An insight report. Dive into a new world of youth...Research shows that many of the generalisations about “Youth” beloved by the media are based on hearsay. Young adults are pragmatic, but they’re also anxious about security – whether this is provided by their parents, a partner, or close friends. They crave real, meaningful human interaction, and prefer a good conversation to wanton hedonism.

1. An insight report.
Dive into a new
world of youth...
youthstate of the nation
Attitudes to...
Consuming media...
Broken down by...
Advertising Buying
Life
Hopes & Fears
Life
Family
Life
Friends
Life
Interests
In the mesh
Media in context
In the mesh
Using technology
Online
Consuming
Online
Interacting
Online
Influencing
Through the day
Trends by time
Through the day
Planning their day
Gender
Age
Country
About this
document Insight Conclusions

2. A word about
this documentyour key to the world of Youth
We understand the pressing need for audience insight
as an essential element of any campaign – it’s why
we have brought together a range of sources in this
single document. The idea is to put at your fingertips
key points from the wealth of industry-leading
research owned by Microsoft Advertising – whether
you are a planner looking for intelligence to share
with your team, an advertiser needing to get closer
to your consumers, or just someone interested in
understanding this audience in more detail.
Of course, Youth is just one of the markets that we
understand deeply and reach globally everyday –
hopefully this document gives you the confidence to
get in touch if you need more custom research or ideas
on how you can use these insights and our solutions to
engage and influence the market.
The videos used to add colour and depth to this insight
report are taken from a much larger selection available
to view and download at www.audienceselector.com
Youth: their hopes, fears, interests, activities, purchasing
and influencing behaviours... View all of the video
vox pops at www.audienceselector.com

3. “It’s easy to get caught up in the hype
around teenagers. The notion that teens
are too busy texting and Twittering to
be engaged with traditional media is
exciting, but false. To develop the best
strategy around teens and media, start
by challenging popular assumptions
about teens. Don’t focus on the outliers,
but on the macro-level trends of media
and preferences for the segment. The
averages will show you that teens can
often be reached by the same means as
their parents.”
Nielsen, How Teens Use Media
Myth vs. reality
When planning a cross-border campaign, it’s tempting
to talk about “the Youth of today”. But “Youth” isn’t
just a single, easily defined, homogeneous group
spread across Europe. There are major differences
between young people – male and female – in different
countries and age groups, with different interests,
habits and hobbies.
Despite these differences, there are important common
factors. For example: young people between 16 and 24
years old are disproportionately heavy users of digital
media in their daily lives. They lead the rest of the
field in their media consumption habits. And generally
speaking, young people in different countries resemble
each other more than they resemble their older peers.
Insight
Exposed by research
Research shows that many of the generalisations
about “Youth” beloved by the media are based on
hearsay. Young adults are pragmatic, but they’re also
anxious about security – whether this is provided by
their parents, a partner, or close friends. They crave
real, meaningful human interaction, and prefer a good
conversation to wanton hedonism.
Click on the image to play the short video. Many more videos
available at www.audienceselector.com. If you’re having
problems watching the video, please update your version of
Adobe Reader.
CANNES

4. ... to life
Hopes and fears
Young people have plenty of fears and aspirations
– arguably they’re more prominent in younger
people than in more experienced older audiences.
Advertising can reflect, assuage or build on these
personal motivators.
In daily life young people are pragmatic (perhaps
surprisingly so), well-informed and discerning.
They are confident in their youth; but they’re also
relatively immature, often living at home (in many
countries because so many of them are students) and
frequently uncomfortable with responsibility.
The things they worry about most are getting a good
career (46%) and getting a good education (45%). In
general, their biggest concerns are things that affect
their everyday lives rather than the environment,
economy and other social issues.
“Security means material security for
the 18-24s – a planned education and
career. This is a reaction against the
worrying situation in the job market.
Their orientation is closer to that of their
grandparents in the post-war period than
their own parents.”
Klaus Hurrelmann, Germany
Cited in Young Adults Revealed
Attitudes...
For more on the attitudes
behind Youth behaviour,
we recommend the ‘Young
Adults Revealed’ report

