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, (https://www.thriftbooks.com) 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.”