Cell Phone Usage - Gen Z
Teens and Mobile
Phones Pew Research 4/10/10 Text messaging explodes as teens embrace it as the centerpiece of their communication strategies with friends. Cell-phone texting has become the preferred channel of basic communication between teens and their friends, and cell calling is a close second. Some 75% of 12-17 year-olds now own cell phones, up from 45% in 2004. Those phones have become indispensable tools in teen communication patterns. Fully 72% of all teens2 – or 88% of teen cell phone users — are text-messagers. That is a sharp rise from the 51% of teens who were texters in 2006. More than half of teens (54%) are daily texters. Among all teens, their frequency of use of texting has now overtaken the frequency of every other common form of interaction with their friends (see chart below). Contact friends by platform and age Fully two-thirds of teen texters say they are more likely to use their cell phones to text their friends than talk to them to them by cell phone. One in three teens sends more than 100 text messages a day, or 3000 texts a month. Daily text messaging by teens to friends has increased rapidly since early 2008. Some 38% of teens were daily texters in February 2008, and that has risen to 54% of teens who use text daily in September 2009. Of the 75% of teens who own cell phones, 87% use text messaging at least occasionally. Among those texters:
Calling is still a central function of the cell phone for teens and for many teens, voice is the primary mode of conversing with parents. (Editor: Prior to April 20, 2010.) Among cell-owning teens, using the phone for calling is a critically important function, especially when it comes to connecting with their parents. But teens make and receive far fewer phone calls than text messages on their cell phones. Teens typically make or receive 5 calls a day. White teens typically make or receive 4 calls a day, or around 120 calls a month, while black teens exchange 7 calls a day or about 210 calls a month and Hispanic teens typically make and receive 5 calls a day or about 150 calls a month. Girls more fully embrace most aspects of cell phone-based communication. As we see with other communicative technologies and applications, girls are more likely than boys to use both text messaging and voice calling and are likely to do each more frequently.
For parents, teens’ attachment to their phones is an area of conflict and regulation. Parents exert some measure of control over their child’s mobile phone – limiting its uses, checking its contents and using it to monitor the whereabouts of their offspring. In fact, the latter is one of the primary reasons many parents acquire a cell phone for their child. However, with a few notable exceptions, these activities by parents do not seem to impact patterns of cell phone use by teens.
Most schools treat the phone as a disruptive force that must be managed and often excluded from the school and the classroom. Even though most schools treat the phone as something to be contained and regulated, teens are nevertheless still texting frequently in class.
Cell phones help bridge the digital divide by providing internet access to less privileged teens. Still, for some teens, using the internet from their mobile phone is “too expensive.” Teens from low-income households, particularly African-Americans, are much more likely than other teens to go online using a cell phone. This is a pattern that mirrors Pew Internet Project findings about adults and their cell phones.
Cell phones are seen as a mixed blessing. Parents and teens say phones make their lives safer and more convenient. Yet both also cite new tensions connected to cell phone use. Parents and their teenage children say they appreciate the mobile phone’s enhancement of safety and its ability to keep teens connected to family and friends. For many teens, the phone gives them a new measure of freedom. However, some teens chafe at the electronic tether to their parents that the phone represents. And a notable number of teens and their parents express conflicting emotions about the constant connectivity the phone brings to their lives; on the one hand, it can be a boon, but on the other hand, it can result in irritating interruptions.
Cell phones are not just about calling or texting – with expanding functionality, phones have become multimedia recording devices and pocket-sized internet connected computers. Among teen cell phone owners: Teens who have multi-purpose phones are avid users of those extra features. The most popular are taking and sharing pictures and playing music:
The majority of teens are on family plans where someone else foots the bill. There are a variety of payment plans for cell phones, as well as bundling plans for how phone minutes and texts are packaged, and a variety of strategies families use to pay for cell phones. Teens’ use of cell phones is strongly associated with the type of plan they have and who pays the phone bills.
