We've all read how teens, the darlings of advertiser target groups, are facing weighty issues like sex and drugs at younger ages, but the good news may be that teens are also learning to deal with
these more serious matters earlier as well.
Qtopics - http://www.qtopics.com - an online polling company that offers people the chance to ask their own questions, conducted a national survey
of 800 teenagers ages 13 to 17 years old asking them what they want to know from their favorite music pop star. According to the results, younger teens are more curious about topics like breast
implants, sexuality and drug use, while older teens are more concerned with love, careers and religious beliefs.
According to Brian Martin, Sr. Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Qtopics,
the methodology stems from the fact that people usually ask questions about things that somehow affect their personal lives, and the researchers were surprised with the results of the study. It's
no secret, he said, that younger teens are quite different form older teens, but "the 13-14 year olds are savvier that we thought they'd be, and the 16-17 are more mature than we expected," he
said.
For example, 64% of 14 year-old girls who had a question for Britney Spears asked about breast implants - specifically if she has them - versus 18% of 17 year-old girls. In fact, the
number one question of 17 year-old girls for Britney Spears was if she was in love with her boyfriend.
Qtopic concluded that while this may demonstrate how teenage girls are starting to feel
the pressure of self-image at a younger age, it also demonstrates how the older teenage girls may have learned to deal with that pressure.