ERIC Number: EJ818099
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Apr
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1364-436X
EISSN: N/A
Capitalizing on Children's Spirituality: Parental Anxiety, Children as Consumers, and the Marketing of Spirituality
Mercer, Joyce Ann
International Journal of Children's Spirituality, v11 n1 p23-33 Apr 2006
Children's spirituality has become a significant for-profit enterprise in North American consumer culture. This article explores the marketing of children's spirituality as an aspect of the larger construction of children as consumers in the context of late globalized capitalism. Playing off of parental anxieties over the need to avail their children of every advantage that can foster the child's well-being, mainstream secular markets such as discount department stores in the USA and online retailers now offer a wide array of products purporting to aid in children's spiritual growth. The article concludes with an analysis of the effects of commodifying children's spirituality upon children.
Descriptors: Marketing, Religious Factors, North Americans, Spiritual Development, Anxiety, Parent Attitudes, Social Systems, Global Approach, Social Influences, Well Being, Consumer Economics
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A