Industry facts and figures

Why, where & how do teens buy brands No 3
Different backgrounds, different shopping habits

» 16% of the respondents attend coastal schools
» 84% of the respondents attend inland schools
» 13% of the respondents attend private schools
» 79% of the respondents attend Model C schools
» 8% of the respondents attend township schools
» 60% of the respondents attend urban schools
» 32% of the respondents attend rural schools

Worldwide, there is a vast difference between the shopping habits and brand preferences of people from leafy suburbs and those from remote rural hamlets. The SA population is probably even more divided than most other countries in the world.

The difficult question was: how to make demographic distinctions. We decided to look at the type of school attended by our learners: private schools, former Model C and township. This is not an indication of race - many indigenous language speakers attend private and former Model C schools - or necessarily status, as we did not ask anyone’s bank balance. It is merely an indication of the likes and dislikes of respondents from a certain kind of environment, where learners tend to influence each other.

Where and why do they buy

» The majority (79%) respondents attend former Model C schools
» 13% of respondents come from private schools and 8% attend township schools
» Private and Model C respondents are mall store browsers who buy shoes and clothing because they like the cut and style
» Township respondents buy trusted brand names from department stores because it makes them feel good
» Sport, music and movie star endorsements are not big influences
» Made in SA is not a priority for any group

Availability in stores and trust in the brand name are the main reasons why our respondents buy shoes or clothing.

But, respondents from private (58%) and former Model C schools (49%) are more likely to buy an item that they see while browsing in a mall store, than respondents from township schools (15%). For the latter group, a trusted brand name is the most important factor when they buy shoes and clothes (say 43%). Brand trust is also important for respondents from Model C (40%) and private (38%) schools.

Township respondents, however, tend to do far less mall crawling than their counterparts from private and former Model C schools. Apart from the fact that "seeing while browsing" is not one of the main reasons why they will buy an item of footwear or clothing, "any store in a mall" is fifth on their list of places where they would go and shop. Most respondents from township schools say they shop in department stores (41%), followed by sport stores (26%), fashion chains (20%) and discount chains (21%). This response, however, conflicts with the fact that Red and River Trader (Mr Price) are the brands owned by most township respondents.

The respondents from Model C and private schools buy a brand because they like the style and cut (56% and 70%) that they see while browsing (49% and 58%) in mall stores (46% and 53%). Most respondents from township schools (41%) on the other hand, buy a brand because it "makes them feel good". The fact that a brand is expensive and everyone will therefore be able to see you can afford it, is also more important for township respondents (16%) than from Model C (3%) and private schools (2%).

Like the township respondents (26%), a sport store is the second favourite shopping destination of former Model C respondents (29%) as well as those from private schools (21%) … which would explain why so many respondents buy sporting brands, when compared to the other more than 160 brands owned by them. Hardly any of the respondents admit to shopping at flea markets.

Apart from the cut and style and the feel good" factor, "comfortable to wear" is an important consideration for all respondents when buying shoes and clothing (28% township, 31% Model C and 38% private school).

The fact that a movie, music or sport star wears a brand have hardly any influence on whether they like a brand (4% township, 5% Model C and 3% private) or why they would buy a specific item of clothing or shoes (12% township, 7% Model C and 2% private school).

The fact that an item is made in South Africa also does not make much difference to the respondents as only 12% (township), 3% (Model C) and 4% (private) would buy shoes and clothes because they are made in SA. It is, however, interesting that these factors (star status and made in SA) are more important for township respondents.

Brands owned

» Model C-respondents own more surf brands
» Private school respondents own more high end fashion brands
» Township respondents own more store-specific brands

The respondents from township schools are far more likely to buy house brands from stores like Mr Price, Ackermans, and to a lesser extent, Edgars, Truworths and Foschini, than learners from former Model C or private schools. In fact, the three brands owned by most respondents from township schools are all more affordable store-specific brands, namely Red (owned by 44%), Hang Ten (35%) and River Trader (32%). These brands are followed by adidas and Jockey (both 31%), Billabong (25%), Edgars’ brand Kelso (20%), Dickies and Nike (both 19%), Levi (16%) and the Truworths brand Inwear and Soviet (both 14%).

Apart from stalwarts adidas, Billabong and Nike, the ten brands bought by most respondents from township schools are mostly store-specific, interspersed with a smattering of fashion brands like Jockey, Dickies, Levi and Soviet. More of them, for instance, own South African brand Loxion Kulca (12%) than Puma (11%).

The Model C-school respondents like surf brands – Billabong is owned by the second highest number (67%), but BadBoy/Girl (46%), Quiksilver (45%), Island Style (44%) and Lizzard (39%) are also amongst the ten brands owned by most of them. Most of them own adidas (68%), but sporting brands Nike (57%) and Reebok (37%) are also among the ten brands owned by most former Model C-respondents. More of them own Hi-Tec (22%) than Puma (20%). Like the township learners, they like to shop at Mr Price (54% own Red) and Ackermans (48% own Hang Ten).

The respondents from private schools, however, have a propensity for more pricey fashion brands like Diesel (57%), Levi (54%), Guess (36%), Calvin Klein and Soviet (35%). They also buy more Puma (44%) than respondents from other schools. Like in former Model C-schools, adidas, Billabong and Nike are the three brands owned by most private school respondents, but Quiksilver (65%) is the brand owned by the next highest number of respondents from private schools.

