Millennial consumers have been the subject of more comment and analysis than any generation since the dawn of market research. But until now, no wide-ranging survey had used the method best suited to engaging them: questioning them via smartphone app.
Usingg MFourDIY, an all-mobile, do-it-yourself survey platform, researchers obtained 1 000 validated responses within two hours from millennials on the million-member active panel that uses the Surveys on the Go smartphone app.
The 30-question survey covered Entertainment, Money & Finance and Technology & Lifestyles, giving a demographically representative picture of the US millennial population by sex, age, race/ethnicity, income and employment status.
Among the insights gained on Entertainment is:
* 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. And only 18,5 % of millennials who are 18 to 29 years old say cable/satellite TV is their first choice, compared to 37% for those who are 30 to 36.
* 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. A massive 68% had binged on TV during the past month; 53% during the previous week.
* Music downloads are going mobile: More than half of millennials (56%) said they had downloaded music straight to a mobile device within the past month; 43% had downloaded directly to desktops/laptops. African Americans were especially active music downloaders – 69% direct to mobile and 53% to PCs.
* Opting out of going out: More than half (57%) of millennials had not been to a movie theatre in the past month, and 82,5% had not been to a live concert.
* Smartphone viewing second only to TV: 91% of millennials said they access entertainment on a television screen, with mobile phones second at 73%, followed by desktops/laptops (63%) and tablets (47%). Millennials who are 18 to 24 are more engaged than older millennials in watching on smartphones (74% vs. 69%).