Overall media consumption in Australia is higher after dinner compared to breakfast time with 88 per cent of Australians consuming media after dinner compared to 75 per cent at breakfast.

Findings from Roy Morgan Research investigating the media consumption preferences of Australians highlights some significant differences between which media we choose at breakfast time compared with our preferences after dinner.

Australians at breakfast

The clear breakfast favourite is radio 27.9 per cent of Australians prefer to listen to radio at breakfast cf. 3.6 per cent after dinner. The other media preferred at breakfast time is reading a print or online newspaper – 16.1 per cent of Australians read a newspaper at breakfast cf. 2.5 per cent after dinner. Importantly 13.8 per cent of Australians read print newspapers which are preferred to online newspapers read by 9.4 per cent of Australians (some read both print and online),

Australians after dinner

For all other media types, a higher proportion of people prefer to consume after dinner, but relativities vary depending on the medium consumed:

• TV viewing is preferred by 58.2 per cent of Australians at dinner time compared to 21.9 per cent of Australians at breakfast time;
• Online activity is preferred by 38.5 per cent of Australians after dinner compared to 24.7 per cent of Australians who like to go online at breakfast. The relativities are somewhat closer if we consider social media consumption – 28.2 per cent after dinner cf. 20.9 per cent at breakfast; but about the same difference for all other internet use – 34.8 per cent after dinner cf. 20.7 per cent at breakfast;
• 21 per cent of Australians like to read a book after dinner but only 5.2 per cent do so at breakfast;
• Playing games on a console, computer, mobile phone or tablet is much more strongly preferred after dinner with 18.1 per cent of Australians compared to 6.2 per cent at breakfast time.

Older generations love breakfast radio, younger generations prefer the Internet

The research on media preferences by time of day also provides deep insights with how different demographic groups are similar or different in what media they prefer to consume and when they prefer to consume it. It shows clear momentum of the internet with the younger generation.

Overall consumption of media at breakfast time declines in younger generations born after 1960. Over 80 per cent of Pre-Boomers and Baby Boomers consume media at breakfast time compared to 77 per cent of Generation X, 72 per cent of Generation Y and just under 70 per cent of Generation Z.

Breakfast media preferences across the generations:

• Decreasing preference across generations for:

Newspaper readership – 28.7 per cent of Pre-Boomers to 10 per cent of Generation Z;

Listening to the radio – 38.4 per cent of Pre-Boomers to 15.4 per cent of Generation Z;

Watching TV – Pre-Boomers are slightly down on 23 per cent relative to Baby Boomers on 28.1 per cent and Generation X on 25.2 per cent which declines further amongst the younger Generation Y on 18.3 per cent and Generation Z on 15.8 per cent;

Increasing preference across generations for:

Using Social Media – 5.5 per cent of Pre-Boomers to 33.1 per cent of Generation Z;

Using the internet other than Social Media – 7.3 per cent of Pre-Boomers to 31.9 per cent of Generation Z;

Playing games on a console, computer, mobile phone or tablet – 3.2 per cent of Pre-Boomers to 10.7 per cent of Generation Z.

Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan, says understanding how diverse consumer groups engage with media at different times of the day is vital to properly targeting advertising to reach consumers in a cost-effective way:

“Combined with the richness of other Roy Morgan Single Source data the media preferences information can be used to create an in-depth understanding of which media resonate most favourably among your intended communication targets. These sorts of analyses give valuable insights into media receptivity similarities and differences both within and between selected target markets. Exploring media preferences in detail is an essential input for developing effective media strategies to reach existing and potential customers. It’s so easy to assume the ‘traditional media’ belong in the past. This new research, that specifically focuses on social media and new digital media within the total media context shows clearly that TV is still the preferred media after dinner; radio rules at breakfast. However the overall trends are all foreshadowing a move to a more digital media world.”

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Consumer Behaviour, Digital Radio, Games, Research, Social Media