Canadian Marketing Blog

A phenomenon I would not have expected

This is an article I would not have expected in this day and age. Teens are buying books and reading more than teens of previous decades.

When I was a teen, we had a few opportunities for entertainment. The list consisted of playing sports, playing a few select video games (although this was on our TI 99/4A computer since we didn't have a Nintendo, Atari or any other game console), watching TV, going to see a movie in the ridiculously small theatres at the Eaton's Centre, or hanging out with friends wherever we might be (record store, arcade, someone's house). Of course, my Parents had much less choice than I did as a teen.

Teens today have more choice than we did for entertainment. Billions of web pages like Yahoo & Youtube, TV on demand, PVR's, and you're just a wiki away from finding out anything you've ever wanted to know about anything. Home video games allow us to play against anyone in the world and sites like MySpace as well as text messages and chat sites are changing the way teens socialize with each other.

So why are teens reading more now than teens in the previous 30 years?

This is just my opinion and is not based on any facts. I'd love to hear the opinions from others as well.

I believe there may be two reasons influencing this trend.

The amount of advertising teens are exposed to everyday. Every one of the forms of entertainment teens have at their fingertips contain some form of advertising. Even video games and online virtual worlds are being hit with product placement . Advertising was overwhelming when I was a teen, and there wasn't as much back then (do you remember any product placement in the most popular video game in history, Super Mario Brothers?). Books may be only form of entertainment today that does not contain constant advertising hits. Although even this is changing.

Also, teens are now connected to other people 24/7. Text messages, chats, online games, social websites, cell-phones, blogs, e-mail and the occasional age old phone call mean that teens are accessible to each other at all times. Reading a book may provide a much needed escape from this constant e-connection to others.

Whatever the reason, our future leaders are somehow finding the time to read more today.

Books are an emotional item and they are still portable. They reflect an individuality that other "product" of communication might not. I think Teens like all age groups still have a need for a physical item that they chose...that opens conversation and expands their own thinking - whether they know it or not.

I agree with you - that books are a private place to be...there's so little of that today.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that most of these "new" kinds of entertainment for teens are forms of reading? Reading books is simply a natural extension of that activity - and a "retro" one at that.