The Influence of Advertising Exposure On Social Media Platforms On Saudi Children’s Materialistic Attitudes

Abstract

In the new era, children suffer from an attraction towards materialism, which shapes their perceptions and their attitudes towards real-life values. With the rapid technological revolution in the world, parents' concerns about their children's obsession with a materialistic lifestyle have increased. Social media advertising is considered a hidden influencer that significantly affects children's consumption trends. The current research aims to explore the effect of Saudi children’s exposure to commercial advertisements on social media platforms on their materialistic attitudes. The sample included randomly selected children aged 9 to 10 years, including both sexes (nboys= 180, ngirls= 220)  from Saudi Arabia, who filled out a selfadministered questionnaire. The results revealed that Saudi children showed a clearer picture of their materialistic tendencies than expected. The results showed that there is a correlation between the amount of time children spend exposed to commercial advertisements online and their materialistic attitudes. This negatively affects their low self-confidence and selfacceptance. Most children believe that the better they look in expensive and luxurious clothing brands  in photos posted on social media platforms, the more others will accept them. The results of our research are valuable to parents and policymakers in terms of clarifying the impact of children’s repeated exposure to advertisements on social media platforms on their obsession with buying, which strengthens their materialistic attitudes and thus negatively affects their psychological health.