Entertainment - from flicking to meaning.
BETC, Havas, and Vivendi unveil the future of entertainment in a Prosumers study conducted in collaboration with the Cannes Lions.
The premise? Exploring the major changes that are transforming the way people consume entertainment. To make this happen, 17,411 (no more, no less!) participants aged 13+ in 37 countries were mobilized. But not just anyone. They are the so-called prosumers, the most advanced consumers and creators of the market trends that HAVAS has been following for more than 15 years.
The full report can be downloaded right here: "Future of Entertainment".
But OK, here you go: the key conclusions from the study:
• Entertainment is now as vital as health. Prosumers no longer see entertainment as superficial: 83% of them consider it a vital need; Compare that to a previous study in which 64% said they paid attention to matters concerning health. Does this mean that the right to entertainment must be enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
• We have become entertainment “addicts”, consistently looking for our next fix. Six out of ten prosumers admit that they can’t sit still without consuming content, while 56% are willing to sacrifice their sleep to watch a series they love. Almost 4 in 10 say they couldn’t live without Netflix, even though the platform did not exist for them 5 or 6 years ago!
• Give me more! The more entertainment we consume, the more we want - in all aspects of our lives. Some 6 out of 10 prosumers want our educational systems, workplaces, and even our hospitals and retirement homes to be more entertaining.
• But the ultimate value of entertainment will lie in its ability to enrich and transform people's habits. While we need distractions and temporary escapes, we also attach immense importance to entertainment as having transformative value: 93% of prosumers consider that the value of entertainment lies in its long-term impact. An impact rooted in the personal freedom and self-education obtained through entertainment (for almost 9 out of 10 prosumers), but also in its representation of our local cultures: 78% of prosumers agree that entertainment platforms should promote local content in-language and 81% of them say that it’s important for artists to promote their national culture.
• We are also under the pressure of entertainment. Young people, in particular, feel compelled to take part in the entertainment culture, both as consumers and as creators. Of our participants aged 13 to 17, 55% feel that they must constantly be entertaining for their friends and family, and 43% feel compelled to make their lives entertaining for social media.
Commenting on the results of the study, Marianne Hurstel, CSO of Havas Creative Worldwide and Vice President of BETC, says: "This study has provided us with a surprising and powerful insight into what makes entertainment important to consumers: not only must it create instant excitement, it must also educate, emancipate people and help them improve. And nearly half of the prosumers would be willing to pay more for entertainment that goes in this direction.”