Gen Z consumers are often considered to have lower attention spans than older generations, but a new global study has revealed they recall advertising content better than millennials and Gen X, particularly when it comes to skippable video ads that last under two seconds.
Gen Z consumers are often considered to have lower attention spans than older generations, but a new global study has revealed they recall advertising content better than millennials and Gen X, particularly when it comes to skippable video ads that last under two seconds.
In addition, Gen Z consumers record a high rate of brand preference, as measured by their likelihood to prefer one to three brands above others in a given product category, and are attracted by a brand’s reputation on the environment, its customer care and product exclusivity.
These are the key findings from a survey that Kantar Media conducted in April on behalf of Snap, the parent company of messaging app Snapchat, involving 12,000 consumers in six countries – Australia, Canada, France, Saudi Arabia, the UK and USA.
Although Gen Z participants – defined as consumers aged 13 to 24 – spent less time with skippable ad and non-advertising content then millennials or Gen X, they recalled it better. Some 59% of Gen Z recalled the advertiser correctly compared with 57% of millennials (aged 25 to 39) and 47% of Gen X respondents (aged 40+).
And they proved to have significantly higher recall when shown skippable video ad content of less than two seconds’ duration – 55% compared to 46% of millennials and just 26% of Gen X and baby boomers.
The research also noted that Gen Z consumers are more likely than older generations to believe that brands allow them to express themselves. For example, two-thirds (65%) of Australian Gen Z respondents say they use brands to express who they are, compared to just 40% of Gen X and baby boomers.
And when it comes to selecting their favourite brand, some 60% of Gen Z consumers refer to the importance of recommendations from family and friends, compared to just over half of millennials (52%) and just 39% of Gen X and baby boomers.
Commenting on the findings, Andy Pang, head of international measurement & insight at Snap Inc., said: “This study proves that Gen Z audiences are far faster at processing information than we might have given them credit for.
“This faster speed of cognitive processing means that brands who want to engage Gen Z need to tailor their video creative and focus on communicating brand and product messages as early as possible.”
This article first appeared in knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu
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