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Watching a movie as a family is not easy. While some prefer to shiver with fear in front of a horror film, others prefer to warm up in front of a good romantic comedy. And according to a study by Parrot Analytics, each generation has its own favorite genre, thus reinforcing certain clichés. Explanations.
Clichés die hard, especially in cinema. Often associated with an older audience, western films, which take place during the conquest of the West, are much more appreciated by generation X+ than by Z. This is what the new study by Parrot Analytics. 45-59 year olds prefer this genre first, unlike 14-29 year olds who prefer animation. More than 40% of films whose audiences are largely made up of members of Generation Z are animated films. This is much more than other generations: “The two genres that best illustrate the divergent tastes of the youngest and oldest generations are westerns and animated films.” confirmed Parrot Analytics.
“Zennials”, who bring together the youngest Millennials and certain members of Generation Z, are particularly fond of romance (31%). Zennials prefer this genre over animated, horror, and western films. Romantic films are the only ones to be appreciated more evenly by all generations.
If the elders prefer westerns, and the Zennials, animation, Millennials have a more pronounced taste for horror films. Nearly 20% of titles whose audiences are strongly composed of Millennials are horror films, compared to 10% for other generations.
The question remains whether tastes change with age. A trend confirmed by the study. Young people are more fond of comedies while older people prefer dramas. “For example, the historical genre is barely on the radar of younger generations. For Millennials, the share of films with a strong Millennial audience in the historical genre increases to 5% and when we reach Generation X+, we reach peak nostalgia at 10%. […] We observe a clear evolution in preferences for comedies between younger and older audiences. More than 50% of films with Gen Z audiences are comedies. This share decreases slightly for Millennials and Zennials, but then drops by almost half for the oldest generations (25.6%). The relative preference for dramas over comedies also reverses between the youngest and oldest generation. 42% of films with Gen Z audiences are dramas, compared to 61% of films with audiences from the oldest generation“, explains the study.