National Survey of College Students Provides ‘10 Best Tips’ to Marketers

Rochester, NY—February 3, 2003—The latest results of Alloy's 360 Youth College Explorer^™ Study, conducted by Harris Interactive^®, underscores the need to better understand college students’ lifestyles and preferences as this consumer segment, which spent more than $210 billion last year alone, becomes more and more critical to the success of brand marketing.

John Geraci, vice president of youth research at Harris Interactive states that "by examining students’ sources of income, media consumption, Internet behavior, retail preferences, brand loyalty, entertainment spending, and personal care product spending, marketers can now apply some important tips to their strategies for this segment."

The study was conducted online by Harris Interactive during the Fall 2002 semester and measured opinions of over 2,120 college students ages 18 to 30 from full-time, part-time, two-year, four-year and graduate programs. Data were gathered on a broad range of consumer behaviors and category buying habits.

1. "Recognize Their Potential" – students are serious shoppers who represent, unique and lucrative segment of the consumer population

• Two-thirds (67%) have paid jobs
• They represent $53.9 billion in discretionary spending annually
• They were responsible for more than $210 billion in sales last year alone

2. "Make Them Laugh" – when asked what they want in advertisements, students named the following

• Humor (36%)
• Affordable product cost (44%)
• Everyday people (33%)

3. "Don’t Forget the ’Rents" – appealing to students is important, but parental approval shouldn’t be underestimated. More than half of college students brand loyal in these categories reported they were introduced to the brand by their parents:

• Laundry detergent (60%)
• Bar soap (55%)
• Toothpaste (54%)

4. "Have a Heart" – young adults care about global and community issues. Students are most concerned with:

• Environmental causes (56%)
• The potential for war (53%)
• Unemployment and lack of job opportunities (51%)
• The rise in poverty (51%)

5. "Give Them Credit"– college students are well-versed in credit usage

• 65% have loan payments
• 65% have a major credit card
• 41% of freshman have a credit card, 79% of seniors have one

6. "Think Active" – don’t assume that today’s youth are just in class or in front of the TV. In the past year, students have been on the move, spending their money on the following:

• Almost $5 billion on travel
• $790 million at the movies
• $390 million on attending music concerts
• $318 million at amusement parks
• $272 million at professional sporting events

7. "Be Connected"– college students represent one of the most connected groups

• 93% access the Internet in a given month
• 56% of online students have broadband connections
• One in eight (12%) consider themselves tech leaders—they’re the first to buy new electronic devices and gadgets
• Two-thirds (67%) own cell phones and 36% use them to access the Internet

8. "Give Them What They Want" – Students are price conscious and look for a good selection

• 93% cite low prices as important when shopping
• 94% cite having a good selection as important when shopping
• College students are more than twice as likely to look for sales than to want certain brands (66% vs. 27%)
• 80% shop at general purpose retailers like Wal-Mart and K-Mart
• 54% shop at clothing retailers such as Gap or Abercrombie & Fitch

9. "Plug In" – Students want the latest technology

• 88% of college students own a computer
• 85% own a television
• 58% own a DVD player
• 45% own a video game system
• 24% own a digital camera
• 20% of college students intend to purchase digital cameras, DVD players (18%) and cell phones (18%) within the next year

10. "Figure Them Out" – Not all college students are the same—know their differences

• Freshman (28%) are more likely than seniors (12%) to use totally new and different brands
• Freshman (35%) are more likely than seniors (13%) to use the same brands as their friends
• Males are more interested than females in trying a product in a store (57% vs. 48%) and in having salespeople be knowledgeable about what's cutting edge (30% vs. 13%)
• College students favorite snack foods are candy bars, salty snacks, and chewing gum but females are more likely than males to purchase salty snacks (71% vs. 55%), chewing gum (68% vs. 49%), and packaged cookies/brownies (53% vs. 40%).

"The teen and college population have one of the highest percentages of discretionary income in the country, and there is heavy competition among marketers for those consumer dollars," commented Derek White, executive vice president of Alloy. "Knowing how to connect with these students is paramount, and reliable research data can provide some clues on how to do this."

360 Youth is the media and marketing arm of Alloy, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALOY). As part of Alloy's Media & Marketing Division, 360 Youth integrates the assets and experience of the largest and strongest college and teen marketing companies including CASS Communications, Alloy, Y-Access, Market Place Media (All Campus Media & Armed Forces Communications), YouthStream and others to provide sales and marketing solutions targeting young adults. 360 Youth enables Fortune 500 companies to reach more than 25 million Generation Y consumers each month through a comprehensive mix of programs incorporating proprietary media assets such as school based media boards, high school and college newspapers, Web sites, magazines, and catalogs. For more information on 360 Youth, an Alloy Inc. company, please visit www.360youth.com.

About Harris Interactive^®

Harris Interactive (www.harrisinteractive.com) is a worldwide market research and consulting firm best known for The Harris Poll^®, and for pioneering the Internet method to conduct scientifically accurate market research. Headquartered in Rochester, New York, U.S.A., Harris Interactive combines proprietary methodologies and technology with expertise in predictive, custom and strategic research. The Company conducts international research through wholly owned subsidiaries—London-based HI Europe (www.hieurope.com) and Tokyo-based Harris Interactive Japan—as well as through the Harris Interactive Global Network of local market-and opinion-research firms, and various U.S. offices. EOE M/F/D/V

To become a member of the Harris Poll Online^SM and be invited to participate in future online surveys, visit www.harrispollonline.com.

Nancy Wong
Harris Interactive
585-214-7316
nwong@harrisinteractive.com

Jodi Smith
360 Youth, an Alloy, Inc. Co.
212-329-8359
jodis@alloy.com