When one combines type of plan with voice minutes, the most common combination is a family plan with limited voice minutes – one in three teen cell phone users (34%) are on this type of plan. One in four teen cell phone users (25%) are on a family plan with unlimited minutes. Over half of all teen cell phone users are on family plans that someone else (almost always a parent) pays for entirely—this figure jumps to two-thirds among teens living in households with incomes of $50,000 or more. At the same time, low income teens are much less likely to be on family plans. Among teens living in households with incomes below $30,000, only 31% are on a family plan that someone else pays for. In this group, 15% have prepaid plans that someone else pays for, and 12% have prepaid plans that they pay for entirely themselves. Black teens living in low income households are the most likely to have prepaid plans that they pay for themselves. Unlimited plans are tied to increases in use of the phone, while teens on “metered” plans are much more circumspect in their use of the phone. Fully three-quarters of teen cell phone users (75%) have unlimited texting. Just 13 percent of teen cell phone users pay per message. Those with unlimited voice and texting plans are more likely to call others daily or more often for almost every reason we queried – to call and check in with someone, to coordinate meeting, to talk about school work or have long personal conversations. Teens with unlimited texting typically send and receive 70 texts per day, compared with 10 texts a day for teens on limited plans and 5 texts a day for teens who pay per message. 4% of teens say they have sent a sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude image of themselves to someone via text message A relatively small number of teens have sent and received sexually suggestive images by text:
Further details about “sexting” via cell phones may be found in our recent Teens and Sexting Report.4 One in three (34%) texting teens ages 16-17 say they have texted while driving. That translates into 26% of all American teens ages 16-17.
New data forthcoming on Latino youth and their communication choices Forthcoming from the Pew Hispanic Center, a sister project to the Pew Internet Project, is a new report about the ways young Latinos, ages 16 to 25, communicate with each other. This report will contain results based on a national survey of Hispanics conducted in the fall of 2009. Over 1,200 young Latinos were asked about the ways they communicate with each other, whether through text messaging, face-to-face contact, email or social network sites. This new forthcoming report is a follow-up to the report “Between Two Worlds: How Young Latinos Come of Age in America,” and will be available online at www.pewresearch.org/hispanic
Generation
Z: Your Student Community Generation Z are the first generation to grow up with the Internet, social media and smartphone technology as part of their childhood, and have an attention span of 8 seconds, down from millennials (12 seconds). These students view email as outdated and are three times more likely to open a chat message received through a push notification (2010) How do they connect?
What social platforms do they use? Facebook and Twitter are declining in popularity. Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube are in. What stresses them out on a national level?
What stresses them out on a personal level? Stressers for 18-21 year olds: 81% money, 77% work, 75% health concerns, and 46% the economy, bullying/not getting along with others 35%, personal debt 33%,drug and alcohol use or addiction in their family 21%, gender issues relating to sexual orientation/gender identity 21%. Gen Zs are also more attuned and open about their own mental health. When it comes to having an excellent or very good mental health status, here is how they compare to other generations
Common symptoms for Gen Zs:
What's the impact of drugs and alcohol on Gen Z?
How do Gen Zs cope with stress?
Does social media help?
