When it comes to the preferences of Generation Z teen girls, media outlets might want to ditch the clickbait.
According to a collaborative study by mobile media company Clover Letter and research and marketing firm Cassandra, 52 percent of Generation Z teen girls said they “would like to be informed about current events.”
The researchers said there’s a desire for hard news that’s not being met by most outlets. “Media companies are primarily delivering fluff and clickbait to young women and rarely producing the smart, hard-hitting news they crave,” the report noted. “The study uncovers that more than one in four female teens feel that the media is not giving them the content they deserve.”
The survey also revealed that one in five respondents “acknowledge they don’t know where to get serious news.” The researchers said this “showcases the need for media to offer more substantial news stories that are also personal, relevant and delivered directly to this key audience.”
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And yet the results also noted that Generation Z teen girls are not attracted to traditional news outlets. Instead, their prime sources for news are Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And 28 percent said they were more likely to receive e-mail newsletters than newspapers (print and online).
The survey involved 500 U.S. females between the ages of 14 to 34. This included 111 Generation Z teenage girls between the age of 14 to 19. It also included 389 Millennial-aged women between 20 and 34. The survey was conducted earlier this summer. The poll showed that 32 percent of respondents “would rather be uninformed than have media waste their time with clickbait.” The results also showed that 37 percent “hate clickbait.”
“Not only are they frustrated by this common practice, but 32 percent also think less of media outlets that use such sensationalist tactics,” the report added.
Other findings include that 35 percent of teen girls “say media talks down to people their age, which leaves a white space in the market for high-quality news content that speaks to this [demographic].”
Regarding differences between Generation Z teen girls and Millennials, the younger generation said they “feel there are not many news outlets that are relevant to people like them.”
Clover Letter noted that it is addressing this need for “smart news,” while the report said other outlets such as The Skimm and Lenny Letter are doing the same.