Young People's Use of Entertainment Mediums (August 2010)
In 2010 the Classification Office updated its snapshot of how young people in New Zealand are using DVDs, video games, mobile phones and the Internet. This study repeated some of the aspects of the 2006 research into the same area and introduced some new angles.
Check out the 2006 research so you can see how things have changed (or stayed the same!)
In 2010 we surveyed 529 students who were aged between 15 and 19.
As you read this research, keep these questions in mind:
- How do these results compare to how I use things like DVDs, games and my mobile phone?
- How about how my friends use them? How is that similar or different to what this research says?
- What might be some explanations for the way use has changed over the last 4 years?
Young People are Watching DVDs more often
73% of the students surveyed in this research said that they watched DVDs or videos at least once a week – 10% more than in 2006. Over the last few years the number of students who said they watch a DVD every day rose from 3% to 10%.
They are going to the cinema less often
In 2006, 70% of students reported going to the cinema at least once every 2-3 months. In 2010, that figure fell to 61%.
The number of students playing video games has increased in the last 4 years
In the 2010 research 92% of students said they play games at least occasionally (the number in 2006 was 81%). Students are also playing games more often.
Most of the students in this research own a mobile phone
As in 2006, almost all the students in the 2010 research (96%) own a mobile phone. We were interested to find out how students are using their phones, and whether lots of young people have 'smart-phones' (like iPhones, or phones that have 3G capability). 51% said they didn't have this sort of phone, 27% said they did, and 22% weren't sure if their phone fell into this category.
Texting is the main thing young people use their phones for
85% of students said they use their phone for texting everyday. The number of students who use their mobile phones to make voice calls has dropped in the last 4 years from 91% in 2006 to 80% in 2010. Interestingly the number of students using their phones for pxting has also dropped, from 63% to 37%.
40% access the Internet through their mobile phones and 37% use them to play games online. Only 12% of the students in this survey said they watch trailers for films on their phones and 78% said they never use their phones to make and send video clips.
Students told us they mainly watch films and play games at home
Over 70% of the students told us they mainly watch films and play games at home. Just under 20% of students said they mainly do these things at a friend's house. The films they watched were mainly hired from a shop, but students tended to own the games they played.
Some students get films and games from the Internet
37% of students said that they played online games at least once a week, including 12% who played every day. 27% of students reported watching films online at least once a week (7% do so every day). 65% said that they watched films from the Internet at least occasionally.
Trailers and recommendations are the strongest influences on what films young people watch and what games they play
We asked students to tell us how much influence things such as recommendations, advertising and classifications had on them when deciding which film to watch, with 0 meaning no influence at all and 10 meaning a lot of influence. 54% of students gave recommendations from friends/family and trailers an influence rating of 7 or higher out of 10 for films. 41% of students gave recommendations from friends an influence rating of 7 or higher for their video game choices. In contrast, classifications and parent's rules have little impact on the viewing and playing choices young people make. 
We asked students to tell us the most recent film they enjoyed watching and the most recent game they enjoyed playing.
This survey was done in March 2010 (Term 1), and so it is not surprising that summer Hollywood blockbusters featured in the films listed by students as the most enjoyable film they'd watched recently. The top 5 films were Alice in Wonderland, Avatar, Shutter Island, Valentine's Day and The Hangover. It is interesting to note that 3 of the top 5 films have unrestricted ratings.
In contrast, age-restricted titles dominated the games students said they had recently enjoyed playing. The Call of Duty series and Grand Theft Auto games were the most popular amongst the students surveyed. This is quite a different result from the 2006 research, when the unrestricted games in the Singstar and Sims series were the most popular games.
