Ypulse Research

During the 2011 holiday season, retailers rejoiced as customers flocked to stores, spending record amounts on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Students happily did their part in boosting the economy — they went into the holiday season planning to spend more than they did the prior year. Online shopping saw a particular increase. Students not only shopped more online than they have in the past, but they also planned to spend more online.

A key takeaway from this report is that technology is becoming ingrained in students’ shopping habits. They also turned to social media to find deals and to get gift ideas. Many used their mobile phones to shop. Not only did the number that researched store locations and product details increase, but the number of students who made purchases on their phones nearly doubled.

The holiday season is also about family. Collegians are especially happy to have time to spend with their parents and siblings — shopping outings, cooking and baking, and even hanging holiday decorations are all excuses to make the most of family time before they head back to school.

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For the most part, students’ bags are their only resource for the day when they leave home, and they pack them to make sure they’ll have all the items they need, from school supplies and technology to entertainment and personal care items. While most students carry the same school bag every day — most commonly a traditional backpack — girls like to mix it up a bit, matching their bags to their outfits.

Pencils, pens, and notepads are the most common items found in students’ bags. They also say they’re the most important. Yes, it turns out that the pen is also mightier than the laptop, particularly among high schoolers. Outside technology isn’t often welcomed in the classroom, and as a result, few students carry laptops to school. The Apple logo is emblazoned on most students’ tech devices, from computers to MP3 players to headphones. But not cell phones. While students may want to own an iPhone, for many, the price tag puts it beyond their means; the brand of cell phone students carry most is Samsung.

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Despite taking them away from their online lives, students still see getting their driver licenses as a rite of passage and a means of gaining freedom from their parents. As high schoolers, they use their new driving privileges to run family errands and shuttling siblings to school or work, but it’s a small price to pay to have a vehicle to drive to and from hanging out with friends. Their car is also a hangout destination in itself; a place to chill with friends, listen to music, relax, and even do homework without distraction.

While parents pay for most aspects of high schoolers’ driving — from car payments to insurance to filling up the tank — parents encourage collegians to take on those responsibilities themselves, bit by bit. High schoolers have little autonomy in choosing the vehicle they drive (and many don’t care because they’re just excited to have a car). College students take more initiative in choosing their own car, which they are also more likely to pay for themselves.

Motorcycles and scooters represent a cheaper vehicle to drive, but most students know little about them and they tend to associate them with danger (in both good and bad ways) and accidents, so very few ride.

Methodology: The results of the general driving portion of this Ypulse report are drawn from 1,221 interviews (255 high school students and 962 college students) conducted among members of the SurveyU panel between August 26 and September 19, 2011, and the motorbike portion from 1,499 interviews (249 high school students and 1,250 college students) conducted among members of the SurveyU panel between September 29 and October 26, 2011.

Each summer — and well into fall — students stock up on new clothes, school supplies, electronics, and more to look good and be prepared for the upcoming academic year. This year, students were generally excited about going back to school, but expressed less enthusiasm for back-to-school shopping. Students mostly focused on getting the essentials and finding the best deals. The school shopping season is lasting longer each year, with the majority of students not purchasing items until the end of August and continuing shopping well through September. In a commercial staring contest, students know that they can get the best prices if they wait for retailers to blink first. Few students who do school shopping are finished before September begins.

Not all students are financially independent when it comes to their school shopping, but they consider themselves the primary decision makers when deciding what to buy. High schoolers usually shop with their parents, who fund the majority of purchases. High schoolers only pay for 24% of purchases. College students are more likely to shop alone, paying for 66% of their back-to-school purchases. Students spent far less than they anticipated across most categories. Prices, as well as the presence of sales, coupons, and discounts, were the biggest determinants when students decided where to shop, reflecting their concerns about keeping their spending to a minimum.

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Millennials rarely take a break from media now that it is just as mobile as they are. Music is Millennials’ favorite medium; they spend more time with it in a typical week than with any other. They’re turning music discovery into an art form, picking up on tracks played during TV shows, noting mentions on Facebook, and finding artists via Pandora and Spotify. While some download music illegally, most happily pay for music to support the artists they care about.

Millennials watch an extraordinary number of movies now that they are so readily available via streaming and make a rapid transition from big screen to small screen. 3D movies are reeling in audiences and breaking box office records, but few students say a film’s availability in 3D affects their interest in seeing it.

The TV industry may be poised for a shakeup, thanks to Millennials. College students are spending more time watching cheaper Internet-based alternatives to cable (like Hulu and Netflix). Unlike music, most Millennials say they could live without TV, and some are doing just that by cutting the cable cord, or at least cutting premium cable channels and getting by with basic service. When they do tune in to TV, they prefer ABC Family, Comedy Central, and MTV — each of which has a strong presence on social media and enables them to connect with friends while watching their favorite shows.