Find out how to communicate more
effectively with your student population, as well as help
them feel connected to your campus and be prepared if they
need to act in the event of an emergency. Download
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Teens and
Sexting Pew Research 12/15/09 In a nationally representative survey of those ages 12-17 conducted on landline and cell phones, the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project found:
Introduction: Cell phones are more and more a part of teen life Since the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project first started tracking teen cell phone use, the age at which American teens acquire their first cell phone has consistently grown younger. In Pew Internet’s 2004 survey of teens, 18% of teens age 12 owned a cell phone. In 2009, 58% of 12 year-olds own a cell phone. We also have found that cell phone ownership increases dramatically with age: 83% of teens age 17 now own a cell phone, up from 64% in 2004. At the same time the level of adoption has been growing, the capacity of these cell phones has also changed dramatically. Many teens now use their phones not just for calling, but also to access the internet and to take and share photos and videos. In our survey of 800 youth ages 12-17 conducted from June 26 to September 24, we found that 75% of all teens those ages own a cell phone and 66% of teens use text messaging. Texting has become a centerpiece in teen social life, and parents, educators and advocates have grown increasingly concerned about the role of cell phones in the sexual lives of teens and young adults. In particular, over the past year, press coverage and policy discussions have focused on how teens are using or misusing cell phones as part of their sexual interactions and explorations. The greatest amount of concern has focused on “sexting” or the creating, sharing and forwarding of sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images by minor teens. Both laws and law enforcement practices around sexting are emerging to deal with the issue and they vary significantly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Some law enforcement officers and district attorneys have begun prosecuting teens who created and shared such images under laws generally reserved for producers and distributors of child pornography. An incident in Pennsylvania that unfolded earlier this year highlighted the conflict between those committed to strictly enforcing the law and those who believe that such enforcement is a heavy-handed response to social problem best handled outside of the legal system in a way that treats minors as a special case (as in other parts of the justice system). In Pennsylvania, a local district attorney threatened to charge 17 students who were either pictured in images or found with “provocative” images on their cell phones with prosecution under child pornography laws unless they agreed to participate in a five-week after school program and probation. The parents of two of the girls countersued the DA with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union, who argued that the images did not constitute pornography and that the girls could not be charged as they did not consent to the distribution of the images that pictured them.1 Similar incidents occurred in Massachusetts,2 Ohio,3 and several other states. One notable incident in Florida left 18-year-old Philip Alpert listed as registered sex offender for the next 25 years after he was convicted of sending nude images of his 16-year-old girlfriend to family and friends after an argument.4 Teens are being charged with everything from “disorderly conduct” and “illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material” to felony “sexual abuse of children…, criminal [use] of a communications facility, or open lewdness.” Legislatures in a handful of states are stepping in to consider making laws that downgrade the charges for creating or trading sexually suggestive images of minors by text from felonies to misdemeanors. In 2009, the Vermont5 and Utah6 state legislatures downgraded the penalties for minors and first-time perpetrators of “sexting.” Ohio7 has legislation pending to criminalize, at a milder level, sexting between minors. In December 2008, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and their research partners released a study called “Sex and Tech” that examined the role of technology in the sex lives of teens and young adults. In addition to the National Campaign’s online survey, Cox Communications, partnered with National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Harris Interactive, and MTV in partnership with the Associated Press have also released findings from online surveys on the topic. In the National Campaign study, 19% of teens ages 13-19 who participated in the survey said they had sent a sexually suggestive picture or video of themselves to someone via email, cell phone or by another mode, and 31% had received a nude or semi-nude picture from someone else. In the Cox study done in March 2009, 9% of teens ages 13-18 had sent a sexually suggestive text message or email with nude or nearly-nude photos, 3% had forwarded one, and 17% had received a sexually suggestive text message or email with nude or nearly nude photos.8 The MTV-AP poll conducted in September reports that 1 in 10 young adults between the ages of 14 and 24 have shared a naked image of themselves with someone else and 15% have had someone send them naked pictures or videos of themselves. Another 8% of young adults have had someone send them naked images of someone else they know personally.9 The Pew Internet Project’s study In our nationally-representative telephone survey conducted from June to September we asked teens whether they had sent or received sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude photos or videos of themselves or of someone they knew on their cell phones. Partnering with the University of Michigan, in October we conducted a series of focus groups with teens ages 12-18 and during those groups, teens took a private paper survey in which they wrote about their experiences