Mele’s Musings

Young Consumers Research Purchases Online

They’re young, and they shop, but are they fair game to target?
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Picture: images.inmagine.com

Article excerpt:   Kids go shopping on the Web. Young US consumers surveyed spent more time on the Internet than with any other type of media in May 2008, according to a study conducted by DoubleClick Performics and ROI Research.  The companies surveyed 10-to-14-year-olds and found that 83% went online for an hour or more every day. Many children were also shopping online. Four out of 10 responding young consumers said they used search to learn about products or services after seeing ads. Many said they used search engines to find places to buy, check prices or start researching purchases from scratch. The study is intriguing because the US Department of Commerce only counts consumers ages 14 and older in its definitions of online shoppers and buyers.
The rest: eMarketer.com

Musing:  What is appropriate when it comes to targeting ads to children?  Should teens and tweens be targeted with advertising at all?  They do buy, and they do influence a lot of at home purchases, but does that mean we should go after them as a target?    Would love to hear your thoughts.