywords: children studies, media literacy, participative web design, marketing to children, online communities, activity theory.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In the westernized world, society and family recognize that children have their own culture, different from that of adults. Taking advantage of the social vision that child are competent agents of their own life, as well as the widespread... more
In the westernized world, society and family recognize that children have their own culture, different from that of adults. Taking advantage of the social vision that child are competent agents of their own life, as well as the widespread access to the network, commercial companies are more and more involved in children's culture. The hybridization of marketing and entertainment in online and offline media environments gave rise to "commercial" spaces embedded in children everyday life.
Moreover, the nature of the relationship between people and media is established in a manner identical to that of human communication and, in addition to the "other people", media objects play a role in the construction and expression of identities. Thus, the identity experience of children and their peer group tends to occur in mediated environments, which can be seen as sponsors of identities' construction.
Although family and peers still are important reference groups for the construction of the child identities, she/he has more opportunities and autonomy via media to identify and be legitimized by their peer group.
With the aim of studying how pre-teens appropriate brands in their expression of identities, this paper analyzes in depth three case studies conducted with children aged 9-10 years, students of the 4th year of elementary school. The three schools were located in Greater Lisbon area and of different social condition.
Activity theory and the interactionist perspective on identities were used as the theoretical framework for the research, thus placing the child in interaction with various communities in a given socio-cultural context: the family, the peer group and the imaginary groups (of interest, fans, virtual communities of play and learning).By studying the children in the school system, we tried to observe their peer relationships, both face-to-face and via mediated environments; having always in mind the other interactions outside of school.
Giving voice to children, an ethnographic approach was used, complemented by social network analysis (SNA) applied to interactions among children and between children and content in a Web platform. We realize the importance of the peer group and media in the experimentation and construction of pre-teens identities, as well as the role of social network analysis in monitoring behaviours and learning processes.
KEYWORDS: Preteens, identity, media literacy, social network analysis
Moreover, the nature of the relationship between people and media is established in a manner identical to that of human communication and, in addition to the "other people", media objects play a role in the construction and expression of identities. Thus, the identity experience of children and their peer group tends to occur in mediated environments, which can be seen as sponsors of identities' construction.
Although family and peers still are important reference groups for the construction of the child identities, she/he has more opportunities and autonomy via media to identify and be legitimized by their peer group.
With the aim of studying how pre-teens appropriate brands in their expression of identities, this paper analyzes in depth three case studies conducted with children aged 9-10 years, students of the 4th year of elementary school. The three schools were located in Greater Lisbon area and of different social condition.
Activity theory and the interactionist perspective on identities were used as the theoretical framework for the research, thus placing the child in interaction with various communities in a given socio-cultural context: the family, the peer group and the imaginary groups (of interest, fans, virtual communities of play and learning).By studying the children in the school system, we tried to observe their peer relationships, both face-to-face and via mediated environments; having always in mind the other interactions outside of school.
Giving voice to children, an ethnographic approach was used, complemented by social network analysis (SNA) applied to interactions among children and between children and content in a Web platform. We realize the importance of the peer group and media in the experimentation and construction of pre-teens identities, as well as the role of social network analysis in monitoring behaviours and learning processes.
KEYWORDS: Preteens, identity, media literacy, social network analysis
Research Interests:
This paper presents an empirical study with children and discusses how Social Network Analysis (SNA) could be valuable in sensing children sociability with their peers as well their participation in a Web 2.0 platform. For one year long,... more
This paper presents an empirical study with children and discusses how Social Network Analysis (SNA) could be valuable in sensing children sociability with their peers as well their participation in a Web 2.0 platform. For one year long, participant observation took place under a “Media Education and Citizenship program” aimed to four-grades of an elementary private school in Lisbon. The learning program made usage of a Web Site. Apart from establishing statistic information about individual accounts usage, such as: who posts first, who participates more on polls, who creates and publishes more content, we are particularly interested in the analysis of the relations among community “actors”- the social network.
Under the present study, the findings related to group social cohesion and power, will be presented and SNA is discussed as a potential tool to evaluate children participation in their school community and its relation with children well-being and learning outcomes.
