The Candy Shop Culture: How Adults can Affect Tween Consumerism, the candy shop is a reference to how a child feels when walking into a giant candy store.  The child has those wide open eyes just begging their parent to allow them to make a purchase.  With today’s culture it is not so much the candy store but the Apple store, the iPod is a great example of the new type of candy.  The culture has turned the reasonable priced desires from $.99 to $99 dollars; this has changed how marketing is focused. 

            This article is focused on how the tween society is being manipulated by business and different industries.  The article is showing how different entities can influence the tweens and how important that influence is too many different businesses.  It also shows that parents need to be more proactive in helping there tweens make good choices based on information not on desires.

            Today’s young consumers simply can not afford all of the intriguing items proffered to them.  They depend on their parents.  American tweens, whom they define as eight-to twelve-year olds, spend about $11 billion independently each year, although some of that sum actually represents allowance, while parents themselves spend around $176 billion on their tweens annually.  Tweens as current consumers, future consumers, and influences of other consumers, is now a focus for marketing.  Marketers who capture tweens’ interest can gain immediate revenue, long-term brand loyalty, and even walking advertisements tailored to a family. 

            While marketers see the potential for profit from tweens, many parents and cultural critics raise concerns about exploiting a population bombarded with messages about cool products and mainstream attitudes.  Marketers have assembled an arsenal of approaches they can deploy on tweens, a fairly defenseless segment of the population.  This is why parents and cultural critics have raised concerns over this practice.

            There are companies that try to gain the interest of the tweens and then keep their interest as they become adults.  Abercrombie and Fitch, is an example, they glorify the youthfulness of its customer base, then they have expanded that base with the spin-offs Hollister, its surfer-inspired brand for teens aged fifteen to seventeen and Abercrombie, its preppy line aimed at kids aged seven to fourteen.  Tweens who like the look of Abercrombie and Fitch or Hollister can shop for clothes in their sizes, and parents can avoid the loud music and dim lighting of the adult store.  The power of brand extensions lies in their ability to appeal simultaneously to youth and their parents.

            Indeed, youth participation in the world of technology has advanced beyond the occasional sugary indulgence of candy.  A sack of jelly beans provides temporary diversion, but a backpack stocked with a cell phone and an iPod affords extended personal entertainment, often to the exclusion of other activities.  While technology has the potential to absorb tweens to a disturbing extent and may facilitate kids’ exposure to adult content on the internet and in video games, it can be a powerful learning tool as well.  Considering the “cool” factor of so much new technology, I wondered if students would get distracted from the work itself in the course of using computer programs to prepare reports.

            Parents, of course, can provide another source of support by engaging their kids in conversation.  It is important for parents to explain that they have a choice in what you surround yourself with and any thing that has influence on you.  Although the ever-stronger pull of the adult world invites kids to become young adults in the space of a few years; however, students can mold counter to the dominant culture with the correct guidance. 

            In today’s candy shop culture of consumption, glossy displays in mall windows and shiny gadget screens have replaced crinkly cellophane bags of candy; the indulgences within have changed from the likes of Juicy Fruit chewing gum to Juicy Couture sweatpants.  Candy represents things desired, but perhaps today’s society can accommodate a wider perspective in which a park and a library flank the candy shop. 

            I truly liked the way the author pulled so many different aspects of life and of culture to show the abuse of tween society.  This article helps people to understand how important it is to be aware of what our children are doing and how these things can influence them whether they are good or bad.  I felt bad not using more examples but this analysis would closer to eight pages if I would have used these examples.

            This article is important for parents to read as they are trying to raise children in today’s society and culture.  It really helps to explain the good and the bad about all the desires that are being pushed onto the tween society.  The parents can now help there tweens make better decisions and help guide them to a better life.  The article can also be used to make the tweens aware of how they are being manipulated by industries, businesses, and other social endeavors. 

References

Marissa O’Connell, CANDY SHOP CULTURE: HOW ADULTS CAN AFFECT TWEEN CONSUMERIAM http://www.americanpopularculture.co...merism.htm#top copyright July 2010.  Retrieved February 12, 2012