Market research on College students.

1. College Students
TOMMY CONFAR

2. STUDENT POPULATION
 2011-2012 collegiate population ages 18-
to-34 numbers approximately 16 million
 Economic times have brought more adults to
institutions of higher education to allow them
to be prepared for career adjustments
 62% of college students are age 24 or
under,
 22% of college students are under the age
of 20

3. LIVING
 52.9% of
college
students live
at home
 24.7% of
college
students live
off-campus
 18.1% of
college
students live
in a
dormitory
 3.8% of
college
students live
in a fraternity
or sorority
house

4. STUDY ABROAD AND FOREIGN
 260,000 U.S. students study
abroad
 There are approximately 690,000
foreign exchange students in the
U.S.
 Thisadds about 20 billion dollars
into our economy

5. SPENDING
 College students ages 18-to-34 spent
$306 billion during the 2010-2011
academic year
 That is a 13% increase from the prior
year
 Of that $306 billion, $69 billion was
discretionary spending
 $37.7 billion for students ages 18-to-24

6. SPENDING
 Male students ages 18-to-34 spend
more for entertainment and
technology on a monthly basis
 Female students ages 18-to-34
spend slightly more on clothing and
shoes, cosmetics, and cell-phone
purchases
 Male students spend slightly more
than females on personal care
products
 Spending for entertainment, eating
out, bars and nightclubs remained
steady or increased from 2010

7. SPENDING
 2011 back-to-college spending
(excluding textbooks) estimated
at $34.4 billion

8. NON-TRADITIONAL STUDENT
 Not followed a continuous education
path into college
 Over 24 years of age
 Working full time
 Having dependents to support
 Attend college part time
 73% of all students have some
characteristics of the non-traditional
student
 They have different desires and needs
from their traditional counterparts on
campus
 Non-traditional students are growing in
population
 Disadvantaged to traditional students

9. STRESS
 Anxiety, uncertainty, and stress are included in any
students career
 Stress emerged as an important variable with
relationships to grade point average (GPA) and intent
to persist along with goal commitment
 Unlike traditional students, non-traditional students
have responsibilities related to their work and
personal lives that may lead to demand overload and
role conflict when merged with school.
 These additional demands and responsibilities can
create time limitations that traditional students are
not apt to experience
 Combining a degree with employment can have
negative consequences with students missing
classes, doing less reading, and experiencing higher
levels of stress
 Students with families tend to have higher stress
levels
 These students with more time management
behaviors considered themselves to be more
effective at work, had higher levels of moral and
lower levels of stress (usually a traditional student)
 Traditional students, because they are less mature,
experience stress from academic and social
concerns

10. STRESS

11. DRINKING
 Binge drinking is
the consumption of
five or more
alcoholic
beverages at one
sitting by men and
four or more drinks
at a single sitting
by women
 In studying student
drinking, it has
been found that
the root causes of
excessive drinking
revolve around
depression,
anxiety, peer
pressure, and the
desire for social
acceptance
 40% of college
students engage in
high-risk drinking

12. ONLINE/DEVICES
 Staying “connected” and easily
reachable is important for college
students

13. ONLINE
 77.6% of college students use
social networking sites
 Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc..
 18% of students who go online have a
Twitter
 Around 85% of all college students have
a Facebook account

14. MOST VISITED SITES BY STUDENTS

15. T.V.
 College student favorites include
“Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Office”
 T.V. shows and stations are trying to be
relevant and popular on social media
platforms
 The youth is a target consumer who might
tweet about a show they just watched or post
a clip from a show they liked on their
Facebook
 This gains exposure for the T.V. station and show

16. MISC. TRENDS
 E book readers
 Small percentage but growing
 Mainly used for recreational and class readings
 The kindle is the top in its market
 Voting percentages in youth has dropped to
11% in the 2010 midterm elections, from 18% in
2008’s election
 Democrats are down to 57% from the previous 66% in
2008
 College student decline in politics is because the
student body feels the “change” promised in 2008
never happened
 Smaller schools that focus more on teaching
than relying on research outside of the class
 Student satisfaction surveys show more students are
happy with more time spent in class and with the
teacher. Out of class research intensive schools did
not show high results in student satisfaction.
 Students that live on campus or in on campus
housing are more satisfied with their college
experience than those who commute or live off
campus.
 This relates to being closer to classmates and making
more connections with other students and faculty

17. TRENDS OVER THE LAST 15 YRS
 What students valued 15 years ago are the same things they value
currently. The items of greatest importance to students continue to
reflect an emphasis on the students’ academic experience.
 Satisfaction levels have risen overall at four-year privates, four-year
publics, and community colleges, but have fluctuated at career
schools. Despite the changes to higher education, socioeconomic
shifts in students, and the media’s focus on higher tuition, students
generally indicate that they are more satisfied now than they were in
the past.
 Financial aid has increased in importance in the enrollment decisions
for students at four-year privates, four-year publics, and community
colleges; school appearance and geographic setting have become
more important for students attending career schools. Students today
put a greater emphasis on financial aid awards as they decide which
institution to attend. This has been a common trend at four-year
private institutions, but financial aid has also seen a large jump in
importance at four-year and two-year public schools. While financial
aid is also a factor for career schools, the biggest shifts have occurred
in the emphasis on the school appearance and the location of the
college.
 While students are generally more satisfied now in all of these areas
(tuition as a worthwhile investment, their attitudes toward billing
policies, and their perceptions about the availability of and resources
for financial aid services), the improvements vary by institution type. In
addition, the satisfaction scores are currently hovering at or below 50
percent of students indicating that they are actually satisfied with their
institution’s performance, which indicates that there is still room for
improvement in this area.
 The importance and satisfaction shifts in campus climate items. A 2009
study, Linking Student Satisfaction and Retention, indicated a strong
correlation between campus climate items and students’ overall
satisfaction and likelihood to be retained. These areas include how
students feel on campus, campus staff being caring, the sense of
campus “run-around,” and feeling safe and secure on campus. As
institutions focused more on quality service initiatives during the past
15 years, some of these items had some of the largest improvements
in satisfaction across all types of institutions.

18. WHY?
 One should market to college
students because
 College students use social media to talk
about brands and services they enjoy.
(online word-of-mouth)
 The students that don’t live with their
parents are begging to shop on their own.
They can be branded for life with a
product they begin to like.
 There are 16 million college students in
America. (big market)
 College students have high spending
habits. (back to school buying, food
purchases, drinking purchases, electronic
purchases, etc)
 College students are current and
knowledgeable about upcoming trends
and using the latest technology.