Co-creating culture: How viewers influence the content they love
Sep 05, 2023 – minute read
For most of us, video has become the default format for addressing many of our emotional and intellectual needs – whether that's entertainment, learning and growth or connecting with others.
Our latest research in partnership with research agencies, MTM and The Behavioural Architects, 'Why We Watch', shows that these needs have remained pretty consistent. Yet the contemporary video landscape feels undeniably different.
Why is that? A profound power shift towards viewer agency. The audience is no longer a passive recipient, but an empowered and engaged curator, building their own personal media universes.
The audience is no longer a passive recipient, but an empowered and engaged curator, building their own personal media universes.
Rather than being overwhelmed by choice, viewers have embraced it — seamlessly finding valuable content that speaks to their interests, passions and identities. This is made even more possible on platforms like YouTube. In a survey by MTM, 48% of users in EMEA say that YouTube enables them to find the exact content they like at any moment, ranking first among all platforms and significantly higher than TV1.
Whatsmore, audiences now use their agency not just to choose, but to influence content; becoming a critical decision maker alongside media owners and content producers. And from this sense of ownership, viewers are deriving more value than ever, which is ultimately what keeps them coming back for more.
Curating your personal media universe
Instead of being reliant on broadcast schedules or the whims of producers and editors, viewers are now the masters of their own media universes. And no two people’s universes are the same. This makes platforms that can cater to a wide array of needs — and a wide array of viewers — particularly valuable for marketers.
In a survey by MTM, viewers across EMEA ranked YouTube highly on this point, putting the platform first, ahead of broadcast, streaming and social video when it comes to having content that is “for everyone”2.
This gives viewers a sense of autonomy in their decision making - and is driven not just by content breadth, but also its accessibility across devices and screens which were previously more restricted.
And as their sense of empowerment grows, so does their desire to watch.
A possible explanation for this can be found in the IKEA effect. This theory from behavioural science states that we value things more if we’ve invested time and effort in them. In media, this equates to viewers feeling an elevated sense of ownership over the channels they subscribe to and the creators they regularly engage with.
58% of YouTube users surveyed said they want to support the creators they relate to by watching ads alongside their content
Co-creating culture
Viewer agency also means having the power to put your preferences back out into the world. Almost a quarter of users in our surveys said they felt as though the creators they watch are friends to them. This connection is enhanced further by the open feedback loops enabled by user-generated content platforms where subscribers can leave feedback for the creators in the comments that helps the creator inform their future content.
And the relationship between creator and audience isn’t just deep, it is reciprocal. The content viewers love provides reliable emotional, social and intellectual rewards, becoming indispensable to their daily lives. They value it. And they understand the economics of how it is produced, with 58% of YouTube users in our survey saying that they want to support the creators they relate to by watching ads alongside their content3.
Together, these creators and their audiences are modern taste-makers, establishing cultural trends for others — including traditional media — to follow.
“Viewers rank YouTube first for being a place where they can always explore new creators and content to provide new ideas / perspectives, versus competitors”]4.
Why this all matters
Taken together, the act of curating and co-creating our own media universes produces a profound sense of ownership. The content we watch isn’t just entertaining, edifying, or resonant: it’s ours. Against a powerful sentiment like this, traditional debates over content quality begin to pale: viewers know what they want to watch and where to find it.
To make the most of this opportunity, there are a few things for marketers to keep in mind:
- The support of advertisers allows creators to monetize and flourish. When advertisers utilise broad targeting, it positively impacts the entire ecosystem and allows diverse creators to monetize and flourish.
- Each viewer’s media universe is unique to their needs. Traditional targeting methods that make narrow assumptions about what people are watching can cause advertisers to miss out on reaching their audience wherever they are.
- YouTube’s broad accessibility and range of formats like YouTube Shorts allows the platform to play a role across a wide range of needs, moments, and devices. And with an ad ecosystem powered by Google AI, marketers have an easy way to navigate this complexity.
YouTube and other platforms have become indispensable to audiences, giving users the agency to access whatever they want, whenever they want. From short-form to long form and mobile to the TV screen, YouTube is where viewers go deep on what they love.
We’re passionate about content, invested in creators, and deeply engaged in the processes of curation and co-creation. Brands who support that creativity — with all of the opportunities for emotion, connection and identity it makes possible — can reap the rewards.
Read more in the full whitepaper here.
1Google/MTM, Mirrors and Windows, AE, DE, EG, ES, FR, GB, IT, NL, SA, 2023, n=10,484 people who claim to use YouTube at least once a month, n=1,456 people who claim to use YouTube at least once a month in UK, n=1,466 people who claim to use YouTube at least once a month in DE, n=1,596 people who claim to use YouTube at least once a month in ES, n=1,425 people who claim to use YouTube at least once a month in FR, n=1,544 people who claim to use YouTube at least once a month in IT, n=1,381 people who claim to use YouTube at least once a month in NL, n=1,616 people who claim to use YouTube at least once a month in MENA
2Google/MTM, Mirrors and Windows, AE, DE, EG, ES, FR, GB, IT, NL, SA, 2023, People who claim to use the following media services at least once a month: n=10,484 YouTube (59%); Social media (41%) Average of following brands: n= 7,903 Instagram (45%); n= 8,900 Facebook (49%); n=4,400 Snapchat (32%); n=5,590 Twitter (39%); n=6,059 TikTok (47%); n=3,155 Twitch (31%); Streaming (41%) Average of following brands: n=7,939; Netflix (52%); n=6,701 Amazon Prime Video (43%); n=4,809 Disney+ (42%); n=2,571 Apple TV+ (28%); n=7,462 Broadcaster on demand services (39%); n=10,269 Broadcast TV channels (47%). All ranking, in each market, is based on brands with a base of over n=300
3Google/MTM, Mirrors and Windows, AE, DE, EG, ES, FR, GB, IT, NL, SA, 2023, n=10,484 people who claim to use YouTube at least once a month
4Google/MTM, Mirrors and Windows, UAE, DE, EG, ES, FR, GB, IT, NL, SA, 2023, People who claim to use the following media services at least once a month: n=10,484 YouTube (42%); Social media (24%) Average of following brands: n= 7,903 Instagram; n= 8,900 Facebook; n=4,400 Snapchat; n=5,590 Twitter; n=6,059 TikTok; n=3,155 Twitch; Streaming (18%) Average of following brands: n=7,939; Netflix; n=6,701 Amazon Prime Video; n=4,809 Disney+; n=2,571 Apple TV+ n=7,462 Broadcaster on demand services; n=10,269 Broadcast TV channels (17%). All ranking, in each market, is based on brands with a base of over n=300