5. ... to life
Family
Young people value their friends, but they also
value their families – much more than common
preconceptions would suggest. This generation tend
to enjoy a much closer relationship with their parents
than did previous generations. For example:
• 77% spent time with their family in the last week
even though only 49% live at home, so they clearly
regard spending time with family as enjoyable;
• Parents have positioned themselves as their best
friends, and are much more liberal.
Friends
Despite the prevailing myth, research shows that friends
are only the third most important thing in young
people’s lives, trailing well behind partners (65%) and
way behind family (76%). Today’s young people are
building finely differentiated relationships with a much
wider variety of “friends”, ranging from a hierarchy
of close, trusted friends at one extreme to random
Internet-based “friends” at the other. It’s important
to note, however, that friendship is not becoming
devalued so much as diversified.
On average, 14-24-year-olds have 53 friends, with
around six close friends. 20 friends tend to be online
contacts they’ve never met in person: the internet is
not only providing new ways for existing friends to stay
in touch - with areas like World of Warcraft it is also
creating entirely new groups of friends.
Attitudes...
‘Circuits of Cool’ is a good
source of information on the
attitudes behind friendship
Interests
The websites they visit, and the subjects they discuss,
reflect their day-to-day interests – news, health
and finance don’t interest them as much as sport,
technology and music. They’re comfortable with
technology, having grown up with digital media and
not known a time before the Internet was widespread.
Despite the widespread belief that modern “Youth”
is a generation of couch potatoes, young people are
actually active and gregarious. 35% really enjoy sports
with friends; 59% like to go to the cinema; a third like
to go to gigs; 30% like going to clubs. But they also
actively enjoy doing things at home. For example,
60% like to chill out. And guess what? 46% like...
reading books.

6. … to advertising
Not only is this audience discerning, it’s also relatively
open-minded when it comes to advertising. Whether
this reflects a change in perception (that advertising has
value), or merely a less jaded outlook, the figures show
that they regard advertising – in all its formats – as
more useful than do older consumers.
Tone of voice is vital. This audience regards itself as
well-informed and discerning – and it doesn’t like
being talked down to! Their confidence can sometimes
be deceptive – it is fair to say that they are often
influenced more than they may realise.
With respect to online advertising, not only do they
understand that it supports free content, but also
appreciate its intrinsic value. On the web, interactive
elements are some of the most appealing to a youth
audience: the same is true of advertising. The most
popular forms of advertising offer a fair exchange: for
their investment in time, viewers or participants receive
something in return, either in the form of humour,
offers, interaction or interesting nuggets of information
worth passing on to friends and family. Obviously
high-value ads also contain other key ingredients
(appropriate tone of voice, positioning, choice of
format, and so on).
Around two-thirds of young people searched for a
brand in the last month, and a similar figure visited a
brand website: so no surprises there. But much more
interesting is the fact that 47% say they’ve clicked on a
corporate advert, and the same proportion has clicked
on a banner ad. This is valuable information: it means
that online advertising and banner ads resonate with
18-24s, and they’re prepared to respond to them
Surfing, seeking information and shopping are the
modes in which consumers are most open to and aware
of ads. The amount of attention someone is paying
to what they are doing has little bearing on their ad
awareness. Which is just as well, since 71% are multi-
tasking while they’re online.
“Young people can be appreciative
of good advertising, but scathing of
intrusive or predictable ads. In general
the response to online ads is positive
as youthful consumers make the link
between advertising and free content.”
Engaging with Online Advertising
Click the image to read the
case study: ‘Adidas scores
success with online
football game’

7. … to buying
We’ve seen that the youth audience is often more open
to advertising than other groups (and also more likely
to see it as intrinsically valuable). But in deciding what
to do with this influence, it is worth remembering that
they are actually LESS likely to make purchases online
than other consumers. Reasons for this include the
relatively low penetration of credit cards compared to
25-34s, but the underlying theme is that this discerning
group researches products and services extensively
online before going to make offline purchases.
This research can take a number of different forms. For
example, it could include a visit to a company’s website
in response to an advert (for example to check stock
levels in a store), or using a price comparison site (as
in the video example opposite) before buying offline.
Later sections of this report also illustrate how the
youth audience are among the most frequent online
reviewers of the products they buy (and they also use
these reviews to plan their purchases).
Their biggest spends are on clothes, mobile phone bills,
technological items, snack food and travel. But clearly
while online advertising exerts a strong influence,
the result is just as likely to be offline revenue for
advertisers as online.
Attitudes...
Click the image to read the
case study: ‘Mobile and online
prove perfect screen couple
for Get Smart launch’
Click on the image to play the short video. Many more videos
available at www.audienceselector.com. If you’re having
problems watching the video, please update your version of
Acrobat Reader.
Germany

