Our research into the tween market led to many discoveries about this group ofcurrent and future purchasers. We looked at statistics, marketing approaches,and responsibilities of those involved with this demographic group. Who are thetweens, what do they like, and how do they spend their time and money were areaswhere we probably gained the most insight from the research. Other areas lookedat included how marketers target tweens, ethical responsibilities involved, whatare the responsibilities of the parents of tweens, and the future of marketingto tweens. Children between the ages of seven and fourteen make up the consumermarket known as the tweens. About 75% of them have dual-income parents and about50% of them have divorced parents.
The tweens are very brand oriented,requesting brand-name clothing like Nike, Levi, and Calvin Kline. This group ofyoung people have a significant amount of money to spend and influence an evenlarger amount. A survey of 2.5 million Canadian tweens show that they spend $1.4billion a year on themselves and influence the buying decisions of their parentsto an astronomical ten times that amount. This age group is an emerging marketfor financial services.
Many of them already have their own bank accounts andATM cards. The top three things the tweens spend money on are food,entertainment, and clothing. They are influencing family decisions on everythingfrom what to watch on television to what type of car to purchase. The title ofone of the articles says it all, “Today’s Tweens Are in the Money --$1.5Billion –and Have Major “Kidfluence” on Household Purchases, Says YTVSurvey.” This generation is media-wise, sophisticated, technically-savvy, andinfluential trendsetters who are growing up much quicker than previousgenerations.
Tweens spend 50% of their waking hours in school and are veryinvolved in after-school activities. The majority of tweens plan to attendcollege and research shows that some are actually saving to help finance theircollege education. Today’s kids are putting away the traditional toys likeBarbie and action figures by the age of eight and moving on to what most of uswould consider more adult type entertainment. Fun, friends, and fulfillment arevery important to these children who are interested in music, fashion, videogames, computers, and on-line chat.
They frequently socialize with friends viae-mail instead of face-to-face and some Internet forums offer chats among tweensonly. They are attending concerts and having a direct impact on the popularityof groups like the Spice Girls. These children are maturing earlier which leadsto earlier sexual activity and struggling with appearance and self-confidence.The tweens are taking on adult-like responsibilities while still dealing withnormal teen issues. Marketers are spending a lot of time and money targeting thetweens.
As James McNeal, Professor of Marketing at Texas A&M puts it,“Tweens have more market potential than any other demographic group simplybecause they have all their purchases ahead of them.” Marketers are hopingthat by selling these kids on ideas now they will become loyal consumers whocontinue to respond to their products. There are many of the typical media suchas television, magazines, in-store advertising, and private label catalogs usedto attract the tweens. However, some marketers are producing products aimedspecifically at tweens. Some of these include cruise lines which offer themtheir own program of activities, hair care products targeted at tweens, and thenew Burger King Big Kids Meal which offers more food along with the toy whichresearch shows is still important to this age group.
Marketers realize howfinancially powerful this demographic group is and that they need to continue tofocus on reaching them. As marketers target the tweens, they have to keep inmind the ethical responsibilities that come along with marketing to them. Theymust not only get the attention of the children but must also get the buy-in ofthe parents. If the marketing aimed at their children is unfair or undulyenticing, it may result in alienating the parents. Marketers need to avoidseductive advertising and be careful to protect children’s privacy, especiallywhen advertising on-line.
Another ethical responsibility of marketers is to helpeducate young shoppers about financial responsibility. New technologies andproducts permit teens to make purchases without credit cards. Online checks,debit cards, and different types of accounts are a few of the ways children aregaining the freedom to purchase products. Merchants are taking a risk of a lotof returned items if these purchases are made without parental consent. Theimportant thing for marketers to remember is that even though the tweens are thepurchasers of the future, right now they are just children who need guidance andthey must help to develop them into the savvy consumer they want to attract asadults.
Parents need to take responsibility for what their children are doing,how they spend their time, and what they are purchasing. The first thing parentsneed to ask themselves is “Who’s in charge?” If the answer to this is theparents, then they are off to a pretty good start. It is very important to thetweens to be heard, so parents can keep the lines of communication open byasking for their opinions and listening to them. If the children want to go to aconcert, a parent can go along. This is what Stuart Rosenstein, Nickelodeon’sdirector had in mind when he sponsored the All That Music and More Festival. AsRosenstein said, “It’s a family experience.
It’s a great thing for parentsto have their first live musical experience with their kids. The great thingabout this festival is we see 11, 12, and 13 year-olds rocking out with theirmothers. To me that’s a success.” Parents should be watching their childrenfor signs of inappropriate behavior such as early sexual activity and eatingdisorders.
They also need to reduce the amount of time children spend alone andclosely monitor their activities. Parents need to realize they may not be ableto control how the marketers are targeting their children but they can controlthe amount of influence they have on their children. Marketers realize thetremendous marketing potential youth present and want to find ways to capitalizeon this in the future. They are increasing advertising to tweens as they grow upand in some unusual ways. In the United States there is a program called“Channel One” which offers closed-circuit newscast with commercialsincluded. Marketers use these commercials to promote products while the newscastteach regular lesson objectives.
So, lesson objectives are being met whileabsorbing consumer values developed by marketers. As stated earlier tweens,spend the biggest portion of their time at school, so marketers are takingadvantage of this by infiltrating the school system with product promotions.Marketers realize that the trend of maturing earlier is likely to continue sothey will keep looking for ways to reach this demographic group of financiallypowerful individuals. The research we did opened our eyes to just howinfluential this group of seven to fourteen year-olds, known as the tweens, havebecome. They influence their parents buying decisions, what products are beingproduced, and how marketers are marketing. In-school “hall-talk” plays a bigrole in whether new fads, trends, and brands will succeed or not.
For these kidsto be successful future consumers, parents and marketers alike need to realizethat they have the responsibility of helping them to learn about financialresponsibility. “Kidfluence” is running rampant and there is no slow down insight. So, marketers need to buckle up and settle in for the wild ride of thefuture being piloted by the group of young people known as the “TWEENS.”
