Understanding
Tweens
And the implications for the food & drink industry ...
31/10/12
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Growing the success of Irish food & horticulture
Contents
•Background......................................................3
•Research Objectives.........................................4
•Research Methodology.....................................5
•Being a Tween ..................................................7
•Influence and Spending Power ........................17
•Food Behaviours...............................................21
•Healthy Eating .................................................31
•Media and Technology......................................39
•Takeaways........................................................45
2
Background
„Tweens‟ are typically defined as 8 – 12 year olds.
Today‟s „Tweens‟ in Ireland and the UK live in a time of sweeping
technological advances, considerable changes to family
economic circumstances, and a dynamic cultural and social
landscape.
They are children who are starting to develop their sense of
identity and are anxious to cultivate a sophisticated self image.
They reject more childlike images and associations and aspire
to be more like teenagers.
Their economic power is largely dependent on parents and
other family adults through gifts and allowances.
3
Research Objectives
To explore in depth the ‘Tweens’ market in Ireland & the UK,
understanding their and their parents attitudes and behaviours
about food & snacks, music, movies, TV, clothing, toys & games
Specifically we wanted to understand:
•Market Opportunities – Value of the tween market and influence
of spending power
•Trends – what‟s hot/cooling off and what‟s next. What trends are
they setting?
•Choices – what are their aspirations, expectations, concerns and
lifestyle choices?
•Parental Influence – how do their parents influence attitudes,
behaviours and decision making?
•Media Interaction – usage, monitoring, engagement, social
websites
•Role of Food & Drink – snacking, healthy foods, consumption
occasions, favourite brands
•Marketing Messages – are these cutting through?
4
Research Methodology
The study was conducted across the UK and
Ireland and encompassed both a qualitative
and quantitative phase.
It began with qualitative pre-tasking where
Tweens were asked to prepare video diaries
about eating and snacking, as well as
collages about what healthy eating means
to them.
Parents also kept grocery receipts and trialled a healthy food
product that they hadn‟t tried before for the whole family.
We then conducted family interviews in home with a Tween
and a friend, and interviews in home with one or both parents.
The quantitative stage consisted of an Online survey for both
parents and tweens; the first half was completed by the parent
and second half by the Tween.
Over a thousand interviews were completed, split between the
UK (803) and Ireland (203). We ensured we had a balance of
ages, genders and school years.
5
Being a Tween
6
Tweens are childhood veterans...
Physically Tweens now have good motor control
and can enjoy more active play than younger
children. They will go through many growth
spurts during the Tween years and growth
tends to be uneven.
Emotionally, developing social competence is
key at this age, and it is a source of both
enjoyment and anxiety. They begin to establish
mutually respectful relationships with both
parents and friends, and this is really important
to them.
Cognitively, Tweens have moved beyond an
ego-centric world and they begin to view and
understand that others have different thoughts
and feelings. They are developing problem
solving skills and can enjoy more structured,
rule based games… but they still think in the
here and now.
7
Growing older or younger?
Desire to seem
old and the real
level of
understanding
Tweens are constantly aspiring to be 18 months - 2 years
ahead of themselves and may appear to act older than they
feel – however, their level of conceptual ability develops in a
steady manner. It is important to recognise and embrace both
their desire to seem old and their actual level of
understanding.
In the UK, tweens are often exposed to many more external
factors, often from an earlier age than in other European
markets, and as such might appear to be older.
8
A foot in both camps....
The Tween lifestage
has a foot in both
camps. Tweens are at
the beginning of a
period of significant
change:
While starting to grow into a teen, their lifestyles and
conceptual thinking are still those of a child in many ways.
Their lifestyle is still managed by their parents – with defined
tasks and choices. They have limited long-term conceptual
thinking: their world is in the here and now. They continue to
enjoy many games and toys.
They are becoming increasingly aware of their social group and
are influenced by their peers; and are gradually gaining more
responsibility from their parents and slowly developing more
grown-up tastes in entertainment, style and activities.
They are on the one hand playful. And yet posturing their
future...
9
Starting Secondary School – the big
event
Vs.
The shift from Primary to Secondary school has a dramatic
impact on tweens‟ day to day life as well as attitudes and
behaviour. Both parents and tweens are keen to manage this
move well.
