Centred around a series of filmed interviews with UK-wide young men, their mates and their girlfriends, the project brings to light surprising and unexpected aspects of the modern male psyche, also dispelling generalisations of them as one-dimensional, lager swilling ‘lads’ with little on the brain and who use the internet at the expense of other media, says IPC.
Produced by CrowdDNA, the research was conducted in October 2010. Participants were interviewed alongside their mates and girlfriends (even their mums in some instances!), so a more rounded view of the mainstream male could be achieved.
Outputs from the research are five short films, covering ‘attitudes & aspirations’, ‘entertainment, passions and interests’, ‘fashion/grooming & technology’, ‘media habits’ and ‘influences & role models’.
This will be supported by quant insights from a nationally representative survey of 1,000 men (aged 19-29 with no kids) conducted by Toluna which will be available shortly.
A light-hearted intro film has also been produced and can be viewed here.
Themes from the research include -
They don't want to be stereotyped – they increasingly want to be viewed as individuals.
They are more keen to settle down and have a family than imagined – mass-market men place relationships, and even family, high on their agendas.
Their friends and family are centrally important to them - not just socially – from lending money to friends to looking after family, the research disproves the ‘carefree’ lads stereotype.
Drinking with mates is important, but not on week-nights - aware of their weekday commitments, from studying to working, Saturday night is the big night out for them.
Take care of their appearance - From fake tan, under-eye moisturiser and even foot cream…their appearance is more important than ever
Aware of their online presence – Social networking plays a massive part in their lives but they use it with caution
Magazines help shape their opinions - mass-market men are influenced by what they see and read – magazines offer them relevant and engaging on-the-go content keeping them culturally up to date.