with sexting. These questions focus on the sending and receiving of images via cell phone, and do not address suggestive text messages without visual content or those shared by other means (such as email or online social networks). We chose this strategy because the policy community and advocates are primarily concerned with the legality of sharing images and because the mobile phone is increasingly the locus of teens’ personal, and seemingly private communication. The Pew Internet survey data shows that 4% of all cell-owning teens ages 12-17 report sending a sexually suggestive nude or nearly-nude photo or video of themselves to someone else.10 The data reveals no difference in this practice related to gender: Girls and boys are equally as likely to have sent a suggestive picture to another person. The oldest teens in our sample – those aged 17 – are the most likely to report having sent a sexually suggestive image via text with 8% of 17-year-olds having sent one, compared to 4% of those age 12. But otherwise, there is little variation across age groups in the likelihood of having sent a sexual image by text. Teens who paid for all of the costs associated with their cell phone were more likely to report sending sexual images of themselves by text, with 17% of these teens sending sexually suggestive texts compared to just 3% of teens who did not pay for or only paid for a portion of the cost of their cell phone. Overall, 70% of teens have a cell phone that someone else, usually a parent, pays for, 19% pay part of the costs and 10% pay all of the costs of their cell phone. 4% of all cell-owning teens ages 12-17 report sending a sexually suggestive nude or nearly-nude photo or video of themselves to someone else When it comes to receiving images, 15% of those ages 12-17 have received a sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude photo or video of someone they know on their cell phone. Older teens ages 14-17 are more likely than younger teens to report receiving such images or videos: 18% of older teens have received an image versus 6% of teens ages 12-13 who have received such content. The data show a steady increase in likelihood of receipt of sexually suggestive images via text by age, with just 4% of 12-year-olds receiving these images or videos compared to 20% of 16-year-olds and 30% of 17-year-olds. There are no statistically significant differences in reports of receipt of these images by gender. There are some indications that teens who send and receive suggestive images via text message are likely to be those whose phones are more central to their lives than less intense cell phone users. For instance, teens who send any type of text message are more likely than teens who do not text to say they have received a sexually suggestive image on their cell phone, with 16% of texters receiving these images compared to 7% of teens who do not use text messaging. Teens with unlimited text messaging plans – 75% of teens with cell phones — are also more likely to report receiving sexually suggestive texts with 18% of teens with unlimited plans receiving nude or nearly nude images or video via their phones, compared to 8% of those with limited plans and 4% of those who pay per message. Teens who receive sexually suggestive images on their cell phones are more likely to say that they use the phone to entertain themselves when bored; 80% of sexting recipients say they use their phones to combat boredom, while 67% of teens who have not received suggestive images on their phone say the same. Teens who have received these images are also less likely to say that they turn off their phones when it is not otherwise required – 68% of receiving teens say they generally do not turn off their phones when they do not have to, and 46% of teens who have not received suggestive images by text report the same “always on” behavior. Three Basic Sexting Scenarios Teens in our focus groups outlined three general scenarios in which sexually suggestive images are shared or forwarded. In one situation, images are shared between two romantic partners, in lieu of, as a prelude to, or as a part of sexual activity.
An 11th/12th grade girl talked about sexting as part of an experimental phase for teens who are not yet sexually active:
For other teens, sexting is one part of a sexual relationship.
However, these images sent between romantic partners can easily be forwarded (with or without the subject’s knowledge) to friends or classmates and beyond.
But other images are sent between friends, or between two people where at least one of the pair is hoping to become romantically involved.
Sexually suggestive images sent to the privacy of the phone have become a form of relationship currency. One senior girl reflected:
Another older high school girl wrote about the pressure on girls to share such images:
It is important to note that many teens have not sent or received or had sexually suggestive images forwarded to them.
Attitudes towards sexting In the focus groups, we found that teens’ attitudes towards sexting vary widely, from those who do not think it is a major issue to others who think it is inappropriate, “slutty,” potentially damaging or illegal. On one end of the spectrum are the teens who view sexting as a safer alternative to real life sexual activity.
Other teens avoid it because of their concerns about legality and the potential for public release of the images.
Some teens brand these images, particularly images of girls, as inappropriate and make judgments about the people who appear in them. One older high school boy wrote,
Teens make fine distinctions in what is acceptable and what is unacceptable in transmitted images.
Another middle school girl had a different view of the distinction between “slutty” and nude images. When asked if she had sent sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images of herself to someone else’s cell phone she wrote, “NEVER have and never will. I think I’ve only sent slutty pics but not naked.” When teens in the focus groups were asked how common they believed sexting to be, the answers covered the spectrum, from infrequent to very common.
Still, some teens believe sexting is quite prevalent. A high school girl wrote:
Parents’ Role What is the role of parents here? One younger high school boy told us that he never sends or receives sexually suggestive images via text because “my mom goes through my phone.” However, another high school boy described how he password protected images to keep others from viewing them. He told us that he “get(s) text picture messages from girls because they like me. The picture would have nudity, but I put those on security for my phone.” On the Pew Internet telephone survey, teens whose parents said they looked at the contents of their child’s cell phone were no more or less likely to send or receive nude or nearly nude images on their phones. One parental intervention that may relate to a lower likelihood of sending of sexually suggestive images was parental restriction of text messaging. Teens who sent sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images were less likely to have parents who reported limiting the number of texts or other messages the teen could send. Just 8% of teens who sent sexy images by text had parents who restricted the number of texts or other messages they could send; 28% of teens who didn’t send these texts had parents who limited their child’s texting. Resources 1. “Sexting Girls Facing Porn Charge Sue D.A.” 27 March 2009, CBS.com. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/27/earlyshow/main4896577.shtml 2. Ibid. 3. “Teens Face Child Porn Charge In Sexting Incident.” Posted 7 April 2009, Updated 8 April 2009. WLWT.com. http://www.wlwt.com/news/19120685/detail.html 4. Deborah Feyerick and Sheila Steffen, “‘Sexting’ lands teen on sex offender list.” 9 April 2009. CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/07/sexting.busts/index.html 5. House Proposal of Amendment/As Passed by House 2009. S.125. The State of Vermont Legislature. http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2010/bills/House/S-125.pdf 6. Title 76 Utah Criminal Code. Chapter 10 Offenses Against Public Health, Safety, Welfare, and Morals, Section 1204 Distributing pornographic material — Penalties — Exemptions for Internet service providers and hosting companies. http://www.le.utah.gov/UtahCode/getCodeSection?code=76-10-1204; Section 1206 Dealing in material harmful to a minor — Penalties — Exemptions for Internet service providers and hosting companies. http://www.le.utah.gov/UtahCode/getCodeSection?code=76-10-1206 7. Bill Analysis, Legislative Service Commission, S.B. 103, 128th Ohio General Assembly (As Introduced). http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/analysis.cfm?ID=128_SB_103&ACT=As%20Introduced&hf=analyses128/s0103-i-128.htm 8. Cox Communications Teen Online & Wireless Safety Survey, in Partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC) and John Walsh. May 2009. http://www.cox.com/takecharge/safe_teens_2009/media/2009_teen_survey_internet_and_wireless_safety.pdf 9. MTV-AP Digital Abuse Study, Executive Summary. AThinLine.org. http://www.athinline.org/MTV- 10. Note: sexting is a topic
with a relatively high level of social disapproval. This
raises the possibility that any time any researcher asks
questions about the subject that respondents will not admit
to engaging in the socially subject behavior, which may
result in findings that underreport the actual incidence of
a behavior. And while focus groups are not representative
samples, the number of teens in our focus groups who were
able to talk about these experiences suggests that this may
be the case. How To Understand
Gen Z Communication Patterns Typically, generations' formative experiences are influenced by world events, economic and social change, or technology – for example, Gen X grew up during the space race and Gen Y grew up following the fall of the Berlin Wall. With regards to technology, Gen Z is the first cohort to have Internet technology readily available at a young age. Indeed, technology is one of the key changes across generations, and the way individuals use technology to communicate is particularly significant. For example, Gen X grew up during the rise of commercial TV networks and affordable color TVs – phenomena that dramatically altered the ways in which information was shared and a generation's perception of the world. Gen Y grew up in the age of mobile entertainment (i.e., Walkmans, MP3 players, etc.), satellite TV, and then the Internet - which brought social media, video chat, and other communication tools. The Gen Y era also included the first cell phones; and, by the end of the era, Gen Y-ers could access the Internet from 2G and 3G cell phones, and from 4G smartphones. Gen Z takes these tools and 24/7 mobile connectivity for granted, as the technology has been around since most Gen Z-ers were kids. Consequently, Gen Z is often referred to as consisting of tech-savvy digital natives; and, although this isn't the case in every scenario, being more tuned in to technology than previous generations certainly influence Gen Z communication patterns. Why Understanding Gen Z Communication Patterns is Important With many in the Gen Z cohort now college or university students, it is important to understand Gen Z communication patterns for campus safety and security. Gen Z are likely to prefer the speedy communication style that mobile technology and social media enables; and, for campus safety managers, understanding