Teenagers are highly motivated by money and the myriad products and services for which it can be exchanged, but they can also be naïve about the consequences of profligate spending and slipshod money management. Though arguably one of the most privileged and self-aware generations of modern times, these 24.8 million trendy and hyper-brand-aware adolescents age 12-17 are also among the least-educated and most underserved in terms of personal finance and money management. As a cohort they represent an $80 billion market, but teens’ immaturity and often unrealistic expectations of their own imminent wealth lead parents and educators to encourage teen saving but to doubt that other financial products—especially those that facilitate spending—are in the best interests of their kids. In this report Packaged Facts analyzes how providers of financial products and services can ethically answer parental concerns while still leveraging young people’s desire for independence and instant gratification into viable, long-term financial instruments, from basic savings and checking accounts to payment cards, money management and investment, and media-based banking.

What’s important to purveyors of financial products and services is their own long-term investment in the adults these young consumers will become. That includes finding ways not only to expand opportunities for the 16.4 million teens who currently use financial services, but to attract the 5.2 million teens who are thus far underserved (i.e., those who work or receive an allowance or money for chores but do not yet have or use financial products or services). Thus, Packaged Facts explores the world of teenagers and money—how they get it, how they feel about it, how they spend it, how they save it; how much they understand about the long-term implications of finance in their lives—and analyzes how financial marketers can parlay this knowledge into hip, exciting products. The report draws on uniquely cross-tabulated Simmons Market Research Bureau teen consumer survey data, along with secondary sources including articles appearing in marketing, business and trade publications; government resources; company literature and advertising; and extensive Internet canvassing including websites and blogs. The report presents four focus chapters:

• Teen Attitudes and Demographics. Provides a demographic profile of U.S. teens today, with emphasis on the cohort’s income sources and leisure activities;
• Teen Shopping and Spending. Examines teen spending and shopping patterns, delineating differences in taste and focus according to age and gender, and linking these data with underlying values and desires;
• Teens and Payment Cards. Analyzes teen use of payment cards (ATM, gift, credit, debit) and bank accounts (savings and checking); and pinpoints media and technology-related opportunities in teen financial management, emphasizing Internet and cell phone usage.
• Teen Banking and Financial Services. Details educational and marketing programs in personal finance sponsored by banks and credit unions, paying close attention to the ways in which marketers are addressing potential conflicts between the concerns of parents and the financial aspirations of their kids, while also seeking to win teens over as customers for life.

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