There is a widening gap between the media habits of older and younger millennials according to new research from Ipsos Reid, with older millennials’ habits more closely aligned with that of GenXers than that of their younger counterparts.
Ipsos-Reid’s Canadian Media Landscape study, which is specifically designed to help marketers understand media behaviour in the new consumer landscape, found that “trailing millennials” (people 18-24) spend approximately 6.3 hours per day engaged in media activity, compared with 4.9 hours per day for “leading millennials” (people 25-32) and 5.1 hours per day for Gen Xers (people 33-49).
The study defines media activity as watching, listening, reading, browsing, gaming and social networking.
Young millennials spend an average of 78 minutes per day gaming, which accounts for approximately 20% of their total media activity. By contrast, leading millennials spend an average of 34 minutes per day gaming, compared with 24 minutes per day for both GenXers and Baby Boomers.
Trailing millennials are also avid social networkers, spending an average of 48 minutes per day engaged in the activity, compared with 30 minutes for both leading millennials and GenXers.
Brand engagement, defined as either reading posts from brands or making posts to brands, accounts for a significant portion of daily social networking activity among all cohorts, including 27% for trailing millennials, 23% for both leading millennials and GenXers, and 20% for Boomers.
“Every marketer we talk to is looking to get a handle on millennials, but the data shows that marketers need to look at this as trailing millennials and leading millennials, with each group’s unique needs defined by their life stage,” said Mary Beth Barbour, senior vice-president with Ipsos Reid in Toronto.
The latest findings follow earlier data showing live TV remains part of the media equation for trailing millennials, despite the advent of streaming on-demand services like Netflix, Shomi and CraveTV.
The findings are based on online interviews with 11,300 Canadian adults 18+ between June and December 2014, and are considered accurate to within plus or minus 1.1%.
