Intrigued as we are about the communication habits of America’s consumer, we looked at Millennials and other generations’ interest in advertising and media usage and found some interesting – and surprising – nuggets of information.

Overall, Late Boomers (47-55) don’t have strong feelings for or against advertising or a specific medium, but other generations’ interest in advertising generally corresponds to the medium they use most. Specifically, Millennials (18-34) are the only age group to show significant interest in alternative advertising places.

Below are more detailed findings.

Interest in advertising:
Not surprising…
-Pre-Boomers (65+) view newspaper and magazine advertising as useful and informative
-Millennials view Internet advertising as more useful and amusing than advertising in other media
Surprising…
-Early Boomers (56-64) and Pre-Boomers dislike TV advertising

Media quintiles:
Not surprising…
-Early Boomers and Pre-Boomers are heaviest newspaper readers and TV (Total and Primetime) viewers
-Late Boomers’ highest indices were for radio and outdoor, but were only borderline significant
Surprising…
-Millennials and Gen X (35-46) are the heaviest Internet users

While older consumers say that they dislike TV advertising and distrust and dislike the advertisements, TV is still their most utilized medium. At the other end of the age spectrum, Millennials trust and are amused by the advertising found on their most used medium, the internet. As the web continues to permeate into more aspects of everyday life, advertisers should be careful not to over-saturate and potentially jade this currently captive audience.