Cellphones 'centre of teen universe'
Cellphone ownership among local teenagers is so high that it tops that of youngsters in the US, the UK and France.
A staggering 86% of SA teens own cellphones, more even than those in the UK (85%) and the US (83%).
A global survey of middle-class teenagers has revealed that local youngsters :
Watch more television than their counterparts in other countries;
Spend more on health and beauty than most; and
Spend most of their money on clothes, eating out and cellphones.
The study, which included face-to-face interviews with more than 400 urban South Africans aged 16 to 19 , was headed by the US group Teenage Research Unlimited.
Local research data was fed into the main study by Johannesburg-based Youth Dynamix.
Nearly 16 000 teenagers were surveyed in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
They represented four emerging and 12 developed countries.
While South African youth are classified as emerging, they straddle the emerging and developed markets in terms of some of their preferences, spending habits and use of technology and telecommunications.
In some areas, local teens are no different to their global counterparts in both emerging and developed countries.
They are similar to emerging countries like Brazil, India and China in how much money they spend, how much time they surf the Internet and in their values.
SA youngsters watch an average of nine hours of television a week compared with 7.6 hours for kids in developed countries.
In the US and elsewhere, friends and family come first. And local teens, unlike those in the developed countries, spend more time watching TV than on the Internet.
“Developing market teens are spending more time, at least nine hours per week, watching TV than they are online compared with developed market teens, who are spending more time online. SA still has a high TV-watching culture,” said Youth Dynamix MD Jane Lyne.
Lyne said SA teens were “living on their cellphones”, which they described as the “centre of their universe”.
“Cellphones inform, entertain, facilitate communication and socialising, and generally keep them in the loop.
“The cellphone is also opening up the world of the Internet to SA youth,” she said.
Like most youngsters, SA teens spend most of their money on clothing and eating out. But locals spend more on cellphones than many of the rest.
Top brands across the board are Nike, Adidas and Coke.
“The importance of appearance, as well as materialistic outlook, is shown by the importance of clothing and personal-care products.
“Their choice of clothing, particularly clothing brands, is the first chance teens get to impress on other teens how fashion-conscious, funky, stylish, and ultimately, well-off they are.”
Lyne said males regarded the brand as a barometer of their personal wealth.
“The branded guy is going to get the girl, and it is clear that there is ‘no romance without finance’.”
The “Hollywood” culture was very prominent among the country’s youth. They joined global teens in naming Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie as their favourite stars.
TV was the main source of information for SA teens, followed by radio and word-of-mouth. Google is the No1 website among locals.
Cellphones and teenagers – give your views
The Times
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