'Tweens' too young for phone marketing: study

Parents need to keep a watchful eye on the way mobile phones are marketed to young children, researchers at the Australian Institute warn.

The organisation says mobile phone manufacturers are actively targeting children from the age of six to 14 (the so-called 'tween' market) in a bid to foster a lifetime of brand loyalty.

And it appears to be working. More than 50 per cent of the children surveyed by the Australia Institute think the brand of their phone is important.

The research indicates that heavy pressure is being placed on young children to be cool by consuming in general, a situation that could lead to psychological and financial problems.

The Australian Institute says it is not against children having mobile phones; however, they do warn that by marketing phones directly to children manufactures are at risk of commercialising childhood.