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Consumer Kids: How Big Business is Grooming Our Children for Profit
This book will shock you.
Consumer Kids shows how, more than ever before, and perhaps more than anywhere else in the world, our children are being tracked and targeted by big business, which sells them back their dreams, packages their childhood and exploits their vulnerabilities.
It looks at why children torture their Barbies, how boys feel about David Beckham, why mums are cooler than dads, why children in the toughest families make the most ardent consumers and why, above all, too much marketing makes you unhappy.
This hard-hitting exposé is essential reading for anyone who is interested in the deeper implications of the runaway commercial world we live in.
Consumer Kids shows how, more than ever before, and perhaps more than anywhere else in the world, our children are being tracked and targeted by big business, which sells them back their dreams, packages their childhood and exploits their vulnerabilities.
It looks at why children torture their Barbies, how boys feel about David Beckham, why mums are cooler than dads, why children in the toughest families make the most ardent consumers and why, above all, too much marketing makes you unhappy.
This hard-hitting exposé is essential reading for anyone who is interested in the deeper implications of the runaway commercial world we live in.
- GenresPsychology
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 29, 2009
2 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 24, 2022
Actual rating: 2.5 stars
Interesting read. Didn’t realise it was published in 2008 when I bought it secondhand so it was interesting to read it with the benefit of hindsight. It’s sad that not much has changed since then- I would like to read something on this topic published more recently.
Interesting read. Didn’t realise it was published in 2008 when I bought it secondhand so it was interesting to read it with the benefit of hindsight. It’s sad that not much has changed since then- I would like to read something on this topic published more recently.
January 13, 2026
the trend is still ongoing and developing towards the worse direction. Luckily, the younger generation is turning away from social media trends and consumerism habits nowadays but still the teenagers are still the most influential consumer groups.
July 19, 2023
Sadly very dated already ( MySpace, Bebo??), but some interesting points.
August 26, 2023
probs would've enjoyed it more if I was actually a parent
December 8, 2010
There were lots of excellent examples and anecdotes. It is obvious that a lot of research went into writing this book. I liked the solutions they provided, but it somehow left me feeling like it wasn't enough.
August 10, 2011
To begin with the book was interesting and is obviously very topical for the moment. However, it began to become very repetitive and in the end I became impatient and couldn't finish it.
September 29, 2012
Terrifying eye-opener into how our kids are used to make money for business.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews