The young hold the future, but don't expect radical change

The Jakarta Post

Debnath Guharoy, Consultant

Revolutions happen quickly. Progress is made at a slower pace. Literacy paves the way to education, which usually leads to emancipation, tolerance and secular values. Is Indonesia's youth heralding any radical changes for this young democracy any time soon? Not really.

Traditional values are alive and well among Indonesia's 14 to 24 year-olds, promising the continuity of this ancient culture despite the polarizations of the world we live in. That's a good thing, for conservatives and liberals alike.

What is worrying, though, is that only 10 percent of the nation's young view themselves as "progressive" in their attitudes to social issues. 55 percent believe they are "middle of the road", 30 percent are "somewhat traditional" and 5 percent are "very traditional".

Young people have a universal reputation for thinking free of shackles, for questioning old rules and demanding change.

Pragmatism and responsibility change these pure thoughts and raging emotions over time, and most of us fall in line as we age, in the image of our parents more or less. Life goes on.

But if the questions aren't being asked by tomorrow's leaders today, if introspection and criticism aren't part of their lives, who's going to bring about the social improvements in the years ahead? Hopefully, the 10 percent.

These observations are based on Roy Morgan Single Source, the country's largest syndicated survey with quarterly updates, with 27,000 respondents annually and projected to reflect 90 percent of the population over the age of 14.

From a commercial perspective, 360-degree profiling of consumers becomes a reality, regardless of their demographics. At 30 percent of the population above the age of 14, Indonesia's 14-24 year-olds are a particularly important group of consumers for just about every category of product or service.

Fifty-one percent of them are residents of the country's cities and towns, 49 percent live in the villages. That's a sign of the times, a changing ratio that's different from the national urban-rural picture.

Indonesia's youth are markedly different from their elders with regard to their "main goal in life". While only 15 percent believe that it is "important to have a prosperous life", this is double the number of members of the older generation who share that view.

Similarly, 18 percent of them believe that "an important life is most important", again twice as likely as their elders to agree with that statement. Over 18 percent of them speak some English today, more than twice as likely to be speaking the world's most popular language than older Indonesians.

While soccer is the nation's most popular sport, basketball comes a close second with this demographic. While over 9 million 14-24 year-olds play soccer regularly or occasionally, over 7 million play volleyball. Girls also add to the big numbers jogging around the country, making it the leading form of exercise with youth, accounting for over 7 million of the 15 million Indonesians who jog. At their age, they are doing more of just about everything, not just sports and exercise.

That includes shopping. Nationalists, 80 percent, "try to buy products made in Indonesia". Quality-conscious, 78 percent, believe that "quality is more important than price", but only 44 percent will buy a product "because of its label". Fifty-two percent, predominantly the girls, "enjoy clothes shopping".

Clear leads among shampoos followed by the declining grip of Sunsilk and the increasing popularity of Pantene among young people. Contrary to popular belief, youngsters of both genders do a lot of their grocery shopping themselves, but only the females "enjoy grocery shopping".

Among cellular networks, IM3 is one of the smaller brands but has a growing and disproportionate popularity with the younger generation. Regardless of the spin that analysts are prone to promote, three out of four youngsters do not yet have a mobile phone, constrained by economic realities.

On the other hand, there are over 23 million young people planning to buy or upgrade their handsets "sometime in the future".

In contrast to their counterparts in the West, Indonesian youth are relatively easy to reach via television. Equally remarkable is the fact that 62 percent of this demographic "try to watch the news on TV to keep me up-to-date". Almost 40 percent would use a coupon or redeem a special offer, 25 percent enjoy buying magazines.

A surprising 72 percent find TV advertising interesting, 32 percent of them often feel that the advertisements are more interesting than the programs, but another 22 percent find nearly all TV commercials "annoying".

These numbers and percentages change dramatically among youngsters hailing from middle and upper income homes.

Like so many countries in Asia and in the rest of the developing world, there are at least two if not three Indonesias, from a marketing viewpoint: Big Cities, Small Towns and Rural. Life just isn't the same across the board, there is little homogeneity. Economic realities create the biggest divisions.

Looking at those differences from the perspective of each brand, understanding the consumers of each brand across these wide divisions can be crucial to charting the way forward. Demographics just aren't enough. Neither are popular myths and old assumptions.

The writer can be reached at Debnath.Guharoy@roymorgan.com