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Globally, the average young person connected to digital technology has 94 phone numbers in his or her
mobile, 78 people on a Messenger buddy list and 86 people in their social networking community.
These are just some of the findings from the largest-ever global study undertaken by Microsoft Digital
Advertising Solutions and MTV Networks. The Circuits of Cool study challenges traditional assumptions
about youth relationships with digital technology, and examines the impact of culture, age and gender
on technology use. It examined young people‟s interaction and engagement with different
technologies including Instant Messenger (IM), social networks, email, mobile phones, TV, music, gaming
and online video.
“Digital communications – from IM, SMS, social networking to email – have all revolutionised how young
people communicate with their peers. We wanted to understand more deeply how young people
interact with these technologies and consequently what this means for our advertising partners focused
on reaching this highly engaged and influential audience. Working with MTV Networks globally on this
study enable us to do so”, said Chris Dobson, Vice President, Global Advertising Sales, Microsoft Digital
Advertising Solutions.
Conducted in sixteen markets* across Europe, Asia, Latin America and North America, and speaking to
almost 10,000 youths globally aged between 14-24 years, the objectives were to shed light on issues such
as how today‟s youth differ from their predecessors; whether boys or girls use technology differently and
why; understanding global differences across devices; and the role of entertainment media and brands
in the future.
The study was conducted in two phases – a qualitative (focus groups) stage undertaken by Sadek
Wynberg, Millward Brown; and a quantitative stage (questionnaire to 500 respondents per country)
undertaken by OTX;
Launched in July 2007, press coverage around the globe has been extensive, reaching over two million
people in Europe alone, including a pre-launch exclusive with the Financial Times, and coverage by
Reuters, The Guardian and Marketing Magazine. Externally, it‟s had exposure at numerous conferences
and events including the Lowe Creative Global Summit in New York, The Internet World Conference in
London and the Digital Youth Conference in London to name a few.
This booklet is a summary of the key findings and messages from the main „themes‟ studied – Email, IM,
Social Networks, Mobile, Online Video and Gaming.
Summed up by one youth: “The way to communicate, to research something and to be entertained,
that is what has completely changed” (male, 14, Mexico).
*UK, Germany, Holland, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, China, India, Japan, Australia and New
Zealand.
Source: Microsoft/MTV Circuits of Cool project 2006/7 (Millward Brown Sadek Wynberg, OTX)
Email
Globally, 66% of youths claim to love email, with this „love‟ increasing to 72% when they also own the
device they are emailing on. Young people from Holland „love‟ email the most, and are also the
heaviest users. Danish and Italian youths also score high on the „loving email‟ scale, but New Zealander
and Mexican youths follow Holland as being the heaviest email users.
The power and fun value of IM came through strongly, however email still plays an important role,
particularly among older youths (20-24) who feel more at home using E-mail for school/work and social
reasons.
Although face to face communication is critically important for young people, they also value the role
email plays in helping them stay in touch with their friendship group. 42% of females aged 14-24 think it‟s
important that a friend is someone who they can contact via email, while the same is true for 38% of
males in the same age group.
Email continues to play an important function by enabling young people to communicate to their wider
circle of friends and acquaintances – and help them to get to know their friends better by offering the
opportunity for constant connectivity.
Source: Microsoft/MTV Circuits of Cool project 2006/7 (Millward Brown Sadek Wynberg, OTX)
Instant Messenger (IM)
The Role of IM - Enabling Constant Connectivity
IM is viewed as a tool that enables constant connectivity, allowing young people to feel
connected with their friends and keeping them from feeling left out. IM is the preferred
communication method used by young people to catch up with someone they don‟t
know well, and is seen as being a light-hearted medium to communicate with friends,
both individually and as a group.
Globally, young people on average have 78 IM buddies, with Brazil, India and New Zealand having the
highest with 136, 135 and 115 respectively. Japanese youths have the lowest number of buddies at only
27 (largely driven by Japanese youths having a stronger relationship with their mobile phone and not
owning a PC or laptop), followed by Germany at 41 and China at 50.
However, entertainment is also fuelling IM conversations. Young people talk about and share content on
films/music/TV (52%), links to websites (50%), clips and photos they have found (46%), and sport (37%).
Source: Microsoft/MTV Circuits of Cool project 2006/7 (Millward Brown Sadek Wynberg, OTX)
Social Networks
Brazil, India and Sweden are the heaviest users of
social networking sites with Holland, Denmark and
Germany using these sites the least. Globally on
average young people have 84 contacts in their
social networks, with Brazil having the highest at 239
and Japan the lowest at only 18 contacts.
Young people are generally aware of social networks – only 18% of those are yet to use them or have
never heard of these sites. 70% of 14-24 year olds use social networking sites and over half of them have
a profile which they keep up-to-date regularly. Young females (14-17 years) visit these sites most
frequently – 63% visit on a weekly basis, compared with 54% of males in the same age group.
While a technology such as IM is used by youths to arrange their social lives, social networking sites are
used as forums to share and relive their experiences.
The mobile provides a private form of connection and communication as it helps youths
feel safe and is seen as a sign of being allowed more freedom from home. In contrast,
parents use it as a form of control to know where their children are. There are some
gender differences – for females, the safety and connectivity elements of mobiles are
important, while for males, looking smart is a bigger driver.
On average, youths have 94 names in their mobile address book, with Italy having the
highest at 150 and Canada the lowest at 52.
Texting is More Common Than Calling
Although young people use mobiles for multiple reasons, talking and texting remain the most common.
Globally, texting is preferred over calling as it fulfils a number of roles from social co-ordination,
communicating with a wider circle of friends and flirting. Calls are generally reserved for communication
with closer friends or for passing on good news.
Pictures are important, particularly for girls, as they wish to capture and keep experiences, share them
and re-live them. Playing games, sharing content, listening to music and going online are other ways in
which mobiles are used.
Those who watch content via a mobile are still in the minority but there is interest in viewing content in
the future via their mobile, with more interest shown by males. For example, 27% of youths said they‟d be
interested in watching music videos on their mobile and 22% would be interested in watching film trailers.
Interest in watching full-length TV shows on their mobile is still low with only 16% of youths saying they‟d be
interested in doing this.
Source: Microsoft/MTV Circuits of Cool project 2006/7 (Millward Brown Sadek Wynberg, OTX)
Online Video
Globally, 80% of young people have visited sites like YouTube to watch online video clips. Males tend to
be the heaviest users of online video sites – 87% males compared to 74% females. These sites are most
popular among the under 20s (in particular males 14-21 and females 14-17) with 40% of 18-21 year old
males visiting online video sites regularly, compared to 24 percent of females in the same age group.
Only 20% who took part in this survey have yet to use these sites or have not heard of them.
Very few of this generation do not consume some form of content, although the extent to which they are
doing this does vary:
● 80% of youths view some form of social media content;
● 61% are “contributors” – add comments to content;
● 60% are “forwarders” – they will share links with their friends;
● 40% are “creators” – keep a regular blog, upload videos or photos;
● 19% are “finders” – they will actively look for content to share with their friends.
Source: Microsoft/MTV Circuits of Cool project 2006/7 (Millward Brown Sadek Wynberg, OTX)
Gaming
For boys, gaming offers a competitive outlet as well as a focus for their play activities. Although isolation
and aggression concerns have been raised by parents and the boys themselves, one of the positives for
gaming is that it builds up a sense of achievement on completion of a game or a level within a game.
Girls have a different relationship with games. Gaming doesn‟t become an identity to them as it does for
boys – very few girls see themselves as „gamers‟. For girls, games are downtime rather than uptime and
they prefer casual games such as tetris and solitaire. This is not saying that girls lack competitive spirit but
that games do not provide the same reward to them as they do for boys.
Interest in gaming drops with age, primarily because connecting and socialising with friends becomes
more important for youths as they get older and as such technologies that offer this feeling of „being
connected‟ dominate (email, IM, mobile, social networks).
Gaming delivers strongly across multiple needs compared to other technologies – from helping youths to
relax and wind down, solving puzzles and problems, escapism, competition and creativity to name a
few.
Source: Microsoft/MTV Circuits of Cool project 2006/7 (Millward Brown Sadek Wynberg, OTX)
Contacts
Caroline Vogt, Head of International Research EMEA & Americas, Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions
cavogt@microsoft.com +44 (0)203 139 6039
Ad Avoiders
Beth Uyenco Shatto, Global Research Director, Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions
Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions and Starcom recently sponsored a study focused on reaching the
elusive “Ad Avoiders” segment. These young consumers use various methods to avoid brand messaging
– and their methods work. Some of the findings include:
Don‟t be a “marketer over shoulder”. A consumer‟s space is private and it‟s best to be invited in.
Don‟t expect something for nothing. Give them something in exchange for accepting your
message – even if it‟s just a laugh.
Context Matters
Caroline Vogt, Head of International Research EMEA & Americas, Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions
A study delving beyond the „time spent‟ online measure and identifies online activity amongst 16-54 year
olds across six markets (UK, Germany, France, Norway, Canada and Brazil). It examines advertising
receptivity across over 20,000 online „occasions‟ in order to help partners optimise their online media
planning. The research included an online diary of respondents, blogs and a questionnaire.
advertising.microsoft.com