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Fullscreen Research Suggests Gen Z Prefer Social First, Want Branded Content & Praise Influencers

Content

What: Fullscreen’s latest research conducted by Leflein Associates  investigated media preferences and trends of Gen Z and millennials and how both generations significantly differ.
Why it matters: Millennials present a higher preference for traditional platforms (including “traditional digital”) than their Gen Z counterparts. Gen Zers are shifting away from text-based online content in particular, in favor of streaming content – especially video.

Fullscreen, an entertainment platform and content creator network, partenered with Leflein Associates to conduct an strategic research to achieve an even deeper understanding of how the youth audiences we engage with on a daily basis feel about themselves, the content they consume, and their relationships with brands.

Leflein Associates  investigated media preferences and trends, passions and values, influencer fandom, consumer journeys, and brand love –– and perhaps most significantly –– where Gen Z and millennials differ in these areas. For brands trying to reach Gen Z, results reveal several critical strategies:

Mind the Generational Gaps

Youth audiences are an important target for many brands, but not all brands recognize that there are actually two very different generations: millennials (18-34) and Gen Z (13-17). Both have very different sets of social media habits and brands should be aware that they cannot target both groups in the same way.

Millennials are relatively old school, with a higher preference for traditional platforms (including “traditional digital”) than their Gen Z counterparts. Gen Zers are shifting away from text-based online content in particular, in favor of streaming content – especially video.

Generation Brand Engagement

When marketers talk about how brands can best reach and engage with “young people”, they usually mean millennials. Or at least they used to. As it turns out, Gen Z is even more receptive to engaging with brands through social channels. In fact, they’re adept at fueling brand conversations by spreading the word throughout their social circles.

Top brand social brand engagement activities include:

Influencers

Influencers play a significant role in defining what youth audiences like, view, and buy.

Social Media

Gen Z uses Facebook and YouTube for entertainment; Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram for socializing; and Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Pinterest for utility.Despite its reputation as a social home for older folks, Facebook still dominates for entertainment, socializing and utility for Gen Z.

Video

Gen Z prefers to watch, rather than read. They view digital video and short form clips almost six times as much as they read traditional digital publishers/blogs.

“Gen Z, the first generation born into a post-Google and social media world, is not only the most diverse generation yet, but also the generation with the greatest global perspective,” said Pete Stein, General Manager, Fullscreen. “Their continued inclination towards social content on their mobile phones – first seen in millennials – is changing the way that content is consumed, shared, and even created. Growing up in a completely digital world, they expect to have direct access to friends, celebrities and brands – and they expect all three to interact and share content in a way that’s relevant to their own personal interests and passions.”

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