8. … in the mesh
Media in context
Yes, television is still popular, but it no longer commands
100% attention. While just as many young consumers
watch it, they watch for fewer hours each week and are
just as happy to do other things while the TV set is on.
The single-set household is also on the decline: young
people often watch TV or video on other screens (PC,
PVR, mobile) in other rooms.
One of the key buzzwords defining Youth’s media
consumption is media multi-tasking or “media
meshing”. TV’s decline as an untouchable medium is
illustrated by the fact that only 1 in 3 young consumers
actually gives TV their undivided attention; the rest
watch it while doing something else. For the most
part, this ‘something else’ is using the Internet, but
may also include reading books, newspapers or
magazines, texting friends on mobiles and so on. The
increasing use of PVRs means that viewers watch less
live TV, which in turn means that advertising can no
longer guarantee to reach audiences in its intended
context or time slot.
On the other hand, even using the Internet is not an
isolated activity for young people – generally they will
also have the radio or TV on at the same time.
Even with these caveats there’s no denying that the
Internet is the key medium for this audience, and the
one they most rely on. As we’re often told, this is the
first generation to grow up with broadband Internet,
and they’re used to turning to it for everything. It
hasn’t yet replaced individual media channels, but
the sheer breadth of possibilities plus the ‘everything
under one roof’ nature of the Internet make it a young
person’s must-have medium.
And they’re happy to connect to it from anywhere.
Accessing the web from home still predominates,
but many young people surf from school, college or
university. Some go online from their mobile phones,
and traditional barriers are being overcome by factors
like the popularity of iPhones and unlimited data plans.
Consumption of media
In 2008, while 92% of 16-24 year olds were
watching TV...
… 90% of them were also using the Internet
… 69% of them were also listening to the radio
… 62% of them were also reading a newspaper
… 51% of them were also reading a magazine
Mediascope Europe 2008
“Multi-tasking is a given for
this generation The bet that all
communicators of the near future will
want to win will be share of affinity and
interaction, rather than just attention.”
Christian Lazopoulos, Young Adults Revealed

9. … in the mesh
Broadly speaking, for young people everything is – or
can be – social, mainly thanks to technology. Even
when they go shopping in person, they ask friends
for opinions by sending photos on their mobiles.
Instant messaging (IM) allows them to extend their
conversations to any part of the day without excluding
other activities (e.g. messaging while watching TV);
social networks allow them to share banter, photos and
links in a way that wasn’t possible even a short while
ago. They’re just as keen as anybody else on catching
up with friends face-to-face; it’s just that technology
allows them to stay in touch at other times as well.
As techno-savvy ‘digital natives’, young people are
happy to turn to the Internet for most things; indeed,
the Internet is the “most loved” technology, followed
by email, TV, mobile and IM. For example, they listen to
the radio almost as much over the Internet as through a
conventional set. Young people don’t read newspapers
as much as their older peers, possibly because of a
lower level of interest in news overall – but also because
they use newspaper and portal sites to get their regular
news updates, often through RSS subscriptions.
Given the number of column inches devoted to social
networking sites, you could be forgiven for thinking
that 100% would have visited a social network in the
last week. In reality, more young people read a book
(63%) than visited a social network – something worth
bearing in mind when plotting the next campaign
aimed at young adults.
70% of 14-24s use social networking sites, but fewer
of them (54%) have a profile they keep up to date.
Interestingly, social networks rank lowest on the list
of preferred methods of keeping in touch with friends
(just 2%), whereas texting is highest (22%) after face-
to-face meetings (52%).
If you believed the hype, you’d think content would be
sent or published most frequently by social networking
sites. In actual fact, social networking is only used
slightly more than mobiles, and trails some way behind
IM and e-mail. Photos, amusing clips, interesting links,
TV clips and news clips are sent most frequently.
Consumption of media
Using technology
Continued...

