• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, August 11, 2008

There may still be time for  marketers to adjust in reaching teens and tweens tuning into the 2008 Summer Olympics.

A recent study conducted by the Harris Interactive Youth Center of Excellence shows that just 46% of 13 -18 year olds in the U.S. express an interest in the upcoming Olympics, including only 27% who say they are extremely or very interested. Teen boys ages 16-18 show the greatest interest and represent the only age group where over half of youth are interested in the sporting event. Teens overall are a larger audience for the Olympics than tweens (ages 8-12) who report only a 28% interest.

Dana Markow, Ph.D, VP senior consultant, Harris Interactive, said "... teens have not yet caught Olympics-fever... (though) many of the Olympic competitors are the same age... "

Overall, teens say they are most interested in following swimming (40%), gymnastics (38%) and track and field (33%). However, the top three Olympic sports that teen boys are interested in watching or reading about are:

• Track and field (35%)
• Swimming (34%)
• Basketball (34%)

While girls are most interested in:

• Gymnastics (56%)
• Swimming (46%)
• Diving (35%)

59% say that they plan to watch Olympics sporting events on TV. A far smaller number of teens are interested in reading about (22%) or watching (14%) Olympic sporting events online. Similar to an overall interest in the Olympics, plans to follow the Games online increases significantly with age.

Most teens understand that the Olympics are more than simply a sport competition:

• 62% agree that the Olympics helps to build a better and more peaceful world, four times the amount who disagree (16%) with this statement
• 71% of teens who say they are interested in the Olympics agree that the Games are about more than merely medals and marketing

For more information from Harris Interactive, please visit here