The consumer trends of the millennial generation have been a hot topic for many brands, and now the focus has moved to the up-and-comers, Generation Z. Members of Gen Z—those born during the mid-1990s to the early 2000s—are generally tech-savvy, open-minded, and socially responsible. What does this mean for certain brands? We look at three industries that will likely have trouble keeping members of Gen Z as consumers.
Today’s teens do not “like” Facebook. Facebook’s popularity has been declining with teenagers, and according to a study from Piper Jaffray, only 9% of teens say Facebook is their social media platform of choice. As parents have infiltrated the social media platform, Gen Zers are leaving Facebook in droves. Figures reported by Recorde show Facebook lost around 2.8 million U.S. users under 25 in 2017, with the largest decrease in users under 25 within the 12-17-year-old age bracket. They value their privacy, and Facebook’s recent Cambridge Analytica scandal has pushed them away even further. While older millennials make up the biggest chunk of Facebook’s users, Gen Zers prefer Snapchat and Instagram.
CABLE TELEVISION
Members of Gen Z don’t watch television. Or, at least, not traditional cable television. According to Visual Capitalist, “In 2011 the average 18 to 24-year-old watched around 25 hours of traditional television per week.” Today, that number is cut in half. Gen Z grew up on streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, and a recent study found that 70% of Gen Z say the phrase “watching television” means streaming something online. According to the same study, the main reasons that Gen Z watches a show are: 1. Just to talk about it with peers. 2. To impress others and 3. To look smart. They don’t care about how many awards a show has or their weekly viewership; they care about whether or not the people they follow on social media are talking about it.
PRINT MEDIA
This has been an industry in decline for years, and members of Gen Z might put the final nail in the coffin. Similar to with streaming services, Gen Zers have been raised on e-readers and smartphones. Unlike previous generations, Gen Zers aren’t nostalgic about reading a paper newspaper. A study by Response Media found that 82% of Gen Z and younger millennials get their news from social media platforms such as Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, BuzzFeed, Instagram, and Snapchat.
QuestionPro Audience provides our clients with access to more than 5 million active consumer respondents, who are pre-screened and qualified candidates for high-quality data collection. Our Consumer Panel is carefully recruited to target all type of users, but also taking into consideration certain key industry trends, such as online store preference, physical store preference, actual systems, reasons to purchase, etc. With industry knowledge, innovative tools, and purchasing power, QuestionPro Audience always meets the rigorous demands of our clients. By implementing various recruitment methodologies, we make sure to provide the right kinds of respondents for your research.
