• by August 1, 2001

Teens Look Before They Leap

In a recent release, Jupiter Media Metrix reports that while 89% of teens (ages 13-17) have never made an online purchase, 29% research products on the Internet before buying them at stores. Jupiter analysts suggest that marketers consider the influence of online window shopping and incorporate a single message across multiple ad channels.

Jared Blank, Jupiter Media Metrix analyst, said "Teens spend almost as much time on Amazon.com as adults do, even though few of those teens make purchases on the site. Marketers need to recognize the value the Web has on influencing purchases that may take place off-line."

Key findings from this online marketing research include:

- The number of adults online in April increased 18%, reaching a total of over 71 million users. The teen population increased 11% in April, reaching a total of almost 9 million.

- Adults go online more often than teenagers—the average adult logged on 15 days in April, while teenagers used the Internet an average of nine days in April.

- Teenagers spend an average of 264 minutes online per month while adults connect for an average of 837 minutes.

- 42% of teenagers view personal Web pages set up by other users. Media Metrix shows that homepage providers Angelfire, TriPod and Homestead are among the top 20 sites visited by teens, though none are among the same list for adults.

Top Web Sites Visited By Teens in April 2001

  +----------+-----------------+   | Web site | Unique visitors |   |          |
(in thousands)  |   +----------+-----------------+   |          |                 |   | Yahoo!   |      5,264      |   | MSN      |      4,433      |   | AOL.com  |      3,623      |   | Passport |
3,099      |   | Hotmail  |      3,034      |   +----------+-----------------+  

Source: Jupiter MediaMetrix

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