Research: Gen Z Prefers Traditional Media And Other Differences With Millennials

You expected them to be just like their predecessors, unlike, say every previous generation recent memory has done?

Action, reaction. JL

Lucia Moses reports in Business Insider:

Gen Z will demand more of the brands they buy and companies they work for. They're less brand-loyal and expect brands to be more socially responsible than millennials do. 61% are more likely to buy brands that have spokespeople who are diverse rather than spokespeople who look like them. 48% of Gen Z prefer titles like Time and The New Yorker versus 20% who favored newer ones like BuzzFeed and Cheddar. 41% said a physical store encouraged them to try new brands, versus an e-commerce site (18%). They’re less concerned about privacy. 42% say they share as little as possible, compared to 54% of millennials.
Something to mull this week: Brands and publishers have been obsessing forever over how to reach millennials, but a new study by The Atlantic’s creative marketing group Atlantic Re:think, Comscore, and Harvard College Consulting Group should challenge their thinking on people 18-24. The study has big implications for media and brands as they look for their next generation of users and customers.
The key findings:

• Gen Z prefers old media. Millennial media is not a fit for Gen Z, with respondents reporting lower favorability scores for millennial-targeted news outlets versus established news outlets. In fact, 48% of Gen Z prefer titles like Time and The New Yorker versus 20% who favored newer ones like BuzzFeed and Cheddar.
• They're less brand-loyal and expect brands to be more socially responsible than millennials do. 61% are more likely to buy brands that have spokespeople who are diverse rather than spokespeople who look like them, compared to 52% of millennials.
• They like brick and mortar: 41% said a physical store encouraged them to try new brands, versus an e-commerce site (18%).
• Out of 60 brands, only two get more love from Gen Z than millennials: YouTube and Apple.
• They’re less concerned about privacy, at least for now. 42% say they try to share as little as possible, compared to 54% of millennials.

Gen Z will demand more of the brands they buy and companies they work for, but Gina Bulla of Atlantic Re:think, who led the study, managed to find a silver lining.“Part of it is good news," she said. "They haven’t made set-in-steel brand preferences. There is a lot of opportunity to grow that love.”