At primary school Tweens are in a familiar environment, one
room and one teacher. Everything is organised for them, they
have limited pressure and can focus on learning and playing.
With the transition to secondary school they move to a larger
environment within a structured day – they have timetables,
classes and other things going on - and they start to have to
manage themselves. Suddenly they feel pressure to conform,
both from a learning perspective and a social perspective. The
influence of their peers and older students plays a really
important part in their lives.
10
Beginnings of Social Pressure
In secondary school Tweens start to feel the need to identify
with their peer group – often wanting to seem older than
they feel.
They become more aware of the latest trends and gossip
which often arise through today‟s social media outlets.
As they listen to these trends they try to express their
identity - be it wearing the right clothes or becoming
increasingly interested in their appearance.
The desire to seem older than they feel is often expressed in
an older sense of humour; and the sharing of you tube videos
is an important outlet to do so.
11
Hopes and Fears....
Both parents and tweens primarily
concerns…
have
short-term
•Parents want to make sure the Tween's outlook on life is
correct, and that they‟re happy and comfortable in their
own skin; and in turn ensuring that they‟re becoming a
rounded and well developed person.
Tweens also have hopes and fears about settling into secondary
school.
•They need to belong and they look to achieve this by
keeping up with trends and „coolness‟. They don‟t want to
stand out from the norm as they fear they will be bullied.
Therefore “Having lots of friends” is rated the most
important of a long list of aspirations.
12
Tweens and Trends – followers not
leaders
Tweens are in the early stages of defining their own identity
and their tastes can change rapidly. They are starting to
emulate teen trends, but lack the confidence to be trendsetters
Once tweens start secondary school - clothes, and they way
they are worn, become increasingly important; it‟s a way of
identifying with their peer group. Conforming to a teen look
involves how things are worn as well.
Some teen trends strike a chord with tweens – they can be a
way to experiment and play with new concepts as they develop
into teenagers. Celebrities like Katy Perry appeal to the teen
and child. Crushes are a way to play with the idea of fancying
boys. Footballers remain popular, masculine figures with Tween
boys.
13
Public and Private faces.....
As they get older, tweens can feel
increasingly self-conscious and may
seek to hide their child-like play.
Social pressure to seem older can be both exciting and draining
– Tweens still enjoy being a child when they can.
Home is a safe haven for Tweens, where they can be themselves,
possibly even revert back to being more childish. They don‟t
have to think about being cool or on trend.
Tweens are still heavily involved in family life and activities.
With a growing close in the generation gap, Tweens and their
parents are finding more similar interests.
Parents are less authoritarian and more willing to indulge these
interests, to optimise family time together.
Many of their favourite ways of spending time are familybased. Four out of the top 8 things to do include spending time
with the family.
28% of Tweens choose days out with family as their number one
favourite, while family-based activities overall are number one
for nearly one in two tweens (48%).
14
Influence & spending power
15
The decline of pocket money
2001
94% of 8-10s
84% of 11-13s
2007
72% of 8-10s
82% of 11-13s
2012
48% of 8-10s
61% of 11-13s
In 2001 94% of the younger Tweens received pocket money, this
has fallen to 48% of 8-10 year olds receiving.
Now only 61% of the older Tweens receive pocket money
compared to 84% back in 2001.
When we compare countries, pocket money is a more popular
concept in the UK where 56% receive pocket money today
versus just 43% receiving in Ireland.
16
Spending Pocket Money
Rather than pocket money,
tweens are often given money
for meeting up with friends or
topping up their phone (within
reason). Birthdays, Christmas
or relatives visiting can mean
they have larger sums to save
or spend. Overall, tweens are
allowed a large amount of
spending freedom.
Most parents (67%) keep an
eye on how their Tween is
spending money, but most of
the time they allow them to
spend money on what they
want. Parents in Ireland are
more likely to closely control
how their Tween spends their
money than in the UK.
The top 5 items purchased
often with pocket money;
43% Sweets
30% Books &
Comics
24% Clothes
24% Games &
Consoles
23% Toys
17
Direct & Indirect Spending Power
While the concept of regular
pocket money may be in decline,
Tween influence on family
spending is very high.