communication preferences can make an enormous difference when it comes to implementing an effective emergency response plan. Digital communications - especially via mobile phone - are the predominant mode of connecting for Gen Z students. Mobile Phone Technology is near ubiquitous for Gen Z - approximately 95% of Gen Z students have a smartphone, and about half of these students use their mobile phone for 5+ hours per day. 65% of Gen Z students are on their phones after midnight multiple times per week, and 29% report being on their phone after midnight every night of the week. During an emergency, mobile phone communications will be the most reliable way to reach Gen Z students on campus, no matter where the emergency occurs or at what time of day. Texting is the most popular medium of communication for Gen Z students. Luckily, text-based communications can be easily incorporated into an emergency communication plan by campus safety teams. If the college or university utilizes a mass notification system, prioritizing text during an emergency situation can ensure that the majority of students are informed. Gen Z students also prefer app-based communication since it allows them to communicate on the go and multi-task with multiple conversations. Push-notifications can be a powerful tool for reaching these students - Gen Z students are 3 times as likely to open a push-notification and utilizing this tool can allow campus safety managers better reach students with important resources or information. Campus Safety managers should understand which mediums Gen Z find preferable, but it’s equally critical to understand the modes of communication these students are unlikely to turn to. It’s noteworthy that Gen Z utilizes email less for personal or professional reasons while online. Students are still likely to utilize e-mail, but for matters which are timely, it may not be the most effective way to reach students. Keeping track of which social media apps are popular among members of Gen Z can help safety managers better reach this demographic as well as well. While Baby Boomers and Millennials used Facebook or Twitter, the next generation has largely spurned these once-popular sites in favor of Instagram, WhatsApp, VSCO, and other newer, more visual social media platforms. These platforms largely communicate using short-form communications, pictures, or video, which speaks to dwindling attention spans. The average millennial has a consumer attention span of 12-seconds, while Gen Z attention-spans have diminished to 8 seconds, according to Forbes. Once again, the decrease in attention may have a lot to do with the Gen Z tendency to multitask - while millennials have on-average 3 screens going at once, Gen Z are likely to have 5 screens on at once, making it more difficult for one medium. The multi-task generation emphasizes the importance of targeting and personalizing communications aimed toward Gen Z - reaching out via text or push-notification remains one of the most effective ways to reach and engage students. Leveraging Technology To Communicate With Gen Z Technology should be a key component of a safety plan which includes Gen Z students. A campus safety app can empower tech-savvy students to take safety into their own hands. The app has a variety of safety capabilities and allows students to set a safety timer while traveling across campus. If a student does not arrive at the designated location within the time they set, campus safety or local law enforcement will be informed. The tool will also provide location data to officials, further reducing response time. Given the prevalence of mobile phone technology among Gen Z students, the app provides a unique way to bolster safety among this demographic. The app also acts as a database for
campus resources, allowing students to access critical
safety information such as emergency procedures, travel
documents, and other key resources which can be shared with
users via the interface. A call directory is also available,
allowing students to access important numbers. If a student
is having a health concern, for example, they will be able
to find contact information for the campus wellness center
via the app. Students can also reach out to campus safety
officials directly via the app during an emergency. For a
generation which is already likely to have their phone on
hand, Gen Z students are more likely to access resources via
the app. 5 Tips to Help
Businesses Communicate Effectively With Millennials and
Generation Z During Times of Crisis On a personal level, this belief in our collective indestructibility is usually relatively benign, even if it’s inaccurate. Governments step in and we adapt our behaviour. But for businesses, it can be fatal. Brands need tested, practical crisis management plans to deal with both internal emergencies and broader national and international upheavals in which they get caught up. This is especially true when it comes to communication strategies aimed at millennials and Gen Z individuals, groups that together make up nearly half of the worldwide consumer market. In this post, we’re going to look at five practical ways that businesses can craft positive, wide-reaching and effective communication plans for when things go wrong. 