A Study On The Cultivation Of Advertising Literacy For The Group Aged 3-12 In China

With the development of media industry, an increasing amount of information is produced. Therefore, people in information age must have the capability to well interpret and use the media message. In the developed countries such as UK and US, the theories of media literacy have been thoroughly studied and the media education has been brought into educational system of schools. In Chinese mainland, the study and practice were paid much more attention in the last 3 years.The media and advertising are so closely related and can't be separated, so we may almost treat them as one. As the media is booming, advertising becomes all-pervasive and a part of our culture in the society. Scholars' studies have shown that it's not a good thing for children while they were frequently exposed to advertisements, because commercials will have negative influences to them in consumption and value orientation. It will be of great importance if we can help them to improve their adverting literacy and the ability to well interpret advertising message. This dissertation will focus on the cultivation of advertising literacy of the group aged 3-12.The concept of advertising literacy is rooted in media literacy. According to the author, advertising literacy is even more important for children. To get theoretical guidance, the dissertation summarizes the development of media education worldwide and the key theories and viewpoints firstly. Then, the author adopts classical theories of developmental psychology and outlines the psychological characteristics of the group aged 3-12, and analyzes the advertising's negative influences to them as well.In the last part, the author discusses the aims, contents and main bodies of advertising literacy education of the group aged 3-12 and thus a complete cultivating system is formed. The cultivation of the group's advertising literacy is a systematic engineering. We need supports from families, schools and media to realize our proposed goals, and the improvement of children' advertising literacy will be a great contribution to the construction of our harmonious society.