A new AdReaction study from Kantar Millward Brown (KMB) recently released reveals members of Generation Z have their own distinct behaviors, attitudes and responses to advertising.
“Having grown up in an on-demand world of infinite choice, Gen Z in the Philippines are harder to impress than previous generations,” Jane Ng, KMB Philippines group account director for technical and innovation, was quoted in a statement as saying. “Gen X and Y are more receptive to novel formats, such as sponsored lenses or native ads than Gen Z.”
Ng added that brands that want to target Gen Z effectively need to concentrate on providing their audience with humorous executions that resonate with the interests and issues facing this younger, more skeptical generation.
The study, titled “AdReaction: Engaging Gen X, Y and Z,” is the first-ever comprehensive global study of Gen Z, the British multinational market research firm said in a statement. The study provides guidance on how marketers can engage more effectively with this increasingly important group, the company added.
According to KMB, the Gen Z population—now aged 16 to 19—numbers approximately 2 billion globally. The Gen Z makes up 30 percent of the population in the Philippines.
KMB said the study highlights Gen Z in the Philippines are harder to impress compared to the older generations.
“As digital natives, they have grown up with digital technology and, therefore, expect more from brand advertising and are less easily impressed with new formats, such as augmented reality or sponsored lenses, than previous generations, favoring humor as the key characteristic of a successful ad.”
Opportunities
KMB said the study identifies three key opportunities for brands in the Philippines to connect with Gen Z.
The first is respecting their online space.
“Within the digital space Gen Z are most positive toward mobile rewards video and skippable preroll [with net positive scores of 52 percent and 38 percent],” KMB said. “However, their least favorite formats are the invasive kind—for example, pop-ups, which score -5 percent.”
The second is finding the right creative approach.
“Globally, the use of music and celebrities make Gen Z more receptive to advertising than other generations,” KMB said. “In the Philippines, however, the difference is less pronounced.”
According to the company, the Gen Y is the group that find these cultural aspects most appealing, with 62 percent agreeing that music makes them more receptive and 27 percent citing celebrities (compared to 47 percent and 23 percent for Gen Z, respectively).
“The characteristic that makes Gen Z in the Philippines most positive toward ads is the use of humor, at 53 percent. However, this is still far lower than the scores for Gen X [65 percent] and Gen Y [67 percent].”
The third opportunity for brands in the Philippines to connect with Gen Z is to be more social.
Gen Z are heavy users of social platforms when it comes to the number of platforms they visit, according to KMB. These range well beyond Facebook and YouTube, and include Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.
KMB said 25 percent of Gen Z in the Philippines access Instagram several times a day and 13 percent access Snapchat at the same frequency. Gen Y is even more social, with 32 percent and 14 percent, respectively, while Gen X is less engaged on these social channels, with 18 percent and 5 percent, respectively.
Mobile usage
DESPITE being the generation that grew up with mobile technology, Gen Z’s daily usage is lower than that of older generations.
KMB said 66 percent of Gen Z in the Philippines spend more than an hour a day on their mobile device, compared to 81 percent of Gen Y and 84 percent of Gen X. However, TV, radio and print consumption are also all lower for Gen Z, with just 49 percent of Gen Z watching an hour or more of TV each day compared to 74 percent for Gen Y and 86 percent for Gen X.
This means brands need to work hard to capture the attention of Gen Z when they are consuming media—either traditional or digital—or risk being missed altogether, KMB said.
Interestingly, Filipinos of all generations are happy to watch longer video formats. Globally, all generations prefer short videos. However, in the Philippines all generations favor video ads of up to 20 seconds.
Gen Z are also starting to use ad -blocking software, with 29 percent using it on desktop and 17 percent using it on mobile. But it’s not just the younger generation—Gen Y are also using blockers, with 32 percent using desktop blockers and 20 percent using mobile.
Growing skepticism
WITH their skepticism toward advertising, it’s harder to engage Gen Z with branded content compared to Gen X and Gen 3Y.
Although tutorials and expert reviews are popular across all generations, scores remain the lowest amongst Gen Z. To drive the success of branded content, marketers will need to ignite Gen Z’s love for the brand.
“No generation is a monolith and Gen Z is no exception,” Duncan Southgate, KMB media and digital global brand director, was quoted in a statement as saying. “Their upbringing, expectations and access to technology, however, has created a range of attitudes and behaviors that will challenge marketers.”
Southgate added: “Only where brands take all this into consideration will they be successful in engaging this increasingly critical and fast-emerging group of consumers.”
This is the first time it has been possible to explore the opinions of the first cohort of
Gen Z that are becoming increasingly relevant to brand marketers across a wide variety of categories and products.
The study analyzed key media consumption patterns, attitudes toward advertising and responses to specific creative approaches, and is based on surveys of more than 23,000 consumers in 39 countries.