Earlier this year at YMS16, creative marketing agency Amplify previewed their ‘Young Blood’ series – a national research piece that involved speaking with 2,506 13 - 25 year olds to try and paint a new picture of British youth today. It looked at young people’s attitude to alcohol, food and eating out, and spending.
Are young people still binge-drinking, fast food eating louts who don’t care about their health?
Although a third of young people we talked to worried about their future health, their responses suggest that they currently view good health as a lifestyle choice. They believe that being unhealthy has more to do with eating a lot of fast food, excessive drinking or not exercising regularly than it does with having an illness, taking medication daily or having a history of illness in the family. This is a departure from traditional thinking and a key way in which the idea of health has changed over generations.
Unsurprisingly, our youngest groups worry least about their health. It remains a background concern until something goes wrong. They use apps to monitor food, fitness and activity but only sporadically as health starts to feature more and more on their radars. The 16-19 year olds are aware of wellness apps, they are just not that bothered about them at the moment and the 20-25 year olds use them more often and for more things, feeling satisfied that they are able to quantify and be in control.
Although the vast majority agree that smoking is a bad habit and unhealthy, all of them seem to have a love-hate relationship with alcohol. They love to drink, they love the social interaction, the ritual and the relaxation that comes with it, but they recognise it’s bad for them, hate the hangovers and the time they waste on recovery. They hope that change in life stage, i.e. getting a job, will force them to slow down with their drinking but it seems like a way to put off the worry until another day. They were surprised that their generation drank less than any other but suspected reasons varying from the amount of health information out there to social media meaning less socialising happening in the pub.
Young people’s relationship with alcohol has always been hotly debated but we found that most engaged in responsible social drinking only, mostly controlled and at the weekend. Most 16-19 year olds stated they don’t binge drink or get out-of-control drunk with the deterrents being hangovers, the taste (for the younger ones) and impact on their health. This generation is amongst the healthiest of the last few decades.
The university students (20-25) admitted to more binge drinking and episodes of blacking out than other groups, but this is intended to be limited to the few years they are students. Significantly there is no desire to continue this as a lifestyle once they are out of university. They aren’t proud of it and try to provide balance where possible.
Balance for these young people comes from binging and abstaining. Their social media accounts will fluctuate between pictures of crazy parties, admissions of being hungover, inspirational quotes about living well and achievements in working out. They are finding balance in the only way they know how – by doing everything, good and bad, to extremes.
Are young people still spending all their money on booze and computer games?
As discussed, our audience are infinitely realistic when it comes to success – they don’t see huge riches as the ultimate goal and they definitely don’t want to be consumed by money. We found that they want enough to be comfortable with the basics and to be able to travel, socialise, etc. but also to be able to help others. They are more altruistic in their outlook than we expected.
Contrary to assumption, our youngest audience, 13-15 year-olds, has the highest percentage of disposable income8. Twenty-somethings spend more on food (23%) and socialising (17%), presumably because they live a more independent lifestyle and spend more time away from the family home. The fact that younger teenagers have fewer financial commitments and, potentially, a higher disposable income, is reflected in their spending habits. They spend the most in every category apart from food, and spend more than average on technology (25%) and hobbies (12%).
When young people have money to spend, clothes are by far the most popular purchase. A third say that they spend most of their cash on clothing (over indexing on women and 13-15 year-olds), while just under a quarter say that they spend more on technology. A lot of spending goes on socialising and on food but they do feel that buying an item of clothing or tech is better value as you get more use out of it.
Our audiences enjoy shopping offline for clothes but will always go online for the prices. We found some universal truths across all age groups: they hate the process of returning online purchases and they hate paying for delivery. Still, they are cautious and conscious shoppers and their behaviour is a far cry from the stereotype that all their income is spent on alcohol and computer games.
Interestingly, their satisfaction from new clothes is threefold (but short-lived): the initial satisfaction of owning it (especially if they have bought it online as the parcel feels like a present in itself), the first wear and the first compliment. The life of the item then comes to an abrupt end. Teens were particularly conscious of wearing the same outfit on social media more than once.
Has the definition of health, happiness and success changed over the last few generations?
Today’s 13-25 year-olds share one clear ambition for the future: they want to be happy. More than four out of ten say that happiness is their definition of success.
