The good news for media owners Asia’s youth spend nine and a half hours each day consuming some form of media. Listening to music is very important to the lives of two-third of young Asians and 34 percent said that they had spent more time listening to music in the last year. The fourth annual Synovate Young Asians study covered 12 markets across Asia, including, for the first time, Japan and Vietnam. “Media across different platforms have certainly taken hold of youth across Asia in a significant way and this influence continues to grow. In fact, twenty-five percent admitted that they just couldn’t live without the Internet while 23 percent said that they plan to watch more TV,” says managing director, Synovate Singapore, Miranda Cheung. More or less The survey also explored the engagement levels of eight to 24 year olds on the different types of activities and time spent on media. Synovate found that 35 percent had used the Internet more than a year ago, while close to a quarter had spent more time watching TV. Newspaper and magazine reading remained unchanged with 64 percent of respondents spending roughly the same amount of time on both media. More than a quarter of young Asians set aside time and plan their schedules around their favourite TV programmes, hoping to catch every episode. The biggest media junkies can be found in Korea (13.7 hours a day), Hong Kong (12.7 hours a day) and Singapore (12.6 hours a day). This covers time spent on the Internet, watching TV or DVD/VCD/videos, reading newspapers or magazines and listening to the radio. “Asia’s young people have certainly embraced multi-tasking. Kids are watching the TV, but also talking on the phone. They are on the Internet with the radio on in the background. Or they may be sending email, texting on their mobile phone and playing an online game all at the same time,” explains Cheung. Voice, influence and choice Respondents were asked if they had a say and influence when it came to the purchase decisions on a variety of household goods and services. Eighty-four percent of Asia’s youth believe that they have the biggest say and are able to influence the purchase decisions as well as buy their own snack food, candy, chocolates and soft drinks. Over two thirds of young Asians were able to influence the purchasing of toys and games. Seventy-two percent of young Asians were able to influence the purchasing of clothing and apparel while two thirds of Asia’s youth dictate the choice of venue when it comes to fast-food outlets and quick service restaurants. Topping the list of purchasing influence and decision making among individual markets were young Thais (94 percent) when it comes to buying snack food followed by Indonesians (92 percent) and Indians (89 percent) while Hong Kong youngsters (64 percent) were able to influence the purchasing of video games. Young Thais (62 percent) again together with Koreans (51 percent) top the influence scale when it comes to buying skincare and grooming products while Indonesian youngsters have the biggest say on mobile phones. “Apart from voicing an opinion and having influence, we also discovered a sense of proactiveness among Asian youth, particularly young Indians (59 percent), Taiwanese (47 percent) and Vietnamese (43 percent) who indicated that they would not only influence purchases but get their own snack food, candy, chocolates and soft drinks,” adds Cheung. Moving beyond consumer goods and services, around a quarter of Asia’s youth had a say on purchase decisions of big ticket items such as the family holiday trip abroad and the family car. Climate conscious – but not always Synovate asked young people how they felt about one of the world’s biggest issues – how do you feel regarding the effects of climate change? An encouraging 67 percent of Asia’s 8-24 year olds said that they were concerned about the effects of climate change. Most concerned are the Filipinos (87 percent), Thais, Hong Kongers, and Koreans (75 percent). “Far less conscious were youth from India (38 percent), Indonesia (14 perecnt) and Malaysia (13 percent) who said that they do not believe that the climate is changing. “This is somewhat alarming and there’s certainly a clear need for more education on this global issue,” comments Cheung. On a more positive note, the survey did reveal that many had personally taken steps to reduce the effects of climate change. They had recycled waste (38 percent) and reduced the consumption of plastic bags, electricity, water and gas while over a quarter purchased green products. TVAplus