1. Implement a Digital, Multi-Channel Approach To ensure that messages achieve maximum exposure, brands should leverage as many mediums as possible, including email, SMS, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and so on. The average online user has 8.5 social media accounts. By targeting all customer channels with a variety of content types like video, written posts and photos, businesses will reach the greatest possible amount of people with the formats their customers prefer. What’s more, it’s crucial for companies to develop a clear message and coordinate to ensure uniformity. One of the biggest frustrations among the public during the coronavirus crisis has been the mixed messages coming from governments. 2. Don’t Forget the Human Element User-generated content can play a significant role in emergencies. Stories about people responding to the crisis and implementing new guidelines are particularly useful for building a human element into a communication strategy. All those customer tweets, Facebook and Instagram posts will have an uplifting effect when shared with a company’s followers. Millennials and members of Generation Z crave personal connections from brands. Adding authorship to messages, whether it’s from the head of PR or the company CEO, will likely yield positive reactions. During the coronavirus outbreak, many large companies have taken this approach. Ryanair’s boss Michael O’Leary, for example, issued a personal statement outlining extra safety precautions that were being taken during flights. 3. Address Important Practical Concerns The emotional and uplifting content of crisis communication is important. But messages first and foremost should serve a practical purpose – they should include concrete details and guidelines that are consistent across channels. Here are some examples of questions that businesses should answer:
4. Emphasize the Values and Mission of the Brand Younger groups like millennials and Generation Z prefer brands with clearly defined values. And they’re more likely to opt for, and remain loyal to, companies that have strong missions. During times of crisis, when customer loyalty will be tested, it’s vital for businesses to re-assert their mission and how values are driving emergency measures. 5. Ask and Incentivize Customers to Share The social ecosystem is driven by sharing. By leveraging social sharing, it’s possible to boost the reach and effectiveness of crisis communication, thereby reassuring and engaging a greater proportion of customers. There are numerous practical things that brands can do to encourage sharing, from hiring well-known influencers to publicize messages to running campaigns that reward re-posting social media messages, like a donation to charity for each share. Eager to Learn How to Tackle Emergencies as an Entrepreneur or Business Leader? Crisis management is about more than limiting losses. For passionate entrepreneurs and business leaders, it is an essential skill that ensures the health of a company during difficult times while limiting any negative effects on consumers. In an increasingly uncertain world,
the EU Business School understands the value of these
skills. All our courses include an in depth look at crisis
management from a business perspective. Explore our
Bachelor’s in Communication and Public Relations and
our MBA in Communication and Public Relations for more
information. Laying the groundwork for trust
Winning Crisis
Strategies with Gen Z - 1/21/20 Gen Z are perhaps the most influential and most targeted stakeholder group. 60 million Gen Z individuals are in the United States, outnumbering Millennials by a million. It’s estimated that by 2020, Generation Z will account for 40 percent of all consumers. They’re always switched on: they use multiple devices, prefer video and voice messages over “traditional” text and email and are quick to respond in a digitally-public way to voice their approval and disapproval. This makes them a potential risk for brands if they want to publicly identify problems that they have experienced. Social media has changed the game, and particularly with Gen Z, as the most digitally native stakeholder group. Therefore, it’s particularly important for brands to effectively and positively engage with them. Gen Z individuals value relationships based on trust and demand transparency from their brands. It’s a brand’s responsibility to grow and nurture these relationships, and those that do this well have strong relationships that are typically less affected by crisis situations. An effective crisis communications plan should be in place for all brands and be able to be implemented immediately. This gives a brand the chance to be proactive, with the ability to control the narrative, deal with criticism and issue a robust response. In the age of digital media, this has never been more important. While they can sometimes be part of the problem, it’s sensible for brands to work with this influential consumer group to increase their reach and profits as well as consult rapidly when crisis communication work is required. How can brands win at crisis communications with Gen Z? Have them help you be human. Be open, authentic and honest. Gen Zers can help brands with this. For brands to truly target and work with their target audience, involve an influencer within the drafting and creation of your response. They can help you come out from behind the screen, speaking the language and shaping the narrative that can win back trust and keep consumers on side. Capitalize and work with them on user