Success is defined broadly and subjectively but two ideas that seem universal within the groups are ‘happiness’ and ‘no worries/ stress’. Strikingly, their ideas of success are all infinitely realistic. There are no ‘create an empire’ or ‘win the lottery’ goals here, but more ‘having a family’ and ‘doing well at my job’. These young people feel that they have the basic things that they need so there is less desire for extreme wealth. Add to this the over-exposure of celebrity which has revealed that money doesn’t necessarily equate to happiness, and you are left with a group that value family, friends and relationships they can nurture over fame and fortune.
They consider contentment a greater achievement than traditional status symbols such as making a lot of money, owning a house, or having a good car.
Having said that, more are feeling positive about work and see it as a valuable way for them to spend time. It also feeds into their pragmatic approach to money – they need it to look good, buy tech, have amazing experiences etc. to feel like they are making the most out of their lives – they couldn’t live without it and they aren’t pretending they want to. However they do want to do something they love. We found men put more emphasis on making money5, and were three times more likely to say that owning a good car is the definition of success. This is still a far cry from previous generations for whom material things embodied success.
The belief that happiness equals success becomes more prevalent with age (46% of those aged 20-25), as does the appreciation of life’s simple pleasures that can be accessed every day – good food, sport and stories, whether that be in film, series, books or people.
In one way, their lives are so much bigger than other generations – they have access to the world at the touch of a button – but in another, they are forced into smaller and smaller physical social circles from a young age as they are more protected and the world feels less safe than it used to. They understand that privacy and security have made even the idea of neighbourly interactions less available so they look for opportunities to be around like-minded people as often as they can. They are most happy when they are around people – either friends and family they know or strangers that enrich their experience – socialising and bonding.
Therefore, it is unsurprising that the things that make them feel alive are socialising in any format, from nights out to festivals (music and party culture being at the heart of this), travel, and being able to express or find themselves.
They are not all about looking inward for happiness, however. Whether it is to turn a bad day around, to treat themselves or to escape from their daily grind, they find real pleasure in shopping. But the high is short lived – they see the futility of consumerism, and understand it is a temporary fix. This is especially true when it comes to their expectations being higher than their parents’ at the same age due to the sheer volume of goods available for them to buy.
Similarly, although they feel bad about spending money on eating out, they all love it. It is seen as a treat and a way to enjoy social interaction. There is a balance to be had in the type of food they eat when they go out (healthy/wholesome vs. junk food) with quality being important but impacted by price. Most have regular go-to places for a cheap, healthy meal that made them feel they were striking a good balance of treating themselves yet not over-indulging.
Does having a social conscience change their shopping habits?
With their need for disposable fashion comes ethical dilemmas. They are aware and often painfully conscious of workers’ rights, unethical sourcing and environmental impact, and generally understand buying cheap clothes/goods means someone, somewhere has to suffer for it. But they care about appearances and they are on display through social media more than ever.
They respect brands like Toms that help them feel they have made a social statement and helped someone else with their purchase but they don’t always trust what they are being told about where their goods come from.
Are they irresponsible with their money, spending more than they have?
To be honest, we found that overspending on credit seems to be a trait of previous generations. These are much more conscious about what they spend.
Despite their willingness to spend money on branded goods, more than nine out of ten young people have savings: just 8% say that they don’t have savings at all. More than four out of ten have short-term savings to put towards the cost of clothes, technology or holidays, but over a quarter (27%) are saving for the long-term, so that they can buy a house or car, or set up a business. When younger teens do save money, they are more likely to save for short-term goals (51%), while around a quarter of all respondents say that they are saving for both short- and long-term goals. The youngest age group like to save as it gives them more fulfillment being able to pay for desired goods themselves. They want to feel independent and not reliant on their family.
Men, it seems, are more likely to have savings than women, and are also more likely to have long-term savings. Most long-term savers are to be found in London (35%), where high property prices demand a serious commitment to saving money. In fact, Londoners are the most committed to saving (only 6% don’t have savings), while around one in seven Scots (14%) admit that they have no savings at all.
Their dedication to saving suggests that our older audience is willing to set aside short-term gratification in favour of achieving long-term financial/lifestyle goals. As house prices continue to rise, and student debt continues to grow, young people must start saving as soon as they start earning if they wish to get a foot on the property ladder.
