Teen Focus Group Output

30 January 2008

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Background

The purchasing power of teenagers is enormous. As a consumer group they are important to many Brands. Even if teens are not a core consumer today of a Brand, their potential to be tomorrow’s consumers cannot be overlooked.

We wanted to get closer to these individuals, to understand a bit more about who influences them, how they perceive brands, how they spend their money and their general attitudes. We invited 8 teenagers (4 boys and 4 girls), aged 16 – 17, to participate in a 2 hour ‘consumer closeness’ session at our XPotential Marlow office.

We focused on 16-17 years old as they are of an age where they have developed their own independence and are no longer considered children. Our participants are all British from middle income families and attending high schools in the local High Wycombe area.

Through our small focus group of 8, we now have a glimpse into how these teens think and what makes them tick.

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Insight summary

Teens and Friends“I believe that I can only really be

ME when I’m with my friends”

Teens and relationships“Age, Class, Sex is not really

important, what’s important is that I have to meet face to face and

‘click’ with someone before I can be a close friend with them”

Teens and Parents“With most things I want to be

independent of my parents but if it gets too tough I know I can always

go to them as a last resort”

Teens and money

“its really important to earn my own money, it gives me

independence and freedom to choose what I want to do”

Teens and the Net“Face book, MySpace, Bebo are

great for connecting with, getting to know and spending time with loads of people, but real friends are only

made when we meet up”

Teens and Security“Even at school we’re in danger (physical), it’s important for us to set good examples for those kids that don’t know right from wrong because parents and teachers

can’t really do anything”

Teens and Nationality“We don’t feel we belong here

anymore, being British is no longer a reason of pride”

Teen Girls and Shopping“shopping is about having a good

time with girl friends more that it is about having to buy something

specific”

Teen Boys and Shopping“shopping is a necessary evil, I will only go if I need something specific and I’m more or less sure where I

can buy it”

Teens and retailers“just because I’m a teenager

doesn’t mean I’m not important. I look for quality, great service, good value and a great experience just

as much as adults do”

Teens and Mobile Phones“I don’t really care too much about the Brand of my phone. It’s how it

works (functions) that’s more important to me”

Teens and skincare“I know that looking after my skin is important but most products don’t work and are too complicated and boring to use. Give me something that’s easy to understand, nice to

use and that works”

Teens and advertising“If you want me to remember an

ad, make it really funny”

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In summary, we found that our group is mainly influenced by their friends. Friendships are formed through their community at school, social clubs and work. Although they are open to using different means to network and to enlarge their social circle, generally, close “trusting” friendship are still formed through face-to-face interactions. Virtual networking is a means for the teens to vicariously explore outside their own world.

What is interesting is that teens who have friends from different backgrounds, such as interests, social or economic, prefer to keep these groups separate. By keeping friends separate, teens can put on different “faces” with different groups and thereby play out different roles of their personality.

Our group is at the age where they have just started to gain independence and make some important decisions for themselves. A majority of them work and earn money for non-essentials. When confronted with a problem, our group will seek will try to sort it out on their own or then go to their friends or siblings for advice. For the teenager, it is only when a problem feels insurmountable or is beyond their means to solve, do they seek out parent’s help. Otherwise, parents takes a supporting role in the background of the teens’ daily lives.

Executive Summary – Who Influences Them

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The boys seem to be the hardworking lot. All the boys in our group work -- one started working when he was 13 and one has 3 jobs! However, only 50% of the girls in our group work. There is a close link between financial freedom and independence. The males seem to have a stronger tendency to demand their independence at an earlier age. Our group enjoys working and making their own money. Not only does it give them more independence, it also helps them learn to manage their finances better.

Entertainment is top on the list of spending. Going out, defined as going to pubs and on holidays with friends, was sited as where most money is spent. Libation (drink!), rather than food is strongly associated with going to the pub.

The next big spend was on shopping which encompasses a wide range of categories such as clothing, accessories, shoes, cosmetic and skincare. This was predominantly a girls social activity. Although some boys do shop with friends, generally, it is more out of necessity rather than as a social activity or entertainment. Shopping online was not popular with our group. They do browse online but it is rare that they purchase items online. Shopping is an activity where they can socialise and mingle and be close with their friends. Music is the only category where online purchases are made. Our group has apprehension about losing music downloads and so 50% still prefers tangible CDs.

Executive Summary – Where They Spend Their Money

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Our teens are not brand loyal. They know about brands and have opinions on brands but are not blindly led by brands. Brands need to be able to deliver a tangible promise, our teens are savvy enough not be sold on a dream alone.

A combination of style, quality, price and service is needed to sway our group. For shopping, they are unanimously enamoured with Primark as it offers the right combination for our teen shoppers. TopMan, (part of the TopShop Group), was also sited to have good styling but when compared to Primark, the price to value ratio is less enticing.

For clothing, the brand is much less important than the design, style and comfort. These teenagers are just as happy wearing a cheaper version of a designer copy rather than paying the premium for a designer brand. Therefore, brands like TopShop, where up-to-date fashion pieces can be found at affordable prices are a favourite.

