• by adam.m , Michael Deibert , August 16, 2005

The U.S. college market is larger, more affluent, and more technologically savvy about media than any generation before them, according to findings of a new study assessing the market, scheduled to be released today by youth marketing specialist Alloy Media + Marketing.

The report, based on a survey of 1,638 U.S. college students ages 18 to 30, found a definite trend toward cutting edge media, with one in six students characterizing themselves as "an early adopter of electronic devices and gadgets." Among males, the number was even greater: approaching one in four.

"Where technology and entertainment converge is where you really see the new spending," Samantha Skey, Alloy's senior vice president for strategic marketing told MDN during a preview of the study. She said a major factor driving new media consumption is that the current college generation has higher rates of employment and more disposable income than previous ones.

Eighty-five percent of the students surveyed said they owned a cell phone--and of those, three-quarters had models able to send and receive text messages, and nearly two-thirds had models on which they could play games. Sixty percent said they could access the Internet through their phones, while 36 percent could take, send, and receive pictures.

One in five of the students told Alloy that they planned to purchase a digital camera in the coming year, while 17 percent said they had their eye on an MP3 player. The trend also appeared to bridge any ethnic divide, with three out of four African-American and Hispanic college students planning to make a technology purchase.