KEYWORDS: Children Communities, Social Network Analysis, Internet and Education
Under the present study, the findings related to group social cohesion and power, will be presented and SNA is discussed as a potential tool to evaluate children participation in their school community and its relation with children well-being and learning outcomes.
KEYWORDS: Children Communities, Social Network Analysis, Internet and Education
Research Interests:
The current society is more and more immersed in a flow of technological innovations that mediate and shape our group interactions. Several European Studies show that more and more small children are using the Web and have a profile in... more
The current society is more and more immersed in a flow of technological innovations that mediate and shape our group interactions. Several European Studies show that more and more small children are using the Web and have a profile in social networks, what contributes in some degree to their view of the world and their identity construction.
The European policies on media literacy and safety have the ambitions of being inclusive and, particularly for children, to minimize risks that can arise from online contact and content.
This paper discusses how social network analysis tools could be helpful to measure children well-being altogether with qualitative methods such as interviews and participant observation.
In a previous study conducted under a “Media Education and Citizenship program” aimed to 8-10 years old children, of an elementary private school in Lisbon, a large amount of data such us logs, and posts in thematic forum was generated in a database which was not easily analysed by humans. Apart from establishing statistic information about individual accounts usage, such as: who posts first, who participates more on polls, who creates and publishes more content, we are particularly interested in the analysis of the relations among community “actors”- the social network.
A social network consists of a finite set or sets of actors and the relations defined on them (Wasserman & Faust, 1994). Based on whether the links are explicitly described, social networks are classified into two types: salient and latent social networks. In latent social networks, social links are formed through shared resources or context such as co-membership and conversation relationship. As a result, two persons who are directly linked in a latent social network do not necessarily know each other. In contrast, in a salient social network, links are explicitly articulated and such links generally reflect actual social relations.
The community of children under study is a salient social network. In this paper we will present the preliminary findings related to group social cohesion through the use of a social network analysis tool (and its comparison to data from participant observation diaries), focusing on interaction dimensions that can be helpful for Parents and Educators in minimizing disparities and avoiding marginalization inside a children community (that uses a mediated learning environment).
KEYWORDS: Children and Media, Social Network Analysis, Parents and Teachers mediation.
The European policies on media literacy and safety have the ambitions of being inclusive and, particularly for children, to minimize risks that can arise from online contact and content.
This paper discusses how social network analysis tools could be helpful to measure children well-being altogether with qualitative methods such as interviews and participant observation.
In a previous study conducted under a “Media Education and Citizenship program” aimed to 8-10 years old children, of an elementary private school in Lisbon, a large amount of data such us logs, and posts in thematic forum was generated in a database which was not easily analysed by humans. Apart from establishing statistic information about individual accounts usage, such as: who posts first, who participates more on polls, who creates and publishes more content, we are particularly interested in the analysis of the relations among community “actors”- the social network.
A social network consists of a finite set or sets of actors and the relations defined on them (Wasserman & Faust, 1994). Based on whether the links are explicitly described, social networks are classified into two types: salient and latent social networks. In latent social networks, social links are formed through shared resources or context such as co-membership and conversation relationship. As a result, two persons who are directly linked in a latent social network do not necessarily know each other. In contrast, in a salient social network, links are explicitly articulated and such links generally reflect actual social relations.
The community of children under study is a salient social network. In this paper we will present the preliminary findings related to group social cohesion through the use of a social network analysis tool (and its comparison to data from participant observation diaries), focusing on interaction dimensions that can be helpful for Parents and Educators in minimizing disparities and avoiding marginalization inside a children community (that uses a mediated learning environment).
KEYWORDS: Children and Media, Social Network Analysis, Parents and Teachers mediation.
Research Interests:
The design and evaluation of compelling web based content involves several distinct techniques and methods. This paper presents an approach for the development of educational web content directed to children. Participative design is an... more
The design and evaluation of compelling web based content involves several distinct techniques and methods.
