This is the first report in MFour’s Millennial Insights Project, an in-depth look at the preferences and behaviors of 1,000 American consumers, ages 18 to 36. Today’s report highlights results and findings on Entertainment.
We’ll follow with reports on Money & Investing (Sept. 27) and Technology & Lifestyles (Oct. 4).
We recruited and surveyed respondents through Surveys on the Go®, MFour’s all-mobile, app-based research technology and methodology, which reaches more than one million active panelists. The study collected 1,000 demographically representative, validated responses within two hours of launch on Sept. 10, 2016. Length of interview was approximately 15 minutes. Respondents were segmented by sex, race and ethnicity, type of work, income and age. We divided our Millennial subjects into three six- or seven-year age brackets.
Here are five insights we found interesting:
Streaming is King: Streamed programming is the most frequent viewing choice for 58% of Millennials – more than double the 28% who most often watch cable or satellite TV. There’s a substantial drop-off for cable/satellite viewing among Millennials who haven’t yet turned 30. Only 18.5% of this younger group say cable/satellite TV is their first choice, compared to 37% of Millennials ages 30 to 36. 78% of all Millennials consider a paid streaming platform their first or second choice when watching television, with 76% saying they are streaming more from paid services than they did a year ago. But most Millennials haven’t cut the cord on cable entirely: 64% of those who no longer live with a parent still subscribe to cable or satellite TV.
Binge Watching is Huge: By nearly four to one (78% to 22%), Millennials prefer a television series to be released all at once, rather than having to wait for a weekly episode over the course of a season. And 68% said they had binged on TV during the past month; 53% during the previous week. Across every grouping – sex, age bracket, race-ethnicity, and income level – U.S. Millennials are united in their eagerness to binge on TV shows.
Music Downloads are Going Mobile: More than half of Millennials (56%) said they had downloaded music to a mobile device within the past month, surpassing the 43% who’d downloaded tunes to a desktop or laptop. African Americans were especially active downloaders, with 69% saying they’d downloaded music straight to their mobile in the past month, and 53% downloading to a PC. Downloads for Caucasians were 55% mobile and 38% PC; Hispanics/Latinos went 57% for mobile and 46% for PCs.
Opting Out of Going Out: Fewer than half of Millennials (43%) said they had been to a movie theater in the past month, and 17.5% had been to a live concert. 40.8% hadn’t been to a live concert in the last 6 months, and an additional 15% had never experienced a concert.
Viewing on Smartphones is 2nd Only to TV: 91% of Millennials said they access entertainment on a television screen, with mobile phones second at 73%. Desktops and laptops were third at 63%, and 47% watch or listen on tablets. The youngest Millennials, ages 18 to 24, show a preference for watching on smartphones – 74%, vs. 69% for respondents 25 and older. There’s also an intra-generational difference for TV screens, used by 89% of the youngest group and 93% of 25 and overs.
For a look at our entire Millennials survey, visit: https://www.surveysonthego.net/tracker
Username: MillennialCaseStudy
Password: MFourMillennials
Methodology: Using MFourDIY, the market research industry’s first all-mobile, do-it-yourself platform for designing and carrying out studies, MFour fielded a 30-question survey on Sept. 10 to Millennials who make up about 60% of its million-member active panel, all of whom participate in research via the Surveys on the Go® app for smartphones and tablets. Fielding time was less than two hours for 1,000 validated responses.
Responses reflected U.S. Millennials’ demographic profile: 50% male, 50% female; 56% Caucasian, 19% Hispanic/Latino, 14% African American/Black, 5% Asian, 1% each for Middle Eastern, Pacific Islanders and Native Americans/Alaskans; 3% Other. Age brackets were 18-24 (36%), 25-29 (31%) and 30-36 (33%). The study also segmented respondents by whether they were parents of children under 18, their type of work (full-time blue collar and white collar, part-time, unemployed), and their income (six brackets from $25,000 or less to $100,000 or more).