Tweens understand that they can‟t
have everything – but parents are
also concerned that they have
what they need to fit in at school.
Parents aspire to make budget decisions with all the family in
mind, but kids often take priority and Tweens can have an
influence on family spending.
Tweens have a significant influence on the grocery shop…In
most cases, the Tween will be asked for their opinion on what
items should be purchased – in only 1 in 10 cases are they not
involved in some way in the process.
Where treats and breakfast items are concerned, tweens
have a slightly higher influence, most often either selecting a
shortlist of options for parents or choosing from a shortlist
drawn up by parents
18
Food behaviours
19
Busy schedules...
Food has to fit around Tweens busy schedule. Most families
want to eat together, but in reality they don‟t always manage
it, it‟s aspirational to eat together, be in the house at the
same time and have everyone enjoying the same foods.
But the Reality is that Tweens eat to fit with schedule.
People are always coming and going and family dinners are
hard to manage.
Many tweens do not seem quite ready to grow out of eating
habits established as younger children. Parents often
reinforce eating behaviours by sticking to relatively „safe‟
foods. Experimentation often takes place outside the home
either at school or at a friend‟s house.
20
Frequently, quickly & grazing
Growing tweens want to eat frequently and quickly – food is
a distraction from other activities. Three meals a day
doesn‟t always suit their appetites or their attention span.
Snacking occasions differ according to the time of day and
activities. During the day when they are at school they may
have a morning break, small components to lunch or a midafternoon snack.
At home they may have an after school snack, or something
before/after an activity and even a snack before bed.
21
Breakfast
Breakfast is a well practiced regime on week days…The usual
suspects appear on the menu. We see here the top 7 foods
eaten first thing/early morning during the school week.
Interesting to see the differences between the UK and Ireland
- Cereal bars ahead in the UK but porridge eaten more in
Ireland.
1. Toast
2. Fruit juice
3. Cereal
4. Fruit
5. Yoghurt
6. Cereal Bars
7. Porridge
UK
51
39
28
28
24
25
20
Irl
47
27
28
18
22
13
29
22
Lunch
Lunch consists of lots of smaller
components
that
are
a
compromise of what parent and
Tween want.
Sandwiches
Fruit
Squash
Yoghurt
Fruit juice
Yoghurt drinks
Cheese
Cereal bars
Cheese snacks
Crackers
Wraps
Below we see what is always in the
school lunch box in Ireland.
Sandwiches unsurprisingly are in
seven out of ten lunchboxes. Fruit
is also in seven out of ten. Third on
the list of items that are always in
the lunchbox is Squash.
Irl
72%
71%
32%
27%
22%
22%
18%
16%
11%
10%
9%
UK
64%
10%
9%
4%
There are a few items that are significantly different to the UK
- Fruit, yoghurt drinks, cheese, and crackers are much more
likely to be found in Irish lunchboxes.
Differences with snacks in the lunchbox are seen here – crisps
and chocolate bars are more likely to be found in UK
lunchboxes, while popcorn is more likely to be found in Irish
lunchboxes. No doubt an indication of differences in school
lunchbox policies.
Crisps
Popcorn
Chocolate bars
Irl
UK
3%
7%
6%
27%
1%
13%
23
The Afternoon
The afternoon is the least well-defined part of the day foodwise, with a range of different food types and snacks consumed.
In mid afternoon we see here the top 6 items across both
countries. Sandwiches and Squash are more popular in Ireland
for mid day snacks.
Late afternoon we see similar items, but fruit is snacked on
more. Again we see differences between the UK & Ireland with crisps and biscuits snacked on more in the UK in the late
afternoon. Sandwiches seem a more popular snack in Ireland
for both mid and late afternoon.
MONDAY
MONDAY
12:46
16:46
AUGUST 13
AUGUST 13
Biscuits
Sandwiches
Yoghurt
Crisps
Fruit
Squash
UK
31
16
22
25
24
16
Irl
21
41
31
21
24
31
UK
Fruit
36
Crisps
31
Biscuits
30
Squash
26
Fruit Juice 20
Sandwiches 16
Irl
41
12
18
18
29
35
24
Evening/tea time
At dinner time parents try and find a middle ground of
healthy components alongside foods the Tweens find easy and
quick to eat. Parents strive throughout the week for a
healthy balance of food and snacks.
