Millennials and Gen Z to Make Rio the Most Social Olympics Ever

Crowdtap Study Reveals Consumer Behavior Ahead of the 2016 Summer Games

New York, NY (April 27, 2016) — Crowdtap, the People-­Powered Marketing Platform, released the results of a new study that explores the viewing and online social behaviors of anticipated viewers of the 2016 Summer Olympics, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro in August.

If trends since the 2014 games in Sochi were any indication, Rio is poised to be the most social Olympics yet. Consider what has happened in just two short years: Snapchat has emerged as the de facto social platform for millennials and Gen Z; Instagram has passed 400 million users; and livestreaming has entered the mainstream thanks to platforms like Periscope and Meerkat, and the recent debut of Facebook Live.

Crowdtap surveyed 500 U.S. adults to find out how they plan to interact with this summer's Olympic games. The study underscored inherently social nature of the games and further, the propensity of viewers to share their favorite events, iconic ceremonies and unexpected moments in real-time.

Key Findings

• The preferred platforms for Olympics social conversation vary by age group – while Facebook is the leading platform across all adults surveyed, younger millennials favor emerging platforms like Snapchat and Instagram more heavily than older Millennials and adults 35+.
  • 32 percent of younger millennial viewers (18-24) said they will share Olympics content on Snapchat vs. 19 percent of older millennials (25-34 year-olds) and 12 percent of viewers over 35.
  • 18 percent of all viewers surveyed said they will discuss the Olympics on Snapchat, a platform that was only beginning to gain traction during the last Summer games in 2012. Today, Snapchat has north of 100 million active users.
• Millennials are two times more interested in the cultural chatter that surrounds the games – e.g. human interest stories and meme-worthy moments – than non-­millennials.
• 57 percent of viewers plan to host viewing parties at home.
• 84 percent of viewers plan to tune in to the games on television, and males are two times more likely to watch on computers, tablets and smartphones.
• 78 percent of viewers favor the gymnastics events followed by swimming (68 percent) and diving (54 percent).

“The evolution of media consumption habits has had a dramatic impact on the way people experience major cultural events,” said Claudia Page, VP Platform Growth and Creator Partnerships at Crowdtap. “The goal of our study was to help brands understand the preferences of Olympics viewers as they plan their content strategy ahead of Rio. Whether brands are signed on as official sponsors or simply want to actively participate in the conversation, the key to success will be identifying the distribution channels and topics that are most relevant for your brand and your audience.”

For more information on this study click here.