Common denominators: what unites global youth?

Analyses how the basic similarity of youth culture worldwide allows marketers to segment it across a four‐quadrant lifestyle matrix: the quadrants are In‐Crowd, Pop Mavericks, Networked Intelligentsia, and Thrill Renegades. Shows how this results from dividing young people by the oppositions of sober versus sensorial, and popculture versus subculture. Relates this fourfold classification to the brands that are likely to appeal to each: for instance, mobile phones are central for Pop Mavericks, but the Networked Intelligentsia prefers the internet. Concludes that brands must empower young people as evolving consumers and allow them to choose what is natural for them, rather than attempting to impose choices on them.