Gen Z

Today, many think about teenagers when talking about Millennials, however time has done what it does and Millennials are actually adults now, while the next generation of users, called Gen Z because we started this grouping from X and now we have to think what we are going to do for the next ones that are being born right now, are between 13 and 17 years old.

Now, thanks to studies done by IAB and Snapchat, we can know the consumer behavior on the internet of this generation of teenagers.

How do the Zs browse?

How many devices do we have connected to the internet today? Computer, tablet, cell phone, Eco, Alexa, television, Kindle, some refrigerators.

Gen Z reports having at least 2 devices connected to the Internet at all times.

Thanks to companies like Simon and Google, we can have Internet connections in public places like malls or parks, allowing this generation to have 2 ways to connect at all times, something that for Millennials, who lived in the era of landline Internet, seems like magic.

Also 8 out of 10 prefer to connect through a WiFi network, in second place is the public wifi and third, they prefer to use their contracted data plan. This opens a handful of possibilities to advertise in public networks of malls and parks.

What do they do when they browse?

To go with the use of Internet, the generation of Bad Bunny and Maluma prefers to: listen to music, do domestic activities and study / do homework. Although not far are the classics: “waiting for something ” and “in the bathroom”.

Downloading apps is an important activity for them, 62% report downloading free apps even if they contain advertising, 65% download new apps regularly, while 39% make purchases from their apps.

Adding this to the growth of internet purchases in recent years, opens the possibilities for the market of in-app purchases.

What do they consume?

We know audiovisual media is the king, now we have to turn the spotlight towards this niche.

This generation’s top 3 most watched content is: music videos, movies and movie trailers. It’s also important to point out that the second place is held by the most segmented content: tutorials, user-made videos and series.

Looking at this analysis it’s easy to spot the most visited sites, YouTube being the biggest, followed closely by Netflix and Instagram holding the third spot. It’s important to mention that the most watched material is almost entirely made up of short videos, which is pretty obvious knowing that segment’s age range.

Additionally, most of this content is watched through smartphones.

There’s a big difference between what’s seen on mobile devices and televisions.

While the first is mostly used to watch music videos, original user content, and trailers, the latter is most popular for movies, series and cartoons.

Looking at Gen Z’s use of social media, it’s noticeable that Facebook still shines bright, followed by WhatsApp, YouTube and Instagram, leaving Twitter at the end of the queue; something that was foretold a couple of years ago.

The occasional usage looks quite interesting, we have “We Heart It (which is new in Mexico), Tumblr and Pinterest (Let’s not forget that Google+ closed their doors not so long ago) which are the most sporadically used apps.

This means that this generation is looking for inspiring content that fuels their creativity

Their relationship with internet ads

Benefits are the most important factor to knock on the door of this generation and have influence in their purchase decisions.

According to 74% of them, online advertisement allows them to have more information about brands, this could be a referral to Google searches and the trends of brand presence on YouTube.

66% is willing to see ads to have free access to content that interests them. This generation is used to seeing content of all kinds of pages, it´s no surprise that advertisement on free content is no hassle for them.

63% assured they read reviews that influenced their opinions. In the last quarter of 2018 Google started the trend of giving reviews a higher priority, with the fast expansion of Amazon, reviews have gained tremendous importance for brands.

Gaining benefits from social media, leads users to follow more brands. About 66% follow brands, reporting that 85% follows them to stay up to date with the brand’s activities.

The real importance of Gen Z

Teenagers are an important part of the public for brands, even though they lack aquisitive power, they are just a few years away from being part of the workforce.

Is at this time that we can get a client to fall in love for life with the brand most easily, so we must pay attention to their interactions with brands.

Thanks to this research we could understand that short videos are key during most of the day thanks to the time they spend in school.

However, their most active for longer content starts in the afternoon, different to Millennials that consume Netflix past 6 pm

Also, it’s interesting to imagine how their behavior will change once they go past 21, our bet is that it will have a lot to do with todays tech advances and live video popularity.

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Sources:
www.iabmexico.com
www.snap.com
www.cnbc.com