Analyst Angle: The Talking and Texting Power of Teens

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our Monday feature, Analyst Angle. We’ve collected a group of the industry’s leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Jupiter Research’s Julie Ask, Current Analysis’ Avi Greengart and iGR’s Iain Gillott.
Back in the day, my younger sister was glued to the wall phone in the kitchen from the time she got home from school until dinner, and then some. It was a solid bet on any given school night that homework would be hastily finished so that she could tend to more important matters, like gossiping about cute boys or coordinating what to wear with her best friend. I often wondered why there was such a need to talk on the phone for hours after school. Weren’t they already talking the entire day?
These days, teens have their phones all day long, and can do more with it than just call their friends. Teens have always been early adopters of technology. And that’s no different when it comes to mobile phones. The latest Mobile Youth Report from Telephia, a service of The Nielsen Company, shows that among teens age 13-17, 69% have wireless service. And if they don’t have a mobile phone currently, more than one-third say that they will probably subscribe to a wireless service within the next year.
Not surprisingly, they are big consumers of advanced data services like text and picture messaging, downloading games and ringtones, and using the mobile Web. I’m often wowed by how insanely fast my nieces and nephews text their friends-faster than I can blurt out a “hello.”
This is a coveted demographic group that wields strong purchasing power, and establishing brand equity early is a goal for marketers who realize that these young consumers have the potential to grow up to be a loyal set. But just how much of an influence do they yield? According to Telephia, almost three-quarters (73%) of the teen respondents indicate that they influence the purchase of the handset. But good ol’ Mom and Dad still pay the bills (77% of parents pay their teens’ cellphone bill). And when it comes to picking the right carrier for the family, they hold the cards. More than 70% of teens said their parents selected their service provider.
It’s no surprise, perhaps, that roughly one out of four teens cite design and style as the top reason they chose their particular handset, and they keep it for just under a year and a half. With Mom and Dad subsidizing the cost of a mobile phone, teen purchasing habits may not necessarily be as constrained as those of young adult consumers age 18-24. Teens report spending more on handsets than do young adults ($94 vs. $86) and look for more advanced data features on their next phone.
That poses an interesting scenario for marketers, as they need to meet differing demands from both teens and parents. Teens demand the latest stylish and innovative features. While parents lean towards more practical benefits, like cost and privacy issues. And legislation to develop the super V-chip, which proposes to screen content on everything from mobile phones to the Internet, will be an important issue for parents.
The fact that young people are inherently tech-savvy and are early adopters is old news. What is different, at least from when I was a teenager (in the not too distant past. ahem)-is that teens have so much more functionality literally at hand, and can do so much more on one tiny little device. And they are demanding more and more features from manufacturers and cool services from carriers. Mobile phones promote a socially connected lifestyle, allowing consumers to stay united, which is especially important for teens. Moreover, teens are media multitaskers like never before, watching YouTube videos online, listening to their iPod in the background, texting or talking to their friends on their mobile phone, all while “American Idol” is on TV.
Mobile communications has definitely changed habits since the time my sister and I were teenagers. But when it comes right down to it, not much has changed in the act of connecting with people via the telephone. You can count on young people wanting to call, text and reach out to their friends. The only difference is my nieces and nephews don’t have to be stuck to the wall like my sister used to be.
Telephia, a service of The Nielsen Company, is a provider of syndicated consumer research to the telecom and mobile media markets. The research referenced in the column is based on findings from the Telephia Mobile Youth Report for the second quarter of 2007, measuring teen mobile consumers age 13-17 and young adult mobile consumers age 18-24. Please e-mail Jeff at jeff.herrmann@nielsen.com or RCR Wireless News at rcrwebhelp@crain.com.