Technology, Marketing and Business Process Management

NEW YORK Teenagers are a mystery to most adults. New technology and media are another mystery to many adults. Combine these mysteries and you have ample opportunity for adult misperception of how teenagers use and feel about new technology and media. Some recent research works to get beyond popular misconceptions and provide a look at how teens actually engage with these things, including the advertising they encounter along the way.

Based on quantitative and qualitative research conducted between January and April, a report released last month by GTR Consulting confirms the conventional wisdom that teens are deeply involved in social networking. But it raises serious doubts about how congenial a medium this has been for marketers trying to reach the teen audience. Asked to cite the online activities they indulge in during their free time, 66 percent of the teens said they "use social networks" -- exceeding the number who said they "watch user-generated videos" (59 percent), "send or receive instant messages" (51 percent), "play online games" (50 percent), "watch TV/movie clips" (36 percent), "get news/current events" (34 percent) or "blog" (12 percent). The report emphasizes that social-networking sites "have become more important for communication and connection among teens than the telephone, e-mail or instant messaging." (See also: "Probing the Minds of Teenage Consumers")

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