The
Nielsen Company released findings from the newly launched Mobile
Kids Insights, an enhanced report profiling the mobile activities and
preferences of U.S. "tweens" (ages 8-12) --a population segment of 20
million young consumers who represent a significant opportunity in the
competitive mobile marketplace.
The report estimates that:
- 46% of tweens use cell phones
- On average, kids get their own cell phone between the ages of 10 and 11
- 55% of tweens who own a cell phone send text messages and 21% download ringtones
Mobile
Kids Insights measures and profiles the tween mobile market opportunity
and explores the drivers of mobile adoption for tweens and their
parents. It also illustrates how tweens engage with both mobile and
traditional media. The report builds off a successful collaboration
between Nielsen Mobile and BASES, which has extensive experience in
accessing and surveying kids ages 8-12, a notoriously difficult age
segment to survey.
Nielsen
Mobile's research offers valuable analysis on topics ranging from phone
ownership and carrier choice to offline leisure activities, favorite TV
channels and website brands. Nielsen also explores the role parents
play in tween mobile usage:
- The top reason parents want tweens to have a cell phone is in case there is an emergency or problem
- 92%
of parents restrict how tweens use their phone, 68% say they prohibit
downloads (games, ringtones, etc.) that incur charges - 65% of tweens with cell phones are on family plans
"Tweens
have grown up with mobile phones and expect them to do much more than
make a call. Our clients want to understand tweens' attitudes and
mobile behavior in the context of their daily life and media
consumption," says Richard Wood, Nielsen Mobile Vice President of
Consumer Insights. "By combining BASES targeted survey experience with
Nielsen Mobile's expertise in the telecom industry, Mobile Kids
Insights helps our clients engage with this increasingly important
segment."
Mobile
Kids Insights is customized to address the needs of carriers, cell
phone manufacturers, mobile content companies or advertisers who want
reliable measurement of the growing mobile tween opportunity. With a
survey sample of over 1,700 tweens, Nielsen Mobile's clients gain
unprecedented insight into tweens' mobile and cross-media behavior.
Mobile Kids Insights is available from Nielsen Mobile.