10. … in the mesh
Video is a hot topic at the moment, and certainly
the younger audience is leading the charge to watch
more video content online. 76% have streamed short
video clips in the last month, and 57% have watched
programmes or films. To some extent uptake is
hampered by infrastructure (broadband bandwidth),
also because the TV set is still the traditional hub of
the home. But as with other ‘traditional’ media, longer-
form video is now online too, and the youth audience
is leading the uptake here as well.
It is clear that communication is not the only major
motivator for going online. Another key driver of online
activity is now gaming. Almost half (44%) of young
people played games online in the last week, while a
third played on consoles and 22% played on portable
gaming devices.
Internet access using mobiles is still a hugely
underdeveloped area. The most common activities
are using email (52%), checking weather/travel, and
listening to the radio. Mobile Internet access varies
drastically between countries (on the whole, it is
actually more widespread outside Europe).
Consumption of media
Using technology cont...
“Young people use mobile phones as a
means of portraying themselves. The use
of the mobile also allows them to have an
“infinitely variable” timetable which is not
fixed and which takes into account the
urges of the moment, the spontaneity.”
Julien Fere, Young Adults Revealed

11. … online
Today’s 16-24 age group consumes more media than
previous generations. But with only 24 hours in a day,
their media consumption is overlapping: no single
medium holds their undivided attention for long.
The way they use individual media is changing too: this
group is among the first to adjust to new technologies.
Indeed, they are comfortable with the idea of being
able to find or do virtually anything on the Internet.
But youth media consumption is not as unconventional
as some would suggest. In fact, more of them watch
TV each week than use the Internet – and there are
suggestions that watching TV is first, more of a family
event, and second, a simple ‘turn on and watch’
medium in a way that the Internet can’t quite match.
In short, despite the vast array of technologies and
entertainment devices available, teenagers and young
adults continue to enjoy activities that parallel those of
previous generations – listening to music, watching TV
and being with friends – although all of these activities
now include a significant online component.
What’s more, modern Youth doesn’t always have to go
out to have fun. 35% agree that it’s as much fun staying
at home as going out anywhere.
Between 2004 and 2008, in a given week the number
of 16-24s watching TV declined by 10%, listening to
the radio declined by 4%, using the Internet grew by
44%, reading newspapers declined by 11%, and reading
magazines declined by 16%...
Consumption of media
Consuming
• YouTube – 14 hours of video uploaded
every minute
• Flickr – 6.6M photos uploaded every day
• Wikipedia – 11.2M articles
• Trip advisor – 15m reviews
UM Tracker – When did we start trusting strangers?
The ‘Mediascope European
Study’ is particularly useful for
trends in popularity and usage
of different channels

12. … online
To research products, they use the same tools to which
they contribute themselves – forums, interactive review
sites, blogs and so on. So not only is it important to
reach this group with advertising; in view of their
influence and knowledge, it’s arguably more important
to reach them than other consumers.
For this knowledgeable, assertive audience, the Internet
is as much about interaction as it is about passive
information. Opinionated, discerning, they love sites that
give them opportunities to air their opinions and share
their views. Because they’re still young, they’re keen to
tell everybody what they’ve been up to, how they’re
feeling and what’s important to them. Hence key outlets
for them are social networks, forums and blogs, IM and
e-mail; and websites that allow them to interact and take
part are more rewarding than those that don’t.
With respect to communication, there’s no indication
that social networking is replacing IM or IM is replacing
e-mail. Each medium plays a distinct role: IM supports
informal chatting and allows users to send files and links
easily. Email is slightly more formal and supports wider
distribution. A social network is a one-to-many forum:
built-in chat clients depend on friends being on the
same site at the same time. Topics of conversation vary
accordingly: IM is used to chat about social issues, fashion,
informal news, hopes and worries; e-mail is used to
discuss more detailed plans, study/work issues and so on.
The prioritisation of communication and socialising is
also evident in other online activities, the most obvious
example being gaming, which is becoming more social
as consoles and IM facilities mature. But video clips,
viral links, product reviews etc. all reflect the same
underlying need, as young people circulate items of
interest and express their opinions about them.
Consumption of media
Interacting
“Young adults want sympathy.
Communication is often done via mobile
mail with people looking for others who
are sympathetic. However, face-to-face or
direct communication is a bother. That’s
why they use their blogs to send out a
message to many people, hoping that
some of them would be sympathetic.”
Kaori Kashiwase & Naoko Murakami, Young Adults Revealed

