Sobreexposición e hipersexualización para vender más: percepciones y actitudes sociales sobre las preadolescentes en comunicaciones comerciales

Carmen Llovet Rodríguez; María José Narros González; Mónica Díaz-Bustamante Ventisca; José A. Ruiz-SanRomán

doi:10.4185/RLCS-2022-1546

Authors

Carmen Llovet Rodríguez Nebrija University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7743-9332
María José Narros González Complutense University of Madrid https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1299-1561
Mónica Díaz-Bustamante Ventisca Complutense University of Madrid https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8256-0209
José A. Ruiz-SanRomán Complutense University of Madrid https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3161-0330

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2022-1546

Keywords:

body image, tweens, commercial communications, social perception, objectification, vulnerability, digital media literacy

Abstract

Introduction. Tweens follow influencer patterns for their entertainment, and they can emulate the public display of personal content as a way of selling in their process of socialization. Objective. This article analyzes the perceptions and attitudes of Spanish society about the representations of tweens in commercial communications. Methodology. A telephone survey was carried out with 346 members of households throughout Spain among 18 and 65 years old. Results. in 8 out of 10 households it is perceived that preadolescents easily overexpose their image (78.7%), give greater value to their physical appearance than to other values (78.8%) and assume adult patterns in their behavior (77 , 7%). Regarding their representation in commercial communications, it is thought that advertising shows an image of them much older than they are (86.4%), idealized (84.8%) and hyper-sexualized with the aim to sell more (83.1 %), and that the editorials are not in accordance with the age of the preadolescents (73.7%). Conclusions. The global perception of preadolescents in Spanish society is of a generalized acceptance of the image of the unreal, idealized and older preadolescence that makes them vulnerable. Recommendations. Due to their high, frequent and exclusive use of digital media, it is necessary for preadolescents to develop skills that give them access to a more relevant cultural capital. Digital literacy can be a factor for social inclusion by developing values that promote the integration of pre-adolescents as critical and active subjects.

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Author Biographies

Carmen Llovet Rodríguez, Nebrija University

International PhD in communication from the University of Navarra and Accredited PhD by ANECA, she is a communication professor at the Antonio de Nebrija University, at ESIC Business and Marketing School and Elle Education. He has worked at the Beijing campus of the New York Institute of Technology, at the International University of Catalonia and at the Villanueva University. Member of the INNOMEDIA research group project and of PROVULDiG2 and VISIBILIZÁNDOLO projects, he has published in Comunicar, El Profesional de la Información and Revista española de Sociología on the representations of girls in the digital environment and on the personality of the fashion store . He has carried out research stays at Southern Illinois University, Glasgow Caledonian University and Radboud University (Netherlands).

María José Narros González, Complutense University of Madrid

Doctor in Economic and Business Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid, Master in Marketing Management. She is currently a Professor at the University of the Department of Business Organization and Marketing at the UCM. He has directed various postgraduate courses on data analysis in Social and Market Research, among which is the Master's Degree in Advanced Analytics in Strategic Marketing and Social Research at the UCM School of Government. He is a member of the UCM Research Group "Responsible Communication and Vulnerable Publics" and of the PROVULDiG2 project, where he participates in research on the influence of commercial communications on child sexualization, and on online gambling and gambling in childhood and adolescence.

Mónica Díaz-Bustamante Ventisca, Complutense University of Madrid

Associate Professor of the Department of Business Organization and Marketing at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). Doctor in Economic and Business Sciences from the UCM and Master in Applied Statistics from the UNED. She has worked as Marketing Director in the multinationals L’Oreal, Chantelle and Shiseido, and as a Marketing and Business Development Consultant for companies from different sectors. As a researcher, she highlights her participation in competitive research projects such as Provuldig-2, research groups (Responsible Communication and Vulnerable Publics; Complutense Brand Management and Integrated Communication Group), 83 articles and scientific-academic conferences, and her contributions in books , book chapters and articles published in prestigious publishers (SPI) and high-impact academic journals (JCR and SJR).

José A. Ruiz-SanRomán, Complutense University of Madrid

Professor of Public Opinion at the Complutense University of Madrid. Principal Researcher of the Responsible Communication and Vulnerable Public (ComR) Research Group of the Complutense University of Madrid. Author of "Introduction to the classical tradition of public opinion" (Tecnos, 1997), "Sociology of Communication" (Trotta, 1999) and "Research in Communication" (McGraw Hill, 2005). Vice Dean of Institutional Relations, Mobility and Practices in the Faculty of Information Sciences of the Complutense University.

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