Consumerism and the youth

These are among the findings of the second annual survey, conducted among South Africa's urban tweens (8 - 13 years), teens (14 - 18 years) and young adults (19 - 22 years) during the first quarter of 2006. The survey, powered by HDI Youth Marketeers, is one of the largest youth brand preference studies ever conducted in South Africa and is designed to gain insight into this elusive market segment, for the benefit of both brand marketers and their target markets.

Yet, despite their substantial spend, the youth are not always considered to be credible cash consumers - especially the younger, tween members of the set. Moreover, their credibility varies by sector. As the following table depicts, clothing stores, movies and fast food outlets are more accepting of the youth as consumers than grocery outlets and CD/DVD stores.

Nevertheless, some 80% of the survey respondents report experiencing problems when making purchases, even in the stores where they feel more accepted. Despite the fact that they are clearly primary consumers, and therefore deserving of the same service excellence as adult consumers, many youthful shoppers endure unsatisfactory service levels and are not content with the delivery of products.

Their only recourse is returning the goods. Yet, even then, retailers do not appear to take them seriously. As the table below indicates, fewer than 50% of complains are resolved satisfactorily, while about 20% of the youth encounter difficulties in getting meaningful assistance from the stores involved.

This lack of concern for their needs means that an estimated one in five youthful shoppers walk away from a problem situation as unhappy consumers - a situation that should sound warning signals for retailers hoping to win their custom by building long-term relationships. Especially given the word-of-mouth influence that the youth have on one another, particularly in terms of endorsing (or denying) products and brands.

Moreover, the long-term response is that 8.3% of respondents will not return to the store, believing that they will not be assisted, while a further 7.5% are too afraid to return and ask for additional assistance and another 5.4% do not know how to handle the situation. The nett result is that these unhappy youth shoppers often do not complain, nor do they exercise their rights as consumers.

This is despite the fact that the youth of today are quite articulate regarding the aspects that encourage their custom at their preferred retail or entertainment outlets. Interestingly, the roles and interaction with staff are among the most significant factor, along with the flexibility to return goods that do not suit and to purchase items on account (i.e. not cash only), as the table below confirms:

Why is there this disparity? The authors of the Generation Next study believe that it is because marketers (in partnership with teachers) are not fulfilling their social responsibility to address consumerism among the youth, with a view to empowering them to make informed choices as well as to cope with the associated disappointment that so often accompanies a purchase.