Brand preferences by the youth

A brand preference study identifies the preferred brands of a young respondent, as opposed to a recall or awareness study. The youth interviewed responded to prompts such as “When I am older…” or “With my own money…”

As such, a brand preference survey minimises the direct influence derived from parental choices and access. The preferences stated by the respondents are therefore their unrestrained potential (future) choice as opposed to that dictated by their home environment. While it is difficult to exclude parental influence, the decision to survey ‘best choices' devalues parental influence in the quantitative survey phases in most brand categories.

South African youth in three age groups – Tweens (8 – 13 years), Teens (14 – 18 years) and Young Adults (19 – 22 years) – participated in the three-phased study:

• Phase 1 – The youth nominated their preferred brands in 45 categories;
  
• Phase 2 – The respondents then selected their top 10 brands; and
  
• Phase 3 – Qualitative research was done whereby the respondents discussed the reasons for their preferences.

First place winners are: