Survey Points to Youth Gifts With Buzz

New York City, It’s not too early to predict the hot gifts for the holidays. Here are the candidates for that distinction from the Zandl Group’s research, based on a Zandl Group survey of 500 teens, tweens and young adults conducted in November 2004.

• Tech: The hottest gifts overall include gaming systems and games, cell phones and computers/laptops. Gaming systems skew male, while females hope to get digital cameras, DVD players and computers. Apple's iPod is super hot and could well be the gift of the season. Other brands mentioned frequently include Sony digital cameras, Dell, Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo (e.g. DS) and Nextel.

• Fashion: Clothes are at the top of the young adults' wish list. Interestingly, more guys than girls chose clothing as the gift they absolutely hope to get (60% of guys vs. 42% of the girls). Metrosexual anyone? Brands/items mentioned by young adults include Le Tigre, Burton, Gap, G-Unit, Nike, American Eagle, knee-high boots and designer purses.

• Wheels: Over one-third of teens and young adults hope to get a new car—or add some bling to their current car with new rims or sound systems. Tweens also are hoping for wheels. One in five want Pocket Rockets, dirt bikes, 4 wheelers or bikes.

• Toys: Tweens are outgrowing toys at a younger age. However, some of the girls do have Bratz dolls, American Girl and Care Bears on their wish lists. Tween boys want tech gifts, especially gaming systems and their game components.

• Cash: Money is king, and a top gift for teens and young adults. Parents who are stumped on what to give their kids can rest assured that they will be thrilled with cash and gift certificates.