Monday, August 11, 2008

Teens & the Olympics


I'm not a teen anymore. I was the Dad of teens but the youngest turned 20 last month.

I had little interest in the Olympics up until they started. Last night I watch the USA Mens Swim Team beat France by 8 hundredths of a second! ( I wonder how they time these events, I'll have to Google it later.)

But what about the teens, do they care? When I was a teen, I remember sitting around the television waiting and watching as the USA competed with the rest of the world.

Harris did a poll, and here's what they say:

Monday, August 11, 2008

Teens Just "Sorta" Interested in Olympics

There may still be time for marketers to adjust in reaching teens and tweens tuning into the 2008 Summer Olympics.

A recent study conducted by the Harris Interactive Youth Center of Excellence shows that just 46% of 13 -18 year olds in the U.S. express an interest in the upcoming Olympics, including only 27% who say they are extremely or very interested. Teen boys ages 16-18 show the greatest interest and represent the only age group where over half of youth are interested in the sporting event. Teens overall are a larger audience for the Olympics than tweens (ages 8-12) who report only a 28% interest.

Interest in 2008 Summer Olympics (% of category respondents)

Tweens
(8-12)

Teens (13-18)

Male Teens (16-18)

Female Teens (16-18)

At least interested

28%

46%

57%

40%

Extremely/Very interested

13

27

34

23

Extremely interested

6

14

19

10

Very interested

7

13

15

13

Somewhat interested

35

26

24

31

Not at all interested

37

28

19

30

Source: Harris Interactive, August 2008

Dana Markow, Ph.D, VP senior consultant, Harris Interactive, said "... teens have not yet caught Olympics-fever... (though) many of the Olympic competitors are the same age... "

Overall, teens say they are most interested in following swimming (40%), gymnastics (38%) and track and field (33%). However, the top three Olympic sports that teen boys are interested in watching or reading about are:

  • Track and field (35%)
  • Swimming (34%)
  • Basketball (34%)

While girls are most interested in:

  • Gymnastics (56%)
  • Swimming (46%)
  • Diving (35%)

Events Most Interested in Watching or Reading About (% of category respondents)

Teens (13-18)

Male Teens (13-18)

Female Teens (13-18)

Swimming

40%

34%

46%

Gymnastics

38

21

56

Track & Field

33

35

30

Diving

28

21

35

Basketball

26

34

17

Source: Harris Interactive, August 2008

59% say that they plan to watch Olympics sporting events on TV. A far smaller number of teens are interested in reading about (22%) or watching (14%) Olympic sporting events online. Similar to an overall interest in the Olympics, plans to follow the Games online increases significantly with age.

Plans About Olympic "Attachment" (% of category respondents)

Teens (13-18)

Teens (13-15)

Teens (16-18)

Watch on TV

59%

57%

61%

Read about online

22

14

30

Read about in newspaper

18

17

19

Watch online

14

9

18

Buy logo products

5

5

5

Source: Harris Interactive, August 2008

Most teens understand that the Olympics are more than simply a sport competition:

  • 62% agree that the Olympics helps to build a better and more peaceful world, four times the amount who disagree (16%) with this statement
  • 71% of teens who say they are interested in the Olympics agree that the Games are about more than merely medals and marketing

For more information from Harris Interactive, please visit here

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