This paper presents an approach for the development of educational web content directed to children. Participative design is
an area relatively well explored in the context of usability studies particularly among commercial enterprises. Marketing
oriented companies use these kind of studies to best fit their products and media to their audiences. However, in the
education field, doing research with children in a user-centred perspective is not a standard procedure. In what sense the
lack of evaluation of educational products aimed to children "with children" is responsible for the unsuccessful e-learning
platforms and other edutainment products? And in what sense is the content produced by commercial brands occupying our
children time to learn? Should we approach the Sesame Street research approach as a way of learning how to teach?
This paper presents an approach for the development of educational web content directed to children. Participative design is
an area relatively well explored in the context of usability studies particularly among commercial enterprises. Marketing
oriented companies use these kind of studies to best fit their products and media to their audiences. However, in the
education field, doing research with children in a user-centred perspective is not a standard procedure. In what sense the
lack of evaluation of educational products aimed to children "with children" is responsible for the unsuccessful e-learning
platforms and other edutainment products? And in what sense is the content produced by commercial brands occupying our
children time to learn? Should we approach the Sesame Street research approach as a way of learning how to teach?
Research Interests:
Case under analysis: the Chat Application In order to understand the role, if any, of the Lusófona App in the communication exchanges among members (being members any student, teacher or employee of Lusófona Higher Education Group) we... more
Case under analysis: the Chat Application
In order to understand the role, if any, of the Lusófona App in the communication exchanges among members (being members any student, teacher or employee of Lusófona Higher Education Group) we have used UCINET1 and NetDraw2 to construct the sociomatrix of people that have created chat rooms and invited others to conversations. This type of sociomatrix is a two mode since we have two different types of actors: the users and the chat rooms.
We did the analysis of 2 periods: from 15th of September to 31 of October 2013 and from 4th to 11th November. The first period corresponds to the launch of the Lusófona App and at the same time the beginning of the 2013/2014 academic year. The 2nd period is a typical classes’ week.
In order to understand the role, if any, of the Lusófona App in the communication exchanges among members (being members any student, teacher or employee of Lusófona Higher Education Group) we have used UCINET1 and NetDraw2 to construct the sociomatrix of people that have created chat rooms and invited others to conversations. This type of sociomatrix is a two mode since we have two different types of actors: the users and the chat rooms.
We did the analysis of 2 periods: from 15th of September to 31 of October 2013 and from 4th to 11th November. The first period corresponds to the launch of the Lusófona App and at the same time the beginning of the 2013/2014 academic year. The 2nd period is a typical classes’ week.
Research Interests:
The ubiquity of media in our society and the use of the Internet and in particular the World Wide Web as a convergent medium for a huge diversity of content and formats (movies in cinema and in YouTube, radio and cartoons on the Web and... more
The ubiquity of media in our society and the use of the Internet and in particular the World Wide Web as a convergent medium for a huge diversity of content and formats (movies in cinema and in YouTube, radio and cartoons on the Web and TV, social networks) has been a concern of academics, educators and governments. In what concerns to children audiences, the focus has been on safety and security of children and the correspondent online data protection.
Questions of the impact of subliminal forms of marketing communication target to children start to emerge in a world where marketing strategies and entertainment are more and more connected.
The main goal of this study is to explore what children aged from 8-10 years old think of brands, ads and their purpose. Can they understand the difference between a brand and an advertisement? Do they like/dislike ads? From which place/media/person they recognize brands and ads (even if they don’t use or know the product)?
We are interested in questions such us: if children socialize more and more with media, what are the risks and the opportunities? Do they need a media literacy program or do they learn by themselves to distinguish informational and persuasive media?
To answer these questions we have been working with an elementary school community (class) since March 2009. We have been using an ethnographic approach and our conceptual framework is based on the Activity Theory. The activities developed with children (community) are about old and new media learning, supported by the usage of a private Web Site (tool) (http://amigos.realcolegio.pt) and moderated by the researcher.
The question of the engagement with new media and how to design and use such IT platforms at school is also discussed. The relationship of these children with media as “users”, as “spectators” and as “creators” has been observed and the results will be presented.
Questions of the impact of subliminal forms of marketing communication target to children start to emerge in a world where marketing strategies and entertainment are more and more connected.
