Web-Savvy Teens: Wired but Wary

Teen shoppers, despite their high degree of Internet savvy, rely more on their parents, peers and traditional media than on advertising and online sources for purchase advice, according to a study by the Ketchum public relations firm.

The firm, a unit of Omnicom Group Inc., conducted the worldwide study between April and August. It said the study also revealed significant differences in teen views of media credibility in different parts of the globe.

Asked to rank 23 sources as “a source of information you believe and trust all of the time, most of the time, rarely, or none of the time,” teens cited people they know personally--including their parents, doctors, clergy, friends and teachers--among the five sources they trust most.

Television, which tied with teachers for fifth place, also led the list of media sources teens trust all or most of the time. It was followed by newspapers, magazines and radio.

“I think not as many read newspapers as we would like, but they see them as a trusted source,” said Ray Kotcher, president of Ketchum.

The Internet and advertisements--in various media--were in the bottom half of the media list.

“The paradox is that they don’t trust the Internet as much as other sources of information,” said Rob Flaherty, senior partner and head of Ketchum’s New York office. “It runs somewhat counter to what you’d expect. We call them wired but wary.”

Ketchum noted that “only in a few countries, such as Russia, was the Internet the most trusted media source, and no country named advertisements as the most trusted media source.”

European teens were the most skeptical, “rarely labeling magazines or advertisements in any media as sources they trusted all or most of the time,” Ketchum said. “While nearly half of the teens interviewed in Panama and more than half in Brazil said they believed magazines all of the time, not even 10% of those interviewed in Germany, Austria, England, France, Spain or Finland were willing to put such total faith in what they read in magazines.”

It noted that Italian teens, at 10.8%, were only slightly more believing.

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The firm interviewed more than 1,000 teens aged 14-18 in 27 countries. They were selected so the sample would represent an equal number of teens from each age group and gender, as well as in various settings, such as school, leisure and retail.

Asked to rank the top three sources of information when they consider the purchase of nine categories of consumer products, teens cited their peers as the most trusted advisors for six of the categories, including clothes and beauty products. For health care products, more than half said their parents were the most reliable source.

For sporting goods purchases only, celebrities were significantly influential, although they tied with friends and peers. The Internet was a significant influence in only one category--CDs and computer games, the study found.

American teens are most affected by celebrity endorsements, Ketchum said, and are more than twice as likely as European or Asian teens to trust a celebrity when buying clothing. At the same time, nearly 75% of American teens named celebrities as one of their most trusted sources when making a sports and fitness purchase, compared with only 40% of European teens.

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Among the eight U.S. cities in the survey, teens in Los Angeles were the most likely to name media sources, especially television, as trustworthy purchase advisors. In fact, only 22% of L.A. teens said their parents are among their top three influences to purchase, compared with 76% of Atlanta teens.

Gender was an insignificant factor in the survey findings, Ketchum said, with the exceptions that girls valued magazines for information on clothing and beauty items and boys followed the advice of magazines regarding electronic equipment, cars and bikes, and CDs and computer games.

The firm noted that “in every product category, the percentage that named parents as a top purchase influencer declined slightly as the teens approached 18, whereas the percentage that named professional experts increased slightly as the teens aged.”

Kotcher said that despite the international differences, he saw sufficient evidence to conclude that “the attitudes and opinions of teens, while they do differ, are becoming more and more homogenous day by day. You’re going to see kids really experience the same kinds of experiences, wearing the same kinds of clothes and listening to the same kinds of music.

“It is the teen group that really is one of the first target markets that is rapidly becoming homogenized on a worldwide basis.”