A 15 years old intern at Morgan Stanley wrote an report on How Teenagers Consume Media. The mass media pick up report and thought they found the crystal ball on how to analyze the teens market. Maybe the mass media belongs to the previous generation, they don’t understand how technology had changed our life. Given credit to the 15 years old, the report is well written, but the finding is nothing new. It is just plain common sense with basic laws of economy. Teenagers are short on money, so they will spend wisely on the product or service that give them most value. It’s not surprising to see teenager consuming behavior parallel those of 30 something first digital generation who witness the birth of computer and internet. Engineers and computer geeks may have more pocket money, but in the heart we are as cheap as teenagers. Here is my report on “How Geeks Consume Media” .
- Radio
- Teens don’t listen to radio, geeks neither. Radio is so 70’s. Except live news, nothing on the radio is not on the net.
- TV
- Teens don’t watch much TV, geeks neither. We watch downloaded TV shows online at our convenience. Why let TV schedule control your life?
- Newspaper
- Teens read news online or free newspaper, geeks are the same. I sometimes read real newspaper, but I admit I am old fashion.
- Gaming
- This one is different. Geeks don’t have time for games.
- Internet
- Teens don’t use twitter, nor geeks. 150 characters is not enough for any meaningful. Only those self proclaim hippy lefties use twitter. We use facebook though.
- Directory
- Both teens and geeks wonders what’s the use of the Yellow Page? The only use of the Yellow Page I can think of used by the police to torture suspects.
- Ads
- Teens ignores stupid ads, geeks are the same. However we love clever ads and even watch it on Youtube. And everyone hates banner ads. Teens simply ignore them, we use plug-ins to filter them.
- Music
- Teens don’t pay for music, nor the geeks. 99 cent a song is way too expensive, never mind that it comes with many restrictions. Music should be free for download.
- Cinema
- This one is different. Geeks don’t have time go to theater every week. But both teens and geeks download movies. Most movies do never worth the rental fee, never mind buying DVD or tickets.
- Mobile Phone
- Geeks loves gadgets and can afford them, but teens can’t. Teens never purchase ring tone or wallpaper from the carrier. We always wonder who would anyone pay 2 bucks for something that is essentially free if you know how to upload it to the phone.
- TV, Computer, Console
- Here is where the purchasing power between geeks and teens make a big difference.
- Teens uses Windows, Geeks use anything but Windows.