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Sure, Millennials are big spenders on clothing and technology, but they watch their budgets more than their waistlines when it comes to dining out. In a given month, most student cook for themselves at home more often than they eat at restau­rants. When students eat out, they tend to go to fast and casual places, with fast food restaurants — surprise, surprise — being their favorites. Overall they are spending the same as or a little less than last year when they eat out.

Being such a social generation, Mil­lennials tell others about their food finds. Although they can’t always eat with their friends, they still want to give them sug­gestions or at least let them know what restaurants they go to, which they do by checking in at eateries via social networks.

Millennials value nutrition and healthy eating despite their busy schedules. They may grab fast food or “junk food” snacks when they’re on the run, but when they’re home, they try to eat fresh, home-cooked meals. Unlike their parents, the TV dinner generation, Millennials rarely have frozen meals and want more choices, which is possible when they cook themselves.

Methodology: The results of this research are drawn from 1,326 interviews conducted among members of the SurveyU panel between July 14 and July 25, 2011.

Fashion and style have long been a key way in which young people define and display their sense of self. The “youth uniform” may be the same as it was decades ago — t-shirt and jeans are still their favorite fashion items — but Millennials are putting their stamp on the fashion world in their own way.

Most students, regardless of age or gender, feel they have their own personal sense of style. They don’t care about starting or following trends, but simply want to wear what they like. Black and Hispanic students, however, are more likely than their peers to say they are on top of the latest fashions and start trends. They are also more free with their spending; they’re the least likely to set shopping budgets and among the most likely to make impulse purchases.

If they need fashion advice, students turn to their friends, but many also say they’re their own source of fashion advice. Teens claim they don’t get fashion inspiration from celebrities and TV shows, but their actions suggest otherwise. Nearly half have tried to find an item they saw a character wear in a TV show or movie.
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As summer nears, students have an eye to the future, lining up jobs and internships for the break. Whereas 70% of college students and 30% of high school students work during the school year, nearly all plan to get a job and/or take classes this summer. Not surprisingly, the type of jobs high school and college students are looking for are quite different. High schoolers want a job to make a little extra money and prefer part-time work so their job doesn’t absorb all of their free time. College students are looking for jobs that will benefit them long-term, such as internships and full-time positions that will help them gain work experience and look good on a resume.

But students aren’t only focused on work. College guys and girls were also planning how to spend their spring break. Relatively few get caught up in the mega beach party scene that the media tends to depict. Rather, they headed home for a little R&R and spent their break catching up with friends, family, and their girlfriend or boyfriend. Nearly a third stayed put, hanging out in their college town.
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Involvement in social causes remains high among teens and collegians. Nearly three quarters of students have at least one cause they support or are involved with. They not only donate their time, but also give money. Education and child welfare continue to be the most important causes to high schoolers and collegians. That’s no surprise as the more relevant a cause is to a person’s day-to-day life, the more likely it is to be important to him or her. Activism takes off in one’s college years — collegians are more likely than high schoolers to say causes are important and to be involved with charitable organizations.

Black, Hispanic, and Asian students tend to be more involved in charities than White students. The causes that impact their daily lives are different, and as a result, they’re more likely than their peers to say discrimination, poverty, and civil/human rights are important social causes.

Students believe that corporations and brands should do their part to support causes, and they reward those that do. They have a better of opinion of retailers and brands that are involved in causes that matter to them, and they prefer to buy products that give back to charitable organizations.
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We took a deep-dive look at students’ use of technology in January 2011, and found distinct patterns for high schoolers and collegians. Portability is a priority for high schoolers, especially when it comes to video games, but they are more likely to have desktop computers that are hand-me-downs from when the family upgraded to a newer, faster machine. College students get a technology upgrade when they go off to school. Laptops and smartphones are the norm for them. Students of all ages are excited about the iPad and other tablet computers — few have one, but that could change following graduation and holiday gift seasons.

Students use tech to access whatever entertainment they want whenever they want it. For one in 10, that means going so as far as breaking the rules to access the sites and files that are blocked on their schools’ networks. They stream and download videos, including everything from movies to TV shows to political commentary. Streaming and downloading music is even more common than video, and many do so legally. In fact, those who don’t download cite cost and affordability as the primary reason they don’t do so, whereas far fewer don’t download because they’re worried about getting in trouble for downloading illegally.

Students believe they know more than their parents and their school administrators. They are quite confident in their tech knowledge, and that makes them savvy consumers that marketers, advertisers, and retailers need to treat as experts.
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