Abstract:

As market researchers who specialise in youth research, we are regularly asked by clients if there is a way of predicting future trends among young people before they become mainstream. The broad issue of researching the future in relation to consumer market research has been amply discussed and written about. The youth angle makes this issue even more pertinent, due to the fickleness and unpredictability of children and teenagers, when it comes to their choice and taste in products and brands. To help and advise our clients on how to deal with the issue of researching future trends among young people, we have developed a pro-active model which is based on the Subculture Theory. This paper, therefore, sets out to demonstrate how market research can utilise the Subculture Theory to help identify and understand the emergence of fashions and trends among young people. Before looking at the model and how it operates, we begin by devoting the first section of the paper to our definition of trends and fashions and to explain why they are so important to young people.