A Segmentation-based Study on Consumption of Young People

Abstract

In our research, we intend to explore the consumption of teenagers and their attitude towards commercials and ads. Our aim is to establish segments among teenagers according to their relation to commercials, their buying behaviour and their financial state. The segmentation of teenagers is peculiar and sometimes problematic, because the common segmenting methods - based on status and values - usually does not result in stable and understandable segments. The parents and the friends are
the common opinion leaders of teenagers, but we should not forget the influence of the media and the commercials within it. We conducted or research using a sample of 911 teenagers between the age of 14 and 19 from Southern Hungary. In the first step we examined the teenagers’ relation to commercials and ads. Factor analysis was used for revealing the mean components of the commercial valuables. These mean components were: Commercial loving; Commercial reality; Commercial manipulation; Commercial status. Using these factors, five segments were made up according to the teenagers’ relation to commercials. In general they think commercials are manipulative and sometimes even stupid. However we can find some commercial loving segments as well. In the second step, we set up a goal of establishing complex segments based on financial, commercial and buying variables. We used factor analysis for the teenagers buying behaviour, which yielded seven factors. Applying this seven buying factors, the commercial factors and the financial variables, six segments were identified. These segments differ in location, in type of school, in financial state, in buying behaviour and also in their relation to commercials. According to the research - although traditional segmentation often yield confusing results between teenagers - an acceptable way of grouping the youngsters could be found.