13. … online
16-24s are very influential. They are most knowledgeable
and influential in the traditional youth ‘heartland’ of
mobile phones, music and consumer technology. But
they also have opinions on financial services (especially
car insurance!), healthy-living, cars and bikes, and aren’t
afraid to share them.
They consider themselves as experts in music, films and
consumer electronics, and believe they can influence
their friends with their opinions on these topics.
Friendship groups are informative and influential sources
in terms of product choices.
Online, consumer power is becoming a major
influence. User-driven content clearly demonstrates
how individuals and groups can make a difference and
spread their opinions – on the environment, politics, new
movies, or their experiences of products and services –
over a steadily expanding plethora of media channels.
Consumption of media
Influencing
• The Greeks (40%) reckon they’re a convincing
lot when it comes to home entertainment
products and cosmetics (42%).
• Modestly, only 24% of Italians reckon they
can convince their friends of their opinions
about fashion.
Young Adults Revealed
For more on the interests
and areas of expertise where
Youth will influence others,
see the ‘Young Adults
Revealed’ report
Click on the image to play the short video. Many more videos
available at www.audienceselector.com. If you’re having
problems watching the video, please update your version of
Acrobat Reader.
UK

14. … through the day
Trends by time
As you would expect, there are peaks and troughs in the
numbers of young people online during a typical day.
For 16-24s, the busiest times for being online are the
late afternoon and evening. In the morning, internet use
is less frequent, and tends to be reasonably functional
– checking online banking, catching up on emails
and looking for information for work or study. In the
afternoon, the focus shifts more to social activities –
communication in various forms – while in the evening
‘entertainment’ and relaxation become the main drivers.
Understanding this kind of context is critical – but as we
see opposite, there is rarely a single focus for an internet
session. For example, almost half the people who go
online to look for some information will check their
messages before they move on to the search.
Planning the day
While information takes precedence earlier in the day,
there’s still plenty of communication going on – this is,
after all, a group for which socialising is a key activity.
Younger users will generally start and finish their online
sessions by checking their email accounts, Facebook
accounts and so on. In the morning, however, these
activities will be given a lower priority – rather than
driving online sessions, they are usually done while an
online session is in progress. Most young people check
their e-mail every few hours during the day in any case.
Interestingly, only 57% of online activity is planned in
advance: consumers start by visiting familiar websites
and then wander off into new territory, often following
recommendations by friends.
Consumption of media
Click the image to download
‘Engaging with Online
Advertising’ by Microsoft
Advertising (formerly Microsoft
Digital Advertising Solutions)

15. Age
Age differences
Clearly 16-18s have different concerns, activities and
consumption habits from 18-21s, while 22-24s are
much more likely to be in full-time work, with a shift
towards mainstream aspirations, media consumption
and interests.
But perhaps surprisingly, there is little difference
between the activities and habits of 18-21s and 22-24s
except in the top income brackets, where only 7% of
18-21s have more than $300 of disposable income,
versus 12% of 22-24s. Interestingly, despite the bills
they have to pay, those who own or rent their own
property have more disposable income than those still
living in the family home. Individuals living alone have
the highest disposable income, followed by those living
with partners.
There are also changing habits in online usage as young
adults grow up. For example, younger users invest more
energy in ‘showing off’ (for example by accumulating
‘friends’ on Facebook), while older youths will use the
internet more functionally (so Facebook becomes a
place to arrange meeting up with friends).
Breakdown
• 10-13 years old – Technology is like another toy
• 14-17 years old – Wider emotional needs led
to deeper engagement with communication
technologies
• 17-20 years old – Usage is more settled
Circuits of Cool
Click the image to download
‘Circuits of Cool’ by
Microsoft/MTV (covering 16
countries globally)

