Young Optimism^© refers to a pattern of responses associated with optimism and seeking to improve their prospects in life to gain a respected place in society.

Also more likely to be found amongst young people, the Young Optimism© segment are into image and style (not fads and fashion). They are conscious of the image they project and want to make the right one. Long term thinkers, they are busy planning careers, attending university and thinking about the future. It tends to be associated with people who want to experience all life has to offer: travel, a career, friends, family - and they are still idealistic enough to believe they can have it all.

Young Optimism^© wants to try everything - bungy jumping, ski diving, white water rafting, skiing.... work hard and play hard because they still have the energy to do it. However, this motto often creates a situation where people are personally and financially disorganised, living on credit, forgetting to pay bills, forgetting to go shopping, buying take-away Chinese and then living on it for the next 3 days.

Young Optimism^© are innovative and interested in technology. They can be young technocrats, surfing the internet and developing an international perspective on the world - eating international food, watching the ABC and SBS and dreaming of going to work in New York or London for a few years to further their career prospects.

Their interest in learning more and having a broader perspective makes them heavier readers of newspapers, particularly the major daily newspapers (with a leaning towards the national and world news sections), national newspapers and weekend newspaper inserts such as Good Weekend.

They are also very heavy readers of magazines, covering a wide range of titles. They read the magazines orientated towards the younger market with Cosmopolitan and Cleo. However they also read Marie Claire, InStyle, Vogue, GQ and Men’s Style reflecting their interest in image and style; heavy readership of PC User, PC World and New Scientist reflect their interest in technology.  Their magazine reading also reflects their interest in movies, Empire and music, Rolling Stone which goes hand in hand with their appetite for celebrity news in Who.

Their viewing habits reflect a strong interest in reality TV programmes like So You Think You Can Dance, Australian Idol, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. American programmes such as House, Dexter, Ugly Betty and Greys Anatomy are also commonly watched as well as more freestyle comedy programs like Thank God You’re Here and Good News Week.

Young Optimism^© enjoys listening to radio for one reason. Music. This segment are heavy listeners of contemporary music stations, whether they be commercial, the Austereo network, or alternative and with a broader musical focus, like government broadcaster Triple J. Music defines and drives their radio listening habits.

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* Devised by Michele Levine of Roy Morgan Research and Colin Benjamin of The Horizons Network 1997.