Aspirational brands

» Private school respondents aspire to own Lacoste
» Former Model C-respondents aspire to own Billabong
» Township respondents aspire to own adidas

If money was no option, what brand would they love to own most of all? The responses from learners from the three kinds of schools differ considerably.

Most private school learners dream of owning Lacoste – followed by adidas, Puma and Nike (in that order). Diesel, Polo, Billabong, Quiksilver, Volcom and Levi are also on this group’s list of top five aspirational brands.

The former Model C-learners dream of owning Billabong, then adidas and Roxy. They also aspire to own sporting brands Puma and Nike and surf/skate brands like Quiksilver, BadBoy/Girl and Volcom.

Adidas and Nike, followed by Billabong, are the brands that most township respondents aspire to. Other brands that are their #1 favourite are BadBoy/Girl, Puma and Reebok and fashion labels Lacoste, Guess, Converse and Sissy Boy.

Inland & rural teens like surf brands, city slickers prefer fashion brands

Profile of respondents from schools in urban areas:

» 10% attend government coastal schools located in middle income areas;
» 16% attend private or government coastal schools located in upper income areas;
» 47% attend government inland schools located in middle income areas;
» 27% attend private or government inland schools located in upper income areas

Profile of respondents from schools in rural areas:

» 90% attend private schools
» 10% attend government schools

Profile of respondents from schools in township areas:

» 9% attend coastal schools
» 91% attend inland schools

In the old SA, a Vaalie, Ky’Daar or Capey would instantly take offence if anyone would dare to suggest that they have similar tastes or shopping habits.

We therefore wanted to know if in the new SA, people from different geographical areas still think differently — and therefore took a look at which brands inland and coastal, as well as urban and rural respondents are most likely to buy.

In these breakdowns, there will obviously be many diverse sub-groups, but because of space constraints, we concentrated on inland and coastal, urban and rural groups.

Inland vs Coastal

» Majority (83%) of the respondents live inland
» Inland respondents own more surf/skate brands
» Coastal respondents own more fashion brands
» Most coastal respondents own Billabong; most inland respondents own adidas

Contrary to what one would expect, respondents who live away from the coast buy more surf brands than those who live close to the sea. The landlubbers are especially partial to Billabong, Hang Ten, BadBoy/Girl, Quiksilver, Island Style, Lizzard, Instinct, Roxy, Volcom, O’Neill and Lost (in that order).

The surf brand Billabong is bought by the highest number of coastal respondents (79%) and Quiksilver by the fourth highest number (60%), but overall the coastal dwellers buy more brands with a fashion look, like Levi, Diesel, Guess, Calvin Klein, Soviet, Oakley and Jockey.

As one would expect, sporting lifestyle brands like adidas (74%), Nike (69%), Puma (44%) and Reebok (43%) feature high in the list of the top twenty brands owned by coastal respondents … but the inland respondents prefer Hi-Tec (21%) to Puma (18%).

The inland respondents often shop at Mr Price, as more of them own their Red brand (54%), than Nike (53%).

Red (Mr Price), Hang Ten (Ackermans) and Instinct (Foschini) are the only store-specific brands amongst the top 20 brands owned by most respondents in all areas – although inland respondents are more likely to buy these brands than those from the coast. Interestingly, an equal number (43%) of coastal respondents own Red, Island Style and Reebok.

Urban vs Rural

» 58% of respondents are from rural and 42% from urban areas
» Adidas and Billabong owned by the most respondents from both groups
» Rural respondents own more surf brands
» Urban respondents own more fashion brands

The respondents from urban areas buy more high-end fashion brands like Diesel, Levi, Guess, Calvin Klein and Soviet than the rural respondents, who own more surf/skate brands. The four brands owned by most urban respondents — adidas, Billabong, Nike and Quiksilver — do have a sporting and surfing heritage, but they are equally well known as fashion/lifestyle brands. Billabong, for instance, is owned by 665 respondents, half of them from rural areas, who are not all likely to own surf boards.

Adidas, owned by 668 respondents, is the brand bought by most respondents from urban as well as rural areas.

The urban respondents are keener on sporting lifestyle brands like Nike (3rd most owned), Reebok (7th most owned) and Puma (15th most owned) than the rural respondents who, for instance, own more affordable store-specific brands Red (Mr Price) and Hang Ten (Ackermans) than Nike.

While Puma does not feature in the top twenty brands owned by the rural respondents, Hi-Tec (#16) and store-specific brand River Trader (#20) are amongst the twenty brands owned by most rural respondents.

The rural respondents own more surf/skate brands like BadBoy/Girl, Island Style, Lizzard, Quiksilver, Roxy, O’Neill, Lost and Volcom.

Brands with a surfing heritage, but only available from certain stores, like Hang Ten and Instinct, are also under the ten brands owned by most rural respondents.

The respondents in the rural areas also own a higher number of store-specific brands — e.g. Red (59%), Hang Ten (50%), Instinct (35%) and River Trader 18% — than their counterparts from urban areas, of whom 43% own Red, 39% own Hang Ten and 32% Instinct.