Marketing and “Cool”

A recent survey from Piper Sandler reveals that the Apple iPhone is increasingly the smartphone of choice among teenagers. In fact, the number of teens who want to buy an iPhone in the next twelve months is at an all-time high of eighty-nine percent. When nine out of ten teens are desiring a particular product, we need to take note. Two factors that play into this desire is the effectiveness of Apple’s marketing of themselves as trendy and cool, along with the peer pressure that comes with the sense that everyone else has an iPhone. Parents, we need to teach our kids to be aware of how they are being marketed to and manipulated. In addition, we need to encourage them to make spending decisions based on a biblical worldview rather than the herd mentality. You see, with iPhones costing as much as one thousand dollars or more, there is a stewardship factor at play. No, iPhones are not evil. But we need to nurture our kids into thinking through how all their purchases will or will not glorify God.