Persuasion of Vulnerable Child in the Infinite Cyber Space: Subliminal Advertising Hijacking Young Mind.

Abstract

Catch them young’ is the motto of the advertisers. In psychology, it is proven that what is embedded into a child's mind carries throughout adulthood. It can influence the be an essential part of the character formation of the child. The intention ‘catch them young’ strategy of the marketing is to create a customer base without being protested. The child is unaware of being exploited. Unfortunately, the parents who are supposed to protect from all the threats are unaware of the existence of such a threat because of the very nature of SLA. The threshold determined by the society to classify an ad to SLA is not applicable to children because of the feebleness of young minds, especially children below the age of 14. Crores of rupees are diverted to the research in this sector for exploring the possibility of hijacking a young mind to create a potential buyer. In the process, the privacy of a child is compromised and exploited for commercial purposes. Many countries like the UK, USA, Europe, Australia. New Zealand, has effective regulations in their legal system at least to protect the children from being exploited. Unfortunately, in India, there is absence of judicial notice. Hence the scope of exploitation is limitless because in absence of law it remains to be a topic in the domain of morality rather than law. Media’s right to advertise is often conflicting with the individual right to privacy. So far in India, the right to advertise prevails over the right to privacy. It is time for the legal system to rethink whether we should protect our children from exposure to ads and programs in cyberspace having subliminal messages. The survey conducted among the adults gave a hint that many have experienced the effect of persuasion but are unable to identify or attribute it to the subliminal persuasion. This may be because of the lack of awareness of the subject itself. By the secondary data available from three studies, it is evident in India that the young mind can be hijacked through the frequent exposure to SLA. In absence of law, there is nothing we can do unless and until the legislature and judiciary of India take notice and act upon. It is hereby concluded that vulnerable children are exposed to various threats from the cyber space and SLA is one of them. This conditioning of mind, if not stopped, has serious repercussions including fundamental rights, national interest and security of the state.