Get Your Game On— Nintendo Wii Is Top Rated Among America's Youth

NEW YORK, Nov. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Nintendo Wii affirms that it is the number one video game system for America's youth and surpasses Sony's Playstation 3 to become the Video Gaming Platform Brand of the Year, reports the 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend® study by Harris interactive (NASDAQ: HPOL). While game systems in general receive higher equity scores than other technologies surveyed, Nintendo Wii earns the overall highest equity score among all technology brands included in the study.

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Jeni Lee Chapman, Executive Vice President and leader of Harris' Brand and Communication Consulting group, observes, "For video gaming to have the highest equity scores compared to all other tech categories, and Wii the highest within the category, implies that Wii has serious potential to stretch into other products. Just as Apple entered the hearts and minds of consumers through music with iTunes and the iPod, Nintendo has entered into youth's heart with their video gaming platform. One day we may be saying, 'move over Apple, here comes Wii.'"

Meanwhile Apple brands sweep the personal device arena and rank highest in Computer, Mobile Phone and Computer Tablet categories, proving itself the undisputed leading electronics brand among young consumers.

"Within personal electronic brands, these findings clearly show that among teens and young adults, it's Apple's world. We're all just along for the ride," said Regina A. Corso, Senior Vice President for Youth and Education Research at Harris Interactive. "With each new Apple generation and gadget, competitors are playing catch-up and youth are ready to leap on board. iPad is a great example of a new Apple product dominating its industry—the tablet already has the largest equity lead over competitors than either of its sister brands."  

Youth EquiTrend calculates brand equity by measuring familiarity, quality, and purchase consideration; develops an average score for each category; and awards "Brand of the Year" honors to the highest ranking brands in their respective categories. Within the 13 youth interest categories that comprise the study, there are four technology, telecommunication, and gaming groups:

Computer (13-24)

• Apple Computers is the 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend® Computer Brand of the Year, followed by Hewlett-Packard, Sony, and Dell.  

Mobile Phone (13-24)

• When it comes to mobile phones, Apple's iPhone is the 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend® Mobile Phone Brand of the Year. HTC phones, Samsung phones, and LG phones follow in rank order.

Computer Tablet (13-24)

• Looking at the newest form of computer – the tablet—again Apple tops the list. iPad is the 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend® Computer Tablet Brand of the Year. Motorola Xoom, BlackBerry PlayBook, and Samsung Galaxy round out the brands that rank above category average.  

Video Gaming Platform (8-24)

• Among all youth, the Nintendo Wii is the 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend® Video Gaming Platform Brand of the Year, followed by the Sony Playstation 3 and then the Nintendo DS.

Methodology

The Youth EquiTrend® study evaluates measures including: Equity, Emotional Connection, and Brand Advocacy. The keystone to the program is Equity, which provides an understanding of a brand's overall strength and is determined by a calculation of Familiarity, Quality, and Purchase Consideration.

This year's Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend® study was conducted online among 5,077 U.S. consumers ages 8-24 in August, 2011. A total of 121 brands were rated among 8-12 year olds and 167 brands among 13-24 year olds.  Each 8-12 year old respondent was asked to rate a total of 15 randomly selected brands and each 13-24 year old respondent was asked to rate a total of 22 randomly selected brands. Each brand received at least 130 ratings. Data were weighted to be representative of the entire U.S. population of consumers ages 8-24 on the basis of age, sex, education, urbanicity (8-17 year olds) race/ethnicity, region, parental education (8-17 year olds) and income (18-24 year olds), and data from respondents ages 18 and over were also weighted for their propensity to be online.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The EquiTrend® study results disclosed in this release may not be used for advertising, marketing or promotional purposes without the prior written consent of Harris Interactive.

Product and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

For a complete listing of all the brands covered in the study, contact Dagney Cassella at 212-539-9600 or [email protected].

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American and European offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

Press Contact:
Corporate Communications
Harris Interactive
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[email protected]

SOURCE Harris Interactive