Consumer Media, Device Usage: Streaming, Bingeing, Ad-Skipping

The disruption of the technology and media industries continues, with consumers gaining even more control over how and when they interact with – or ignore – marketers’ messages.

Today’s media landscape continues its dramatic transformation: New devices, advanced technology applications, and disruptive business models are changing the way people across all age groups engage with information, entertainment, and each other. Individuals can increasingly choose what content they consume, and how and when they consume it.

This shift in the marketer-consumer power dynamic has significant implications for brands, redefining how companies and their target audiences interact. Each year, Deloitte’s Digital Democracy Survey explores generational habits of consumers in an effort to better understand changing attitudes and behaviors related to entertainment devices, advertising, social media, and the internet. This year’s study, which surveyed 2,131 consumers using an online methodology, tracked several ongoing trends. These include: in 2012. The trend is particularly pronounced among younger consumers, with roughly 60 percent of Generation Z, millennials, and Generation X paying for subscriptions. Pay TV such as cable and satellite, meanwhile, is holding steady, with 74 percent of consumers across households subscribing. Two-thirds of pay TV consumers say they keep their subscriptions because they are bundled with internet service. hours of content, in a single sitting. As binge-watching becomes more widespread, advertisers and content producers likely will continue to rethink how they reach audiences. Some might choose to be more strategic with product placement in binge-watched content, while others might consider releasing feature-length movies as miniseries instead to make them more “bingeable.” ads. Brands that do use TV as an advertising medium face the challenge of engaging consumers who are distracted when exposed to ads. Nearly 99 percent of Generation Z and millennials are multitasking when watching TV, doing up to four other activities.

There are no guarantees with online and mobile ads, either. More than 80 percent of consumers will skip an online video ad if allowed, and 67 percent of consumers find mobile ads on their phones to be irrelevant. Nearly half (45 percent) of millennials use ad-blocking software, with 85 percent indicating they use it to improve the speed and performance of their online experience.

There are potential bright spots, however. More than half of surveyed consumers say they would be willing to receive advertising on their smartphones based on loca- tion. And 46 percent say they pay more attention to an ad they can skip versus an ad they cannot skip. Making ads more relevant—especially geographically relevant—and making the first few seconds of skippable ads more compelling could help advertisers get through to more consumers.

Eighty-four percent of surveyed consumers—and more than 90 percent of Generation Z and millennials—are on social networks. Of millennial and Generation Z consumers, 33 percent are receiving their news primarily from social media. Meanwhile, more than 70 percent of millennials say they have used social media to interact with corporate customer service in the past year. They’re finding success with the approach—74 percent said it was more effective than interacting with customer service via the phone.

The mainstreaming of social media brings many opportunities – and questions – for marketers. Many may increasingly rely on social listening platforms to assess consumer sentiments. Brands that seek to generate buzz and interact with consumers likely will find a receptive audience: Nearly half of consumers (45 percent) and more than 60 percent of millennials say they feel more connected to companies and brands if their leadership engages on social networks. ***

As digital media evolves, people across age groups are changing the way they use devices and consume content. Their attitudes and behaviors regarding binge-watching, social media, streaming, and advertising are affecting business models and economics across many industries. For marketers, the challenge is to keep tabs on these shifting behaviors and determine the most effective ways to interact with audiences. Increasingly, that means connecting with consumers on their terms. For more information, please visit www.deloittedigital.com