It’s not a surprise that teens text a lot – teen females age 13 – 17 send and receive an average of 4,050 texts per month – however what is most interesting to me in this report from Nielsen is the trend for data consumption among teens. In one year, the percentages have increased significantly. They’re higher than I would have expected.

Now, what do I think? Well, when you factor these behaviors in with other findings like this Pew Survey or this Forrester report (which among other things finds that “daily Internet access for smartphone users is 35%” and that “A full two-thirds or 66% of all smartphone users access the mobile Web monthly or more often”) it becomes clearer that these habits are swiftly becoming the norm, especially for youth.

If nothing else the Nielsen findings point to the fact that data capable handset penetration is consistently reaching a younger and younger demographic and also hint that, behaviorally speaking, the utility and convenience teens seek and expect from the mobile channel is rising. It’s also important to point out that this age group’s mobile savvy is surely music to the ears of mobile marketers everywhere. Retailers will be wise to recognize this trend in habitual data consumption and the bonanza it represents – especially as teens grow older, become financially independent themselves AND keep their mobile consumption habits in tact.

OMG BFD BYKT!

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