JAM mulls over research division on youth, assesses commercial benefits

Mumbai-based JAM magazine plans to launch a research division, JAM Pulse, which will track youth culture. CEO Yatin Bansal says certain sections of the research conducted will be sampled in the magazine for readers giving them a feel of the youth. The remaining will be commercialised to companies and agencies trying to connect youth.

Elaborating further on the research division, he said as a magazine it was constantly receiving fresh and interesting inputs from 300 college students who regularly write and report for them. This domain knowledge has been used to delve more deeply into certain specifically observed patterns of behavior.

JAM Pulse will offer a yearly study, which would cover attitudes, lifestyles and influences in key categories along with quarterly updates on the youth cultural vibes covering qualitative, ethnographic and photographic data.

It will keep youth marketers abreast with the fast moving trends through quantitative and qualitative reports. Updated every quarter, JAM Pulse will cover five cities, metro and non-metro, covering the entire spectrum of youth consumers across SECs.

The results will be tabulated in the form of quantitative charts and graphs, qualitative editorial summaries that explain where things were, where they're headed, and why, plus an additional in-depth pictorial ethnography of styles, fashion, accessories, even hair, tattoos, piercing, and attitude.

Unlike traditional surveys running into several pages, the JAM study is a simple one-page questionnaire. The emphasis is on quality - of the researchers, their rapport with the respondent, the quality of the interview process, he said.

JAM magazine's 'College Shopping habits ' survey published in the 9th anniversary issue currently on stands showcases startling findings. Over 200 students from a cross section of colleges across Mumbai were quizzed and observed on their shopping preferences, throwing up interesting results.