UMN Consulting Holds ‘Nextgen Report Launching: Gen Z’s Digital Media Consumption and Activities’ Webinar

UMN Consulting held ‘Nextgen Report Launching: Gen Z’s Digital Media Consumption and Activities’ (Doc. UMN)

TANGERANG – UMN Consulting held a webinar titled ‘Nextgen Report Launching: Gen Z’s Digital Media Consumption and Activities’ via Zoom on Friday (22/4). This event invited several important figures from Kompas Gramedia Group, namely Wisnu Nugroho (Editor in Chief of Kompas.com), Fidelis Novan Terryan (GM Integrated Marketing & Branding of Harian Kompas & Kompas.id), and Rossalyn Asmarantika (Journalism Lecturer and UMN Consulting Researcher).

The event began with Rossalyn presenting the research results related to the characteristics and behavior of Gen Z in consuming and engaging in digital media activities. In general, Rossalyn explained that this is a qualitative research involving 1,1777 Gen Z respondents in Indonesia. Data collecting was done with the purposive sampling method and the questionnaire was created using SurveyMonkey, an online survey tool.

The research is targeted at Gen Z men and women who, at the time the research was conducted, the respondents were in the age range of 15-25 years and domiciled in Greater Jakarta, Java Island, Bali, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, and Papua. The data collection of this study was conducted from July 28 to August 10, 2021.

Rossalyn explained that this research is done to find out why today’s industry must be more prepared to welcome and serve Gen Z, who will become the main consumers of each industrial sector, especially the digital media industry. This is also important for people in business and industries to know because many previous studies, including this study, confirmed that there are unique characteristics that are only possessed by Gen Z not found in other generations.

This research aims to explore some unique aspects and characteristics of Gen Z, namely: the values that Gen Z considers important, Gen Z’s role models, the frequency of Gen Z’s mobile usage, the kinds of activities Gen Z does in the digital world, how Gen Z’s access information, Gen Z’s favorite time to access news, Gen Z’s duration when using social media, the kind of contents Gen Z’s need, Gen Z’s online media subscription, the duration of Gen Z when accessing digital information, and more.

Also read UMN Consulting Presents Their Research On Gen Z’s Lifestyle and Consumer Habits

This study obtained some unexpected findings, specifically about Gen Z’s preferences when asked to choose if they prioritize the speed or accuracy of news and information.

Rossalyn Asmarantika (Journalism Lecturer and UMN Consulting Researcher) (Doc. UMN)

“They are very close to the digital world, the internet, always connected. They can easily navigate from one content to another and we thought speed and constant updates is the main thing for them. Apparently not!” Rosalyn said.

Based on the research findings, the five most important reasons for Gen Z when choosing a news or information provider or brand, the most important aspect is trust, followed by accuracy, credibility, content quality, and lastly speed. Furthermore, Rossalyn also shared recommendations for media business players based on the findings obtained from this study, especially taking advantage of Gen Z’s habitual patterns in subscribing to paid content.

Responding to the exposure and research findings described by Rossalyn, Terryan also said that Kompas and Kompas.id had taken the necessary steps to prepare themselves to welcome this Gen Z era.

“Well, this is also our concern, especially at Kompas.id. So apart from the ongoing news trends, we also offer other alternatives, something important (according to Gen Z),” Terryan said.

Furthermore, he also explained that Harian Kompas through Kompas.id has developed a variety of packages and formats of digital content which of course can be enjoyed by Gen Z like video content, motion infographics, to interactive digital content. It is hoped that these kinds of content can attract Gen Z’s to consume information and news, even processing it further, using it as a review, or repackaging the news in a way where new content can be made and presented to each respective audience.

In line with what Terryan said, Wisnu, the Editor in Chief of Kompas.com also said that Kompas.com as one of the pioneers and trusted online media among Gen Z’s always tries to provide relevant content for everyone, especially Gen Z’s.

Closing the webinar, Wisnu hoped that the value of self-transcendence possessed by Gen Z’s will continue and be firmly held so that they can also contribute to saving our increasingly damaged earth, repairing the chaos that may have been caused by what the previous generation has done.

“Well, maybe we can shift our media like that. Knowing that the next generation will really appreciate it when they are presented with quality content, information that is holistic, that’s credible, informative. Not only prioritizing media traffic and presenting clickbait-y news and fast news that are useless,” Rossalyn concluded in her closing remarks.

*By Virino Miracle – Universitas Multimedia Nusantara News Service

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