Nielsen Millennials report reveals distracted generation

By

Kate Dingwall

Published
Mar 16, 2017

In an effort to help marketers and companies reach the much coveted Millennial demographic, U.S. market research company Nielsen, the mecca of media measurement, took a close look at how Millennial consumers watch ads. The key takeaway is that they don't but is actually, quite distracted, thanks to smartphones and social media.

Part of the study looked into how Millennials behave while watching primetime TV programs. Even though millennials don’t change the channel during commercials (less than 2% of Millennials do so in comparison to 5.5% of 35-54-year-olds and 8% of baby boomers), that does not seem to matter. Millennials, in fact, had the lowest engagement and ad memorability during the programs.

46% of Millennials said ads don’t bother them – they accept that ads are there to inform them of new products and services. But while Millennials are more open to leaving the ads running, the majority of them had their eyes on their mobile devices during the commercial, paying little to no attention to the ads. 

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The report also unveiled that social media stars are considered ‘celebrities’ in the eyes of Millennials. When asked to name five favorite celebrities, survey respondents ticked off social media stars such as Bethany Mota and Jenna Marbles just as frequently as they did athletes, musicians, and actors. 

The third key point the study found that, while Millennials love staying connected via their smartphones, TV is still a huge part of their lives. Millennials watched four times as much programming via TV-connected devices (which can include digital streaming, games, and DVDs) than adults 35 and older. But even though Millennials have their eyes on the television, they are watching 27% less traditional TVs than the older generation, instead opting for video games or Netflix.