A new study by Newsworks and the University of Bath finds that 18-34 year olds access newsbrands constantly during the day.
Young people still form strong newsbrand habits, despite facing a far more cluttered news landscape than previous generations did at their age, according to new research.
Generation News, conducted in conjunction with research companies Flamingo and Tapestry, found that 74% of 18-34 year olds turn to newsbrands to get a balanced point of view and 78% agree that their newsbrand introduces them to stories they wouldn't otherwise read.
Millennials are more likely than boomers (50-65 year olds) to exhibit their news habits on digital devices - allowing them to 'snack' on news throughout the day - and they have developed different routes of accessing newsbrands. For example, 73% of 18-34's agree they visit a newsbrand website to get more information when they see an interesting story on social media.
While there are some generational differences, the overall newsbrand habits of millennials and boomers are more influenced by engagement and interest in news than by their generation groups.
Over one million 50-65 year olds read a digital newsbrand daily (NRS PADD April 2014-March 2015 + comScore March 2015) and enjoy the speed and ease with which they can access news, while also indulging in newspapers. Yet unlike their children, boomers' newsbrand habits are more centred on specific times of day.
For both generations, the saturation of news in a multi-platform world has strengthened the role of newsbrands as providers of 'real' and 'professional' journalism. Similarly, there is a cross-generational appreciation that newsbrands provide a sense of satisfaction and 'a lens on the world' by telling you what you need to know.
The research identified five news habits, which transcend both millennials and boomers:
* Fix - access news constantly, prompted by a general need and state of distraction
* Track - access news regularly throughout the day to keep up to date with breaking stories
* Fill - access news to pass the time when moving from one place to another
* Indulge - make time to enjoy the news as a break from everything else in the day
* Invest - read the news regularly to get an in-depth perspective on stories
While the habits are universal, millennials are more likely to adopt the Fix and Fill habits and boomers have more time to adopt the Indulge habit and - to a degree - Track and Invest.
Denise Turner, Newsworks' insight director, said of the research: "We live in a world saturated with news, with a multitude of sources available to us, so we wanted to understand how that is affecting newsbrand habits across the generations. This research shows that our multi-platform news landscape has created more routes into newsbrands, with new habits being formed. Newsbrands continue to provide a trusted lens on the world."
Bas Verplanken, professor of social psychology at the University of Bath, added: "This study shows that newsbrands remain as addictive across generations as they have ever been, with young people relying on them as much as their parents do for a balanced and informed view. What's interesting is how millennials are discovering newsbrands - digitally and via social media numerous times a day. That's testament to how well newsbrands have adapted to a connected age."
Methodology:
The research was conducted in partnership with Bas Verplanken, professor of social psychology at the University of Bath and with Flamingo and Tapestry research companies in June 2015. We used a series of innovative methodologies to engage with millennials (18-34's) and boomers (50-65's), including digital self-ethnography, wearable glasses and intergenerational depth interviews, creating over 30 hours of footage. Finally, we carried out a national representative survey, amongst 1,000 of our two generational groups.
