The Ypulse Report — Fashion & Style
Thursday, June 30th, 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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For students and retailers alike, August marks the official start of Back-to-School season: A time to prep and be prepped for the school year to come. Throwing down the first chunk of the roughly $120 billion that students spend annually in disposable income, high school and college students (with the occasional parent in tow) make the pilgrimage to gear up for the year ahead. We were inspired to conduct the first-ever “netnographic dig” of the vital vessel that also serves as a walking fashion statement (or understatement as the case may be) for teens and twenty-somethings in school. We audited the contents of 1,113 backpacks, carried by current U.S. college and high school students within a nationally representative sample of college students, balanced by gender, class year, state and race. What we learned was enlightening.
This Ypulse Report offers an in-depth look at shopping habits and financial services, as well as insight towards teens and college students’ attitudes towards the President one year after the youth-vote driven election. In a detailed analysis of spending and saving among teens and collegians, topics include the frequency and location of shopping trips and a rundown of the most common categories of expenses as broken down by age group. The second half of the report evaluates the current political climate through the perspective of teens and college students as compared with a study of adults ages 18+ conducted by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal. While college students surveyed were (not surprisingly) more likely to approve of the job the President is doing, teens were less likely to approve than both older demographics. Also, there is far less certainty among teens and college students overall compared to adults. 
The back to school edition of the Ypulse Report provides an in-depth look at BTS shopping and mobile communications. From what brand of cellphone they use to where they bought it (along with other, school-related purchases), Ypulse taps into the minds of 1,000 college students and 500 high school students to help marketers understand the the habits and preferences that shape this large and influential generation of consumers. 