Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) is a clothing merchant that is recognized for approaching teens and tweens (8-14 years old). A&F achieves this with an advertising package that emphasises appearance-conscious teens and tweens who need to be acknowledged by their peers while holding their own unique style. Abercrombie & Fitch’s marketing approach in its A&F Quarterly is not appreciated by the public as it features young people in group arrangements while in several phases of unclothing.
Public responses associated the magazine with soft pornography and proposed that it inspires group sex amongst teens. A&F newly created further public criticism when the brand presented padded bikini tops for tweens as old as eight years old. Parents were furious by the bikini tops that were initially advertised as pushup triangles, and there was an instant criticism against Abercrombie & Fitch. To avoid these marketing controversies involving teens and tweens, regulation of advertising aimed at children is essential. According to Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, children can’t understand or process information fully until they are 12 years of age.
Tweens (8-14) fall under two stages of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development. Stage 3 and 4: in stage 3 (8-11 years), the child grows the capability to smear rational thought to tangible problems, while in stage 4 (12 to 15 years), the child’s cerebral structures extend their utmost level of growth, and the child becomes capable of relating logic to all sorts of problems. In stage 3, the child clearly develops and matures cognitive thoughts and abstract concepts, such as the objectification of women, which cannot be properly comprehended by tweens. Therefore, marketers need to demonstrate discretion when addressing this group and guarantee that their advertisements do not cross moral and ethical limits. They should not use concepts that objectify women in any way. Abercrombie not only exploits tweens and teens with their marketing campaigns but also violates two of the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) guidelines. These guidelines relate to the A&F’s targeting young girls with merchandise suitable for adults, i.e. their child-sized thong underwear and their Pushup Triangles.
America is a secular society, and their religious beliefs are conservative. A&F padded bikini promotions triggered the rage in parents, and some were severely criticized on Abercrombie’s website for sexualizing young kids. American values related to young age caused backlash to the brand for generating revenue from a group that is not yet capable of understanding the message behind advertising.
There have been two sides to the story when it comes to the consumer socialization process. Some may argue that the responsibility of consumer socialization solely lies on parents, while some people feel that marketers help socialize children as consumers by aiming at them. To make sure the kids socialize as consumers positively, parents can utilize instrumental training, mediation, and modelling. Instrumental training is used to bring certain responses through reinforcement and reasoning. The parents can explain to the child why it is not suitable for them to wear a padded bikini top at this age. According to the culture of each household, tweens can be involved in the family decision-making process, which includes six rules: initiators, information gatherers, decision-makers, influencers, users, and purchasers, depending on the purchasing context. Tween can play three roles in family decision-making: initiators, users, and influencers. For instance, if they are the primary users of the product (e.g., snacks, toys), they are likely to have more influence in the decision.