Here we see the top six evening meal /tea time foods and
drinks. Pizza is number one, followed Squash, but there is a
big difference between the UK and Ireland. There‟s also a big
difference between fruit consumption for tea time which is
higher in the UK too.
UK
Pizza
29%
Squash
30%
Fruit
26%
Fruit juice 21%
Burgers
21%
Yoghurt
19%
Irl
35%
9%
13%
21%
18%
9%
25
Snacks & parental influence
Morning break, after school and after dinner are the
main snack occasions. Parents strive throughout the
week for a healthy balance of snacks. We asked them
to indicate if price is not a factor the extent to which
they allow their Tweens to eat different food types.
There were no surprises here
- a large number of parents
want to restrict the amount
of fizzy drinks, sweets,
chocolate, crisps and pastry
snacks their Tweens are
eating.
On the other hand they are
very happy with them eating
large amounts of fruit,
yoghurt, porridge, fromage
frais and fruit juice.
Fizzy drinks
Bags of sweets
Chocolate bars
Crisps
Pastry snacks
46%
37%
30%
27%
23%
Fruit
Yoghurt
Porridge
Fromage Frais
Fruit juice
78%
45%
43%
29%
28%
26
Favourite Foods
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
Chocolate bars
Crisps
Biscuits
Pizza
Fruit juice
Bags of sweets
Fruit
Toast
Yoghurt
Fizzy Drinks
Squash
Popcorn
Burgers
Cereal Bars
Cheese (Blocks, slices,
spreads)
Yoghurt Drinks
Crackers
Pastry Snacks
Fromage Frais
Spreads (jams, peanut
butter)
Cheese Snacks
(Cheesestrings,
Dairlylea)
There aren‟t too many surprises
here – chocolate, crisps and
biscuits take the top 3 slots.
Fruit juice comes in at number 5,
whereas fizzy drinks are at number
10, and squash is at number 11.
Who would have thought fruit juice
would be the most popular of the
three?
Yoghurts at number 9 are more
popular than yoghurt drinks at 16,
which are more popular than
fromage frais. When we look at
differences between countries,
Yoghurt is more of a favourite in
the UK than Ireland.
Cheese blocks and slices come in at
number 15 of Tween‟s favourite
foods - yet cheese snacks such as
Cheesetrings and Dairylea come in behind at number 21.
When compared to the UK, Irish Tweens rate fruit, crackers
and popcorn higher as their favourite foods.
27
Relaxing control at the weekends
Indulgent food and treats are central to family time
at the weekend. Parents relax control at the
weekend, so that the aspiration of quality family
time can be realised – and treats often central to
this.
Indulgent foods can help make the family occasion
special so a healthy eating regime is suspended and
there is much more leeway on what is eaten for
dinner and snacks. The weekend is where Tweens get
to choose how family time is spent , they are given
the opportunity to choose the DVD, dinner
destination, and treats.
At the weekends there was a higher likelihood to
eat burgers or pizza for the evening / teatime meal.
For late evening we see a significantly higher
appetite for pizza (11% at the weekend compared to
only 2% on a weekday). Also there are higher
figures for popcorn, crisps and sweets for late
evening eating at the weekends.
28
Healthy eating
29
Happy with a balanced diet
Health is an important priority for parents, but the majority are
happy as long as their Tween is eating a balanced diet most of
the time. However, striving for a „perfect‟ healthy diet is too
much to ask for.
“As long as I know overall
that they are getting a good
balanced diet, I am happy for
them to choose some of the
things they eat”.
67%
“I am fairly strict in
terms of the food and
drinks products I allow
my children to have”
“Health isn‟t really a
major priority for my
child‟s food. I would
rather they eat and drink
the things that they like”
28%
5%
30
Healthy eating attitudes
Both tweens and parents are aware of the need to eat healthily;
but it‟s the parents who feel the responsibility to make sure diets
are good enough.
Tweens often put food into „Good‟ and „bad‟ categories and tell
us that programmes such as „food dudes‟ are opening their eyes
to more „good‟ food.
