On September 11, CJ Mezzo Media released the "Gen-AI Report," which analyzes the media and consumption behavior of teenagers growing up in the generative AI environment. The survey covered 500 male and female respondents aged 15 to 18 living in Seoul and five major metropolitan cities. CJ Mezzo Media defines this group of teenagers who frequently encounter generative AI in their daily lives and grow up in this environment as the "AI Native Generation." Unlike previous annual reports that analyzed media usage and advertising consumption behavior across age groups from 10 to over 50 years old, this report focuses on the "AI Native Generation," a specific group, delving into their lifestyle, content consumption patterns, purchasing decision processes, and reactions to advertising.
The Media Usage Behavior of the AI Native Generation Shows Clear Trends
The survey results show that 85% of the respondents use generative AI more than twice a week, with 86% using AI at least once a week in their academic studies. In the learning process, the main uses of AI include problem-solving (42%), content summarization and organization (41%), and concept explanation (34%). Regarding the reasons for using AI in learning, 61% of the respondents stated "immediate answers," 59% believed "asking questions without time and location restrictions," and 40% emphasized "easy explanations."
In terms of information search methods, AI is rapidly catching up with traditional search engines. The usage share of information search channels shows that search engines account for 55%, while AI has already taken up 45%. Among the AI services used, ChatGPT accounts for 82%, and Gemini accounts for 77%, but only 39% of the respondents said they trust the answers provided by AI. The use of AI has extended to the product purchasing process. 82% of the respondents said they had used AI to search for information before buying a product, and 40% said they had actually purchased products recommended by AI. This indicates that their behavior has gone beyond simply understanding product features or prices and that they also refer to AI's opinions when deciding whether to buy.
Respondents' Evaluations of AI-Generated Ads Show Clear Divergence
In contrast to the active use in daily life, the respondents' evaluations of AI-generated ads are relatively lukewarm. 85% of the respondents said they had encountered AI ads, with the areas involved being cosmetics (27%), travel (24%), and food and beverages (23%). However, only 16% of the respondents had a positive evaluation of AI ads, while the negative evaluation was as high as 48%, three times the positive evaluation. The reasons for positive evaluations mainly lie in the "novelty," while the main reason for negative evaluations is "lack of sincerity." The type of material in the ads also affects the preference level.
The preference for AI ads using natural scenery is 32%, and for animation and character types, it is 28%. In contrast, the preference for human-style character images is 16%, and for ads containing celebrity content, it is only 9%.