From Scroll to Stream: Investigating Gen Z's Engagement with Promotional Content on OTT Platforms

Generation Z (Gen Z) holds the key to the sustainability of Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms. Besides being the largest population in the digital era market, their viewing behavior with easy access and on-demand content has become an integral part of their lifestyle. To subscribe to OTT services, users heavily rely on the packages offered. Through the psychology of communication technology, user characteristics can determine behavior in the digital world. Therefore, it is essential to examine the visual communication elements of Gen-Z in relation to the promotions displayed on OTT screens. The current study aims to explore Gen Z's preferences for creating more effective promotional visuals and building a strong relationship with this generation of digital natives. A semi-moderated usability test was applied to 40 students with two design variations from Vidio. The first variant was a Streamlined layout, cleaner, and simple interface while the second variant was a comparison layout that emphasized content differences side-by-side. The study results showed that the Streamline Design provided easy navigation to see comparisons of the offered promotional packages because it was familiar with scrolling down and up. Price and benefit information was also immediately visible in the visual and the layout was more minimalist. This visual made users focus on the list of packages and content offered. However, the second variant required users to explore to understand each offered promotional package. Although informative, it was only about the price while the benefits were not clearly visible. The user's main focus was on the package tabs. Visual communication that matches the character of Gen-Z on OTT screens is a digital experience that provides ease and confidence in choosing a package without confusion.