Gen Z watches more international shows than millennials

Americans are consuming over 50% more internationally produced TV shows and books than they were five years ago, according to a recent study.

The survey of 2,000 Americans who read regularly found that not only have international TV shows and books become increasingly popular recently, Americans are often unaware they’re even consuming and enjoying foreign content.

Conducted by Talker Research and commissioned by ThriftBooks, the poll revealed that 48% of TV shows and 46% of the books respondents consume are internationally sourced.

However, when quizzed, more than half of respondents (64%) incorrectly guessed that the popular show “The Office” is originally American.

And many had no idea “House of Cards,” (62%) “Jane the Virgin” (60%) and “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” (57%) premiered internationally before coming to America.

And the knowledge gap isn't limited to TV shows. Over six in 10 (68%) had no clue that “The Parent Trap” was written by a foreign author, 58% didn’t know “All Quiet on the Western Front” isn’t an English language novel and same with “Like Water for Chocolate” (44%).

But regardless of the knowledge gap, respondents are generally appreciative of international content and a third even reported that their favorite book of all time is an international title.

Unsurprisingly, younger generations are the most enthusiastic: Gen Z (42%) and millennials (40%) were more likely to favorite international content over Gen X (28%) and baby boomers (21%).

But age aside, more than four in 10 (41%) believe that international content is higher quality than American-made content.

Respondents reasoning for this includes that international content is more interesting (48%), creative (43%) and original (38%).

A quarter even said international content is more representative of real life than American-made content.

However, when looking for a new TV show to watch or book to read, older generations proved to be the most open-minded to international content, with 73% of baby boomers and 61% of Gen X reporting they’re not skeptical, compared to 49% of Gen X and 48% of millennials.

“It’s exciting to see how consumers are embracing international content,” said Barbara Hagen, vice president of marketing at ThriftBooks. “According to the research, people who read international books said doing so has given them more perspective and awareness about other cultures (50%) and the desire to travel more (29%). Within the study, it’s also very interesting to see how interest in the manga genre has grown in recent years.”

Of the 2,000 readers polled, the survey asked 500 manga readers about their reading habits and reasons for enjoying the genre.

The average manga reader picked up their first manga novel at age 17, although Gen Z discovered manga the earliest of all generations at age 13, on average.

And more than half of manga readers (54%) said their favorite book is a manga, with both men and women in agreement about this: 56% of men said a manga novel is their favorite read and 53% of women reported the same.

Settling a hot debate, manga lovers listed “Attack on Titan,” “Berserk,” “Death Note,” “Demon Slayer,” “Dragon Ball Z,” “Naruto” and “One Piece” as some of the best mangas of all time.

And for those that don’t already read manga, 53% reported that they’re open to reading it in the future because it looks interesting (27%), is becoming more and more popular (23%) and they’ve become more interested in Eastern culture and content in general (22%).

“The rise of manga is a great example of how international content and books have positively impacted consumers. And it’s also great to see how open non-manga readers are to exploring the genre,” said Hagen. “If you haven’t recently, we encourage readers to explore different perspectives by picking up a book from a foreign author. Manga in particular could open your eyes to a whole new world and level of enjoyment when reading.”

Survey methodology:
Talker Research surveyed 1,500 Americans who read on a regular basis, and 500 who read Manga regularly; the survey was commissioned by ThriftBooks and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between July 1 and July 8, 2024.

We are sourcing from a non-probability frame and the two main sources we use are:
● Traditional online access panels — where respondents opt-in to take part in online market research for an incentive
● Programmatic — where respondents are online and are given the option to take part in a survey to receive a virtual incentive usually related to the online activity they are engaging in

Those who did not fit the specified sample were terminated from the survey. As the survey is fielded, dynamic online sampling is used, adjusting targeting to achieve the quotas specified as part of the sampling plan.

Regardless of which sources a respondent came from, they were directed to an Online Survey, where the survey was conducted in English; a link to the questionnaire can be shared upon request. Respondents were awarded points for completing the survey. These points have a small cash-equivalent monetary value.

Cells are only reported on for analysis if they have a minimum of 80 respondents, and statistical significance is calculated at the 95% level. Data is not weighted, but quotas and other parameters are put in place to reach the desired sample.

Interviews are excluded from the final analysis if they failed quality-checking measures. This includes:
● Speeders: Respondents who complete the survey in a time that is quicker than one-third of the median length of interview are disqualified as speeders
● Open ends: All verbatim responses (full open-ended questions as well as other please specify options) are checked for inappropriate or irrelevant text
● Bots: Captcha is enabled on surveys, which allows the research team to identify and disqualify bots
● Duplicates: Survey software has “deduping” based on digital fingerprinting, which ensures nobody is allowed to take the survey more than once
It is worth noting that this survey was only available to individuals with internet access, and the results may not be generalizable to those without internet access.