Tiktok App usage surpasses Instagram and Snapchat for users aged 12 – 17 this year, according to new survey

On November 22, 2021 By alanapotIn Consumer behavior, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTokLeave a comment

instagram-tiktok-snapchat — image via https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/20/igtv-vs-tiktok-vs-snapchat/

Forrester Research has released data from their 2021 Forrester Analytics Consumer Technographics® US Youth Survey and the results are interesting as they vary greatly from their 2020 results.

For this survey, the company Forrester collected 4,602 online surveys of U.S. youth aged 12 to 17 years old. In 2020, Forrester’s research showed in their poll group Gen Z Youth (12 – 17), 50% used Tiktok weekly, 54% used Snapchat weekly and 61% used Instagram weekly. A year later, these percentages have shifted. While Snapchat usage stayed the same at 54%, Tiktok rose 13 points to 63% while Instagram took a 4 point ding to 57%.

Through further market research, Forrester strived to find why TikTok had such a sudden increase. They asked parents in their ConsumerVoices Online Research Community to ask their 12 – 17-year-old children why they enjoy using Tiktok. Many of the responses suggested:

Entertainment Value: Many kids used the words “fun” or “funny” when describing the content on the platform, saying videos there were funnier.

Short Watch Time: Many youth users enjoy the easy, scroll ability and bite-sized clips that their Tiktok FYPs have to offer.

A Place to Express Themselves: Many respondents enjoyed the ability to positively express themselves through the platform, like through dances.

Forrester also notes that while TikTok is a popular social media platform with Gen Z Youth, it is not the most popular. In the same survey, 72% of U.S. Youth respondents said they use Youtube at least weekly. – which is a 3 percent increase from the 2020 survey.

As future media professionals, this information like this is extremely important to our field of work. Knowing what media certain age groups are using daily can help us cater our content for them.

Proulx, Mike. “Weekly Usage Of TikTok Surpasses Instagram Among US Gen Z Youth” 18, November 2021. Forrester Research. https://www.forrester.com/blogs/weekly-usage-of-tiktok-surpasses-instagram-among-us-gen-z-youth/

Taco Bell looks to Reinvent the Fast Food Drive-Thru with Test Location

On October 27, 2021 By alanapotIn Brand, Consumer behaviorLeave a comment

image via https://rebusinessonline.com/taco-bell-to-reinvent-drive-thru-concept-with-futuristic-restaurant-in-brooklyn-park-minnesota/

With mobile and contactless ordering becoming the new norm in 2020, Taco Bell is one chain that is looking to change its primary service method to the drive-thru. Many fast-food chains found having a sit-down dining room obsolete during the pandemic and the cost and labor to clean it became less profitable than having it was. With this, some new Taco Bell locations will include smaller dining rooms, kiosk-only locations, dual drive-thrus, and outdoor socializing areas.

However, the largest, most innovative changes to the traditional fast-food restaurant model are in the company’s upcoming test location in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. The project, known as ‘Defy’, is in partnership with Minnesota-based design company, Vertical Works. The Defy joint collaboration between Taco Bell and Vertical works is a 3,000 sq ft, two-story restaurant set to be finished in summer 2022.

The structure takes an extremely non-traditional approach to the fast-food restaurant, as it has no dining room. This Taco Bell location will have four drive-thru lanes, where three are specifically for mobile and delivery pickup orders. These lanes will allow Taco Bell app users or third-party delivery drivers to skip the line to pick up their orders. These lanes will also have digital check-in screens so customers can sign in using their phone by scanning a custom displayed QR code. Using a proprietary lift system, the food will be lowered down from the kitchen above in a contactless manner.

Some users seem to be excited about the new ‘Defy’ location on Twitter, tweeting:

Dang – Taco Bell, you lookin' good! 'Forget the double drive-thru. Meet the new Taco Bell Defy' https://t.co/k3hMgXQeJE
— Jen Quinlan (@QuirkyInsider) August 19, 2021

While others are critical about the further dehumanization of fast-food workers and lack of socialization, tweeting:

Taco Bell's "Defy" is defying human interaction, defying sociability, and defying community living history for industrialized food "served" (deployed) in a mechanism designed for delivery services. Stephenson's Deliverator comes roaring into Minnesota next year. https://t.co/fjBBDUywug
— Dr. S.A. Applin (@AnthroPunk) August 14, 2021

It is extremely interesting to see this new concept for fast food and we will see if other chains adopt a similar concept soon. This futuristic design reminds me somewhat of the movie Wall-E with how disconnected from human interaction it is. The implementation of technology and use of the mobile app ordering system is another interesting aspect and an innovative way to increase app downloads and usage for Taco Bell. The use of digital media has become so ingrained in our society that restaurants can exist that are almost exclusively mobile order only based.

