Can parents trust Google enough to commit for the long haul to Kids Space — intended to be a selling point for Android devices and create lifetime fans — and buy into the services, some of
which include a subscription fee?
It’s coming to Lenovo tablets first, Google Kids Space, a feature for Android tablets that includes parental controls for kid-friendly features
and content. The marketing material filled with bright and cheery drawings.
Starting young should build brand loyalty, according to branding experts, but it’s not clear whether Google is
attempting to attract the adults or the kids. There are numerous tablets available for kids, from Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition to Samsung Galaxy.
A recent Nike campaign makes sure to mention in the ad that the Nike Sportswear Club Fleece Joggers feature super-soft fleece plus a camo
print to “highlight your brand loyalty.”
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How do brands guarantee long-term loyalty? Children develop brand loyalty and biases that carry over into their adult lives and are often
difficult to change, according to a study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
The authors of the four studies examined adults’ judgments of the healthiness of various products,
some of which were heavily advertised in their childhood years.
Participants viewed images of characters that would have been widely advertised when they were children. Results from the study published in 2014 shows when exposed to advertising using characters before age 13, kids
develop positive long-term feelings toward the characters and the brands’ nutrition for years to come.
Kids Space requires a Google Account for children, which is one way that Google can get
around collecting data on children. Parental controls require the Family Link app on a supported Android, Chromebook, or iOS device. Books and video content are not available in all regions.
Family Link was created and built into Google’s core products to give parents the tools they need to stay involved
and help manage their child’s online experiences, from setting screen time limits to content safety filters, privacy controls and more.
“But we’ve heard that parents want
more than just parental controls — with so much content out there, they also need help finding things that are enriching and engaging for their kids,” says Mindy Brooks, UX director of Kids and
Families at Google. “To help meet this request, we took a first step with the launch of a new kids
tab in Google Play that helps parents easily find and pick ‘teacher-approved’ apps for their kids.”
