Impact of internet advertising on children and youth and assessment of its social effects

Children are an attractive target group for companies, not only because of the financial resources they have, but also due to the impact they have on their parents when making purchasing decisions. For these reasons, a wide range of marketing communication activities is addressed to them through various media. The main goal of the article is to analyze the extent of Internet use by children and to assess the impact of online advertising on young audience. The Internet as a modern communication channel creates the possibility of affecting children through many stimuli and in different ways. Polish and European legislation tries to protect the youngest consumers from exploiting their ignorance and naivety, however, online advertising is more difficult to control than, for example, a TV commercial.