Skip to main content

The Language of Young Consumers

According to Forrester, in the US alone today there are 73 million people under the age of 18. While they sometimes resemble a completely different species -- confounding marketers, device makers, and their parents -- young people are neither scary nor intimidating. More than media pirates or rip-off artists, young consumers are technology amenable gadget gurus who embrace the Net and make themselves readily available to marketers. Tapping into the youth market can be tricky, though -- you need to reach young consumers on their terms and, more importantly, speak a dialect that they understand.

Forrester recently surveyed 5,216 young US and Canadian consumers age 12 to 21 about their technology habits and attitudes:

1. Gadgets
Young consumers love consumer electronics even more than their adult counterparts: more than two-thirds own PCs, DVD players, home stereos, game consoles, mobile phones, and handheld videogames. Portable MP3 players like Apple's iPod and browser- or camera-enabled mobile phones have caught on with the younger set, with adoption around one-quarter and growing: MP3 players rank first on young consumers' wish lists; camera-phones rank third.

2. Web-Based Entertainment
Music, movies, and gaming content score big with young consumers on the Net. Teens spend, on average, 11 hours per week surfing the Web, and 79 percent of them can be found visiting game sites like gamezone.com. More than one-third visit music sites for artists like Kanye West or The White Stripes, and almost half favor sites dedicated to films like "Napoleon Dynamite."

3. Social Marketing
Although equally as skeptical about traditional advertising as their parents, young consumers have already jumped on the social marketing bandwagon. More than half of young consumers rely on their friends and families for purchase advice, and 65 percent tell others about products they like. Marketers can reach young consumers' social marketing networks by using the electronic communication tools favored by youth: IM, mobile phones, and email.

4. Video Games
Almost all -- 94 percent -- of young consumers own some device that they use for game-playing. More than half of young consumers prefer gaming to watching TV. This affinity for all things video game, along with their love for Web-based entertainment, makes young consumers a prime audience for advergames.

5. Digital Music
Young consumers have not been mislabeled "media pirates" -- they do download MP3s and use peer-to-peer file sharing more than adults. But teens' piracy will not be the force behind the potential demise of the conventional music industry. As rates of file-sharing decline, young consumers buy more music online. iTunes and Napster To Go, legal alternatives to Gnutella and eDonkey, give young consumers an easy, inexpensive, and conscience-friendly way to fill up the MP3 players they plan to buy.

Popular posts from this blog

Industrial and Manufacturing Technology Growth

In an evolving era of rapid advancement, market demand for innovative technology in the industrial and manufacturing sectors is skyrocketing. Leaders are recognizing the immense potential of digital transformation and are driving initiatives to integrate technologies into their business operations.  These initiatives aim to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and ultimately drive growth and competitiveness in an increasingly digital business upward trajectory. The industrial and manufacturing sectors have been the backbone of the Global Networked Economy, contributing $16 trillion in value in 2021. Industrial and Manufacturing Tech Market Development   This growth represents a 20 percent increase from 2020, highlighting the resilience and adaptability of these sectors in the face of unprecedented challenges, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research . The five largest manufacturing verticals -- automotive, computer and electronic, primary metal, food, and machinery -

Rise of AI-Enabled Smart Traffic Management

The demand for smart traffic management systems has grown due to rising urban populations and increasing vehicle ownership. With more people and cars concentrated in cities, problems like traffic congestion, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions are pressing issues. Since the early 2000s, government leaders have been exploring ways to leverage advances in IoT connectivity, sensors, artificial intelligence (AI), and data analytics to address these transportation challenges. The concept of a Smart City emerged in the 2010s, with smart mobility and intelligent traffic management as key components.  Smart Traffic Management Market Development Concerns about continued climate change, as well as cost savings from improved traffic flow, have further motivated local government investment in these advanced systems. According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, they found that by 2028, smart traffic management investment will be up by 75 percent from a 2023 figure of

How GenAI is Transforming the Role of CIO

The introduction of Artificial intelligence (AI), and the emergence of Generative AI  (GenAI), are now resulting in two key focus areas for Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and their IT leadership team. "GenAI is not just a technology or just a business trend. It is a profound shift in how humans and machines interact," said Mary Mesaglio, VP Analyst at Gartner . "We are moving from what machines can do for us to what machines can be for us." AI platforms are evolving rapidly from being our tools to becoming our teammates. Gartner predicts that by 2025, GenAI will be a workforce partner for 90 percent of companies worldwide. CIO Leadership Market Development CIOs have a major role in how they shape AI and how AI shapes us. According to recent Gartner surveys of CEOs, enterprise CIOs are their number one choice to unlock the value of GenAI tools. In fact, CIOs and IT executives will prioritize two areas to unleash the possibility of AI over the next 12-24 months – t