Study Shows Teens Buying iPhones, Not Brand Name Clothes, To Increase Social Status
Unless you're willing to live out the rest of your life as a hermit, you'll notice there's a pecking order wherever you go. This is especially true among teenagers, but what might surprise you is exactly how their social statuses are determined these days. Instead of name brand clothes, which has been the case for many years, a teen's social status is largely determined by food and electronics.
No joke! Piper Jaffray told the International Business Times that fashion apparel ruled the day in 2005, but "today it's food." That's a first in 13 years -- where a teen choose to dine out has a bigger impact on their social status than the clothes they wear.
When it does come time to shop, Piper Jaffray says teens are more interested in electronic devices than clothes. "Fashion apparel for the teenager is not the first considered purchase," Piper Jaffray says. Instead, they view electronics as "popularity devices, not utilities."
Teens looking to increase their status among their peers will be quick to pounce on the iPhone 6 when it comes out rather than hold onto the slower iPhone 5S. Worse yet among the pecking order are those that will still be using the iPhone 4. To quote from the movie Clueless -- "As if!"
While not explicitly stated, we imagine the same holds true for teens using Android devices. Right now the trendy devices in the Android space are the Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8.
No joke! Piper Jaffray told the International Business Times that fashion apparel ruled the day in 2005, but "today it's food." That's a first in 13 years -- where a teen choose to dine out has a bigger impact on their social status than the clothes they wear.
When it does come time to shop, Piper Jaffray says teens are more interested in electronic devices than clothes. "Fashion apparel for the teenager is not the first considered purchase," Piper Jaffray says. Instead, they view electronics as "popularity devices, not utilities."
Teens looking to increase their status among their peers will be quick to pounce on the iPhone 6 when it comes out rather than hold onto the slower iPhone 5S. Worse yet among the pecking order are those that will still be using the iPhone 4. To quote from the movie Clueless -- "As if!"
While not explicitly stated, we imagine the same holds true for teens using Android devices. Right now the trendy devices in the Android space are the Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8.
