While product quality is the most important influence in how teens make brand decisions, it is far less important to those consumers aged 12- to 17-years-old than it is to consumers as a whole.  While it is can be expected that teens would have different influences than adults, it is interesting find key differences between younger teens and older teens as well.  Those are a couple of key findings in the latest Brand Strength Report – Teen Edition recently released by The SportsOneSource Group.

 
“We expected to see some real differences between the teen and adult respondents to the survey,” said James Hartford, chief market analyst at The SportsOneSource Group, “but we a bit surprised at the nuances between middle school teens and high school teens.”
 
Product quality was cited by 47% of teen survey respondents between the ages of 12- and 17-years-old as “Extremely Important” in making brand purchase decisions, compared to 58% of the overall survey population that saw the attribute at the same level.  On average, the two most cited influences, product quality and past experience with a brand, were cited more often by older teen respondents, or those aged 15- to 17-years-old, as the major influences for choosing a brand by a five percentage point margin.
The overall survey population saw value for price as the second most important influence on brand decisions, with 55% suggesting the attribute was “extremely important” in making brand purchase decisions, while just 39% of teens saw the attribute in the same way.  Conversely, style/fashion/fit was seen as far more important with teens than the overall population, ranking #3 overall in the teen’s mean rating of the attribute and 45% suggesting it was “extremely important,” while only 33% of the overall population saw the attribute at that level.  It ranked #5 in the mean ratings for the overall population.
 
The report also breaks down differences between gender in the teen group and provides real insight into what drives teen purchase patterns in today's economy.
 
For more information on the 2009 Brand Strength Report – Teen Edition, contact The SportsOneSource Group at research@SportsOneSource.com or call 704.987.3450 x104.