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HomeCover Story
Understanding Tweens and Tech: It's Not Just Kids Stuff
Children are morphing into tech-savvy consumers, but parents still hold the purse strings
Children have long been regarded as an important target group when it comes to marketing certain product categories – especially toys, games, and breakfast foods. Lately, though, retail stores and brand marketers have turned their attention to a specific sub-group – so-called “tweens” (children ages eight to 12) – where great potential exists, not only for brand building, but also for building sales. And they’re especially interested in tweens’ interaction with technology products and digital content.
Even the Kids are Multitasking
According to Kids’ Leisure Time II, a recent consumer study, commissioned by the Toy Industry Association™, Inc. and conducted by NPD, parents report that their children as young as two years of age are experts at multitasking. That means by the time they’re tweens, they are spending more time on multiple activities, such as reading, using the computer, spending time with friends, and listening to music, while still having the same amount of leisure time available. On average, more than one-quarter of the time spent on activities is shared with other activities.
“Monitoring how much leisure time kids have, and how they use it, is critical information for anyone involved in the youth market,” said Anita Frazier, NPD entertainment industry analyst. “Kids’ use of their leisure time, and how it changes over time, has profound implications for product development, marketing, promotions, and licensing for all youth-oriented products and services.”
Among elective activities (which do not include activities like personal hygiene, household chores, etc.) watching TV and/or movies is the most common leisure time activity among children ages five to 12. In 2006 they spent an average of 12 hours per week on this activity alone, which represents a one percent decline over the 13.5 hours spent in 2005. The percent of children ages five to 12 listening to music is up to 66 percent; homework is up to 90 percent, both representing four percent increases over 2005.
Kids' Leisure Timeshare
Source: The NPD Group/Kids' Leisure Time II
“Today’s kids are masters of multitasking. Clearly the hours they’re spending on all the activities combined add up to more than their total free time,” Frazier said. “Many players in the youth market already acknowledge that kids seldom focus on one activity or product at a time. This raises the bar in terms of the level of engagement manufacturers and service providers need to build into their products in order to attract and hold kids’ attention.”
Techy Tweens
Find out about European kids and consumer electronics.
According to the NPD report Kids and Consumer Electronics II, kids ages four to 14 are using consumer electronics (CE) devices six months earlier than they were in NPD’s 2005 study. Both CE devices and video game systems are becoming more entrenched in kids’ lives, with nine of the 11 CE devices measured in the study being used more today than in the past.
Portable CE products are showing strong growth in usage and purchase intent, especially among older kids. Purchase intent for kids is highest for very popular items, such as digital cameras, cell phones, and portable video game systems, which were all leaders and/or big gainers in terms of kids’ personal ownership and usage in 2006.
Overall U.S. household ownership figures show that desktop PCs, DVD players, non-portable televisions, and cell phones dominate. Digital cameras, portable digital music players (PDMP), and laptop computers are also gaining ground. In terms of personal ownership, in 2006 more than twice the number of kids personally owned portable digital music players and digital cameras than in the prior year. Cell phone ownership among kids also increased by 50 percent in 2006, compared to 2005.
“Any business that markets or sells products to kids needs to be aware of the role of these CE devices in their lives,” said Frazier. “Today’s kids are digital natives whose activities are fundamentally different than previous generations’. Smart businesses can develop more effective product development and marketing strategies, knowing just how tech-savvy kids are becoming.”
DigiKids Do Download
According to Kids & Digital Content, an NPD report, children are increasingly apt to play video games and download content to cell phones, computers, and portable digital music players – even those as young as two years of age.
While downloading games is the most prevalent activity, watching downloaded movies, television, music videos, or online streaming video content has already reached upwards of 25-percent penetration among children ages two to 14. In addition, kids are spending an average of 44 minutes in one sitting playing games on a video game system, and the same amount of time listening to music on a PDMP.
Participation in Activities
Across four key devices measured:
video game systems, personal digital music players, computers, cell phones
Source: The NPD Group/Kids & Digital Content Report
Cell phones highlight the quick progression in usage of consumer electronics – they are used by 62 percent of kids aged 11 to 14.
“Without a doubt, kids are seamlessly navigating between traditional and digital sources of media without missing a step,” said Frazier. “The real challenge for marketers is to be one step ahead of their competition, providing the content and technology kids crave.”
By the time kids are 10 years old, 22 percent are downloading digital content of some form; 50 percent are downloading at age 14. Three-quarters of kids with an Internet connection are using the Internet. Among those users, almost half are online and surfing the Internet without any adult supervision or assistance, while another one-third are surfing the Internet with their parents or someone else.
Parental Power
Of course the economic power held by tweens is still very dependent on parents and other adult family members who give kids allowances and gifts, versus the more independent purchasing power of teens who may have after-school jobs. As much industry talk as there is about kids – and especially tweens – being the decision-makers driving purchases, ultimately parents are still in control, even if only for a few more years. Successful manufacturers and retailers recognize that today’s dependent child is tomorrow’s emancipated young adult, and there’s nothing wrong with reaching out to a fresh, lucrative new market as early as possible.
Watch for details of our Kids and Consumer Electronics Report for Europe, coming later this year. For more information about the reports referenced in this article, please contact Andrew Beilenson at 866-444-1411 or contactnpd@npd.com.
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