Parents feel responsible to make sure healthy eating is adhered
to in practise, but can post-rationalise their choices as part of
an overall healthy diet.
They want to achieve overall balance and healthy attitudes to
the Tween's diet. They recognise that they can‟t really stop
snacking, they are just trying to get as much good stuff into
them as they can.
The Tween's busy lifestyle and activities can often justify some
instances of unhealthier food – often in instances such as
snacks after sports training or activities.
Vs.
31
Learning about health...
Here we see the top
5 influences when
learning about
health…
My parents
86%
My school teachers
Television programmes
77%
40%
Visitors that come into
the school
35%
Adverts on television
35%
Over half (55%) of parents say they are very knowledgeable
about health. They tend to be influenced by their family (36%)
most but also TV and media (28%) is a significant influence on Tweens as well.
The top influences for Tweens are parents and school teachers.
However, learning about healthy eating is often a two-way
process, with tweens often helping to educate parents with what
they learn at school.
32
Simple messages can work best
Important health messages resonate with both
parents and children…such as five a day and
that eating breakfast is really important.
However, health messaging can be overwhelming and
conflicting for both parents and tweens. In some instances
they just serve to increase the pressure on parents today.
So parents chose to ignore some messages and instead rely on
their own understanding. Sometimes they also respond to
those messages that make intuitive sense and/or are easy to
achieve.
So while the main messages help scope a healthy eating
regime within the family‟s week...parents choose their battles
with tweens.
Daily lives are busy and there
are bigger issues to worry about.
Helping Tweens fit in and family
time are more important at this
age group.
“I can‟t control what he
goes and buys at the
shop – but I know he
gets his veg at home”
33
Healthy & popular
So, what‟s considered healthy that parents are happy for their
Tweens to eat, and at the same popular with Tweens? Many of
the popular foods occupy a middle ground –where the parent is
fairly happy for the Tween to eat lots of it, and the Tween enjoys
the food, even though it might not be their favourite. These are
things like fruit juice, cheese, yoghurt drinks, toast, and squash.
On the right hand side of the matrix are those that are both
healthy and popular - fruit and yoghurt occupy the main ground
here.
Chocolate bars
Crisps Biscuits
Pizza
Fruit Juice
Tween enjoys
Sweets
Fruit
Fizzy Popcorn
Drinks
Burgers
Squash
Cereal Bars
Toas
t
Cheese
Yoghurt Drinks
Cheese Snacks
Pastry Spreads
snacks
Yoghurt
Crackers
Fromage Frais
Porridge
Parents happy for Tween to eat lots of
34
Healthy top of mind brands
When asked to think of healthy brands, not everyone was able
to mention brands spontaneously. Most often product types
were mentioned. Dairy, cereal and fruit drinks brands were top
of mind most and here is a selection of the brands that were
mentioned.
Yoghurts and cheese
Cereal/cereal bars
Fruit drinks
35
Media and technology
36
Having a phone is the norm
Tweens‟ use of technology expands significantly between
primary and secondary school.
Younger tweens may have started with a hand-me-down phone,
but are keen to upgrade. No justification is required – they
have a phone - it‟s which phone that they have that‟s
important. The need for accounts with email, passwords and
credit cards can be a barrier to accessing apps and a source of
frustration
By secondary school, 88% of all tweens have their own phone
– affordable smart phone models become the must have items
– for the apps and photo games.
While games consoles such as Xbox, Wii and Play Station are still
popular at home, they begin to be considered as home toys and
smart phones, Ipads and Ipod touches are favoured over
handheld consoles
37
Ownership of devices
By secondary school,
tweens are also using the
internet for a much wider
range
of
functions.
Seven out of ten Tweens
in secondary school own
a computer and a
television. The internet
becomes much more of a
platform for socialising
and communication, with
instant
messaging,
emailing and use of social
media all used to a much
greater extent.
Primary
77%
77%
Games Console
62%
Mobile Phone
88%
56%
70%
TV
51%
Laptop
69%
40%
44%
iPod
iPad
7%
10%
We asked Tweens what would they most like to receive for
Christmas/birthdays – an important indicator of what‟s most
desirable for them. Technology captures the top three spots –
games and consoles (35%) followed by smart phones (22%) and
then other devices such as iPods, laptops and iPads (39%). Toys
& books placed 4th followed by pets.
