Survey of Millennials
In collaboration with two students at the New School we conducted an online survey about Millennials media usage and attitudes towards online advertisements.
90% of the respondents reported that they preferred to find news on the Internet, a finding indicating that ads in physical newspapers and magazines are less likely to make an impact on this generation in the future.
Of 110 total respondents, nearly 74% fit the Millennial demographic. Our findings were not too different from the knowledge accumulated from our secondary research, but provided additional hope to online marketers as it became clear that most millennials prefer to consume the majority of media online. In fact, 48,18% of the respondents claimed online media accounted for 80-100% of their daily media consumption. 36% reported 60-80% of their daily media consumption is in the Internet.
Over 60% reported that they like seeing posts from brands they follow on social media. However, 23% percent reported not wanting to engage with a brand publicly online, and 30% claimed they would do so if they had a very good reason to.
Interestingly, 80% reported that they have looked up a product online after they have seen an ad for it on TV, the main reason being that they wanted to know more about the product. This fact may reinforce marketers incentive to advertise on multiple channels and launch cross platform campaigns. 35% of respondents reported looking up the product from their mobile or laptop.
There is reason to believe that retail and in-store experiences will continue prevail. 60% of respondents reported that they prefer to shop both online and at a physical location, but the majority reported a preference for shopping in a physical location. For those that reported a preference for online shopping, convenience and ease were the main reasons they chose to do so. 93% of respondents that preferred to shop at a physical location said that being able to feel and try the product was the primary reason.
As expected, of the 60% reported to have clicked on an online advertisement, most of them did so due to a promotional offer. This highlights the importance of marketing to this demographic with a high focus on value and rewards. On the bright side, nearly 77% reported either buying the product or looking at it and coming back and purchasing it later.
It may seem as though millennials don't respond well to YouTube ads. 34% reported feeling irritated and annoyed when having to watch a YouTube advertisement before the video they were planning to watch, and a whopping 60% strongly agreed with "I skip the advertisement as soon as I am provided with the option to skip" (this option is provided after 5 seconds of the ad).
Responses to the question: "Imagine watching an advertisement on YouTube before being able to watch the video you want to watch. Do you..."
We will be conducting a focus group in the next few weeks, so stay posted.
Disclosure: All though the amount of respondents does not qualify as statistically significant, the findings are consistent with my secondary research and data coming from ComScore and Nielsen.
See the results here.