Gen Z’s Digital Media Consumption and Activities

UMN Consulting, Jakarta – Gen Z (plural) have changed the game in the media industries. Previously, media companies could always rely on traditional media and advertising revenue to survive in the market. Now, because Gen Z dominate the population and are known as the true digital native, media companies need to ‘digitize’ themselves to attract them soon.

Even though the objective is clear, approaching Gen Z through digitalization is not an easy matter. One of the reasons is that Gen Z have specific lifestyle and consumption habits. They are different from the previous generations like Gen X or Millennials; therefore, they can only be approached in particular ways. For example, approaching them through social media, arguably, is more effective than through traditional media as they like to spend time there.

The other reason is that digitizing media is a whole different game compared to producing traditional media. Digitizing media means changing products’ characteristics from format, content, pricing, to business models. It is not a project that can finish overnight.

For the last few years, lots of media companies have tried several strategies to target Gen Z. Some of them are about emphasizing presence on social media, utilizing influencers to gain traffic, and implementing subscription models to increase customer retention. Some have found success, some are still experimenting.

In our Gen Z’s Digital Media Consumption and Activities research, we explored every element that affects Gen Z’s consumption of digital media and activities in the digital realm. Even though we do know that they are digital natives, we believe there is more than meets the eye.

During the research, we observed several aspects, which later were divided into seven sections: Self-Values, Media Consumption, Social Media, News Media, Influencers, Subscription Model, and Digital Marketing. Each section will give you detailed insights into how Gen Z consume digital media and what they want from media companies.