Nickelodeon has released two new research reports that reveal changing attitudes towards fatherhood and how families raise the next generation of children.
‘Wait Until your Father Gets Home’ uncovers a shifting perspective on what fatherhood means to male respondents, the dissipation of the traditional role as a disciplinarian, as well as the effects of evolving gender-roles and impacts based on work pressures. The research also explored the portrayal of fathers in the media.
Findings include:
- 42% of dads agree that the media portrays dads as stupid or clueless,
- 56% say marketers and programmers need to adapt and evolve to more accurately reflect their involvement in household and parenting roles,
- 50% say the media should depict them as nurturing and caring, and being needed as well as mothers,
- 78% believe they are doing a good job, and
- 44% believe there is a disconnect between the expectations of fathers at home and expectations at work.
“Marketers and programmers can forge deeper connections with Australian dads by moving away from portraying them as dim-witted and helpless to a more accurate depiction as hands-on, engaged and emotionally connected parents,” says Kirsty Bloore, Viacom International Media Networks senior director of research for Asia Pacific.
‘Little Big Kids: Preschoolers Ready for Life’ research looks at children aged two to five, and how their parents prepare them for an ever-changing world.
“Every few years, an entirely new group of pre-schoolers come of age, making it critical to examine and re-examine this important life stage,” says Christian Kurz, senior vice president of global consumer insights at Viacom.
“We’re seeing how shifts in parenting are impacting pre-schoolers today, and noting trends that will continue to impact them as they grow into kids, teens and adults.”
The results highlighted three key trends in current pre-school parenting: learning through doing, learning through play, and learning through tech.
Learning through doing centres around the move away from a sheltered style of teaching in an aim to prepare children for an uncertain future by exposing them to a variety of experiences.
- 77% of Australian parents believe children should learn through their own experiences, and
- 70% of parents say they always listen to their child’s opinion before making a decision that affects them.
Learning through play
- 72% say they believe their pre-schoolers learn best through play, and
- 82% encourage their children to play outside.
Learning through tech
- 64% of parents believe it’s important for their kids to keep up with tech developments,
- across the world, 65% of preschoolers have access to a tablet, which they interact with for 1.3 hours per day on average,
- at 10 hours per week, Australian preschoolers interact with tablets less than the global average of 14 hours,
- worldwide, 61% of parents are worried about their children coming across inappropriate content online and 53% think too much time spent on devices can interfere with learning and development, and
- 61% believe technology is making their children smarter.
For ‘Little Big Kids: Preschoolers Ready for Life,’ Viacom spoke with 6500 families – mothers, fathers, grandparents and siblings – of pre-schoolers across 12 countries including Australia.
For ‘Wait Until your Father Gets Home’ the company conducted qualitative group discussions, 14 face-to-face interviews and over 900 online surveys in Australia between 23 December 2016 and 10 January 2017.
Nickelodeon Australia is a division of Viacom International Media Networks.
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This article first appeared in www.marketingmag.com.au
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