Youth Market Research & Audience Insight - Youth Trends 

TTo stay on top of the ever changing and fast paced landscape of brands and consumer habits, research and insight are key. The youth are the future of tomorrow, those who dictate the trends. Therefore clear audience insight and market research into youth culture will help you thrive. 

There are many ways to gather this research. Doing your own insight into the popular trends may be cheap and efficient. But market research is best done when you ask the youth directly. Audience insight is not asking one person, it’s gathering insight from a whole plethora of young people. Good market research takes time and effort but the results pay off. The youth of today are fickle and sensitive to false information and performatism, so your insights and research need to be thorough and representative of the whole spectrum of young people and their opinions. What may work for the male youths, is not going to be the same for females and those in between genders. 

There are many insight companies that offer strong market research and audience insight, but sometimes the best way to research the trends that matter to the youth is to send out a call to action to your own market. The insight into what your customers truly believe, want and feel is invaluable. It is pivotal to properly listen to what they are saying and not assuming what you want to hear, regardless of what the research tells you. 

These days the youth can be cast in a bad light but insight into them actually tells a different story. They are more switched-on and savvy, than we give them credit for. Market research often highlights them as bad with money, lazy and disengaged. But if you take time to look in the true and recent audience insight and research studies, it paints a very different picture. The youth are actually hot on the global trends; climate crisis, mental health and not just their future but the future of those around them and the planet. Insight continuously shows this age group as being proactive, aware and connected to both the big and small things in life. 

Trends are continuously evolving and it can be hard to keep up. One minute people are boycotting the latest food trends and the next they are fiercely against big name fashion brands. As a consequence the audience insight you have may be invalid within a few months so keeping a finger on the pulse is essential. Audience insight is not just market research, it also helps broaden your brands reach and target new customers who may never have given you a look in before. It can also help you tap into new trends that you may previously never have considered. To expand and grow research is of the utmost importance. Research into trends, past, present and future can help you predict where the market is going and help you stay one step ahead of the game. Many companies focus on their older clients, forgetting that the purchasing power will in a few years time, come from the generation below. Market research has shown that younger people are more cautious with their money and yet are willing to spend more on higher quality, sustainable products. Brands seem reluctant to put money into more environmentally friendly practices and yet, even with high startup costs, the financial and social benefits will eventually outweigh this and you’ll be thankful to have been ‘ahead of the game’. So research your market and focus on those youth. It will be worth it. Keep your finger on the pulse.