Habbo released some research highlights the other day (thanks Paloma!) based on surveying over 58K teens between the ages 11 and 18 from 31 countries and identified five clearly defined behavioral segments amongst respondents. It shows just how much high school hasn't changed.

- Achievers: Ambitious, strong-minded and materialistic. They value material success and while they have many friends, they do not consider other people's feelings as much as other groups. [aka "a beauty" and "a jock"]

- Rebels: Value gathering a lot of experiences in life and enjoy a fast-paced lifestyle. Like Achievers, they want to become "rich and famous," but are not willing to compromise on having fun in order to achieve this goal. [aka "a criminal"]

- Traditionals: Value having an ordinary life and see themselves as honest, polite and obedient. They are keen to help others but are less ambitious and pleasure-seeking compared to other segments. [aka "a brain"]

- Creatives: Share many of the same positive traits as Traditionals, but with a focus on creativity. They place value in getting a good education and being influential in life, but they are also active, social and have an interest in traveling.

- Loners: More introverted and less likely than other segments to identify with any specific personality traits. They rarely see themselves as active or self-assured, but are more open-minded in their attitudes compared to Traditionals or Achievers. [aka "a basketcase"]

Ok, I know they aren't exactly like our old friends from "The Breakfast Club," but you get the gist. Other not so surprising findings include:

- Nearly 76 percent of teens globally use the Internet to instant message friends, and, overall instant messaging was the most popular communication tool in most countries

- Despite 72 percent of teen respondents' saying they have active email accounts, results showed it is no longer a primary means of communication with peers

- The most popular global Web sites amongst teens are YouTube and MySpace

- In the U.S., the most popular web sites amongst respondents were MySpace and YouTube, followed by AddictingGames, RuneScape and Facebook

- Of those surveyed, 50 percent responded that they forward humorous links and videos to their friends, while 30 percent regularly upload content

- 74 percent saying that familiar brands guide their purchasing decisions. Reinforcing the brand familiarity findings, global well-known brands, such as McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Nokia ranked high for both boys and girls

- Gender differences are more visible for example in clothing brands. According to the results, boys favor Nike, Adidas and Billabong as their top clothing brands, where as girls preferred Hennes and Mauritz, Nike and Roxy

Posted by anastasia