Hiller, Kristen. “Taco Bell to Reinvent Drive-Thru Concept With Futuristic Restaurant in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota” 18, August 2021. ReBusiness Online, https://rebusinessonline.com/taco-bell-to-reinvent-drive-thru-concept-with-futuristic-restaurant-in-brooklyn-park-minnesota/

Dominko, Mura. “5 Changes You’ll See at Taco Bell’s New Locations” 24 March 2021. Eat This, Not That!, https://www.eatthis.com/news-taco-bell-new-restaurant-designs/

‘Why Little Mix’s Jesy Nelson Is Accused of Being a Culture Vulture’

On October 17, 2021 By troypittman13In Consumer behavior, Journalism, Music, Music, Social Issue(s), Social Media, Streaming, Twitter, YouTubeLeave a comment

Let’s dive right into this topic of “culture vultures” and why certain celebrities are getting called out for being one. Today’s person of focus is Jesy Nelson, a member of the British girl group Little Mix. Jesy and her group members ( Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Ann Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall) were discovered on the popular competition show The X Factor in 2011. Their music style is primarily pop, R&B, mainstream dance-pop, with occasional influences of Latin and electronic music. Little Mix’s rise to fame is due to their musical theme of female empowerment, body positivity, and LGBTQ+ rights. And because the members of the group represent different ethnicities, their audience can identify with and appreciate them this way.

In December 2020, Jesy left the group in pursuit of her solo career. Since then she’s been pushing her career as a solo artist. Unfortunately, people are paying much more attention to recent allegations rather than her music. The discussion of her “culture vulture” behavior has been a continuous one as ‘Little Mix’s style evolved. Jesy’s white British identity gives insight to why people were upset at her use of “artistic expression”.

On occasion Jesy is seen wearing grills on her teeth, oversized clothing, colorful wigs, etc. Not to mention, there is a clear difference in skin tone compared to when Nelson first joined ‘Little Mix’ to now.

Recently, rapper Nicki Minaj collaborated on a song with Jesy called ‘Boyz’. In this music video Jesy is seen wearing oversized jewelry, hair accessories, hair scarves, oversized clothes and timberland boots. Which is typically associated with Black culture. Black artists and black people created this style of fashion and are almost never credited for it.

‘Boyz’ ft. Nicki Minaj is an adaptation of P. Diddy’s ‘Bad Boy For Life’ single in 2001.

But what doesn’t sit right with a few Little Mix members and fans is the slow changing of skin color, to seem more “exotic” looking. These aspects about the music industry are problematic because artist of color who identify and showcase their identity aren’t embraced the same way. They are dismissed as “over the top”, “ghetto”, or ignored as a whole. While artist like Jesy are embraced and celebrated for it.

Hoop earrings, exotic looking nails, Timberland boots, and colorful wigs go deeper than video shoots. There’s a historical pattern of Black people and people of color being robbed of their culture, while other races are able to capitalize from it. Nicki Minaj openly defended Jesy against ‘Little Mix’ member Leigh-Anne Pinnock for accusing Jesy of “Blackfishing”. Which surprised many fans as this is a tactic white artists use to appeal to the “urban” audience. Leigh-Anne Pinnock, who identifies as African-Caribbean, expressed her frustration over her experience with Jesy in the group. She witnessed different variations of her culture appropriating behavior and in opposition of this, she spoke out publicly.

Spotify use During Pandemic has Soared

On May 2, 2020 By David SonIn ads, Consumer behavior, Music, Spotify, StreamingLeave a comment

Spotify usage has completely been derailed from the usual statistics. Obviously, spotify usage in cars have dropped because of the Stay-at-Home order. But Spotify usage at home on T.V. or game consoles have soared, reaching an increase of over 50% of usual number.

From their data, Spotify has found that everyday usage seems like a weekend. In the mornings, people are constantly streaming music on the apps that would often only happen more on the weekends.

More Spotify usage has been happening around their family during cooking, chores, family time, and relaxing at home with their numbers doubling. Spotify descriptions such as “chill” or “instrumental” have also seen an increase. This is most likely because an ambient sound is looked for while performing activities with the family.

More US consumers are seen to be using music as a stress reliever according to surveys. Spotify is proud of the fact that they are able to continue providing service with little disruption during this time of chaos.

Opposite of Spotify usage in the US, Italy and Spain has seen a decrease in streams.

People cancelling their subscriptions have said there reason for cancelling was due to the pandemic. They were also said to have renew their subscriptions when economic balance is restored.

