Youth marketing agency Dubit recently released a study of gelocation awareness and use among UK teens. Just over half (52%) of teens 11-to-18 in the U.K. are aware of geolocation services Foursquare, Facebook Places, Gowalla and SCNVGR. Of those who are aware, the majority (58%) “didn’t see any value” in using these services.
According to Peter Robinson, head of research at Dubit (Leeds, U.K.), “The greatest barrier to uptake is that teens in th
e U.K. don’t see the point.” Robinson also told ClickZ that geo-social is more popular among older adolescents in the U.S, where marketers are driving awareness, especially for Foursquare and Facebook places.
Facebook Places and Foursquare were the clear leaders of the geolocation pack for teens:
- 44% were aware of Facebook Places
- 27% had heard of Foursquare
- For those who were aware of geolocation services, 30% use Facebook Places and 5% utilize Foursquare
- Gowalla (3%) and Scvngr (less than 2%) barely registered in the results
- Awareness of geolocation increased with age for all services, but especially Foursquare – 20% of 11-to-14 year-olds were aware of the service while numbers rose to 38% of 17-to-18 year-olds
Teens had three main reasons for using geolocation services:
- 48% of those using the services listed ‘fun’ as the main reason
- 45% said they like friends to know where they are
- 14% were looking for special offers from brands
- 12% were interested in getting tips, or points and mayorships
There are significant privacy concerns among teens as well – nearly half (45%) think location-based services are unsafe.
Dubit surveyed 1,000 adolescents in April of 2011, balancing gender and age in the participant pool, according to the press release.
