A couple of interesting pieces of research floating around out there today. First up our friends from TRU sent a press release highlighting the reality that globally, teens aren't counting down to The Superbowl. What? American football isn't revered worldwide? This didn't really surprise me, but here are the numbers from the release:

According to the just-released TRU Global Teen Study, annual sporting events such as Wrestlemaina, the Monaco Grand Prix, Wimbledon, and the Tour de France are all also more popular among global teens than the Super Bowl.

Overall, global teens are most smitten with three sporting events staged once every four years: Forty-percent of guys and girls aged 12 through 19 years old are interested in the FIFA World Cup Soccer, followed by the Summer (36%) and Winter Olympics (27%).

The most popular annual event among global teens is the NBA Finals, surprisingly more so among teens in China and Spain than in the U.S. Overall, a little more than half of Chinese teens and two in five Spanish teens claim interest in the NBA Finals, while less than one-third of U.S. teens say the same. Additionally, the NBA, in general, is more appreciated among teens in China and Spain than teens in the States.

Next up, my friend Andrew Flagel, who is the the Dean of Admissions at George Mason University, sent me this updated study about how college admissions offices are using social media (hint: more than Fortune 500 companies). A few highlights:

- 13% of the Fortune 500 and 39% of the Inc. 500 currently have a public blog, while college admissions departments continue to lead the pack with blogs at 41% of US colleges and universities

- 85% of college admissions offices are using at least one form of social media

- Social networking is the most common form with 61% of admissions departments using it. Forty-eight percent are using videoblogging and 41% have a blog. Thirty-six percent use message boards, 16% use podcasts and 10% use wikis.

- More private schools have blogs than public schools (72% vs. 28%) and 50% of schools with undergraduate populations of less than 2,000 have blogs.

Ok – now here's the part Ypulse readers who may be applying to college as well as parents of prospective students should pay attention to:

- A significant proportion of schools continue to research students via search engines (23%) and social networks (17%)

- The admissions officers interviewed for this study reported using search engines and social networking sites to verify information or research students who were candidates for scholarships or entry into high-demand programs with limited spaces. In all these cases the intent was to protect the school from potential embarrassment. [no school said they were researching every applicant, even the smallest schools]

- In the 2007 study 37% of those schools with blogs did not accept comments. In 2008 that figure dropped to 22%. [blogs are the most popular form of social media used by schools -- many are planning to expand their blogs with podcasting and video]

- 54% of schools report they monitor the Internet for buzz, posts, conversations and news about their institution

For more research on tweens, teens and early twentysomethings, check out Ypulse Research. For more coverage of youth marketing, go to the Ypulse Youth Marketing Channel sponsored by Youth Marketing Connection.

Categorized under: Youth Marketing, Ypulse Research

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