Spotify has reached 130 million paid subscriptions, which is above forecasted numbers. But ad-supported revenue has been below forecasted numbers as a result of Covid-19.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, said the company is in better position because the company relies less on revenue derived from advertisements.

Spotify has also began investing more into podcasts which has seen a tremendous leap this year, especially due to the Coronavirus.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/29/media/spotify-earnings/index.html

~Club Zoom is in effect~

On April 30, 2020 By Aidan PlunkettIn Consumer behavior, coronavirus, Marketing, Media Covergence, Social Media, Streaming, Technology, ZoomLeave a comment

During the current era of social distancing, we have seen many artists, musicians, and DJ’s bring their performances to video conferencing platforms such as Zoom in order to give fans and supporters concerts, or content, or share tricks of how to create or be creative when it comes to music or art, or whatever the topic may be. With everyone streaming something from their home, we are seeing new ways of doing things that are currently just not possible, nor are they safe. For instance, at the moment you can’t really go grab a drink at your favorite bar, but people are coming up with alternatives.

We’ve heard of Zoom happy-hour with friends or family, but have you heard of a Zoom nightclub. Well, this article from Bloomberg Business says that they’re here, and no, they are not free. People are actually paying money to get into Virtual nightclubs on Saturday nights amidst the pandemic. The Zone, a 16 room virtual nightclub has been hosting people on the video conferencing app. A bouncer greets guests in the waiting room where they are inspected to make sure they have on the proper attire, as well as beverages in hand. The guests are then let into ‘dance rooms’, where there are different costume themes and a live-streamed DJ. Later, guests are invited to the ‘hot tub room’ where swimming attire is a requirement.

I wanted to write about this because I found it to be an interesting idea/concept. Personally, I think it’s a bit ridiculous that people are paying real money to get into these virtual nightclubs. I could maybe understand if it was set up by a particular nightclub and how friends or people who frequent it are simply trying to support a business they do not want to see go under. Not everything can be streamed and have a virtual session be the same as the interactions people had in person, and dancing in your living room is not the same as dancing at the Borgata. I respect the idea behind it and see how it fulfills a current need for the frequenters of clubs and those who need the gratification of being ‘exclusive’, but I am very interested to see if this type of nightclubbing will last.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-14/virtual-nightlife-grows-past-dj-livestreams-to-paid-zoom-clubs

Due To The Coronavirus, We Are In The Midst Of A Global Food Crisis

On April 22, 2020April 22, 2020 By Kirsten BeachIn Consumer behavior, coronavirus, UncategorizedLeave a comment

With the deadly Coronavirus looming over everyone’s heads, many are stuck wondering where their next meal will come from. Although global hunger has been prevalent for as long as we can remember, the Coronavirus has made things increasingly worse for both Americans and those around the world because there has been both a lack of resources as well as a lack of jobs that can provide a steady income to families so that they are able to eat.

According to the New York Times,

The world has never faced a hunger emergency like this, experts say. It could double the number of people facing acute hunger to 265 million by the end of this year.

To put things into perspective, people desperate to eat in the biggest slum in Kenya’s capital set off a stampede during a recent flour and cooking oil giveaway, leaving many injured and two people dead. In India, thousands of workers are lining up twice a day to keep hunger at bay for bread and fried vegetables, and throughout Colombia, poor households hang red clothing and flags from their windows and balconies as a cry for help to show that they are hungry.

Often, the coronavirus has been considered an equalizer because it has sickened the rich and poor alike, but when it comes to food, the commonality ends because people in poverty, including large segments of poorer nations, now are growing increasingly more hungry and face the prospect of starvation. In addition to that, the sudden loss in income for countless people who were already living hand-to-mouth, the collapse in oil prices, widespread shortages of hard currency from tourism drying up, overseas workers not having earnings to send home, and ongoing problems like climate change, violence, population dislocations, and humanitarian disasters have accentuated the issue of widespread hunger around the world.

As many go hungry, there is a concern in a number of countries that food shortages will lead to social discord, and as the Coronavirus continues to loom over us, we have to be mindful of the ways in which food will no longer be readily available to a vast majority of people around the world.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/world/africa/coronavirus-hunger-crisis.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

The Department of Defense is Warning People Not To Use Tiktok And Here’s Why:

On April 13, 2020 By Kirsten BeachIn Cable, China, Consumer behavior, Content Restriction, Distribution, Gaming, Marketing, Online Safety, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The App Tiktok has taken over social media it seems, with tens of millions of Americans downloading the app just this year, but with these increased downloads came a great deal of controversy surrounding the app.

