Girl Pushed, Mom Approved

What Tween Girls Want for the Holidays

Remember when you were a tweenage girl and all you wished for, was that your parents just understood you? That of course, included the impossible, like reading your mind. And that included buying you the right Holiday Gifts, too.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention so, we asked tweenage girls (ages 9 to 15) of the AllyKatzz safe-social networking site to tell us what they really want this Holiday season. Then, we asked our community, through Alphamom Labs, whether or not they approve of some of their choices.
What we now have, is knowledge of the hottest products for tweenage girls this season and a reality check into what moms are planning on buying (and not buying) in these hard economic times, and why.

Here are some results of our “Girl Pushed, Mom Approved” shopping survey. (If you are interested in the full report, please contact us)

What do Tweenage Girls want for the Holidays?
Girls’ Top Ten List:
1. Gift Card
2. Music/CDs
3. iPod or MP3 player
4. Clothing
5. Books
6. Mobile phone
7. Laptop
8. Makeup, perfume, hair accessories
9. Video Game Systems and/ or games (tie)
9. Digital Camera (tie)
10. DVDs
As an aside, does it not warm your heart to see Books in the Top 5? Yeah, us too!

Details of Wish Lists
You didn’t think we would leave you without a detailed map now, would you? Below are the girls’ top ten lists by categories. We have bolded the moms’ top three of the girls’ choices.
Gift Cards
1. iTunes
2. Target
3. Claire’s
4. Hollister
5. Barnes & Noble
6. Walmart
7. Abercrombie & Fitch
8. Limited Too
9. American Eagle
10. Aeropostale

Music
1. Jonas Brothers
2. Demi Lovato
3. Taylor Swift
4. David Archuleta
5. Miley Cyrus
6. High School Musical 3 Soundtrack
7. Paramore
8. Vanessa Hudgens
9. Pink
10. Clique Girls

Clothing
1. Aeropostale (Tie)
1. Hollister (Tie)
3. Abercrombie & Fitch (Tie)
3. American Eagle (Tie)
5. Kohl’s
6. Pac Sun
7. Limited Too (Tie)
7. Hot Topic (Tie)
9. Wet Seal (Tie)
9. Forever 21 (Tie)
9. Old Navy (Tie)

Footwear Brands
1. Converse
2. Uggs
3. Vans (Tie)
3. Nike (Tie)
5. Ecko Red
6. DC
7. Rainbow (Tie)
7. Ed Hardy (Tie)
7. Wallabees (Tie)
7. Coach (Tie)

Footwear Retailers
1. Payless
2. Target (Tie)
2. Kohl’s (Tie)
4. Delia’s (Tie)
4. JC Penney (Tie)
4. American Eagle (Tie)
4. Pac Sun (Tie)
4. Shoe Carnival (Tie)
4. Walmart (Tie)
4. West 49 (Tie)

Books
1. Twilight (by a very wide margin)
2. The Clique Series
3. Books about Vampires (Tie)
3. Dear Dumb Diary (Tie)
5. Beacon Street Girls
6. Pretty Little Liars
7. Nancy Drew
8. Wicked

Other than Nancy Drew and Twilight, our survey shows us that moms need more information before making a decision on their book purchases. They just are not familiar with these other titles.

73% of moms said that they would buy a book they are not familiar with if it is approved by other moms. So, don’t despair, we have reviewed a number of the tween girls’ preferred books.

Video Game Systems
1. Nintendo Wii
2. Nintendo DS
3. Xbox 360
4. PlayStation 3 (Tie)
4. PlayStation Portable (Tie)
5. PlayStation 2

The Wii led the pack with an astounding 56% of tweenage girls picking it as their top wish among game systems, followed by the Nintendo DS at 20.5%. our moms agree selecting the Nintendo systems ahead of the rest, by a very large margin.

Video Games
Girls love music and to be on their feet. Moms agree and are favorably disposed to the vast majority of the girls’ choices.
1. PopStar Guitar
2. Guitar Hero
3. Wii Fit (Tie)
3. Imagine Fashion NY (Tie)
5. Mario Kart (Tie)
5. Animal Crossing (Tie)
5. Cooking Mama (Tie)
5. Dance Dance Revolution (Tie)
9. Rockband
10. Sing It

DVDs
1. Camp Rock
2. High School Musical 3
3. Twilight
4. Another Cinderella Story
5. High School Musical 2
5. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
5. Journey to the Center of the Earth
8. Kit Kittredge
9. Juno
10. The Clique

Other Gift Categories

• Makeup, Perfume and Hair Accessories: moms are pretty relaxed about giving these as gifts.
• Electronics: moms favorites (in order): Video Gaming System, Digital Camera, and iPod.
• Laptops: Even though the girls want them, the tough economic times means the outlook is not as good.
• Mobile Phones: According to moms, the outlook is good for older tweens (aged 13+), not as good for the younger ones (ages 9-12).