Fifteen percent of US youngsters consider plastic surgery. Nine out of ten girls would like to change something to their body. And this just tops the iceburg of the results of an international youth survey on 'being unique'.

Over 88 percent of girls aged 15 to 25 in our country would change something to their body if that was easily feasible. The share amongst boys is slightly lower, but still strikingly high (73%). The body parts girls are least happy with are their belly (46%), thighs (29%), bottom (19%) and breasts (18%). Boys would love to improve their belly and muscles (18%), chest, mouth and cheeks (14%). But not all of them would consider plastic surgery. An InSites Consulting survey revealed about 15 percent of the US youth consider doing so.

Girls in the US get the most pride out of their eyes (48%), hair (36%) and breasts (18%). Only seven percent are proud of their entire body. Three times as many boys (21%) are proud of it all, but most of them are mainly proud of their eyes (34%), hair (22%) and skin (14%).

International results show US scores slightly below average:
About 23 percent of all girls and 16 percent of the boys in the 16 countries polled across the world consider plastic surgery. In almost all areas the same body parts are a problem to the youth. In China and India young women attach less importance to their belly and breasts. The skin, the eyes and the hair are the main points of attention. In Brazilian girls focus less on the thighs and pay more attention to belly and breasts. Another level where Brazil is different internationally is that about half the young women (47%) and 34 percent of the young men would consider an aesthetic operation.

"The current generation of youth is often referred to by scientists as the most narcissistic group ever," says Joeri Van den Bergh, Gen Y expert at InSites Consulting and author of the book How cool brands stay hot. "Therefore it is not surprising that looking good is so important. But this definitely is not only valid for youngsters and is a broader scientific fact. Just think of the increased importance of product and packaging design, or of the increased care given to interior design."

Seven out of ten youngsters think they are unique:
Clothing, profession, hobbies and music are part of the uniqueness... about 69 percent of the US youth want to be unique or even very unique. This US youth score puts them in the least modest group in the word. In countries such as Brazil, Romania, Russia, India and Italy no less than seven to eight youngsters out of ten considered themselves to be unique.

US youngsters mainly want to be different for what they tell others (53%), for their clothing (51%), their hobbies (51%), their professional activity (50%) and the music they listen to (50%). The cities and countries they visit also represent important differentiation (46%). The majority of youngsters do not want to be differentiated by where or what they eat nor by their political ideals. The latter is deduced from the InSites Consulting survey as being important only in Italy and the BRIC countries. Body and looks are used relatively more frequent in Brazil, India and Eastern Europe as means to be unique compared with other youngsters.

"The most striking thing to me in these results is that the company you work for and the job on your business card contribute a lot to the extent to which youngsters consider themselves to be unique," explains Van den Bergh. "So it's not just the tailor who makes the man. I think many employers - who are wondering today how to engage and motivate these Millennials or Generation Y - do not think enough about this. 'Why would working for that company and having that function be a unique experience differentiating me from other youth', that's the bottom line."

More than one out of every three youngsters uses brands to be unique:
About a third of the US youngsters (36%) try to buy unique brands in order to be different. Apart from brands such as iPhone and Apple, other so-called 'badge items' (i.e. products that give you a certain identity towards others, mobile phones, shoes, clothing, drinks away from home) are also in the top 10 of most unique brands. But how can today's brands be unique in a world where the competition copies innovations within a few months, or where they imitate campaigns?

"The bottom-line is often that they build their brand around a unique value or a view of the world, rather than around the product itself," says Van den Bergh. "We should be able to summarize a brand's uniqueness in one or two words. For Apple those would be 'design' and 'user-friendliness'. Both Diesel and Levi's are quoted as unique by about one out of every three US youngsters, whilst both being jeans brands. But for Levi's this uniqueness equals affordable quality with a tradition, whereas Diesel stands for character, personality and style."

Youngsters want to be remembered as a good friend:
Three out of ten youngsters in the US want to be remembered as a 'good friend.' Other characteristics such as friendly, honest, warm and smart (quoted by 1 in 5) are also considered to be very important. About a fifth of the 15-to-25-year-olds also want to be remembered as a 'zealous worker.' The US youth clearly score higher on work ethics than the other 15 countries included in the survey. They think it less important on the other hand to be remembered as cosmopolitan (1%), famous (2%) or popular (3%).

The facts and figures in this essay are based on a global research organized by InSites Consulting amongst 4,065 respondents aged 15 to 25 (Generation Y) in 16 countries: the USA, Brazil, Russia, India, China, the UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Romania, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium. The sample is representative for the Gen Y population of each country. http://www.slideshare.net/joerivandenbergh/why-im-unique-by-generation-y-around-the-world

About Joeri Van den Bergh
Joeri Van den Bergh is author of the book How Cool Brands Stay Hot and co-founder of InSites Consulting, a global 'new generation' research agency with offices in the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Romania and Belgium. During his entire career he has focussed on research and marketing for children, teens and young adults. His customers include international brands such as Lego, Nokia, Sony, MTV Networks, Danone, Unilever and Coca-Cola, whom he did research for. He also advised them on how to approach the market of the youngsters. As author and contributor to numerous magazines he also gives lectures about marketing subjects all over the world.

How Cool Brands Stay Hot is about connecting with a new generation (Generation Y) which will determine the evolution of society and the consumer markets in the coming three decades. The book is based on five years of intensive market research, inspired by insights and case studies by MTV teams all over the world, and offers insights in the psychology and the behaviour of "the Millennials" as consumers. The book describes the five main characteristics of successful youth brands and will help companies to get in touch with this new generation of consumers by understanding their likes and dislikes. The book is interspersed with case studies and interviews with global marketing executives of international brands such as H&M, Coca-Cola, Levi's, Nike, Nokia and Jack & Jones. It hands its readers creative ideas on how to position, develop and promote brands and how to make them relevant to Generation Y. More info and updates on www.howcoolbrandsstayhot.com

About the Author: Anke Moerdyck is the Brand & Relationship Manager at InSites Consulting. Anke can be reached for interviews and schedules, or for additional informaiton at +32 9 269 15 16, or Anke.Moerdyck@InSites-Consulting.com.

InSites Consulting was founded in 1997, and although a market research agency its founders never really had the ambition of being market researchers. InSites Consulting is in fact a crazy mixture of academic visionaries, passionate marketers and innovating researchers, all determined to tackle the status-quo van of market research.