Deloitte study: Watching TV and movies at home remains the favourite entertainment activity for consumers across generations, except Gen Zs, which have shifted to gaming

Watching TV and movies at home remains the favourite entertainment activity for consumers across generations, according to the latest edition of Deloitte Digital Media Trends, especially among Baby Boomers (40 percent) and Gen Xs (27 percent), followed by Millennials (20 percent). For younger consumers, the preferences have shifted to gaming, as 24 percent of Gen Zs representatives, aged 14-25, mention playing video games as their top entertainment activity, compared to 16 percent, who prefer watching TV and movies at home. The top of the favourite entertainment activities is completed by listening to music (16 percent of Gen Zs, 10 percent of Millennials, 9 percent of Gen X and of Baby Boomers), browsing the internet (12 percent of Gen Xs, 10 percent of Millennials and Baby Boomers, 6 percent of Gen Zs) and going to the movies (10 percent of Gen Xs, 9 percent of Millennials, 5 percent of Gen Zs and 3 percent of Baby Boomers).

Although gaming is not ranked as the favourite by all the consumers, it is a very widespread form of entertainment across all age groups, the report shows. No less than 96 percent of the surveyed Gen Zs and an equal share of Millennials play video games regularly, followed by 89 percent of Gen Xs and 57 percent of Baby Boomers. Among them, Millennials play an average of 13 hours per week, followed by Gen Zs, with 11 hours, Gen X, with ten hours, and Baby Boomers, with six hours. Consumers use mainly mobile devices for video gaming (55 percent of smartphone and tablet owners), followed by consoles (47 percent of the consumers owning such as device) and PCs (35 percent of owners).

The main reasons why consumers play video games are that they help them relax (78 percent), express themselves by personalizing the game characters or avatars (61 percent), get through difficult times (59 percent), but also stay connected with other people (53 percent). 

The report also highlights that consumers are experiencing choice overload when it comes to streaming video on demand services, which is fuelling the competition among providers and an increasing cost-consciousness among consumers. Among those who decided to cancel the subscription to a streaming video service, 41 percent invoked cost as the first reason, followed by the lack of new content (30 percent). This context leads to higher churn rates, as more than a third of consumers (37 percent) have cancelled or both added and cancelled such a service over the last six months, a trend more visible among the younger generations (51 percent of Gen Zs).

“Paid video streaming services have been competing for years with user-generated content, which is free of charge and sometimes more dynamic, interactive and captivating, and they seem to lose the battle on certain segments. Providers of video streaming on demand are struggling with customer retention, especially when it comes to younger generations, as these subscribers are increasingly demanding in terms of content and pay more attention to cost, which makes it difficult for a brand in this market segment to gain their loyalty,” said Andrei Ionescu, Consulting and Risk Advisory Partner-in-Charge, Deloitte Romania, and leader of the TMT industry.

The report shows that four in ten consumers spend more time watching user-generated video content than TV shows and movies on video streaming services, especially among Millennials (60 percent) and Gen Zs (57 percent).

Also, seven out of ten consumers follow an online influencer, especially the younger generations, and one third of them say their buying decisions were influenced by them.

Deloitte Digital Media Trends 2022 has been conducted on over 2,000 consumers from US.