U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1961)

RADIO OWNERSHIP AMONG TEENAGE GIRLS 53.4% own portable radios 35.8% own table model radios 23.8% own clock radios TIME SPENT BY TEEN GIRLS WITH RADIO Average daily (median) time girls spend with radio: 2 hours and 13 minutes. Weekdays Weekend days Don't listen 3.0% 2.7% 15 minutes or less 3.6 4.0 30 minutes 19.4 3.4 45 minutes 8.7 8.5 1 hour 7.9 23.2 2 hours 17.1 17.1 3 hours 18.8 19.0 More than 3 hours 14.0 15.2 No answer 7.5 6.9 ♦Seventeen Magazine — Eugene Gilbert Research Organization. (median) time of two hours and 13 minutes; about a third listen three hours or more a day. The study was conducted among 4,532 teenage girls. The survey technique was in-depth interviews. Radio's influence with this group can be seen in answers received to the following questions: • "What did you do after getting up in the morning?" Listened to radio, 16.5 percent; read newspaper, 14.4 percent, and watched television, 4.5 percent. • "From the time you came home in the afternoon until you ate dinner, what did you do?" Listened to radio, 16.5 percent; did homework, 16.3 percent; talked on phone, 15.4 percent; watched television, 1 1 percent; read, 5.8 percent (among other responses) . • "After dinner until bedtime, what did you do?" Listened to radio, 22.1 percent; watched television, 10.2 percent; read for pleasure, 6 percent; did homework, 53.9 percent; talked on phone, 43.7 percent. Indications of the growing size of the teenage market are these facts from the Bureau of Census. The Census grouping of ages 15 to 19 alone shows that in 1960 there were 13.5 million teenagers in this category, representing eight percent of the total population. A decade before that in 1950, there were only 10.7 million, accounting for seven percent of the populace. Intriguing from a marketing standpoint is the pioje< tion lot 1970. According to estimates, there will be 19.2 million teens from 15 to 19, representing 9.2 percent of the total population. And the lure of the teenage market is not because of her and his roles as homemakers or wage earners, or as buyers of cars or wedding gowns or as purchasers of homes and furniture in the future. The appeal of this purchasing group is in the present, too. In the study conducted for Seventeen, it was reported that 800,000 teen-age girls become engaged each year; 565,000 own their own cars; 3.8 million work full or part time. Teen girls, the study states, spend $300 million annually on cosmetics. They spend approximately $3.2 billion annually on apparel and footwear. The average teenage girl spends $300 a year on her wardrobe. More than three million girls from 13 to 19 years of age drive a car. Two out of five influenced the pin c hase of the last family car in some way. 51 percent of the girls interviewed in the Seventeen study traveled with their families on vacation and influenced decisions about the trip. Four out of five teenage girls cook or bake everything from cookies to casseroles. 46 percent make their own breakfast. 51 percent who eat lunch at home or take their own lunch to school prepare it themselves. 4.8 million teenage girls have hobbies. What makes the teenager tick? And why is he or she a special market? PROGRAM FAVORITES OF TEENAGE GIRLS 13-15 AGE CLASS 16-17 18-19 DISC JOCKEY 80.5% 71.2% 75.4% OTHER 11.8 15.5 17.8 NO ANSWER 7.7 * Seventeen Magazine — Eugene Gilbert Research Organization. 13.3 6.8 36 U. S. RADIO/June 1961