Keeping It Real… ‘Offline’ Communications Still Key to Connecting With ‘Digital Generation’

LONDON - ‘A Beta Life - Youth’ reveals the overall driver for young people is a
desire for real world interaction with friends.

New research into the attitudes of youth towards technology has exploded
some of the myths about the technology consumption and media choices of young
people today. The research, A Beta Life - Youth, examined how technology
affects all aspects of young people’s relationships. It concludes that the
offline world is still the primary influencer and driver of young people in
how they conduct their lives, including interactions with friends, family,
entertainment media, communication technologies, advertising and brands.

The research, conducted by OTX in association with Nokia, MTV Networks,
20th Century Fox, Fox Mobile Group, and Channel 4 shows that digital
technology plays two main functions in young people’s lives - as a means of
improving their enjoyment of and access to traditional “off line” behaviours,
but more significantly in the creation of “commutainment” - a hybrid of
communication and entertainment where the act of communicating itself becomes
a form of entertainment.

With up to eight digital gadgets in their bedroom, and access to four
more in their household, the popular perception is that young people are
immersed in gadgets and technology for their own sake. However, the research
explodes this myth by showing that young people’s immersion in these devices
and the time spent on them is not due to an obsession with the technology per
se, but largely due to the gadgets’ ability to facilitate communication and
to enhance young people’s enjoyment of traditional pursuits. For most, the
focus of their passion is not so much the device itself, but more about how
it can help them connect, relax or have fun. The technology itself is
“invisible” to the young consumer - despite the millions of widgets they
download from Facebook, young people are not even comfortable using
widespread technology terminology such as “widgets.”

Fifteen years ago, most teenagers would have had access to just one
communications device - their household phone. Today, despite being involved
in an astonishing 48 digital communications every day, the average young
person remains most engaged by traditional behaviours - of their overall top
ten favourite activities seven are still offline. Traditional activities such
as hanging out with friends, listening to music, and seeing boy/girlfriends
dominate the top three favourite pastimes of young people, while “digital”
behaviours such as creating user generated content have a much lower
penetration than commonly perceived (only 16% of young people have written a
blog and less than a quarter (21%) have filmed and uploaded a clip to a site
like YouTube). Even when engaged in digital communications, young people
prefer activities with a social context, for example texting friends and
sharing video content with friends both score much higher than watching video
alone on their handheld device.

Today’s restless young person manages to indulge in 23 cumulative hours
of activity in every 24 hour day - engaging in up to five activities
simultaneously. While this degree of multitasking is only made possible by
digital technology, the implication is that (counter to current thinking) a
single integrated device with one screen is probably insufficient to meet
their complex communications needs - which could entail watching clips,
talking, texting and surfing the internet simultaneously.

Other key findings include:

- Young people demonstrate a surprisingly narrow repertoire of favourite
“old media” channels, with an average of just five favourite TV
channels.
- Young people are attracted to digital technology because it allows them
to present an edited or idealised version of themselves, with 35
percent agreeing that they “pick only photos where I look good.”
- There are distinct differences in attitudes to digital technology on a
gender level: female early teens are much more active communicators
compared to males - then this reverses in late teens.
- Around one in two claim to get restless or bored, even when doing
something they enjoy.
- They have an average of 99 friends online, half of which they see face
to face.
- Texting is so ubiquitous that 34 percent even text the group of friends
that they are physically with.
- 33 percent are contactable at all times, even in their sleep.
- 41 percent sometimes sit on the phone to friends without saying a word.
- 63 percent would feel either really stressed or more anxious if they
were unable to use the internet for a day.
- 41 percent would feel more stressed if they couldn’t use their mobile
phone for just two hours.

Commented Graham Saxton, Managing Director, Media and Entertainment
Insights, OTX, “Many commentators have reasoned that young people’s obsession
with digital technology is due to a fascination with the technology and
gadgets, when in fact they are only interested in technology as a means to an
end. The traditional world remains the ‘go-to’ destination for meeting their
friends and entertainment and real, offline destinations and pastimes still
rate higher than the online space.”

Andrew Davidson, Head of OTX’s youth division, added, “It is really
interesting to explore the ‘brand discovery’ journey for young people in
2009. For example, in contrast to what most people assume is an increasingly
dominant role of the internet, over two thirds of young people (70%) actually
claim to first hear about their new mobile phone or MP3 player from offline
sources, primarily seeing friends use it, TV ads, and in store. We see the
same pattern for other electronic devices, media content and even more so for
offline items such as clothing. The only exception is, as you might expect,
digital media and on-line only products.”

About A Beta Life

The study is designed to understand how technology has impacted on the
social lives of young people globally, and explores how these lifestyle
changes affect their relationship with friends, family, entertainment media,
communication technologies, advertising and brands. Commissioned by OTX
Europe in association with five leading brands - MTV Networks, 20th Century
Fox, Fox Mobile Group, Nokia and Channel 4 (a British broadcasting network) -
the research was conducted in five markets - UK, US, Germany, India and Japan
- between September and December 2008 amongst 8,000 technology embracing 12 -
24 year olds.

About OTX

OTX (www.otxresearch.com) is a global consumer research and consulting
firm specializing in innovative, cutting edge research products and analysis
for the marketing, entertainment and advertising communities. OTX’s range of
approaches, products and services leverage technological expertise with
extensive traditional marketing and advertising research experience to
uncover deeper and more profound consumer insights. This unique suite of
state-of-the-art products and services reach and engage today’s
digitally-driven global consumer more effectively, and yield more relevant
and honest data. In just eight years OTX has become the 20th largest research
agency in the U.S. (24th largest globally) with offices in London, Los
Angeles, New York, Cincinnati, Miami, and Chicago with strategic partners in
Japan, Australia, and Mexico.

OTX is on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/OTX/19278977855) and
Twitter (twitter.com/otxresearch).

Media Contacts:
Graham Saxton
Email: gsaxton@otxresearch.com
Tel: +44-(0)207-803-0307

Andy Davidson
Email: adavidson@otxresearch.com
Tel: +44-(0)207-803-0309

Source: OTX Research

Graham Saxton, +44-(0)207-803-0307, gsaxton at otxresearch.com, or Andy Davidson, +44-(0)207-803-0309, adavidson at otxresearch.com, both of OTX Research