38
Miss the most...
If taken away, boys would miss games and consoles the most,
then TV and the internet.
Girls would miss TV the most, then the internet and mobile
phones. When the same question is asked of 16-24 year olds
- the internet is a clear number 1.
This highlights Tweens connection with games and television,
and that they haven‟t fully moved on to social media and
the internet.
Games / consoles
TV
Internet
TV
Internet
Mobile phones
36%
29%
18%
39%
22%
19%
39
What do Tweens like?
Music
TV
Websites
Many tweens didn‟t appear to really „follow‟ music
with any great interest. Some of the responses
tended to represent the fact that the music they
are most exposed to is that of their parents. Some
of the others are more predictable, like the
appearance of boy bands such as JLS and One
Direction.
The Simpsons remains number 1 TV show. TV really
captures this lifestage well, with a number of child
hangovers, but with the introduction of soaps and
other more adult programmes. Programmes such as
Top Gear tended to be popular also, being ostensibly
adult in nature but with a humour and mischief
element that kids can relate to easily. Sports/
Sports Channels are predictably popular amongst
boys.
Youtube was easily the number one website for
Tweens, while again here we see the split between
some kids‟ sites among the younger tweens in
particular- like Moshi Monsters, but social media
really becomes more important at the higher end,
especially at secondary school.
40
Adverts & Videos
The single most dominant theme throughout ads and videos
that tweens mentioned spontaneously as liking was humour.
When they described the types of things they liked on TV,
the radio and the internet, the recurrent themes were
cuteness, babies, things going wrong, animals and catchy
and irritating videos that had gone viral.
Crude
Off the
wall
Animals
Anarchy
Babies
Silly
Cute
Catchy /
irritating
Mishaps
41
Takeaways
42
Food is Fuel
•Food is fuel rather than an experience to be savoured. Many
tweens‟ diets are quite limited and unadventurous, continuing
habits developed as younger children.
•Tweens eat to fit with their schedule, snacking and grazing
throughout the day. The afternoon / after school time is very
fluid with least definition on food types eaten.
Can you develop easy, portable product
formats that fit Tween lifestyles?
Can you associate your product and its
relevance with kids running home from
school, dumping their bags and tucking
into food; or relating it to sports and
filling gaps, or bed time snack?
43
Home is a safe haven
•Starting secondary school is a huge step and there is lots of
pressure to conform. Home is a safe haven and parents aspire to
quality family time. Often this aspiration pushes others such as
health down the line.
•Many of Tweens favourite ways of spending time are familybased. The weekends are for relaxing control and allowing
indulgent food and treats.
Can you communicate your product
benefits around the weekend,
involving the whole family?
Can you
formats?
develop
family
pack
Can you associate with family
occasions?
44
Big influence on spend
•Traditional pocket money is on the decrease, but Tween
influence on spending is very high.
•A large proportion of food buying is collaborative, with
parents / Tweens working together to mutually acceptable
compromise
Products
and
brands
are
communicating to a dual
audience, appeal to Tweens and
get permission from parents
45
Healthy Balance
•Parents aim for overall balance for tweens rather than a
„perfect‟ healthy diet. They realise that Tweens can‟t eat
healthy all the time and strive for overall wellbeing.
• Families are also bombarded with messages and
information about health, often conflicting and difficult
to understand.
Can you support and help parents
to ease their tension?
Can you mitigate parental
concerns over healthy eating?
46
Reaching them
•Tweens use of technology expands significantly between
primary and secondary school. Mobile phones and games are
popular, but TV remains a key medium.
•Although trends become important in secondary school,
Tweens are followers rather than leaders. Humour is the
primary means of engaging with Tweens
Are you talking their language
and engaging them?
- Make sure it appeals to their
sense of humour
47
Understanding
Tweens
31/10/12
For more information please contact info@bordbia.ie
Bord Bia | Clanwilliam Court, Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2
www.bordbia.ie
Growing the success of Irish food & horticulture
48