Beijing -- Teenagers in China's big cities represent a vast pool of consumers
whose interests and habits should be better studied when developing and
advertising new products, according to a recent survey.
About 44 percent of middle school and high school students (aged 13 to 18)
have their own bank accounts and their average monthly pocket money is more than
200 yuan (US$25), according to CTR Market Research, a major market research
company in China.
A total of 8,000 students in eight big cities were interviewed by CTR and
China Youth & Children Research Center. The researchers say a sample this
size will accurately represent the views of 2.45 million teenagers in larger
cities.
The survey results show teenagers spent 62.5 percent of their pocket money on
food and beverages. It also indicates the youth spent an average of 82 yuan per
month on on-line games. Stationery, comic books and magazines were also high on
the list of purchases.
The research was carried out in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenyang,
Nanjing, Wuhan, Chengdu and Xi'an from April to September.
It also found teenagers were highly interested in purchasing digital products
such as an MP3 player and digital camera. The survey predicts at least a million
young people plan to buy a digital product in the near future.
Spending on mobile phone services were also a big part of young people's
expenditure. Nearly 1.274 million teenagers use mobile phones and they spend an
average of 70 yuan a month on them, according to CTR.
Half of their pocket money was received at the beginning of the lunar new
year. That's when parents and relatives traditionally give young relatives cash
or "yasui" money. On average young people in the larger cities get 1,400 to
2,000 yuan in "yasui" money.
Teenagers are usually allowed to freely spend more than half of their yasui
money which is estimated to be worth 3.3 billion yuan, say the research.
"Chinese teenagers are a huge group of consumers but the study of their
purchasing habits and lifestyles remain inadequate," said Shen Ying, manager of
CTR's media and brand department.
Teenagers should be surveyed more often to help companies and media better
target their products, she said.
