wenty-four percent of the U.S. population is under 18 years of age. This group o

Question

wenty-four percent of the U.S. population is under 18 years of age. This group of consumers wields billions of dollars in purchasing power. They are either making purchases themselves or they are affecting the purchases their parents make. Many companies want to capitalize on these dollars. Both eBay and Facebook are creating strategies to do just that. Currently, eBay is exploring ways to allow consumers under 18 to set up legitimate accounts to buy and sell goods. Children already trade on the site, either through their parents' accounts or through their own accounts where they have lied about their age. Similarly, even though children under 13 are not allowed to set up Facebook accounts, about 7.5 million of them have accounts and nearly 5 million account holders are under 10 years old. This translates to almost 20 percent of U.S. 10-year olds and 70 percent of 13-year olds active on Facebook. Many of these accounts were set up with parental knowledge and consent. Both eBay and Facebook say that protections will be put in place on children's accounts and that parents will be able to monitor their children's accounts. Discuss the pros and cons of allowing these companies to target children. Are these practices socially responsible? Do some research before you post. You may want to review the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act at www.coppa.org (Links to an external site.) to understand how eBay and Facebook can target this market and still comply with regulations.

Some good facts and pointers would be helpful please! (marketing)

Thanks

Explanation / Answer

Pros of allowing companies like Facebook and eBay to target children:

1. These companies will stand to gain information regarding the insights, attitudes and behavior of children under the age of 18 years. Companies like Facebook and eBay can use verifiable consent from parents and guardians of children under the age of 13 years (as per COPPA) to collect personal information. The personal information that is collected can be useful for data mining and data analytics and can help companies like Facebook and eBay to devise selling strategies that will cater to the needs and requirements of this age group.

2. As per Mark Zuckerberg (of Facebook), exposure to online media and social sites will lead to higher level of learning and education for children who are 13 years and below.

3. Enabling companies to target children in this age group will accelerate the commercial cycle and will strengthen the economy.

In terms of cons, allowing companies to target such young children can lead to a situation where children are exposed to sensitive data and they may become vulnerable to potential sexual predators. All these can hurt the sensibility and values of a child. Pre-teens are in the formative stages of their lives and exposure to sensitive information can cause emotional imbalances. Children may also be lured to consume unhealthy food items that have high sugar content or high amount of trans-fats.

These practices are currently not socially responsible. For instance, Kellogg's is heavily advertising its Krave cereal in Facebook and is targeting users who are at least 13 years old. The Krave cereals have high sugar content and its regular use can cause health problems. Although the company claims that the advertisement is not targeted to users below 13 years of age, there are several users below this age bracket who view and follow this advertisement. This needs to stop. The practices will be deemed to be socially responsible if companies target the young users in a meaningful way, in a way that is beneficial for both the company and the young users.

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