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Teen Consumer Trends for 2007

The Zandl Group is a New York-based research firm specializing in monitoring and predicting market trends for business. The firm’s Youth Market Hot Sheet tracks youth trends in the United States, based on surveys of young people, ages 8-24. Zandl Group recently released a list of eleven key teen consumer trends for 2007. Here’s a summary.

Technology – Today’s teens can define themselves through profiles on websites such as MySpace, and increase their creativity through blogs. Familiarity with young technology billionaires fuels their entrepreneurial spirit, while access to information empowers them.

Connectivity – Today’s teens are connected through cell phones, instant messaging, webcams and social networking websites. Portable MP3 players, game consoles and laptop computers enhance this connectivity. Online role-playing environments could be the next social networking front.

Home & Family – Home is the average teen’s favourite place to be and more than half of teens cite their parents as role models. Teens and parents have more in common than before and more teens are getting involved in household decisions.

Entertainment vs. Sports – Influence of sports among teens has dropped substantially in favour of entertainment. Teens are increasingly looking toward the entertainment industry for role models and career aspirations. More teens are creating and distributing content online.

Less Rebellion – Parents have become less strict and are less likely to impose rules or restrict individual teen style. As a result, teens have a lot less to rebel against. Rebellion may be losing its appeal as cool kids are increasingly described as those that are “nice and friendly.”

More Grown Up – Today’s teens increasingly see “work and money as the best thing.” Education, careers and success have become top of mind for this group of young people. Teens are less likely to think about relationships, marriage or starting a family while young.

Girls & Careers – More girls than boys are planning to attend college and they’re more likely than boys to pursue professional careers in law, medicine or teaching. Girls also have more specific career goals than boys, deciding earlier what specific path they wish to pursue.

Irony & Humour – Teens are more attracted to smart, ironic humour, as exemplified by TV shows such as Family Guy and South Park. One of the drivers of this trend may be blogs and social network websites, which emphasize authenticity and decry hypocrisy.

Rock vs. Rap – The influence of hip-hop in entertainment and fashion circles is waning, in favour of rock music. Half of teens still consider hip-hop their favourite type of music, but this is on the decline. Baggy jeans are being replaced by tight jeans, especially for suburban teens.

Brand Diversity – With an increasing number of brands to choose from, today’s teens are routinely bouncing from one brand to another. Long-standing brands such as Gap, Levi and Nike are losing ground to niche brands.

Attractive Brands – Apple is cited as a pioneering brand relevant to the teen lifestyle. Services that teens use extensively include Google, Yahoo and MySpace. In fashion, over half of teens are shopping at specialty stores such as American Eagle, Pac Sun, Forever 21, Abercrombie and Hollister. Mass retail has the least appeal for teens, but Wal-Mart and Target have become more popular over the past decade. Nike still dominates the teen sneaker market.

As I read through the press release, I wondered how relevant each trend was for the Canadian marketplace. In some ways, Canadians (teens or otherwise) are very much like our American counterparts. However, in other ways we differ significantly.

What do you think? Which of the trends listed above translate to the Canadian market? Which of them don’t? Why or why not? I’m interested in reading your comments.

Posted by Nelson T. on November 16, 2006 4:31 PM

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