Marketers are eagerly embracing QR codes as a sexy new channel through which to engage younger customers, as any number of examples will show.

However, the emerging research does not support the assumption on the part of many marketers that QR codes are a favored tech application for the younger crowd.

A study by Ypulse found that fewer than one in five students have ever used them and nearly two thirds of students have no idea what they are. Some 6% have seen them but can't figure out how to use them. Now, a new study bolsters these findings, Geekosystem reports.

It says that marketing firm Archirival found that only 21% of college students it surveyed have successfully scanned a QR code before, and 75% said they don't plan on scanning one in the future.

Older, Male

So which group does find this technology appealing? comScore says that the people more likely to scan a QR code are male (60.5% of code scanning audience), skew toward ages 18-34 (53.4 percent) and have a household income of $100,000 or above (36.1 percent).

They also are more likely to scan codes found in newspapers/magazines and on product packaging — and do so while at home or in a store.