Most young Kenyans – millennials and Generation Z (Gen Zs) want media to cover more content on making money, a new report by the Aga Khan University’s Media Innovation Centre indicates.
The report dubbed Media Consumption In an Evolving Digital World: Millennials and Digital Natives’ Consumption Habits and Implications for Legacy Media in East Africa surveyed 1,201 respondents with a mix of questionnaires, focus group discussions, and digital tracking.
The study was conducted between May and July 2022 among millennials (ages 25 to 35) and Gen Zs (ages 18 to 24) living in the country’s urban areas.
Speaking on Monday during the launch of the report, Aga Khan University Media Innovation Centre Interim Director, Ms. Clare Mogere, said the report seeks to help media houses in Kenya tailor-make their content for this population.
“Traditional media business models have been rendered less competitive by the emergence of digital platforms that are target casting and delivering content to niche audience segments.”
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“The competition for audiences from these emergent digital platforms has occasioned not only a decline in revenues for the legacy media but also audience fragmentation,” said Clare.
The study found that 61 percent of the group would want the media to cover more content on making money, while 56 percent want content on how to become financially independent.
In addition, 37 percent of the group would desire content on saving money and the needs of their families and friends, while 30 percent would want content on buying a house.
On the media format, 84 percent of the respondents prefer video or pictorial format, while 55 percent prefer audio and 33 percent text.
The report further found that most young Kenyans are predominantly influenced in their consumption of different media content by various factors, such as the headline of published stories.
Other factors include players in the story, the journalists who have written the stories, and the reputation of the media house airing the story, among others.