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Gen Z Audience Research Reveals Shocking Insights For Marketers

The first-ever Precice TV report provides unprecedented insights into the viewership, advertising recall and purchase intent of U.S. parents and teens aged 13-17;

 Research shows video games are the top purchase category for teens, and YouTube has supplanted Twitch as the center of the gaming universe 

Precise TV, the contextual video company driving business outcomes for brands, and Giraffe Insights, a leading kids, youth and family research agency, today released its first-ever Precise Advertiser Report: Teens & Youth (PARTY), providing COPPA-compliant audience insights for parents and teens aged 13-17 in the United States. 

“Prepare to be surprised. While the report confirms some assumptions, it reveals loads of actionable insights marketers have never had access to when targeting Gen Z,” said Christian Dankl, Co-Founder & Chairman at Precise TV. “For example, plenty of people assert Twitch is the best platform for gaming, but the research shows that YouTube is far superior from attention and purchase power perspectives.”  

Here is a sampling of trends and supporting data insights that can be found in the report: 

YouTube dominates attention, purchasing power vs other forms of media.  

  • YouTube drives purchase power due to ad recall that is nearly 4x that of broadcast TV 
  • YouTube enjoys 2.1x higher ad recall than broadcast TV and VOD (video on-demand) combined 
  • Teens choose to watch ads on YouTube: 6 in 10 teens consider watching YouTube ads rather than skipping 
  • 45% of teens are likely to recall an ad seen on YouTube vs 23% on TikTok, 20% on broadcast TV, 18% in mobile gaming apps, 15% on ad-supported VOD 

Video games are the top purchase category for teens, and YouTube is the center of the gaming universe. 

  • 40% of boys and 34% of girls spend their monthly allowance on video games 
  • Supplanting Twitch, YouTube is the place teens go to consume content from gaming creators - 76% of respondents prefer watching others play videos games on YouTube vs 34% on Twitch 
  • YouTube drives 2x the commercial reach among gamers compared to any other platform

Additionally, when teens were asked What was the name of the product that you last asked your parents to buy you? – PlayStation and Nike are some of the top brands they’re asking for. Other brands teens responded with include: Forever21, McDonald’s, Adidas, Lego, Apple, Samsung, Burger King, Amazon, Xbox, Target. 

“This report provides unprecedented Gen Z intelligence that media buyers need when maximizing their social video marketing budgets,” said Denis Crushell, Chief Commercial Officer, at Precise TV. “Producing this report is tied to Precise TV’s mission to provide responsible COPPA-compliant ways for brands to get in front of kids and their parents enjoying popular content – from shows to games.” 

The survey was conducted with 1,000 families in the United States, including teens between the ages of 13 and 17 years old and their parents. The PARTY research also includes a breakdown of 13-15 versus 16-17 year olds, important groupings for marketers looking to hypertarget specific age groups. Interested parties can download the report here

About Precise TV

Founded in 2015, Precise TV is the world’s first and leading KidSafe COPPA certified YouTube advertising platform. The award-winning contextual intelligence platform leverages a combination of proprietary machine learning models to connect brands to the video moments that matter across YouTube, Meta, TikTok and connected TV, driving lower funnel business outcomes for advertisers looking to limit media wastage. With offices in London, Sydney, New York and San Francisco, Precise TV is Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) certified, and was named a 2022 and 2023 Google Premier Partner after meeting the rigorous requirements of the recently revamped Google Partners program. For more information, visit: https://www.precise.tv/