For mobile phones, brands are important because of its association with its own operating system. Once teenagers become familiar with a type of system, they are less keen on switching brands. This is more of a functionality and practicality issue rather than a true loyalty to the brand.

Our group demand and want good customer service but feels that most shops dismiss them as important customers and often look down on them. It is important to note that although teens are very price conscious, they are willing to pay a premium for customer service.

Executive Summary – Perception Towards Brands

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Our group rarely uses skincare products as part of a cleansing regime. For the girls in our group, this could be because cosmetics were rarely used and therefore, the perception is that a skincare regime is not necessary. Girls in our group perceive skincare to be too complicated and too time consuming. Boys find special skincare products unnecessary; when they do use a product, it is generally a shaving lotion/gel. A favourite product sited was NIVEA for Men aftershave balm.

When asked about acne products, most said that they don’t use it because it does not work. However, it later became apparent that most had had a need to use acne product sat some point but found it did not produce satisfactory results, therefore they generalised that all acne products do not work.

Executive Summary – Skin care

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Generally it is word of mouth that gets our teens to use a product as this is linked closely with a trusted source – a friend or a relative. It is difficult to attract our group with run of the mill advertising. Advertising, be it TV, radio or internet must have an impact, a “Wow” factor to attract our group. If it becomes a talking point within the community, all the better. Ads that makes our group laugh have the biggest chance of catching their attention and in doing so will have a better chance of trial or purchase.

Executive Summary –Attracting their attention

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Our group has very strong opinions on social and political issues. We discussed several issues:

Loss of “Britishness”They feel very strongly that British Culture or ‘what it means to be from Great Britain’has eroded in the past 10-20 years. They also perceive the state of affairs have deteriorated such as a failure of the school system, health system, rail and public transport. Further, they perceive an animosity from other nations towards the British. The anguish over their loss of “Britishness” weakened a sense of patriotism.

Strict punishment for bulliesThey perceive a lack of security in schools. Bullying is prevalent, especially in the younger age group. They feel strongly that the only way to stop bullying is for the authorities to enforce strict punishment and that a slap on the wrist will just not do.

Need for more disciplineThe group agreed a need for stricter discipline, for example a child misbehaving in a public space. However, they had divergent views on what type of ‘discipline’ would be most effective. One group felt that physical punishment with reasonable force, (i.e.: slap on the wrist or ear), is acceptable as a means of disciplinary action whereas the other group felt that physical punishment in any degree is absolutely unacceptable.

Executive Summary – Strong views

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Appendices

Insights and Supporting data

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Teen’s and friends”

Insight: “I believe that I can only really be ME when I’m with my friends”

Friends are influencing factorsFriends are trusted and relied on for opinionWhat you do depends a lot on what your friends do Siblings (from close age group) do have influences on some of the teensThere is a need to fit inClose friends influence the majority of their livesInfluence means they can criticise each other There is a different persona with family than with friends (are more relaxed and are “themselves” when they are with friends)Get advice from siblings and friends

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Teens and Relationship Building

Insight: “Age, Class, Sex is not really important, what’s important is that I have to meet face to face and ‘click’ with someone before I can be a close friend with them”

Friends formed through physical meetingYouth need to “trust” before letting another person into their close circleYouth find different groups of friends which suit their different aspects of their personalityMajority keep different circles of friends that don’t mixAct differently around different groupsThere is a perception that friends from different groups won’t mixThey don’t mind having friends from different social backgroundThere is a segmentation – different groups of friends for different things (different activities)Some spend more time with school group and some spend more time with non-school group“I like having separate groups of friends because I can act differently around different people”They don’t like to mix different “classes” of friends (eg: snob + normal)Friends through social clubsFriends through workFriends mainly through schoolAge is not a barrier to making new friendsAlthough age is not a barrier, it is important to “click” (eg: understand each other)

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Teens and Parents

Insight: “With most things I want to be independent of my parents but if it gets too tough I know I can always go to them as a last resort”

Parent’s attitude affects kids (one teen’s parents are unhappy a lot of time => he is unhappy)Happy kids have a happy home lifeOnly some would confide about problems with parents if they really trust them like close friendsDon’t expect parents to pay for higher educationFeel that parents only have responsibility to support them up to a certain age (eg: 16-17)Feel they can’t live off parents.Feel that their parent have done enough by giving a roof over their headMoney problems, they will seek out parents. For other problems they will seek friends for advice.For serious problems, they will go to their parents for helpPerception of a big issue or serious problems are: problem with friends; school work; things that can’t deal with on their own or with friends

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Teens and Money

Insight: “its really important to earn my own money, it gives me independence and freedom to choose what I want to do”

All the boys work and some started at an early age, whereas only 50% of the girls workOne boy had 3 jobs!Making money teaches you to manage money betterEven with allowances, work pay makes up larger part of spending moneyAt age 16-17, majority work and support own expensesCautious of credit cards and building up a debtNone of the group own a credit card. All have debit cardsMost money spend on entertainment (going out, drinks, holidays)Spend most their money on travel, petrol, food and holidays with friendsThe ones with jobs who managed their money bought their own things felt more independent

