Consumed by consumer culture? Advertising’s impact on children’s materialism and life satisfaction

Do children get consumed by consumer culture? This question occupies the thoughts of many parents, caretakers, and policymakers. Dutch children are annually exposed to approximately 9,500 television advertisements. These advertisements suggest that the good life can be obtained through the goods life. They emphasize the importance of possessions for obtaining happiness and success. Advertising, therefore, is believed to foster materialism and lower life satisfaction.
This dissertation consists of two parts. The aim of the first part is to determine how children’s advertising exposure and materialism can best be measured. The aim of the second part is to investigate the causal relationships between children’s advertising exposure, materialism, and life satisfaction. By doing so, this dissertation tests some of the dominant myths in the societal debate about the ethics concerning child-directed advertising.