The presence of minors in commercial content and its negative effect on audience: sharenting and the youtuber Verdeliss

Abstract

This article analyzes the reaction of the audience of the Spanish youtuber Verdeliss, who has the largest community of Spanish followers in the field of parenting and motherhood, to the presence of her underage children in the contents that she publishes on YouTube. A survey made among 1,336  followers of her YouTube channel found that the majority of them feel uncomfortable because of the presence of minors in videos where commercial brands are also promoted. This group rates the youtuber worse in almost all dimensions related to her persuasive ability, and they also buy fewer products recommended by her. Likewise, in a qualitative analysis of 284 comments to open-ended questions, it was observed that there are several arguments within this group of uncomfortable followers, among which stand out their discomfort with the excessive exposure of minors, a frontal rejection to the commodification of their image, and a call on competent authorities to protect the minors. Taking into account the differences in the evaluation of the youtuber, these results suggest that sharenting could produce negative effects in the promotion of brands.