Annual Study Finds Kids 6-12 Years Old Favor Apple's iPad Over M&Ms And Super Mario
Give a kid a pack of Oreo cookies and he'll feast for a few minutes. But offer the same kid an iPad for his stash of sweets and he'll gladly make that trade, spending the next several hours staring and tapping at a brightly lit LCD screen. We know this because the iPad is now the No. 1 brand among children ages 6-12, according to findings from the 2014 Young Love study, the nation's largest survey of brands among youth and families.
The annual study ranks more than 250 brands each year and includes heavy-hitting names like McDonald's, Toys"R"Us, Nickelodeon, Disney, Super Mario, Cartoon Network, KitKat, M&Ms, and several others. Many of the ones that made it into the top 50 are candies or consumables, though a few tech related brands sneaked in, like YouTube, Wii, and Netflix, to name three.
"iPad's No. 1 status among kids represents the culmination of the 'tablet takeover' -- a movement from shared screens and TV network dominance to curated content on personal devices," says Wynne Tyree, president of Smarty Pants. "Kids increasingly turn to iPads for games, TV shows, videos, books, homework help, and communication with friends and family."
The rise of the iPad to the top spot has been rather rapid, having gone from ranking 109th five years ago to No. 1 currently. According to Smarty Pants, the iPad was favored by tweens and middle and upper class families in the early days, and is now "an indispensable part of childhood for the masses."
You can check out an infographic of the top 50 brands here (PDF).
The annual study ranks more than 250 brands each year and includes heavy-hitting names like McDonald's, Toys"R"Us, Nickelodeon, Disney, Super Mario, Cartoon Network, KitKat, M&Ms, and several others. Many of the ones that made it into the top 50 are candies or consumables, though a few tech related brands sneaked in, like YouTube, Wii, and Netflix, to name three.
"iPad's No. 1 status among kids represents the culmination of the 'tablet takeover' -- a movement from shared screens and TV network dominance to curated content on personal devices," says Wynne Tyree, president of Smarty Pants. "Kids increasingly turn to iPads for games, TV shows, videos, books, homework help, and communication with friends and family."
The rise of the iPad to the top spot has been rather rapid, having gone from ranking 109th five years ago to No. 1 currently. According to Smarty Pants, the iPad was favored by tweens and middle and upper class families in the early days, and is now "an indispensable part of childhood for the masses."
You can check out an infographic of the top 50 brands here (PDF).
