New Gen 2016: 78% kids influence the holiday destination

The study by Turner International clearly states how the smaller towns are gearing up too, with close to 57% kids in these regions using mobile phones, against 81% kids in metros and 71% in 5-10 lakh towns

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | May 13, 2016

Modern times bring more power to kids, says the 'New Generation Study' initiated by Turner International. Television continues to be an Indian kid's top media choice.

Nearly 78 per cent of the holiday destinations of families are today influenced by children, whose decisions are swayed by the mall cultures of countries, among which the most favoured are Bangkok and Singapore.

Mobile phone usage has increased among children as has the penetration of mobile phones in the country. As much as 71 per cent of children use mobile phones in present day India. In the smaller towns with populations of less than a lakh, as much as 57 per cent of the children use mobile telephones, compared to 81 per cent in the metropolises and 71 per cent in towns with populations that range between five lakhs and 10 lakhs.

The study is based on a survey conducted across 28 towns and 6,690 respondents, who were children in the age group of seven years to 14 years or parents of children in the age group of four years and 14 years. This is the broadcast network's flagship research study that puts the spotlight on lifestyle, opinion, behavioural patterns and spending habits of kids surveyed in India.

The survey is now a 16-year-old tradition with the broadcast network. The first study based on the survey was released in 2001. This year's research focuses on the 'The Plurals', who by definition, are those born between 1997 and 2015. The Plurals, however, differ intuitively from the Millennials (1977-1996) primarily on the basis of learned versus native behaviour.

The study was unveiled at an event in Mumbai, by Siddharth Jain, Managing Director, South Asia, Turner International India Pvt Ltd. Krishna Desai, Executive Director and Network Head ? Kids, South Asia, Turner International India and Rahul Sachdev, Director and South Asia Research Head at Turner International India Pvt Ltd. were also present on the occasion.

Jain elaborated on the study saying, “The consumer has always been at the core of our focus for Turner kids' brands. This means engaging them beyond the linear screen to entertaining them on apps, games (web and mobile) to mega-events on the ground and an extensive range of licensed and merchandised products. The study throws up data and trends that define the kids of today, The Plurals. We are certain that these insights will help create an industry benchmark and will change the way in not just how we, but also how marketers, businesses and advertisers engage with kids, as a category altogether.”

The network is quite clear that the study doesn't necessarily impact its content strategy, but does provide an overall understanding. The study mentions that 73 per cent of Indian kids have voted for watching cartoons and animation. Asked if the trend was the same for other markets, Jain said, “It is strange that the conversion of this 'preference' to actual viewership on TV comes down to mere 20-25 per cent, majorly because of co-viewing. This gap is quite lesser in other markets, though preferences are almost similar.”

The 'New Generations Study' covers all town classes including towns with populations of less than one lakh individuals as well .

Highlights of the Study

Television viewing ranks the highest in media consumption at 97 per cent, followed by reading newspapers and books (49 per cent and 44 per cent respectively), followed by surfing the internet, reading comics, listening to radio, watching DVDs and films.

More than 50 per cent kids use computers and 25 per cent access the internet.

Interestingly, a finding from the study is that five per cent of the parents believe that their children were active on social media while 25 per cent of children claim to be active on social media. Facebook is their most-liked social media application.

As much as 90 per cent kids are growing up in homes with mobile phones, of which 62 per cent use mobile devices of their parents or other family members. Gaming and making or receiving calls were the two most popular activities, followed by listening to music, texting and watching videos.

The survey has found that 32 per cent children download applications, of which 70 per cent download paid applications.

The pocket money given to kids in 2015 has grown by 100 per cent, the current average being Rs 555 a month. The gift money has increased to Rs 1,128 a year, a 41 per cent increase over the previous study in 2012.

At an annual spending potential of Rs 22,594 crores, Indian kids have more money to spend than the GDP (gross domestic product) of 50 smaller countries of the world including Bhutan, Aruba and Maldives.

The study has revealed that both boys and girls enjoyed playing video games, with the ratio of boys to girls being almost equal (53:44).

The research also shows that the extracurricular activities of kids vary from region to region. The Plurals in the North and West enjoy dancing and cricket, while they are inclined towards learning musical instruments in the South and towards drawing in the East.

Given a chance to be a super hero, children have vouched for varying social initiatives. A modest 27 per cent of the kids surveyed chose to eliminate poverty, followed by 17 per cent who wished to promote peace and stop violence in society. A whopping 64 per cent of the kids surveyed were aware of the Union government's Swachch Baharat Abhiyaan and an equal percentage of kids were keen to participate in the drive for a cleaner India.

As much as 50 per cent of the parents surveyed enjoyed watching television with their kids daily and 80 per cent of them closely monitored what their kids were viewing. Kids prefer watching advertisements based on cartoon characters and humour. Over 65 per cent children and parents are attracted towards character based product packaging.

When it comes to Bollywood icons, Salman Khan emerged as a clear choice, as he is the most popular among kids. Meanwhile, Katrina Kaif toppled other divas as a kids' icon. Sachin Tendulkar continues to be the favourite male sports icon over the years and Sania Mirza reigns as the number one sports woman, with the maximum fan base. Amongst toon stars, Chhota Bheem enjoys most popularity.

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