46% OF U.S. TWEENS USE A CELL PHONE, NIELSEN REPORTS

 

Safety Cited By Parents as Top Reason for Introducing Mobile Usage

 

Cincinnati, OH, and San Francisco, CA, September 10, 2008 – The Nielsen Company today released findings from the newly launched Mobile Kids Insights, an enhanced report profiling the mobile activities and preferences of U.S. “tweens” (ages 8–12) —a population segment of 20 million young consumers who represent a significant opportunity in the competitive mobile marketplace. 

 

The report estimates that:

• 46% of tweens use cell phones
• On average, kids get their own cell phone between the ages of 10 and 11
• 55% of tweens who own a cell phone send text messages and 21% download ringtones

 

Mobile Kids Insights measures and profiles the tween mobile market opportunity and explores the drivers of mobile adoption for tweens and their parents. It also illustrates how tweens engage with both mobile and traditional media. The report builds off a successful collaboration between Nielsen Mobile and BASES, which has extensive experience in accessing and surveying kids ages 8–12, a notoriously difficult age segment to survey. 

 

Nielsen Mobile’s research offers valuable analysis on topics ranging from phone ownership and carrier choice to offline leisure activities, favorite TV channels and website brands. Nielsen also explores the role parents play in tween mobile usage:

• The top reason parents want tweens to have a cell phone is in case there is an emergency or problem
• 92% of parents restrict how tweens use their phone, 68% say they prohibit downloads (games, ringtones, etc.) that incur charges
• 65% of tweens with cell phones are on family plans

 

“Tweens have grown up with mobile phones and expect them to do much more than make a call.   Our clients want to understand tweens’ attitudes and mobile behavior in the context of their daily life and media consumption,” says Richard Wood, Nielsen Mobile Vice President of Consumer Insights.  “By combining BASES targeted survey experience with Nielsen Mobile’s expertise in the telecom industry, Mobile Kids Insights helps our clients engage with this increasingly important segment.”

 

Mobile Kids Insights is customized to address the needs of carriers, cell phone manufacturers, mobile content companies or advertisers who want reliable measurement of the growing mobile tween opportunity.  With a survey sample of over 1,700 tweens, Nielsen Mobile’s clients gain unprecedented insight into tweens’ mobile and cross-media behavior.

 

Mobile Kids Insights is available from Nielsen Mobile today.

 

About Nielsen Mobile

Nielsen Mobile, a service of The Nielsen Company, is the world's largest independent provider of syndicated consumer research to the telecom and mobile media markets.  Nielsen Mobile focuses exclusively on tracking the behavior, attitudes and experiences of mobile consumers; their reports also provide up to seven years of data on Internet, video, gaming, audio and advertising trends for mobile phone users.  Nielsen’s technology-driven research provides unique and holistic insight into how mobile customers use their devices and what they think about brands, devices and services.  For more information, please visit www.nielsenmobile.com.

 

About BASES

BASES, a service of The Nielsen Company, provides services that help clients achieve growth through successful new product innovation. BASES is known for analytical and forecasting expertise, its extensive database of experience (90,000+ new product initiatives studied), and providing global coordination and consistency. BASES offers a broad range of services related to innovation strategy, new product qualification and optimization, and initiative commercialization. BASES has offices in 25 locations, partnering with most of the world’s leading marketers across a wide range of business sectors.

 

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit www.nielsen.com.

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Nic Covey

312-385-6718