Children and YouTubers : Navigating the maze of sponsored content and advertising for merch
Thelandersson, Fredrika LU ; Martinez, Carolina and Sandberg, Helena LU
(2025)
In Children & Society
p.1-11
- Abstract
- Recent scholarly attention has focused on YouTubers' advertising practices and their influence on young followers' understanding of commercial content. Although previous studies primarily explore children's advertising literacy, they often treat YouTubers' influencer marketing as a unified phenomenon. This article distinguishes between two types of advertising: sponsored content and merchandise (merch) advertising. Merch advertising is viewed as more personally connected to the YouTuber than third-party sponsorships. The study examines how children, ages 10–13, interpret these forms of advertising within parasocial relationships with YouTubers. Based on group interviews with 19 Swedish children, the analysis explores appropriation, moral... (More)
- Recent scholarly attention has focused on YouTubers' advertising practices and their influence on young followers' understanding of commercial content. Although previous studies primarily explore children's advertising literacy, they often treat YouTubers' influencer marketing as a unified phenomenon. This article distinguishes between two types of advertising: sponsored content and merchandise (merch) advertising. Merch advertising is viewed as more personally connected to the YouTuber than third-party sponsorships. The study examines how children, ages 10–13, interpret these forms of advertising within parasocial relationships with YouTubers. Based on group interviews with 19 Swedish children, the analysis explores appropriation, moral economy and parasocial relationships. The findings reveal that children find sponsored content more intrusive and deceptive than merch advertising, which is discussed more as a product. These results highlight the importance of a nuanced understanding of YouTubers' advertising practices in research involving children and YouTubers (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/2889757f-1120-45df-8ba0-b0bf98a017c1
- author
- Thelandersson, Fredrika
LU
; Martinez, Carolina
and Sandberg, Helena
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-05-23
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- keywords
- Appropriation in literature, children, merch, advertising, moral economy, parasocial relationship, sponsoring, YouTubers
- in
- Children & Society
- pages
- 11 pages
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- ISSN
- 0951-0605
- DOI
- 10.1111/chso.12975
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 2889757f-1120-45df-8ba0-b0bf98a017c1
- date added to LUP
- 2024-01-25 14:43:53
- date last changed
- 2025-06-05 08:17:32
@article{2889757f-1120-45df-8ba0-b0bf98a017c1,
abstract = {{Recent scholarly attention has focused on YouTubers' advertising practices and their influence on young followers' understanding of commercial content. Although previous studies primarily explore children's advertising literacy, they often treat YouTubers' influencer marketing as a unified phenomenon. This article distinguishes between two types of advertising: sponsored content and merchandise (merch) advertising. Merch advertising is viewed as more personally connected to the YouTuber than third-party sponsorships. The study examines how children, ages 10–13, interpret these forms of advertising within parasocial relationships with YouTubers. Based on group interviews with 19 Swedish children, the analysis explores appropriation, moral economy and parasocial relationships. The findings reveal that children find sponsored content more intrusive and deceptive than merch advertising, which is discussed more as a product. These results highlight the importance of a nuanced understanding of YouTubers' advertising practices in research involving children and YouTubers}},
author = {{Thelandersson, Fredrika and Martinez, Carolina and Sandberg, Helena}},
issn = {{0951-0605}},
keywords = {{Appropriation in literature; children; merch; advertising; moral economy; parasocial relationship; sponsoring; YouTubers}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{05}},
pages = {{1--11}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Children & Society}},
title = {{Children and YouTubers : Navigating the maze of sponsored content and advertising for merch}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/220562361/Children_Society_-_2025_-_Thelandersson_-_Children_and_YouTubers_Navigating_the_Maze_of_Sponsored_Content_and.pdf}},
doi = {{10.1111/chso.12975}},
year = {{2025}},
}