generated content. Brands that work with stakeholders to create user generated content can use this technique to build—or rebuild—trust post a crisis communications incident. Authentic content will appeal to stakeholders, particularly Gen Z individuals who enjoy and respond positively to updates that are genuine. Video content. Gen Zers are in a hurry, consuming content on more than one device. Prioritizing video content is a strong strategy for brands in a crisis communications situation, and brands should focus on creating short, one-to-three-minute videos that get straight to the point, have a strong headline and provide information that consumers will find useful. It’s important to also include captions in the video for users who watch in their social media feeds, without the sound on. Encourage sharing. For a response to a crisis to go viral—in the right way—it’s important that response is easily shareable. Brands should add sharing functionality and encourage supporters to share across their respective networks. Brands should also use their internal communications strategy to encourage employees to share the response. New ways to shape and distribute responses. Effective crisis communications must be proactive to get ahead of the story and to shape the narrative. Responding to the story using social media techniques like live streamed statements and videos ensures that a response is put in front of the right audience at the right time. Additionally, using platforms for targeting can help brands get in front of the appropriate stakeholders and get ahead of the narrative. True to values and beliefs. Gen Z individuals value real people, not celebrities. Authenticity is key and with FTC guidelines ensuring that bloggers and social creators must prominently display if and when they are creating paid content for brands. This provides Gen Z individuals—and other stakeholders—with honesty up front, helping to generate trust from the outset. Gen Zers value personal connections and, as adult consumers, they’ll likely demand more transparency from the brands they buy and the companies that produce and sell them. This helps brands to generate genuine, stronger relationships with their customers. For brands, it’s also important that they ensure their public facing image supports the corporate culture of their company. For them to not do so runs the risk of charges of hypocrisy, a decrease in trust and ultimately, loss of business. To avoid a communications disaster
played out in front of the world’s digital media,
having a robust and proactive crisis communications plan in
place is an essential tool for all brands. And working with
the influential Gen Z to shape and drive forward is an
effective approach for brand survival. 0-14 years: 25.33% (male
1,005,229,963/female 941,107,507) Children The age structure of a population
affects a nation's key socioeconomic issues. Countries with
young populations (high percentage under age 15) need to
invest more in schools, while countries with older
populations (high percentage ages 65 and over) need to
invest more in the health sector. The age structure can also
be used to help predict potential political issues. For
example, the rapid growth of a young adult population unable
to find employment can lead to unrest. How police
agencies can effectively communicate with Generation Z -
10/7/18 While a lot of attention has been focused on the millennial generation, there’s a new crop of young adults currently entering the workforce: Generation Z. And just like millennials, those in the “iGeneration” have unique characteristics that require agencies to take different approach to things. At the 125th annual International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, criminal justice professor and former special agent Debra A. Dreisbach outlined steps agencies can take to effectively motivate and communicate with them. Quick summary on Gen Z Dreisbach defined Generation Z as people born between 1995 and 2010. They are the first generation to grow up with technology throughout their entire lives. They were raised during a time of economic recession and do not know life before the U.S. was in a war on terrorism or before active shooter events were the norm. These issues have resulted in Gen Zs having a general sense of uncertainty about the future. They were also raised in an era where Americans are having fewer children, and as a result their parents had more time and resources to devote to them. Because of this, Gen Z didn’t have to grow up fast - they’re taking longer to reach developmental milestones, and generally have gone through life with more hand-holding than generations before them. All of these factors influence how Generation Z operates. They tend to:
3 Key Take Aways 1. One of the biggest takeaways from the session was how technology has influenced the way this generation learns. In the Instagram and Snapchat era, they’re wired to understand visual imagery and “snackable” content (information given in small, digestible bits). They do not do well with deep reading or PowerPoint presentations. Gen Zs have an eight-second attention span, so you need to get through to them quickly or you’ll lose them. Dreisbach suggests using images and videos to get your message across, and to communicate in shorter, more digestible bursts more frequently. Other Observations
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