Teenagers increasingly seeking online access via non-traditional means

Teenagers around the world have unrestricted access to the Internet and are increasingly using non-traditional devices or TVs to do it, a new report has found.

The new study undertaken by digital analysis firm Research Now and K&A BrandResearch surveyed 2,490 teenagers between 12 and 17 years of age residing in the US, Poland, Germany and the UK, and found two-thirds were getting online via smartphones, tablets, video game console, television or other devices separate to their desktop or laptop PC.

Of those surveyed, 92 per cent are going online to look up things they don’t know, followed by seeking information about events and what’s happening (83 per cent). Window shopping, or researching and browsing for items, was also a popular pastime (84 per cent).

The top five items teenagers search for online was topped by music, followed by online games, clothes, shoes and books. Despite this voracious appetite for goods just 35 per cent of those surveyed said they actually purchase items online.

The report also analysed how much time teenagers are spending surfing the Internet, as well as their access to it, and found youths in all territories had unlimited and unsupervised access to the Internet, and could go online as often as they wished. Sixty-two per cent are online every day, with 46 per cent making multiple online visits in a 24-hour period. Research Now said the common trend was for teenagers to experience a gradual increase in the amount of time spent online as they grow older.

Perhaps surprisingly, teens generally displayed a more favourable disposition to traditional print and TV ads than online ads, and 30 per cent claim to enjoy talking about non-digital adverts with friends. Half of the American, British and Polish teens surveyed could recall traditional advertisements, but less than a quarter could do the same in relation to online advertisements.

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