We've got new research for sale over at Ypulse Research from Mobile Behavior's Next Great Thing, an Omnicom Group company. Our friend Allison Mooney, who is the director of trends & insights, has written a Ypulse Guest Post to share some of the highlights. You can now purchase the report from Ypulse Research. For readers new to Ypulse, Ypulse Research resells white papers and reports about tweens, teens and early twentysomethings from our partners in the youth research space. We will be producing our own quarterly series of interview-based white papers beginning this winter.

Highlights from Mobile Behavior's NGT Global Youth Survey

NGT's Global Youth Survey was designed for a selfish reason: We were curious. We simply wanted to hear the opinions of young people on topics that interested us. So with the help of our international network of offices, we assembled panels of teens and twenty-somethings in seven countries (Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the UK and the US). Our survey quizzed them on entertainment choices, communications preferences, social media habits, cultural influences, noteworthy fads, and thoughts on advertising. In our report, which we've now chosen to offer publicly, we boiled down everyone's answers and teased out the resounding trends and themes. Here are a few:

Network Effects

Most respondents choose the social networks they use based upon what is popular among their friends and peers. "I originally chose Facebook because a lot of my friends were already members. I like it because it is very easy and enjoyable to use. It's like a free version of FriendsUnited," says one 23-year-old respondent from the UK. While it seems MySpace is falling out of favor, a couple other British 20-somethings preferred it for its customization options. "I like using MySpace because it allows you to be more creative with your profile and it’s more sociable," said one.

Online communities and social networks are a forum for creating and sharing content, and it seems that the older a person is, the more likely he or she is to contribute. Most of these communities were focused on celebrities, gaming, church and school groups. Communicating with like minds online, whether they are friends or strangers, is one of the main drivers of social networking. As one respondent from Malaysia pointed out, “My communities should have similar interests, if not, it will be duck and chicken talk." So true.

My Cell, Myself

Young people all over the world are leapfrogging over the PC straight to the mobile phone as their "first screen" for entertainment, communications, news, and social interaction. Global mobile usage is growing so rapidly it is outpacing both TV and Web consumption. For tweens, teens and 20-somethings, the "Connected Class," the phone is becoming an extension of themselves, a part of their identity. 68% of our survey respondents say that their mobile device is their most essential personal device (followed by Laptop/PC at 40%).

The predominant use of the mobile phone was text messaging–-an easy, discrete and often cheaper way to chat. 48% of survey respondents said that their most frequent use of their mobile is SMS/text messaging, compared to 40% who picked voice conversation. Though texting is growing popular in all regions, it was especially popular in Singapore.

Engaging Ads

TV commercials were the most popular form of advertising, though the experiential approach–giving free trials and samples–are equally as effective in Hong Kong. "The best kind of advertising would be giving free samples and television ads that use interesting and new ideas," says a 20-year-old female respondent. Limited editions are popular in places like South Korea and Hong Kong. "The most effective kind of ads would be supported by stars like Edison Chen and Juno. They release 'limited edition' items that lure youngsters to buy their merchandise," according to a South Korean teen. (Note: this was said prior to Chen's infamous sex scandal, which has soured him in the eyes of former fans.)

And the least appealing form of advertising? It seems that across all areas surveyed the least are flyers and online pop-up ads. "An ad shouldn't pop up and annoy you while you are trying to get something done online, it should intrigue you when you want to be intrigued," said a U.S. respondent. A well-stated argument in favor of effective targeting, which we see as the future of advertising.

About Allison Mooney
Allison Mooney is the director of trends & insights at Mobile Behavior's Next Great Thing, an Omnicom Group company. In addition to regularly contributing to NGT's blog, Allison has also written for publications like PSFK, Radar, and Glamour. She served on our last two Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup event advisory boards and most recently moderated our "Make Your Message Mobile" panel in Boston.

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