Indian kids wield an annual spending power of Rs 22,594 cr: Turner New Gen Study

Kids are no longer mere consumers, but rather high purchase influencers today. They are extremely conscious of the environment they live in and willing to explore non-traditional career choices, while constantly challenging notions and redefining their roles.

Turner has released its flagship research study, New Generations 2016, which puts the spotlight on lifestyle, opinion, behavioural pattern and spending habits of over 6,000 kids surveyed in India. The report highlights that Television ranks as the No. 1 form of media consumption at 97 per cent, with cartoons being the most watched genre by kids and parents alike.

New Generations 2016, a global survey by Turner, in its 16th year, is a guide for brands, marketers and advertisers to decode the trends and consumption patterns that define the New Generation kids. This year’s research focuses on the ‘The Plurals’, who by definition, are those born between 1997 and 2015. The Plurals, however, differ intuitively from the millennials primarily on the basis of learned versus native behaviour. Plurals are comfortable to curate their own experiences and expect as well as demand choices. Plurals are defined by the new and different career choices, higher spending power, strong world awareness and being socially active.

Key Highlights of New Generations 2016:

Media Consumption: Television ranks as the number one media consumption

New Technology: Use of technology amplified exceptionally as kids live in connected homes. Gaming--the number one online activity for children

Purchasing power: Pocket money given to kids in 2015 has grown a 100 per cent

Kids & their environment: Kids chose to eliminate poverty and promote peace. Aware and want to participate in Swachch Bharat Abhiyan

Advertisements: Ads consisting of their favourite cartoon character top the charts along with character-based product packaging

Future perspective: Kids are ready to take on the world and are up for exploring non-traditional careers.

Favourite Icons: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sachin Tendulkar and Sania Mirza rule the hearts of the kids

Unveiling the report, Siddharth Jain, Managing Director, South Asia, Turner International India, said, “The consumer has always been at the core of our focus for Turner Kids’ brands. We are pioneers in setting benchmarks in the kids’ entertainment industry and are constantly innovating to create unique worlds for them. This means engaging them beyond the linear screen to entertaining them on apps, games (web & mobile) to mega-events on the ground and an extensive range of licensed and merchandised products. New Generations 2016 study throws up data and trends that define the kids of today – The Plurals. We are certain that these insights will help create an industry benchmark and will change the way in not just how we, but also how marketers, businesses and advertisers engage with kids, as a category altogether.”

First unveiled in 2001, this New Generations study is the largest kids’ lifestyle survey in the Asia Pacific region. New Generations research covers all town classes, including towns with a population of less than 1 lakh individuals as well [LC1 towns].

New Generations surveyed over 6,690 respondents. Kids ranging from the age of 7-14 years and parents of 4-14 years old kids, across 1 million towns. Key summary highlights of the report are as follows:

Media Consumption Habits
Television viewing activity ranks the highest in media consumption at 97%, followed by reading newspapers and books (49% and 44% respectively), surfing the Internet - 29%, reading comics – 25%, listening to radio – 21%, watching DVDs – 15% and films - 7% are also amongst the preferred choices of kids.

Computers & Internet: More than 50% kids use computers and 25% access the internet
84% children ranging from the age group of 7-14 years use a desktop, whereas, 33% kids aged between 4-6 years seem to be open to using and are well versant with newer technologies. Gaming & Information sourcing most popular activities for kids. A finding from the study states that 5% of the parents believe that their child is active on social media while 25% of children claim to be active on social media. Facebook is their most-liked social media application, where 54% kids are active through somebody else’s account and 47% kids through their own account. 94% of the parents monitor their kid’s usage of social networking sites.

Mobile: 90% kids are growing up in homes with mobile
62% Indian kids are using their parents or other family member’s mobile devices, whereas 4% of the kids share their handsets with their siblings. Gaming and making/ receiving calls the two most popular activities followed by listening to music, texting and watching videos. The survey has derived the fact that 32% children download applications out of which 70% download the paid applications.

Pocket Money and Gift Money: 100% rise from 2012
The monthly average pocket money of kids has increase from Rs 275 in 2012 to Rs 555 in 2015. This is a 100% increase in pocket money since 2012. 52% kids receive pocket money out of which 50% save it (majority being girls), and the balance 50% spend their money on buying clothes, shoes, junk food and toys. At an annual spending potential of Rs 22,594 crore, Indian kids have more money to spend than the GDP of 50 smaller countries of the world, including Bhutan, Aruba and Maldives.

Toys, Sports and Games: Kids play video games: Boys & Girls alike.
The study has also revealed insights that both boys and games enjoy playing video games, with the ratio of boys to girls being almost equal (53:44). The research also says the extracurricular activities of the kids vary from region to region. On a pan India level, it is noticed that 26% parents of children between 4-6 years and 28% parents of children between 7-14 years encourage their children to participate in extracurricular activities. The Plurals in the North and West enjoy dancing and cricket, whereas South is bent towards learning musical instruments and East is inclined towards drawing.

Kids and their environment: 2 in 3 kids aware and conscious of Swachch Bharat Abhiyan
Kids are extremely conscious and aware of their surroundings and their immediate environment. When given a choice of a super hero power, 27% kids chose to eliminate poverty, followed by 17% who wished to promote peace and stop violence in the society. A whopping 64% kids are aware of the Government’s Swachch Baharat Abhiyaan and an equal percentage of kids are open to participate in the move towards a cleaner India.

Co-viewing: 50% parents watch Television with their children daily
50% parents enjoy watching television with their kids daily and 80% of them closely monitor what their kids are viewing. Cartoon Network and Pogo emerge as cartoon channels of choice for both kids and parents alike. 72% parents prefer watching Cartoon Network and 61% parents prefer POGO, followed by Hungama, Nickelodeon and Disney. 50% parents spend time with their children of which 65% are of children between the age of 4-6 years and 46% are of children between the ages of 7-14 years.

Education: English as a subject concerns majority of the parents
48% parents of children from 7-14 years and 29% parents of children from 4-6 years send their kids for tuitions. 40% parents are seen saving in child specific plans and schemes for a bright future and better education from their child’s tender age. 55% parents are involved in their child’s reading habits and hence encourage them to read physical books.

Advertising and Marketing: Kids prefer watching advertisements based on cartoon characters and humour
Children from the East region love ads with cartoon characters and animations, while the West region prefers ads with humour; children in the North and South region behave in a similar manner - taking a cue from humour and cartoon characters. Over 65% children and parents are attracted towards character-based product packaging.

Icons: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sachin Tendulkar and Sania Mirza rule the hearts of the kids
When it comes to Bollywood icons, Salman Khan emerges as the clear choice as he is most popular amongst the kids. Meanwhile, Katrina Kaif topples other divas. Sachin Tendulkar continues to be the favourite male sports icon over the years and Sania Mirza reigns as the number one sportswoman, with the maximum fan base. Amongst toon stars, Chhota Bheem enjoys the maximum popularity.