90% parents trust edtech ads to decide class, course for their children: ASCI report

NEW DELHI: For nine out of 10 parents, the education technology (EdTech) advertisements are important for deciding the class and course for their children, according to a report by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). The ASCI report highlighted the gender imbalance, uneven focus on subjects, stereotypical roles of mothers, supportive parents, limited role of teachers, and dominance of male celebrities in EdTech ads. The Council conducted an in-depth analysis of 100 ads across the television, digital and print media and found patterns on context, characters, messages, product benefits, etc.

Effect of edtech ads on parents

“Advertising emerged as the single largest factor that led parents to recognise the need to enrol their child on an EdTech platform,” said the ASCI report. According to the findings, out of 305 parents, 53% of parents of 3-14 age group and 41% parents of 15-18 age group were influenced by ads.

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“Nine in 10 parents feel ads are important factors that aid the choice of class/course in which to enrol their child, and hence also trust these ads,” the ASCI report added.

According to the study, this is how edtech ads industry impacts the decision making of parents:

• Parents from both metro and non-metro cities trust ads
• Teaching methodology is the topmost criteria for parents to select online courses for kids
• For parents from metro cities, price of the course is euqally important
• Parents from non-metro cities feel ads show high pressure of studies
• Seven in 10 parents feel that edtech ads make promises which are difficult to achieve by students.
• 83% of parents have fear of missing out through claims in edtech ads if they don’t get their children enrolled.

Good ads vs bad ads

As part of the study, parents of children in the age groups 3-7 years, 8-14 years and 15‑18 years, were shown random edtech ads relevant to their child’s age and asked questions. According to their responses, the ads that performed well were those which

• Focused on conceptual learning and personalised attention.
• Highlighted the benefits of studying as per student’s own convenience
• Showcased the joy of learning and showed the child’s active interest in learning
• Chose to show the route to good marks or results through conceptual learning

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The ads that parents didn’t like were those which

• Focused more on the promise of good marks/top rank/exams than the process of learning
• Did not clearly define the route to good marks; inadequate information on the teaching methods
• Depicted situations where the mood and tone of the ads is serious or the pressure of studying is immense; depiction of the joy of learning is muted.

‘Aware’ students

According to the ASCI report, students were clear on what they expected from edtech ads and were not easily swayed by an emotional storyline or claims of high marks.

“Students, particularly those from the small metros, recognise the value of the EdTech opportunity, primarily, the access to the best teachers from across the country, and innovative teaching techniques,” the ASCI report said.

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Pattern of edtech ads

According to the ASCI report,

• Four out of five ads show boys as protagonists. Only one in four ads showed both boys and girls.
• Four out of 10 ads on mathematics subject showed boys in lead role while ads on science subjects fared even.
• Only one-fifth of ads show subjects other than mathematics and science
• 31 out of 100 ads claimed to be the best
• 47% of ads talked about high scores in exams
• 21 out of 23 ads show supportive parents, 17 have role for mothers among which 11 show them around kitchen or watching TV
• 55 out of 100 ads show teachers, of which, 14 show important role of teachers
• 32 of 33 ads depicted male celebrities

The ASCI study also put down the thoughts of experts on edtech ads and industry and an advisory to citizens regarding the use of caution with edtech companies.