For those who are unfamiliar with the app, TikTok is a popular social media app that allows users to express themselves by uploading and share short-form videos. However, because the app is developed by a Chinese company, there has been a lingering concern that information of U.S. citizens could be compromised or revealed. For this reason, the Defense Department is particularly worried–especially as it relates to military personnel.

Specifically, The Department of Defense created an advisory memo in regards to the app which stated that:

TikTok (formerly Musical.ly) application 12.2.0 for Android and iOS performs unencrypted transmission of images, videos, and likes. This allows an attacker to extract private sensitive information by sniffing network traffic.

Now, although changes have been made to the app since then that claim that user information is safe, there have still been national concerns surrounding the app and security.

If you are an avid Tiktok user, how does this make you feel?

What is going to happen to Olympic Sports and other Sports Broadcasters?

On April 8, 2020 By David SonIn Cable, Comcast, Consumer behavior, coverage, Distribution, Media Covergence, National coverage, Sports, TelevisionLeave a comment

The Tokyo Summer Olympics will not be happening this year. For obvious reasons, athletes and sporting federations have chosen to push back the Olympics to hopefully next year. The Olympics have been postponed three times in history. Once because of World War I and another because of World War II. The Prime Minister of Japan has insisted the Olympics to not be cancelled but postponed to next year. Although Japan has made great progress in dealing with this crisis, the rest of the World has not. Not until 2 weeks ago, people were insisting that the Olympics go on, but it is becoming seen as impossible and seriously ill-advised to do so.

NBCUniversal has already signed contracts with local stations and distributors for them to use their production. Now that the Olympics are pushed to next year and their contract extended, NBCUniversal could make them end up paying double.

But given the long-term relationships with these companies, NBCUniversal will most likely come up with accommodations in order to not decimate these local stations. On the other hand, NBCUniversal would probably end up facing serious lawsuits if they chose to make their partners pay double. No decision has been made yet.

Media executives worry politicians may carry-out a plan to have all TV bills be paid back to their consumers. A large domino effect that comes from no sports being paid.

There are campaigns for sports networks to refund some of the paid subscription back to the consumer for no sports. This would result in hundreds of millions of dollars, but sports broadcasters are trying to come up with accommodations in order to not lose out on so much money. Many broadcasting stations are figuring out ways to keep the consumer’s happy by rearranging release dates and payment plans. The Michael Jordan documentary was supposed to be released in July but has been pushed up to keep consumers happy.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/01/coronavirus-sports-cancellations-set-up-media-fights-over-refunds.html

Sports Broadcasting Services and their Providers; What happens?

On April 8, 2020 By David SonIn Brand, Cable, Comcast, Consumer behavior, coronavirus, coverage, Distribution, Media Covergence, Partnerships & Copyright, Sports, TelevisionLeave a comment

One would think because of the Coronavirus pandemic, people would more likely be inside spending time watching T.V. Although this seems logical, because many of these people are becoming unemployed, they are more likely to cut cable to save extra money. The FCC has already issued warnings to distributors and local T.V. stations about renewed contracts.

As this crisis ensues, cable operators and programmers have called a temporary truce to set aside questions regarding refunds on undelivered programming, such as the NBA, NHL, Olympics, and many other big television marketing programs.

Distributors agreed to pay programmers a certain amount of money based on the shows the are supposed to deliver. Many sports media channels are the reason consumers pay big bucks too, so a resolution must be brought up.

“CBS is not going to pay for this season and have no financial recourse at all,” Pilson said. “The networks are not paying for games that aren’t delivered. They may have a formula where certain monies change hands and eventually they’ll get credit for that.”

AS the NCAA basketball tournament has been cancelled, the effect chain goes further than professional sports. The colleges that had a contract with programmers that are now diminished as well with the fees.

Professional sports on the other hand, may have a more difficult time with the contracts they had with distributors. Professional sports like, NBA and MLB don’t have clear provisions on how to demand refunds in case of a unavoidable cause. While there are mentions of natural causes such as tornados, hurricanes, or what have you, there is no specifications for pandemics.

NFL is working on renewing TV rights with their partnerships, like ViacomCBS, NBCUniversal, Disney and Fox. While they are most likely to stick with these distributors until 2022, there are programmers who are on the fringe of stealing a partnership. Companies such as Apple, Google, and Amazon are likely competitors.

These distributors payed a lot of money for these games to be broadcasted. NFL and MLB hold a lot of weight, in being able to not refund the broadcasters fully for what they have paid. Streaming service DAZN has informed leagues that it will not pay rights fees for any games that have been suspended. CBS, ESPN, and NBC all have not demanded refunds or threatened to withhold payment for games yet.