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13/07/2009 by
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How Teenagers Consume Media

An (unscientific) research note, entitled “How Teenagers Consume Media” (in the UK), written by 15-year-old intern Matthew Robson in London at global financial powerhouse Morgan Stanley has become the talk of middle-aged media executives, investors and has made headlines in The Financial Times, Bloomberg, The New York Times, Guardian, The Telegraph and blogs all over.

teens_mobilephone

“99 percent of teenagers own a mobile phone”

The document was even discussed at the Allen & Co Sun Valley conference in Idaho, which brings together business leaders, political figures, philanthropists and media executives, like Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt and Rupert Murdoch.

Morgan Stanley decided to publish the three-page analysis, due to its “clear and thought-provoking insights”.

In his three-page report about the media habits of a modern day teenager, Matthew Robson broke down the different mediums into radio, television, newspapers, gaming, internet, viral marketing, music, cinema, mobile phones and directories.

A quick summary:

  • Teenagers are not regular listeners to radio, use services like Last.fm
  • Teenagers watch television for specific seasonal programs and sports, use BBC iPlayer
  • Teenagers only read tabloids and free daily newspapers
  • The most common gaming console is the Wii, then the Xbox 360 followed by the PS3
  • Every teenager has access to the Internet. Teens do not use Twitter, but Facebook for social networking (see also TechCrunch)
  • Most teenagers enjoy and support viral marketing
  • Teenagers from higher-income families use iPods, while those from lower-income families use mobile phones to listen to music
  • Teenagers go to the cinema “quite often”, although it’s “not about the film, but the experience and getting together with friends”
  • 99 percent of teenagers own a mobile phone
  • Teenagers never use real directories

In general, Robson said that teenagers were eager to try new media technologies and deftly switch among them, but they were deeply opposed to opening their wallets to pay for services. Online advertising is considered “extremely annoying and pointless” and traditional billboard advertising is tended to be ignored.

Although the report is anecdotal evidence and not hard evidence, the analysis is an interesting startpoint for debate and might open executive eyes. Executives and investors have grown fascinated by the opinions of teenagers. Rupert Murdoch, 78, has described himself as a “digital immigrant” and his young daughters as “digital natives”, while UBS pulled in an 18-year-old three years ago to demonstrate MySpace to portfolio managers.

Read the full report “How Teenagers Consume Media”:

Source: Guardian, FT


Read more of Paul’s articles on Viralblog. You can connect with Paul via Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, SlideShare, Del.icio.us or send him an email at [email protected].