Project description
How children are shaping consumer culture
Children born after 2010 (Generation Alpha) are growing up in a digital world where peers with thousands of followers, known as ‘kidfluencers’, shape how they see products, brands, and even themselves. Concerns about exploitation and hidden advertising dominate the conversation. With this in mind, the ERC-funded KIDFLUENCER project takes a fresh perspective. It explores whether children can also be empowered through their roles online. By involving children directly, and examining kidfluencer culture as regards production, content, and impact, this project aims to rethink what it means to grow up as a child consumer in the digital age. The goal is a deeper understanding of how kidfluencer culture influences consumer socialization among today’s children.
Objective
KIDFLUENCER will examine the dynamics of the kidfluencer phenomenon to understand its implications for children’s consumer socialization process. Kidfluencers are generation alpha children (born after 2010) that have highly popular profiles (+ 1.000 subscribers) on social media (e.g. Instagram or YouTube) on which they endorse fun and entertaining content, often containing (sponsored) brand endorsements. Past research merely focused on the negative impacts of kidfluencer activities, such as the commercial exploitation of kidfluencers or the deception of kid followers. This project takes an innovative approach by examining whether kidfluencer activities can be considered as pathways for empowerment and growth contributing to children’s consumer socialization process, while considering potential hazards.
Using a three-pronged approach (inspired by cultivation theory), the production, content and impact of kidfluencer activities will be examined, giving a voice to kidfluencers, their entourage and followers. Unique compared to cultivation and consumer socialization research is that children will be considered as active co-creators in the research design, co-deciding upon methodological approaches. By challenging consumer socialization theory’s assumptions of a rational consumer and a linear consumer socialization process, I aim to obtain an in-depth understanding of how children’s consumer socialization process is changing in today’s digital age.
A multi-method, longitudinal approach will be adopted, combining quantitative (digital traces netnography, experiments and survey) with qualitative methods (ethnography and expert interviews) to tackle the shortcomings of past research. This comprehensive approach will provide a solid knowledge base on how kidfluencers can be conceptualized as a new, hybrid agent of consumer socialization and whether, to what extent, how and for which children this agent affects young children’s consumer socialization process.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
9000 GENT
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.