Adults beware, because kids have a mind of their own. This is one of the conclusions that one could draw from the recent study conducted by Cartoon Network in association with ACNielsen in the Asia Pacific region.
The study called New GenerAsians surveyed over 7700 children aged 7-18 living in 29 cities across Asia Pacific. It surveyed over 2000 kids from ten cities in India alone, more than any other country in the region. According to Anthony Dobson, Executive Director of Research & Strategic planning for Turner Entertainment Networks Asia, this was because "The sample size was not based on the population per se. India is the most culturally diverse country than any other in the region. There are more languages spoken here, more than China. Hence the larger sample size from India." The cities, which were part of the study, were Ahemdabad, Banglore, Culcutta, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Ludhiana and Mumbai.
Some of the results were indeed startling, especially from the Indian kids. They revealed a strong preference for desi brands. Out of the 18 product categories researched top ten brands that enjoyed the strongest brand equity among the Indian kids are local. When asked what their favourite brands were in categories like jeans, shoes, chips, watches etc the answers were: Titan watches, Ruf 'n Tuf jeans, Uncle chipps, Action shoes, Boomer Chewing Gum, Maruti car and Action Sportswear in their respective categories. This is in stark contrast with the rest of the region where the top spot is occupied by foreign brands. International brands that figure in the top ten for brand recall among kids in India include Cadbury, Pepsi and Kwality Wall's.
And parents need not worry either because at 90%, Indian Kids have a much higher aspiration for achieving good grades and getting admission in a reputed college/university as against only 66% of kids from rest of the region.
The Internet usage among the kids in India, even though low compared to the rest of the region, has gone up considerably. Only 1% of Indian kids use Internet and they use it mostly for checking exam results and playing games.
If anything the only problem with this survey could be that the sample size could be a bit less considering the fact that only 7700 kids were surveyed in the whole of Asia Pacific region. .
