Students Head Back to Campus... and Spend Lots of Money

What happens when the current class of college students represents $198 billion in consumer spending power and significantly increases discretionary spending to $48 billion annually? They get surveyed by marketing experts!

Harris Interactive, the 13th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world teamed up with Alloy Media + Marketing, one of the country’s largest providers of nontraditional media programs reaching targeted consumer segments, to survey the class of 2011. From the press release:

“The largest college class in history (students ages 18-30) has evolved in three key areas: communication modality, purchase behavior, and concern over world issues. First and most operative distinction, technology has taken students out of the dorm room and morphed communication into mobile rapid fire exchanges fraught with ‘pokes’ and alerts. Four short years ago, being ‘wired’ referred to an over-caffeinated all-nighter, and friends met up on the quad without the option of today’s ‘online’ student union. ‘Friending’ your professor may not seem the proper student-teacher etiquette to the old brigade but for today’s class, it’s the most efficient way to get the grade.

‘The distinct comparisons we’ve seen from the 2003 study will have considerable impact on how groups eager to attract the attention of this ever-growing and powerful consumer group should be reaching them,’ stated Dana Markow, VP Research, Harris Interactive. ‘Perpetual advancements in technology have had notable impact on students’ daily conduct and as we head into an election year, we’re seeing a class that’s assuming more control over their future.’

Read the entire press release here.