16. Gender
Gender differences
Breakdown
Some gender differences are very predictable (men are
twice as likely to have played on a games console), while
others offer more useful insights. For example, young
men are more worried about the economy and being
popular, while young women are more concerned with
health and education.
In terms of online activity there are some significant
differences between the genders. The morning/
afternoon peaks mentioned above are much more
pronounced in the case of young women online,
especially with respect to communication, while young
men generally spend more time on entertainment.
Upsetting the popular misconception that modern Youth
is a sedentary, indoor generation, 18% of males (against
just 8% of females) cited playing sport or taking exercise
as one of their favourite three activities. Favourite or not,
62% of males and 49% of females played sport or took
exercise in the last week, and 29% of males and 20% of
females went to the gym. While a male bias is evident,
the gender gap is not as great as anecdotal evidence
would suggest. However, men tend to talk more about
sport, while women tend to talk more about other
topics, especially social arrangements.
There are surprisingly few gender differences in terms of
technology ownership – especially in terms of ownership
of PCs and laptops. Perhaps even more surprising,
the percentages are similar among students, full-time
workers, men and women.
In terms of influencing peer opinion, women only
believe they can influence their friends more than men
when they are discussing fashion and cosmetics – in this
respect, at least, typical gender distinctions appear to
remain in place!
Click the image to download
‘Engaging with Online
Advertising’ by Microsoft
Advertising (formerly Microsoft
Digital Advertising Solutions)

17. Country
National differences
Breakdown
Infrastructure plays an important role in determining the
prioritisation of online activities in different countries.
For example, the penetration and maturity of broadband
access to the Internet in Sweden makes possible online
activities that are beyond the reach of many users in
Italy – extended viewing of films online, for instance.
For advertising purposes, national differences can
highlight significant – and sometimes surprising –
opportunities. For example, 36% of Norweigans say
they are open to commercial messages when online,
compared with just 20% of Germans.
There are also some interesting differences in what is
important in a young adult’s life. For example, friends
are most important to Greeks and Norwegians, while
the French have a high regard for hedonism and the
Romanians focus on money.
Some unlikely countries seem to enjoy many different
channels for accessing entertainment news, suggesting
a particular fascination with this material. Greece and
Romania are all consistently above average in this
respect, while the UK seem largely disinterested – an
intriguing reflection on the influence (or lack of it) of
tabloids and the paparazzi on 16-24s.
“The priority is their professional life. They
have less time than we had at their age.
They have so many classes, they feel
pressured by the demands of professional
life. They are not even in this life yet but
feel the competitiveness and it really
exists. Their free time is not really free,
they fill it up with courses.”
Sandra Soares, Young Adults Revealed
Click the image to read the
case study: ‘MSN marketing
solution puts Grolsch in
the groove’

18. Insight, reach, results
If there is one message to take from this report, it is
that there are no simple answers when it comes to the
Youth audience across Europe.
We have highlighted how some myths are contradicted
by surprisingly ‘grown-up’ attitudes, as well as how the
internet has become a constant companion, amplifying
rather than replacing traditional activities.
But every country, every age group, every gender has
a different story to tell. Microsoft Advertising would
be delighted to help you delve into more specific
insights, as well as to explore how a range of targeting
options can deliver greater results from the influential
Youth audience.
Conclusions
Reference sources
• Engaging with Online Advertising – Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions
• Young Adults Revealed (Global Report 2008) – Synovate (covering 26 countries, including 14 in Europe)
• Circuits of Cool – Microsoft/MTV (covering 16 countries globally)
• Mediascope European Study 2008 – EIAA (with Synovate and others) – (covering 10 European countries)
• When did we start trusting strangers (September 2008) – Universal McCann EMEA
(covering 29 countries, including 15 in Europe and Eastern Europe)
comScore key insights into the Microsoft
Advertising audience:
• Two thirds of 15-24s across Europe use
Microsoft properties, and this age group
accounts for 25% of our audience;
• 15-24 year old Internet users in Europe spent a
total 26.4 billion minutes (440 million hours) on
Windows Live Messenger in June 2009...
• ... and made 503 million visits to Hotmail.
• Across the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium,
France and the Netherlands, 80% of 15-24 year
olds were served an ad by Microsoft in a
single month.
By combining channels intelligently, at carefully judged
times of day or night, it is far more likely that a brand will
exert significant leverage on the younger generation.
As we have seen in this report, this cross-platform
approach is one with which the younger generation
is already intimately familiar – and which Microsoft
Advertising is exceptionally well placed to service.

19. © 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Microsoft is a trademark of the Microsoft group of companies.
You dream it. We deliver it.