By BestMediaInfo Bureau

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) released a comprehensive report on advertising in the education technology sector (EdTech) and the impact it has on parents and students.

The report aims to decode the challenges and opportunities for EdTech sector advertising. The report also identifies ways in which the sector can shape a more responsible narrative, and move away from opportunistic advertising which many consider problematic.

EdTech as a sector holds immense promise in being able to address the infrastructural and learning challenges in India, hence it is critical that the advertising of the sector does not undermine its potential. The study, done with the active participation of both industry and non-industry stakeholders identifies opportunities and challenges and proposes a framework that could guide advertisers to more balanced advertising.

The EdNext study was undertaken by ASCI with Sprint Studio.ai as the research partner and UNICEF as the knowledge partner. A total of 100 EdTech advertisements across print, TV, digital video and static mediums were analysed by a wide set of stakeholders including parents, students, policymakers, educationists, child development experts, as well as representatives of the industry from the marketing and creative fields. The study was conducted across the cities of Delhi, Bangalore, Indore, Kanpur, Patna, Kolhapur, Warangal and Bardhaman.

The analysis revealed that:

• Ads have a huge impact on parents’ choice of EdTech platform, with 49% of parents choosing platforms based on advertising.

• Like traditional education ads, Ed-Tech ads too, have a huge focus on marks and ranks. Math and science dominated the subjects depicted.

• While 81% of parents trust EdTech ads, 73% felt that ads showed high pressure of studies

• None of the endorsers/ role models were from the academic field.

• Stereotypes of gender, physical appearance, and mother’s roles crept into these ads.

The findings also noted some positives. Some of the key positives identified were:

• Ads featuring parents represented them as supporting partners to students and thereby provided positive role models for progressive parenting (21 out of 23 ads)

• Parents and experts also felt that ads that focused on conceptual learning were progressive and enjoyable.

Full Story https://bestmediainfo.com/2023/01/49-of-parents-choose-edtech-platforms-on-the-basis-of-advertising-asci-report