More kids now want money rather than gifts for Christmas. Stephanie Keller, Kantar Media TGI, Senior Marketing Executive, explains why retailers should be aware of how to advertise to youths spending their own money post-Christmas.
It may only be early November, but the UK is already getting into the swing of the Christmas spirit. Rather than parents dreading what this year’s big toy will be and how to get their hands on it for their children, the latest Kantar Media Youth TGI study of 7-19 year olds reveals what kids really want for Christmas is simply cold, hard cash.
More money, more choice
The latest TGI insights show that 47% of youths say they would like money for Christmas. Looking back at what this group received last Christmas, an overwhelming 70% say they received money. The obvious benefit of this type of gift giving is it allows kids to get what they want and thus sidesteps the risk of buying them something they may not like or want.
It’s all about the games
If kids want money rather than gifts, retailers should be aware of how to advertise to youths spending their own money post-Christmas. For 11-19 year olds, computer games take the top spot in this sphere with 38% of 11-19 year olds buying their own computer games. In addition, 27% of those in this age group pre-ordered computer games in the past 12 months. The top types of games 11-19 year olds have purchased recently include:
1. Action adventure (29%)
2. Sports (19%)
3. First person shooter (18%)
Stylin’ youth
Besides games, 11-19 year olds are keen retail shoppers, with 42% of this group spending their own money on clothes. Keeping up with fashion is important to these young people. For those who buy clothes with their own money, 30% buy clothes once a month.
For these youths, shopping can be a fun activity, but also dictated by peer pressure. Who they shop with may correlate with higher expenditures on clothes. This group of 11-19 year olds who buy their own clothes are is 71% more likely to shop with their boyfriend or girlfriend and 20% more likely to shop with friends than their peers of the same age.
When they do go shopping for clothes, 11-19 year olds who use their own money spend an average of £88.90 per year on clothes. This group also tends to opt for more premium stores when spending their own money. They are 63% more likely to visit Asos, 50% more likely to visit All Saints and 40% more likely to visit Zara than those in their age group who don’t spend their own money on clothes.
Targeting youth spenders
For marketers looking to target this group of youth spenders, they would be wise to look online. They are 19% more likely to be in the highest one fifth of Internet consumers and they spend an average of 28.8 hours per week online. In terms of where they can best be reached online, they are 48% more likely than the average 11-19 year old to spend time online banking.
To better target this group online, Kantar Media’s Ad-Vantage solution enables the creation of bespoke target groups of young spenders on TGI before generating the exact cookies to reach them online. Find out more about Ad-Vantage here.
By Stephanie Keller
Senior Marketing Executive
Kantar Media TGI
http://www.kantarmedia.co.uk/businesses/tgi/