By Nick Richardson, Faunder & CEO of The Insights Family. Surveying more than half a million kids & parents every year. Click here to learn more.
The Insights Family® (formerly The Insights People™), is the global leader in kids, parents, and family market intelligence, providing real-time data on their attitudes, behavior, and consumption patterns. Every year the company survey more than 362,100 kids and more than 176,800 parents.
On April 6th, the research company launch the latest version of the award-winning platform – Portal 4.0 – to provide children, parents, and families with a voice to shape their worlds.
According to the Kids Insights™ survey, across all age groups, environment/climate change ranks in the top 10 most concerning issues with kids in the US. Sustainability is also shown to be at the forefront of kids’ minds when they are making purchasing decisions.
Our Parents Insights™ data shows that 80% of parents of 1-5-year-olds in the US report that they encourage their children to think about their actions and how they impact the environment. Even kids as young as 5 are also considering their impact, a figure which has grown +48% in the last 12 months.
It is important for brands to be transparent with their sustainability strategies to appeal to this demographic of kids, 13% of whom report favor brands because they are considered ethical.
Kids Insights™ data suggests that the age at which kids begin to show concern for important global issues is getting younger. During the period between November 2019 and January 2020, 16-18s were the most likely age group to be concerned about the environment, ranking it their 7th most important issue. However, one year later (November 2020 – January 2021), our data indicates that in fact 6-9s are most likely to show concern for the environment, ranking it as their 6th most pressing concern.
With more brands utilizing their platforms to speak up on the importance of caring about big issues, more kids are being educated on them from a younger age. Nowadays, brands need to anticipate their target audience becoming conscious consumers from a younger age and must act accordingly to maintain their support and advocacy.
As such important issues become more prevalent to the younger demographic, now is the time for brands to incorporate their CSR strategies into their advertising and marketing materials as an additional way of appealing to this younger audience.
- Tweens in the US with access to a cell phone over-index by over 20% when it comes to concerns surrounding school safety, animal cruelty, and the environment.
- +71% more 6-9s in the US favored brands because they are ethical in 2020 (7.9%) compared to 2019 (4.6%).
- LEGO has seen its favorability increase 16.3% among 6-9-year-olds looking for their next toy in Q1 2021 (11.4%) vs Q1 2020 (9.8%) after they announced their new sustainability changes.
Issues surrounding the environment is among the top concerns for 1 million 3-5s (8%), increasing by +780% from 2019 to 2020. A brand successfully addressing this concern is LEGO, the favorite toy among teens, announcing plans to reduce its carbon emissions by 37% by 2032 using sustainable materials and renewable energy. This can strengthen kids’ affinity with the LEGO while contributing to reducing their carbon footprint. Brands can follow suit by investing in environmentally friendly technology to manufacture toys. This demonstrates an ethical brand image while also growing appeal with the more conscious consumer audience.
What does this mean for you…?
Across the world, children’s voices throughout society are becoming stronger and more relevant. Children’s influence on their parents and brands continues to grow every day. Understanding what attitudes kids hold in real-time and how these affect their purchasing decisions is a critical advantage for brands. Therefore, The Insights Family® team of researchers, data scientists, and developers have created the latest version of our platform, Portal 4.0, which will open more possibilities for brands and anyone who is trying to reach their audience. The new tools will enable brands to understand the attitudes, behaviors, and consumption patterns of kids, parents, and families.
To learn more about the attitudes, behavior, and consumption patterns of kids, parents, and families, and to get freemium access to the Insights Family real-time data portal, please visit: https://try.theinsightsfamily.com/globaltoyexperts
