Donnahill's List: college students spending habits

• ess than half (43%) of college students are 18-21. The typical college student is in their mid-twenties, either lives at home or on campus, and has a job. Students no longer expect to complete college in 4 consecutive years, and many fluctuate between full-time and part-time study over a period of 5 to 7 years. The older the student, the more money he or she generally has.

• The typical college student gets an average of $757 a month from jobs, parents or other sources. Most money comes from work. 75% of students maintain jobs while attending school, earning $645 per month on average. 20% have secured an on-campus job and 42% are spending school breaks working. Parents contribute too, contributing an average of $154 to a student’s monthly income. A student spends more than $13,000 per year on average, 19% of which is discretionary. That adds up to a substantial $211 per month of discretionary spending.

   

  Credit cards are monetary sources for some students. Most students – 70% of males and 75% of females – have between 1-3 credit cards. While establishing credit in college can be to your advantage, using credit cards for basic living expenses can create financial problems. Use credit cards sparingly.

   

  Overall, data reveals college students to be savvy, capable and influential consumers, balancing the rising cost of tuition with a hardy work ethic, spending a fair portion of their considerable discretionary income on high-end technology, and holding considerable sway over the purchasing decisions of their peers.

• College students spend most of their discretionary income on food. Students spend more than $11 billion a year on snacks and beverages. Even students who live in the dorms and have meal plans spend a lot of money eating out. You can spend hundreds of dollars on coffee each semester. Utilizing your meal plan and cooking your own meals can save a great deal of money.

   

  A large expense for many college students is electronics, gadgets, and technology. Students rely on technology to access information, communicate with friends, and keep themselves entertained. These expenses are seen as necessities. The majority of college students (90%) own a computer, and two-thirds (65%) of those students have a broadband connection. 62% of college students own a stereo, a cell phone (77%), a printer (77%), and a television (84%). A large portion of income goes to cell phone service, which 85 percent of students have. The majority of students with cell phone service pay for extras such as text messaging (62%) and internet access through their mobile phone (41%).

   

  Entertainment is another large expense for college students. They spend nearly $3 billion annually on movies, DVDs, music, and video games. They spend $474 million on music sales, $658 million on theater tickets, and $341 million on games each year. At home and in the dorms, they’re watching movies, spending $600 million to buy and $326 million to rent DVDs. If you think a big entertainment expense for college students is going out to bars and partying with friends, you’re right. It is estimated that the average student spends at least $50 per month on beer alone. Each year, American college students spend $5.5 billion on alcohol. While smoking is not a form of entertainment to most, it is a costly habit. A pack-a-day habit can cost you several hundred dollars a semester.

• Personal care is another big expense for college students, with $4 billion spent each year for personal care products alone. Students also spend a lot of money clothing themselves. Nationally, students spend more than $5 billion a year on clothes and shoes.

   

  By the time they reach college, full-time students represent over sixty billion dollars in buying power. This amount usually increases once the student graduates and becomes employed. Marketers who can successfully reach these young adults with a quality product, positive message, and clear value, may enjoy decades of loyal purchasing and millions of dollars worth of free, word-of-mouth marketing. Hooking someone while still in college is one way to do this.

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• OBERLIN, Ohio, April 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Insight into the world of college student shopping habits is now available in the latest Student Watch study conducted by OnCampus Research, a division of the National Association of College Stores (NACS) that helps companies better understand the college market.

• The Student Watch 2011 survey aims to answer pressing questions about college students' consumer trends: where they shop, what they buy, how much they spend, and how to reach them most effectively. Highlights of the report include:

   
  • A ranking of top retail stores college students shop (Wal-Mart and Target)
  • Healthier lifestyles that college students want to live (61% consume fresh fruit)
  • The economy's effect on college students (75% say they are comparing prices more often before making a purchase)

• "College students are an exceptionally dynamic demographic," said Angela Bole, BISG's Deputy Executive Director. "Plotting their behavior is complicated by rapid technology transformation as well as rising educational costs, among other things. BISG's ongoing survey of student attitudes goes a long way toward helping the publishing industry make sense of this changing market place by providing hard data on the impact of habits and preferences."

• Results showed you’re forking over nearly $500 a month on music, games, clothing and entertainment so we dug in a little more and found out the following:

   

  On a daily basis, only 44 percent of college students are watching live network TV (vs. 71 percent of the general online population). We also found that college students spend more than twice the amount of time online than watching TV. When online, students are constantly connecting with one another through the following:
• • 81 percent visit a social network daily
   
  • 38 percent watch online video daily
   
  • 43 percent have purchased a smart phone in the last year
   
   

  And here’s the real kicker: YOU are increasingly influencing your parent’s purchasing decisions!

   

  So, not only do we want to say good job for being on top of it and trendy, we want to know…whose purchasing decisions have you influenced and what was the purchase?

• Each year, college students spend about $5.5 billion on alcohol, mostly beer. This is more than they spend on books, soda, coffee, juice, and milk combined.”

• 11th annual College Explorer survey, powered by Crux Research
• $417 billion dollars in spending power
• that's a 14% jump from last year's study
• This year, overall discretionary spending figures hold at a steady - but hefty - $76 billion.
• The dollar amount typically footed by an individual student or family has seen a decrease of 14% over the last 10 years, while funds received through scholarships, financial aid or loans has jumped 15%.
• fact, discretionary spending on food increased by 39% since last year's study and accounts for almost half (46%) of college students' total discretionary budget.
• $20 billion is being spent on groceries,
• $35.2 billion reported towards food
• $12 billion in restaurants and $3 billion in convenience stores
• "The college campus isn't just the focal point of college life, it's a coveted and communal environment where students are experiencing independence for the first time and laying plans for the future," commented Tammy Nelson, VP Marketing & Research at re:fuel. "Marketers have an opportunity to positively contribute to the college experience and make a lasting impression with these influential consumers. For this current class, brands that enhance their college experience will be remembered long past graduation day."
• ccording to the survey, respondents are spending 5.9 hours on their computers, 2.3 hours watching television and 2.3 hours engaged with their cell phone or smart phone.
• A full 88% of students are Facebook users and 25% use Twitter, a slightly higher engagement over last year. However, just 53% have followed or "liked" a brand on Facebook, and only 16% have done so on Twitter.

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