Keeping It Real... 'Offline' Communications Still Key to Connecting With 'Digital...

Keeping It Real... 'Offline' Communications Still Key to Connecting With
'Digital Generation'

'A Beta Life - Youth' reveals the overall driver for young people is a desire
for real world interaction with friends.

LONDON, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- New research into the attitudes of youth
towards technology has exploded some of the myths about the technology
consumption and media choices of young people today. The research, A Beta Life
- Youth, examined how technology affects all aspects of young people's
relationships. It concludes that the offline world is still the primary
influencer and driver of young people in how they conduct their lives,
including interactions with friends, family, entertainment media,
communication technologies, advertising and brands.

The research, conducted by OTX in association with Nokia, MTV Networks, 20th
Century Fox, Fox Mobile Group, and Channel 4 shows that digital technology
plays two main functions in young people's lives - as a means of improving
their enjoyment of and access to traditional "off line" behaviours, but more
significantly in the creation of "commutainment" - a hybrid of communication
and entertainment where the act of communicating itself becomes a form of
entertainment.

With up to eight digital gadgets in their bedroom, and access to four more in
their household, the popular perception is that young people are immersed in
gadgets and technology for their own sake. However, the research explodes this
myth by showing that young people's immersion in these devices and the time
spent on them is not due to an obsession with the technology per se, but
largely due to the gadgets' ability to facilitate communication and to enhance
young people's enjoyment of traditional pursuits. For most, the focus of their
passion is not so much the device itself, but more about how it can help them
connect, relax or have fun. The technology itself is "invisible" to the young
consumer - despite the millions of widgets they download from Facebook, young
people are not even comfortable using widespread technology terminology such
as "widgets."

Fifteen years ago, most teenagers would have had access to just one
communications device - their household phone. Today, despite being involved
in an astonishing 48 digital communications every day, the average young
person remains most engaged by traditional behaviours - of their overall top
ten favourite activities seven are still offline. Traditional activities such
as hanging out with friends, listening to music, and seeing boy/girlfriends
dominate the top three favourite pastimes of young people, while "digital"
behaviours such as creating user generated content have a much lower
penetration than commonly perceived (only 16% of young people have written a
blog and less than a quarter (21%) have filmed and uploaded a clip to a site
like YouTube). Even when engaged in digital communications, young people
prefer activities with a social context, for example texting friends and
sharing video content with friends both score much higher than watching video
alone on their handheld device.

Today's restless young person manages to indulge in 23 cumulative hours of
activity in every 24 hour day - engaging in up to five activities
simultaneously. While this degree of multitasking is only made possible by
digital technology, the implication is that (counter to current thinking) a
single integrated device with one screen is probably insufficient to meet
their complex communications needs - which could entail watching clips,
talking, texting and surfing the internet simultaneously.

Other key findings include:
-- Young people demonstrate a surprisingly narrow repertoire of favourite
"old media" channels, with an average of just five favourite
TV channels.
-- Young people are attracted to digital technology because it allows
them
to present an edited or idealised version of themselves, with 35
percent
agreeing that they "pick only photos where I look good."
-- There are distinct differences in attitudes to digital technology on a
gender level: female early teens are much more active communicators
compared to males - then this reverses in late teens.
-- Around one in two claim to get restless or bored, even when doing
something they enjoy.
-- They have an average of 99 friends online, half of which they see face
to face.
-- Texting is so ubiquitous that 34 percent even text the group of
friends
that they are physically with.
-- 33 percent are contactable at all times, even in their sleep.
-- 41 percent sometimes sit on the phone to friends without saying a
word.
-- 63 percent would feel either really stressed or more anxious if they
were unable to use the internet for a day.
-- 41 percent would feel more stressed if they couldn't use their
mobile phone for just two hours.

Commented Graham Saxton, Managing Director, Media and Entertainment Insights,
OTX, "Many commentators have reasoned that young people's obsession with
digital technology is due to a fascination with the technology and gadgets,
when in fact they are only interested in technology as a means to an end. The
traditional world remains the 'go-to' destination for meeting their friends
and entertainment and real, offline destinations and pastimes still rate
higher than the online space."

Andrew Davidson, Head of OTX's youth division, added, "It is really
interesting to explore the 'brand discovery' journey for young people in 2009.
For example, in contrast to what most people assume is an increasingly
dominant role of the internet, over two thirds of young people (70%) actually
claim to first hear about their new mobile phone or MP3 player from offline
sources, primarily seeing friends use it, TV ads, and in store. We see the
same pattern for other electronic devices, media content and even more so for
offline items such as clothing. The only exception is, as you might expect,
digital media and on-line only products."

About A Beta Life
The study is designed to understand how technology has impacted on the social
lives of young people globally, and explores how these lifestyle changes
affect their relationship with friends, family, entertainment media,
communication technologies, advertising and brands. Commissioned by OTX Europe
in association with five leading brands - MTV Networks, 20th Century Fox, Fox
Mobile Group, Nokia and Channel 4 (a British broadcasting network) - the
research was conducted in five markets - UK, US, Germany, India and Japan -
between September and December 2008 amongst 8,000 technology embracing 12 - 24
year olds.

About OTX
OTX (www.otxresearch.com) is a global consumer research and consulting firm
specializing in innovative, cutting edge research products and analysis for
the marketing, entertainment and advertising communities. OTX's range of
approaches, products and services leverage technological expertise with
extensive traditional marketing and advertising research experience to uncover
deeper and more profound consumer insights. This unique suite of
state-of-the-art products and services reach and engage today's
digitally-driven global consumer more effectively, and yield more relevant and
honest data. In just eight years OTX has become the 20th largest research
agency in the U.S. (24th largest globally) with offices in London, Los
Angeles, New York, Cincinnati, Miami, and Chicago with strategic partners in
Japan, Australia, and Mexico.

OTX is on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/OTX/19278977855) and Twitter
(http://twitter.com/otxresearch).

Media Contacts:
Graham Saxton
Email: gsaxton@otxresearch.com
Tel: +44 (0)207 803 0307

Andy Davidson
Email: adavidson@otxresearch.com
Tel: +44 (0)207 803 0309

SOURCE OTX Research

Graham Saxton, +44 (0)207 803 0307, gsaxton@otxresearch.com, or Andy Davidson,
+44 (0)207 803 0309, adavidson@otxresearch.com, both of OTX Research