The main goal of this study is to explore what children aged from 8-10 years old think of brands, ads and their purpose. Can they understand the difference between a brand and an advertisement? Do they like/dislike ads? From which place/media/person they recognize brands and ads (even if they don’t use or know the product)?
We are interested in questions such us: if children socialize more and more with media, what are the risks and the opportunities? Do they need a media literacy program or do they learn by themselves to distinguish informational and persuasive media?
To answer these questions we have been working with an elementary school community (class) since March 2009. We have been using an ethnographic approach and our conceptual framework is based on the Activity Theory. The activities developed with children (community) are about old and new media learning, supported by the usage of a private Web Site (tool) (http://amigos.realcolegio.pt) and moderated by the researcher.
The question of the engagement with new media and how to design and use such IT platforms at school is also discussed. The relationship of these children with media as “users”, as “spectators” and as “creators” has been observed and the results will be presented.
Research Interests:
The commercial world offers children important opportunities in terms of entertainment, learning, creativity and cultural experience but, on the other side, there are significant and growing concerns over the negative impacts of... more
The commercial world offers children important opportunities in terms of entertainment, learning, creativity and cultural experience but, on the other side, there are significant and growing concerns over the negative impacts of commercialism in well-fare of children (Buckingham & all, 2009, p. 3).
One of the most recent tactics in children’s marketing consists in recruiting children as brand ambassadors by their peers, at the playground, at home and at social networks. GIA (Girls Intelligence Agency) is a company that presents itself as owning forty thousand “agents” that provide very important data on the juvenile girls market. One of their services – “pyjama party in a box” – consists in one child inviting ten to twelve of their best friends for a sleep-over. Having a “secret box” with cool products, the child (agent) invites his/her friends to try them and to give their opinion. GIA has an impressive costumers list in the food, toys and entertainment industry (Nairn, 2010, p. 110).
Another novelty in children’s marketing is the development of “celebrity brands”. An example of that is the recent product lines from Disney meant for pre-teenagers: Hannah Montana, Selena Gomez and Jonas Brothers. The narrative of movies and TV series revolves around teenager’s common situations (the close clicks in school and their rivalries) but uses show-business success characters that easily create the fandom phenomenon (Jenkins, 2006).
The children’s vision as consumers is considered by some authors as recent and a result of the confluence of two trends that started at the end of the twentieth century: on the one hand, the expansion of sales through children, and on the other, a look over family and society influenced by the speech of children’s rights and infant sociology (Marshall, 2010). For Daniel Cook, this vision of childhood – a child different from adults and closer to Nature – had its origin in the middle class of the XIX century and created favorable conditions for the development of children’s commercial culture through the investment of parents (Cook, 2004, p. 13).
The discovery of children as a market segment is therefore, not so new.
One of the most recent tactics in children’s marketing consists in recruiting children as brand ambassadors by their peers, at the playground, at home and at social networks. GIA (Girls Intelligence Agency) is a company that presents itself as owning forty thousand “agents” that provide very important data on the juvenile girls market. One of their services – “pyjama party in a box” – consists in one child inviting ten to twelve of their best friends for a sleep-over. Having a “secret box” with cool products, the child (agent) invites his/her friends to try them and to give their opinion. GIA has an impressive costumers list in the food, toys and entertainment industry (Nairn, 2010, p. 110).
Another novelty in children’s marketing is the development of “celebrity brands”. An example of that is the recent product lines from Disney meant for pre-teenagers: Hannah Montana, Selena Gomez and Jonas Brothers. The narrative of movies and TV series revolves around teenager’s common situations (the close clicks in school and their rivalries) but uses show-business success characters that easily create the fandom phenomenon (Jenkins, 2006).
The children’s vision as consumers is considered by some authors as recent and a result of the confluence of two trends that started at the end of the twentieth century: on the one hand, the expansion of sales through children, and on the other, a look over family and society influenced by the speech of children’s rights and infant sociology (Marshall, 2010). For Daniel Cook, this vision of childhood – a child different from adults and closer to Nature – had its origin in the middle class of the XIX century and created favorable conditions for the development of children’s commercial culture through the investment of parents (Cook, 2004, p. 13).
The discovery of children as a market segment is therefore, not so new.