Mind the Gap When Talking About Teens

Looking in the mirror this morning, I was forced to face reality: I’m getting old. Thus, when it comes to teen culture, I am an outsider looking in. And knowing that my personal experiences are different from theirs, I can’t afford to fall into the trap of applying anything from my experience to that of teens. Not only are their habits different from my own today, but they are different than what I did when I was a teen. The tools available to them and the social mores around those tools are simply different.

Our ongoing research, in collaboration with the Center for Media Design, compares how consumers communicate interpersonally versus how they want marketers to communicate with them. When it comes to teens, there is a marked difference in how they communicate on a personal level when compared to other demographic segments. For example:

• Teens are much less likely to pick up the phone and call friends. When I was a teen, the stereotypical teenage girl was constantly talking on the phone with friends. Not so today. Only 16% of females 15-17 say they are most likely to call when they want to communicate with friends. 49% are most likely to write messages. The remaining 35% call and write messages equally. Compare that to 35-44 year old females (approximate age range of moms of teens) and we see 34% are most likely to call and only 19% are most likely to write messages.

Continue Reading on MediaPost: Engage: Teens

Originally From “Mind the Gap When Talking About Teens”| Published February 11, 2010