Over 2/3 young people research all purchases online first and claim that celebrity endorsements are less important in determining their brand choices.

 

Over at VBSI HQ we recently carried out a study involving young people in the US, UK, Germany, India and Japan, 1600 in each country to be exact. Our objective was to better understand youth with specific regard to technology, entertainment and brands.

 

Here’s a little round up of the Brand focused findings for the CREAM readers.

 

There are some big shifts in the dynamic of brand-youth consumer relationship as a result of increasing consumer power, freedom of choice, localized cultural and behavioural differences. In India and America, for example, youth are firm believers that brands provide the power to project a certain persona, whilst Japanese youth take a cynical view of what brands can do for their image.

 

Generally speaking, young people are receptive to the idea of having closer relationships with a small number of their favourite brands. Coolness and popularity are more important brand attributes to younger teens, whilst appreciation of quality and heritage increases with age. Brands also help people navigate through the wealth of choices:

 

“The brand image is still a sign of quality. It is what differentiates it from the mediocre brands and allows me to pick quality. Without it companies could flood the net with products that are sub-standard and without reliable brands to choose from how would I know the difference?” Nadia, 20, Germany

 

Overall, females are more likely than males to quote celebrity endorsement/affiliation as an important characteristic of a good brand, but this decreases with age. Japan was the only market to have placed a higher weighting on ‘Celebrities use it’ as a distinguishing factor of a good brand.

 

As ever, friends play a significantly influential role in brand choice - 64% know their friends’ favourite brands and 1/3 talk with friends about brands, suggesting they play a prominent part in communication, primarily in the context of looking for endorsement or approval.

 

The web also plays a part in this with 71% agreeing that the internet has made choosing the ‘right’ brand easier whilst 69% claim to research all of their purchases online – a dramatically increasing phenomenon with 35% saying that they are doing more of this compared to last year.

 

Perhaps surprisingly, it was ‘official websites’ that were deemed to provide the most valuable source of information (81% agreed) with 70% declaring preference for simple sites with less flashy graphics and animation, but more focus on the facts.

 

However, physical retail still plays a huge role - seeing products in the flesh is the number one point of first contact with new brands and products.

 

Last of all 7 in 10 claim to have their own ‘personal brand’ image or identity that brands must fit into – not the reverse.

 

“Quality as well as brand name is important to the consumer but people wearing brands with logos on from companies such as GAP and NIKE are now shunned due to their bad history on poor working conditions. Therefore removing the label from the clothes allows people to buy the quality of a global brand without displaying the logo of a negatively perceived manufacturer.” Chris, 18, UK

 

Key takeouts:

 

- embrace comparison culture by providing as many points of differentiation to the consumer in order to help them make the best decision

 

- let the consumer adopt and, where possible, apply product the way they see fit. But, by all means be suggestive.

 

-give prominence to aspects of quality, heritage and the trust that other consumers have for your brands. This will resonate with older youth, who in turn have significant influence on younger youth.

 

-explore opportunities for sparking conversation; the consumer will talk about you if you provide the right touch points and support them with a story. Don’t forget the power of POS!

 

Brett Booth

MTV Sticky