46% of Tweens Use Cell Phones / 55% Text, Says Nielsen

By Reporter Wireless and Mobile News on September 11, 2008 1:20 PM

The Nielsen Company released findings from the newly launched Mobile Kids Insights, an enhanced report profiling the mobile activities and preferences of U.S. "tweens" (ages 8-12) --a population segment of 20 million young consumers who represent a significant opportunity in the competitive mobile marketplace.

The report estimates that:

46% of tweens use cell phones
On average, kids get their own cell phone between the ages of 10 and 11
55% of tweens who own a cell phone send text messages and 21% download ringtones

Mobile Kids Insights measures and profiles the tween mobile market opportunity and explores the drivers of mobile adoption for tweens and their parents. It also illustrates how tweens engage with both mobile and traditional media. The report builds off a successful collaboration between Nielsen Mobile and BASES, which has extensive experience in accessing and surveying kids ages 8-12, a notoriously difficult age segment to survey.

Nielsen Mobile's research offers valuable analysis on topics ranging from phone ownership and carrier choice to offline leisure activities, favorite TV channels and website brands. Nielsen also explores the role parents play in tween mobile usage:

The top reason parents want tweens to have a cell phone is in case there is an emergency or problem
92% of parents restrict how tweens use their phone, 68% say they prohibit downloads (games, ringtones, etc.) that incur charges
65% of tweens with cell phones are on family plans

"Tweens have grown up with mobile phones and expect them to do much more than make a call. Our clients want to understand tweens' attitudes and mobile behavior in the context of their daily life and media consumption," says Richard Wood, Nielsen Mobile Vice President of Consumer Insights. "By combining BASES targeted survey experience with Nielsen Mobile's expertise in the telecom industry, Mobile Kids Insights helps our clients engage with this increasingly important segment."

Mobile Kids Insights is customized to address the needs of carriers, cell phone manufacturers, mobile content companies or advertisers who want reliable measurement of the growing mobile tween opportunity. With a survey sample of over 1,700 tweens, Nielsen Mobile's clients gain unprecedented insight into tweens' mobile and cross-media behavior.

Mobile Kids Insights is available from Nielsen Mobile.