1a. The history of marketing to children
The aim of this strand of the research is to gain an historical perspective, by gathering data on child marketing over the past century, and analysing specific instances of marketing discourse. This research will focus primarily on Norwegian examples, although as the study comes closer to the present, it will necessarily be considering marketing as a global phenomenon. Our first case study is focusing on the company ‘Proper Toys’.

1b. Contemporary practices in children’s consumer culture
This aspect of the research is exploring the contemporary shape of marketing to children. While it is using some secondary sources, such as specialist marketing publications, it is based primarily on interviews with key professionals in the field, including representatives of toy, clothing and technology companies, advertisers and advertising planners, retail buyers, market researchers, and others. Our first case study here is of the multimedia marketing phenomenon of ‘Captain Sabretooth’.

1c. Discourses of the consuming child
This aspect of the research builds on projects 1a and 1b, and supplements these with an analysis of media coverage, public debate and policy discourse on marketing to children. Our first case study here is of the debates surrounding the regulation of ‘junk-food’ advertising to children, in the UK, the US and Norway, and the constructions or definitions of childhood that are at stake in these debates.

2: Marketing to kindergarten children
In this sub-project, we are exploring marketing to kindergartners, specifically children aged 3 and below. We will focus specifically on television-related toys, analysing examples of marketing appeals (advertising, cross-promotion); interviewing key personnel within the industry; analysing key features of the texts (programmes) or artefacts (toys); and observing and talking to children, interviewing parents and carers about how these products are used in the home or in kindergarten settings.

3: Marketing and the construction of the ‘tween’ consumer
In this sub-project, we are exploring the construction and targeting of the ’tween’ market (children aged approximately 9-12). We are focusing on how marketers define and address this age group, through advertising, promotion and other appeals; the kinds of products that are available, and how they are advertised and displayed; and how ’tweens’ respond to these marketing appeals, and define their own position as consumers.

4: Consuming children: new challenges for policy and practice
While all the sub-projects relate to specific areas of policy and practice, the final sub-project will address these implications by focusing directly on two main areas: public policy in the areas of children and families, education, and media regulation; and educational practice, particularly in schools.