The World: Insider's View - China.(study about consumers behaviour)(Column)

Teenagers offer a wealth of insight into the emerging attitudes and behaviour of the next generation of Chinese consumers, Darren Yao reveals.

All communications agencies claim to understand consumers. The problem is that consumer insights are now becoming a commodity. Decades of Generation X/Y/D, silver foxes and tie niang zi (iron ladies) mean smart names aren't enough.

You must go deeper.

We recently conducted a youth study in major Chinese cities. We talked to teens and people in their early twenties, who represented emerging behaviours and attitudes. People who reflected a new, energetic, diverse China. We spoke to skaters, dancers, entrepreneurs, goths, hip-hop fans, computer-game addicts and young women whose goal is to find a husband online.

It differed from most studies in terms of methodology and output. To get closer to the teenagers, we worked with a couple of students from a Shanghai art college. They filmed the interviews and took pictures, while our youngest planner did the talking.

In focus groups, Chinese teens aren't always that open about their personal lives. It is easy for adults to see them as distant, alien even. But after spending hours in their homes, letting them show us their make-up cabinets and spending time with them in clubs, on basketball courts and in shopping malls, they started to talk about the interesting stuff: love, hopes, relationships with their parents, drugs, online behaviour.

This resulted in some great material ...