Interep Study – Power of Teen Consumers.

Interep released an updated research report, “The Teen Market/ Targeting Generation Y: Marketing Facts and Media Choices.” The report shows that teens, spending $172 billion in 2001, exert control over a variety of personal and household
purchases. Moreover, almost all teen spending is discretionary, an important draw for advertisers.

Four categories dominate Teen spending: clothing & jewelry, food & snacks, entertainment and personal care. On the household level, Teens’ influence extends from food and health & beauty purchases, to more high-end buys such as vacations and electronics. According to an analysis of Mediamark Research, the following percentage of teens say that they “sometimes” or “often” decide what brands the household will buy each week in the following categories:

– Toothpaste 58%
– Cereal 64%
– CD Player 57%
– Vacations 52%

The following percentage of Teens said they have a

“Strong” influence on the following:

– Shampoo 42%
– Candy 36%
– Soft Drinks 39%
– Fast Food 36%

Demographically, Teens reflect the growing diversity within our nation — 66% are non-Hispanic white, 15% are African-American, 15% are Hispanic, and 4% are Asian. This compares to the Baby Boomers who are 75% non-Hispanic white.

From a media perspective, music continues to be a strong draw for Teens. MTV continues to have the highest concentration of Teens of all cable networks, and Vibe, Spin and Rolling Stone are all among the top indexing magazines. Youth-oriented musical radio formats also continue to offer prime advertising environments for Teen advertisers, with CHR, Urban, R&B, Modern Rock, Rock and Hot AC stations topping the list for concentration of 12-19 year-old listeners. Almost 90% of teens listen to radio during Monday-Friday drive times, and almost 70% listen during the evening hours of 7P-11P.

The latest research shows that about 8 out of 10 Teens have Internet access. Among these online Teens, 58% have access to the Internet at-home, 45% have access at a library or school, and 19% access the Net at “other” locations. The top uses were e-mail, studying/research and browsing the web. Approximately 35% of Teens 12-19 use the Internet to download music.