By Laurie Tema-Lyn of Practical Imagination Enterprises,
Reva Dolobowsky of Dolobowsky Qualitative Services & Marcia
Mogelonsky of Mintel International Group © 2001, Dolobowsky,
Tema-Lyn & Mogelonsky
Anyone notice
that there seem to be a lot of teens around? Everywhere you look
-- on TV, on the radio, in the malls. You're not just imagining
it.
There are more than 79 million "Generation Y" kids in
the country today (people born between 1977 and 1997) -- more
than the 76-million strong, original post-war Baby Boom (1946-1964).
And in the New Economy, these teens have money.
According
to Teenage Research Unlimited, teens spent $105 billion of their
own money and $48 billion family dollars in 1999, compared with
$94 billion in 1998. They also spent $48 billion family dollars
in 1999, compared with $47 billion in 1998. Teen girls spend $91
per week; teen boys spend $87 per week.
Teens spend
their money in traditional outlets -- the mall, the movie theater
and the arcade. But they also spend online. That's where the new
frontier of teen shopping may lie. Unlike traditional shopping,
online spending requires parental permission (or at the least,
parental guidance). Many sites require adult approval and since
most online sites only accept credit card payments, there is a
certain layer of parental control that does not exist in the brick
and mortar world. But some sites are making it easier for teens
to spend -- and easier for parents to exert some control over
how much their teens spend-- by setting up parent-funded accounts
for teens. Whether or not this arrangement will curtail online
shopping, and whether or not it will affect the balance of own
dollars/ family dollars spent by teens remains to be seen.
