Pressrelease
- 2008-02-04 14:07
Netherlands, February 4 2008.
Today's youth live in an increasingly globalized world, communications channels become wider and distances become shorter, but more and more individuals trust only themselves and their loved ones. That is th conclusion of the survey “Global Youth”, made by Kairos Future, an international research and strategy firm with headquarters in Stockholm. With this project, Kairos Future extends its yearly youth values and lifestyle surveys in Sweden and Scandinavia to a truly international level. The survey covers 17 countries. The aim of the survey is to provide companies, authorities and organizations with strategic information concerning future consumers, employees and citizens.
THE YOUNG CONSUMERS – BRAND CONSCIOUS MEN AND SELF-EXPRESSING WOMEN
Today’s young are happy spenders – the majority of the young in Europe love to spend money. The global results of Kairos Future’s survey show that there are different consumer behaviors for men and women. Young men are generally rather brand-oriented consumers while the young women think it is important to find their own style.
Read the continuation of the press release here!
- 2007-09-21 07:06
INDIAN YOUTH HAPPY, OPTIMISTIC AND FOCUSED ON THEIR CAREERS
Seminar by Swedish research agency in Delhi
Read more about our survey Global Youth here!
- 2007-09-05 16:56
SELF-WILLED AND INDEPENDENT, BUT PREPARED TO WORK HARD
Today’s youth live in an increasingly globalized world, communication channels become wider and distances become shorter, but more and more young people trust only themselves and their loved ones. This is the conclusion of the new survey ”Global Youth”, made by Kairos Future, an international futures research and strategy firm with headquarters in Stockholm.
- 2007-09-05 16:42
STYLE CONSCIOUS ENTREPRENEURS EMBRACING GLOBALIZATION
- 2007-06-20 18:23
BRITISH YOUTH – TYPICAL EUROPEANS WITHOUT EUROPEAN IDENTITY
- 2007-02-16 14:26
Today’s youth live in an increasingly globalized world, communication channels become wider and distances become shorter, but more and more individuals trust only themselves and their loved ones. That is the conclusion of the new survey ”European Youth in a Global Context”, made by Kairos Future, an international futures research and strategy firm with headquarters in Stockholm.
With this project, Kairos Future extends its yearly youth values and lifestyle surveys in Sweden and Scandinavia to a truly international level. The aim of the survey is to provide companies, authorities and organizations with strategic information concerning future consumers, employees and citizens.
The survey has been made in collaboration with the Swedish Institute, Fondation pour l’Innovation Politique (Fondapol) in France, The Swedish Region of Södermanland, Fortum, The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Taiwan and The Institute for Information Industry (III) in Taiwan. The data collection has been made in collaboration with Zapera.
Quality of life and status – that’s what the young ones want
– Young people want quality of life, most of them choose a nice living environment to good work opportunities och they prefer a job that they can leave when the working day is over. However, the long-term trend is moving in the direction towards work with high status and good career opportunities, says Anna Kiefer, project manager of ”European youth in a global context”.
The world’s youth believe it is important to get higher education. Seven out of ten 16-29 year olds want to study at university and one out of eight is going for a doctor’s degree, but they have different motivation factors. Young Scandinavians study to get a good job, while young Americans and Italians wish to make their families proud.Everybody minds their own business
Young people do not trust international organizations, media, their national governments or multinational companies, but they do trust people in general. Yet, they feel greater trust in international organizations than older generations do.
They are moderately interested in contributing to older generations’ pensions and they do not want to buy environmentally friendly products or products from companies that take social responsibility, this is particularly relevant for young Swedes. Consumption is guided by the advice from friends.
Most of today’s youth feel that their own future looks bright, but they are less optimistic about the future of society. Young people feel greater worry about global threats than older generations do and it is environmental pollution, terrorism and war that are perceived as the greatest threats in most countries.
– The world is coming to an end, everybody should do something and everybody could make a difference, the young ones believe, but they are not prepared to act themselves and they do not trust the politicians to change the situation, says Mats Lindgren, CEO Kairos Future Group.Economic growth generates optimism and happiness
National growth and general optimism in the country are connected. Those who have grown up in countries with rapid economic growth are signigficantly more optimistic and also more satisfied with life in general.
– Money becomes more important to create satisfaction even on an individual scale, most young people like spending, the most important thing is to have fun, says Thomas Fürth, Research Director at Kairos Future.
Young Indians and Danes are the most satisfied in life, young Germans and Japanese are the least satisfied.European with hesitation
Do young people have a European identity? Is it feasible to say that young people feel European? With hesitation. Still people feel closer to their compatriots everywhere except in France where people feel as close to other Europeans as to their fellow countrymen. Scandinavians belong to the few who feel closer to their neighbors than with the rest of Europe, other countries feel as close to their neighboring countries as to the rest of Europe.
On our way to a global youth culture
Could you talk about a global youth culture, just because they buy the same clothes, watch the same TV-programs, share songs with each other, upload pictures at Flickr and share movies on Youtube? Hardly, young people differ, just like older generations, between countries and continents.– But there are several signs of an emerging global youth culture, because young people in different countries are more similar than adults, says Mats Lindgren. In addition, youth differ the same way throughout the world. Hence, when middle-aged Indians, Americans and Swedes speak of young people as different, they have identical experiences of that “difference”.
About the survey
Kairos Future has during the period 1990-2006 surveyed and analyzed over 17 000 replies from Swedish and Scandinavian high school students aged 18-20. “European Youth in a Global Perspective” included over 22 000 replies from 16-29 year olds and 30-50 year olds in 17 countries. They have answered questions about dreams and ambitions, what is important in life and work life, what is their ideal society and what determines their consumption patterns. The older age group is a reference sample that makes it possible to distinguish young people’s values from general contemporary values.For more information:
Visit our website:
http://www.kairosfuture.com/en/international/projects/globalyouthOr contact:
Sofia Johnsson, project coordinator
Tfn: +46 70-531 94 74 E-mail: sofia.johnsson@kairosfuture.com
