Nielsen Study Targets Tween Mobiles

The Nielsen Company released its findings from an in-depth study on cross media and mobile media usage of US “tweens” (ages 8 to 12). The report estimates that:

- 35% of tweens own a mobile phone

- 20% send text messages

- 21% download ringtones

While ringtones and text messages are the most prominent secondary uses for the phone, 5% of tweens also access the Internet on their mobile phone. Of this group, 41% access the Net while on the go, 26% access it while at a friend’s house and 17% access it during social events.

Certain media-related phone usage is actually more prevalent at home than on the go, the study found. For those that download or watch TV on their phones, 58% do so at home. Sixty-four percent of tweens that download or play music on their phone and 56% that access the Internet via phone also do so at home.

The market has slowly been moving towards tweens for some time, all the way back to 2001 and a device prototype called “Boomerang,” from Telepong and Flextronics. The Boomerang relied heavily on text and game compatibility while minimizing the importance of voice-based operations. More well-known, children-centered companies, such as Disney, Hasbro, Firefly and Leapfrog, have also produced tween-geared mobiles. By 2010, more than 10 million children ages 12 and younger are expected to carry a cell phone, according to the Yankee Group.

Jeff Herrmann, VP of mobile media for Nielsen Mobile said tweens use media in “very unique and important ways.” He also said that “marketers and media executives need to understand” these youngsters and “and reshape the way we all think about new and traditional media.”

A previous Neilson Wireless study found that more than 33 million folks in the US aged 12 and older used the mobile Web, and more than eight million watched video on their mobile phone (excluding video shot with the phone’s camcorder).

“In addition to the differences between adult and youth media consumers, there’s an important gap between the media behaviors of teens and tweens,” said Herrmann. While 81% of teens spend one or more hours a day on the Net, with e-mail being the most common usage, 48% of tweens use the Net for less than one hour per day and 70% use this time for gaming.

The report, titled “Kids on the Go: Mobile Usage by US Teens and Tweens,” will be released in full on December 14. BASES and Nielsen Mobile, both services of Nielsen, produced it. Besides general trends, it will also provide information on tween and teen demographic profiles, genre preferences, overall use of time on these devices and content brand usages.

“The value of an entertainment medium is directly proportional to how well it is measured,” said Herrmann. “Reliable and accurate measurement of mobile consumers will enable advertisers to properly evaluate the mobile marketing opportunity.”