Majority of Children Shop Online
By Amy Maggio

Study from Stars For Kidz reveals a majority of children shop online. 77% of children between 8-14 years old are shopping on the Internet.

The Internet is an essential tool for families everywhere, but few parents have the time or expertise to use many of the timesaving opportunities the Internet offers. Busy schedules often place computer priorities low on many parents' "to do" list. As a result, they often turn to the family members who often monopolize the computer - the kids. Stars For Kidz, a leading provider of market research on young consumers, has just made available the results of the first ever significant national study reflecting the child's important role in family online behaviors and tasks.   

Results of Stars' national survey of over 6,000 kids, Surfin' on Mom's Turf, suggests that today's tech savvy kids have redefined their "household chores." In the past, common household chores for children included cleaning house or walking the dog. Now those chores have expanded to include cyber assistance for the growing number of Internet based family needs. Kids 8-14 are pressed into cyber-service for two major reasons:

-  Almost half in the study (47%) help because their parents are "clueless" online.

-  Almost one-third (29%) report they need to help mom online because she doesn't have enough time.

Some of the kids help their moms with predictable tasks like comparison shopping, as well as unexpected activities such as online banking, tax preparation and family travel plans. The majority of the kids polled believe they had a positive influence on family activities by helping their Moms with online chores.  

The top five online chores for 8-14 year olds: 

-  38% share pictures & e-mails with relatives

-  38% get movie listings

-  36% invitations & party planning stuff

-  36% plan vacations/travel

-  35% get driving directions

Interestingly, 14% helped their parents prepare their income tax return 

The Stars For Kidz poll also provides insight into kids' thoughts and preferences on various products, online payment methods, Internet devices, and music and entertainment activities.

How will online marketing change as we begin to adapt to the needs of this new generation? Kids are bona fide consumers. In fact, 77% admit to completing an online transaction. They are comfortable with new technology, iPods, and cell phones with Web-enabled browsers that allow them to access the Internet on demand through multiple media platforms. Although 26% of the kids report they are online an average three or more hours daily, 46% say that their parents are in charge of how much time they spend online.

According to Adele Schwartz, Ed.D., Research Director at Stars for Kidz, kids still will be kids, "One-quarter of the kids we surveyed admitted they have been "busted" for doing something wrong on the Internet, and still one-fifth (20%) of 8-14 year olds have their own e-mail account that they are able to keep secret from their parents." 

Stars for Kidz will present their survey report, Surfin' on Mom's Turf: Cyber Chillin' With 8-14 Year-Olds at the Kid Power 2007 convention in Orlando, where the Stars for Kidz team will work closely with companies to build responsible marketing programs that are educational, safe and trusted by parents and teachers. Stars for Kidz is known for its WebSessmentT  and AdSessmentT copy-testing service which are built on the knowledge and insight of leading educators and Stars for Kidz' own research. According to their mission statement, "providing kids with meaningful and fun learning experiences on the Internet is the foundation of Stars for Kidz."

About Stars for Kidz

Stars for Kidz is the children's research division of Learning About You, Inc. a company which offers branded edutainment content for children and moms. Stars for Kidz is a leader in innovative market research for children. Utilizing a team of Learning Experts and Brand Explorers, Stars for Kidz helps clients to create dynamic market study platforms for research about children, tweens and teens.

The Brand Explorers and Learning Experts at Stars for Kidz have developed a comprehensive syndicated report that contains measured results from the Surfin' on Mom's Turf poll which they conducted online with 6,024 children 8-14 years old. The report is available for purchase. For more information go to www.starsforkidz.com/ or call:  973-728-1785.

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