According to a study by Teenage Research Unlimited for the Newspaper Association of America, teens do read newspapers. Fifty-four percent of them spent one or more hours reading a newspaper in the past week. This study was designed to better understand the teen readers so that newspapers and marketers will be better prepared to create attractive content.
These young consumers spent $158 billion dollars in 2005, a 6% drop from 2004. Teen unemployment has kept many wallets thin as their paychecks flow into their gas tanks. And, teens' parents fears about a housing bubble has hampered free spending. But teens remain optimistic about their economic status and believe their future careers will be lucrative.
Teens still command the attention and respect of marketers, says the report. Advertisers will continue developing campaigns focused on teens, since 46% of teens (12-17) say they will spend more money in the next 12 months, compared to 15% who said they will spend less money.
Highlights From the Study About Teens 12-17
In the past year, teens have placed an emphasis on getting more value for their money. Where teens once insisted that their outfits be "branded' from top to bottom, they now feel satisfied with one expensive item with an interchangeable ensemble of value conscious attire.
More Key Findings:
Percent of Teens Spending One or More Hours in Past 7 Days | |||||
Activity | Age12-17 | Males | Females | 12-14 | 15-17 |
Reading a book | 55% | 44% | 67% | 57% | 54% |
Watching rented videos | 58 | 57 | 60 | 56 | 61 |
Going to movie theatres | 50 | 51 | 50 | 49 | 52 |
Exercising | 64 | 64 | 65 | 59 | 69 |
Going to the mall | 53 | 42 | 63 | 49 | 56 |
Downloading music | 30 | 31 | 29 | 23 | 38 |
Playing video games | 56 | 75 | 36 | 62 | 50 |
Going to library/museum/gallery | 27 | 22 | 32 | 29 | 25 |
Playing sports | 74 | 79 | 69 | 81 | 68 |
Source: Teenage Research Unlimited, Inc., Fall 2005 |
Fifty-four percent of teens read a newspaper in the past 7 days. Older teens (15-17) outpace younger teens (12-14) with newspaper reading... 63% vs. 44%.
Newspaper Sections Appealing to Teens | |||||
Section Read Last 7 Days | Age12-17 | Males | Females | 12-14 | 15- 17 |
Advertising (food, clothing, etc.) | 34% | 22% | 46% | 31% | 36% |
Classified (jobs, used cars, etc.) | 25 | 25 | 26 | 15 | 36 |
Comics | 49 | 50 | 48 | 52 | 46 |
Entertainment | 41 | 38 | 44 | 39 | 43 |
Grocery ads | 10 | 6 | 15 | 10 | 11 |
Horoscopes | 31 | 20 | 42 | 26 | 35 |
Local & community news | 32 | 29 | 36 | 25 | 39 |
National news | 22 | 22 | 22 | 17 | 27 |
Sports | 42 | 54 | 30 | 39 | 45 |
TV and Radio listings | 20 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 18 |
Source: Teenage Research Unlimited, Inc., Fall 2005 |
For more information on teens and the PDF report, please go here.