The Power of Marketing 2

Today, we’re continuing our look at how marketing influences our children and teens. As I’ve studied teen marketing over the years, it’s clear that there are short and long-term effects and results of advertising. Parents must think about how these results and effects square up to who our kids should be as followers of Christ. One result is that materialism is becoming more deeply embedded in our teenagers’ lives. Because they are being marketed to with increasing frequency and depth, vulnerable kids find it easier to believe advertising’s messages and promises. They define themselves by their possessions, seeking happiness, satisfaction, meaning, and redemption in the accumulation of things. Kids buy into a live to consume rather than a consume to live mentality. Talk with your kids about marketing’s messages, and how these messages agree or disagree with what Jesus has to say about money and materialism.