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Teens and the net

Insight: “Face book, MySpace, Bebo are great for connecting with, getting to know and spending time with loads of people, but real friends are only made when we meet up”

Instant messenger used for communicating with overseas friends (cost issue)On Facebook or web, MySpace, only contact people with the same interestChecking out profiles and gadgets on Facebook equate to person’s personality Instant message on computer is not as preferred as phone textingUsed the internet to make friends “more” when they were younger (eg: < age 16)Accept virtual networking as a vehicle to extend social networkTeens are not as suspicious (dubious) of virtual networking Gaining International exposure from virtual networking (e.g.: communicate with someone from Las Vegas) Broader International knowledge even without travellingNetworking through friends to extend social groupThey like Facebook because it provides larger access to networkingThey do develop online friendships, but once it is developed, a physical meeting is importantAll had access to laptops or P.CChatting ≠ meeting people or networking. In their terminology, chatting is for killing timeThey use internet chat rooms when bored

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Teens and Security

Insight: “Even at school we’re in danger (physical), it’s important for us to set good examples for those kids that don’t know right from wrong because parents and teachers can’t really do anything”

There is a lot of bullying in school – verbal abuse and physicalThere is safety in numbersGroup felt bullied in their younger years (age 7-10) but are now big enough to defend themselvesNo security at school, don’t feel safeThere needs to be punishment to back up threat, otherwise, bullies will persist.Having been bullied => turn into bullyDon’t tell teachers. They can’t do anything.Physical violence is always wrong with a childIf you are spoon fed, then you don’t know right from wrong and don’t take responsibility for your own actionsVery opposing views on disciplining unruly childrenGroups feels that more needs to be done (eg: punishment for bullies)Whole part of growing up is to find out for yourselfNeed to find out what’s wrong for yourself

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Teens and Nationality

Insight: “We don’t feel we belong here anymore, being British is not longer a reason of pride”

Group feels they are losing British culture to whinging minoritiesYouth feels like UK has changed for the worst, (especially in the last 10 years)Group feel that UK are America’s puppet – don’t make their own decisionsBritish teens thinks people dislike the EnglishBritish teens feel there has been lots of changes in the last 10-20 years (not good changes)Feels that British culture is being erasedThey all felt that every other nation hates the EnglishNot proud of their own country

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Teens and Shopping

Insight:

Girls “shopping is about having a good time with girl friends more that it is about having to buy something specific”

Boys “shopping is a necessary evil, I will only go if I need something specific and I’m more or less sure where I can buy it”

Shopping is a social activityImportant for girls to shop with friends. Not so much for guys.Guys generally prefer to shop by themselves and will go to a shop only if they want something and will leave the shop once they’ve got what they wantMost go shopping at the shops and not onlineThey will look at things online but not buy the things onlineGroup rather go to a shop than shop onlineGuys don’t care so much about buying clothes

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Teens and Retailers

Insight: “just because I’m a teenager doesn’t mean I’m not important. I look for quality, great service, good value and a great experience just as much as adults do”

Service is importantCustomer service is important and even though price conscious, would pay a premium for customer serviceGroup feels spoken down to when going into shops – prefer shops that have good customer serviceTeens feel they get treated differently (looked down at) at storesDesign, quality and cost important in selecting clothesWant the best deals for their money – especially the ones that work for itClothes quality is importantPrices are important – they do pay attention to pricesGroup (on whole wasn’t interested in XBOX or video gaming (not much time to play games)Internet games – depend on different people, in our group, they weren’t interested in thisSee big brands (e.g.: Tesco as cheaper, value for money)The clothes at John Lewis are expensive and old fashion Primark = good design, good quality and good pricesPrimark is a all-round favourite place to shopThink NEXT is old men’s shopTopman is a good shop for guysThe price of a piece of clothing (e.g.: cheaper version is more important than an expensive branded one)

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Teens and Skincare

Insight: “I know that caring for my skin is important but most products don’t work and are too complicated and boring to use. Give me something that’s easy to understand, nice to use and that works”

Generally don’t feel that acne products workSkincare is not on top of list of items to spend money onWord of mouth and TV adverts is how they choose their skincare productsThey find that a skincare regime is tedious, too time consuming and complicated If males buy skincare, it’s normally for shaving as opposed to a moisturizer/cleanserLike NIVEA for Men, the product has good function

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Teens and Mobile Phones

Insight: “I don’t really care too much about the Brand of my phone. It’s how it works (functions) that’s more important to me”

Mobile phone (reflection of personality?)Once you’ve used a phone brand, they stick to it, but brand loyalty is due to familiarity with functionality and don’t want to/can’t be bothered to learn a new operating systemGroup prefers the simple, easy to use mobile phones -> Nokia is perceived to be too hardMobile phone selection based on brand/functionality, then price/packageLG phones not very goodTeens would be lost without their phones as they are very dependent on itTeen segment have high mobile phone usage

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Teens and Advertising

Insight: “If you want me to remember an ad, make it really funny”

Advertising need to do something big to attract attention (eg: comedy)If a brand (ads) makes them laugh, they are more likely to try it/use itAdvert needs to make them laughInternet ads don’t really work unless they are really different

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