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Generation Z

A New Generation's View on Zoos & Aquariums

Generation Z

Entrepreneurial, Aspirational, and Interested in YOU

Why are some animals kept in human care?

It’s a hard question we’ve been wrestling with recently. It’s a question we’ve had to help our clients answer, our peers, the media, our families, and even our children.

Zoos can be dated back at least 3,000 years to Ancient Egypt, where animals might have been captured and kept for the amusement of pharaohs. During the age of American and European Explorers, exotic animals from the far corners of the globe would be brought back and collected in zoos for the wonder of the public. With the advent of America’s first zoo, the Philadelphia Zoo, opening in 1874, zoos and aquariums started to grow as scientific research institutions, and eventually evolved into what we know them as today: the greatest collection of organizations in conservation and education.

But something has changed.

We live in a digital age of hyper-connectivity, where a Harvard scholar and eight-year-old can have the same-sized online platform to communicate their opinions and ideas instantly to millions. We’re also in a time of consumer distrust, where the recommendations and opinions of friends and family trump brand promises and official communications from companies and organizations.

In the last two years, we’ve observed that some Americans’ confidence in the missions of aquariums and zoos has begun to waver. We embrace this feedback, as it’s an opportunity to examine our practices and abilities and challenge ourselves, and the industry, to be better at what we do. One particular group though is truly fascinating us:

Generation Z

Born since 1995, Generation Z is estimated to be America’s largest and most diverse generation in history. They’re poised to become the most entrepreneurial, demographically diverse, and educated generation on the planet. They’re aspirational, conservative, and incredibly social and digitally connected. They are the future donors, staff, leaders, and guests of our zoos and aquariums, and they will drive these destinations’ destinies.

PGAV Destinations teamed with H2R Market Research to conduct a nationwide study of Americans between the ages of 12 and 18 to understand their perception of  zoos and aquariums, what motivates their interest in visiting these destinations, and how these destinations can do better.

If Generation Z lives up to their responses, the future is bright for zoos, aquariums, and the animals they protect, but only if we continue to evolve our industry to meet the demands of our visitors.

 

Up-close & Personal

Where are the greatest places to study animals and wildlife?

When we gave Generation Z a list of 15 options – including documentaries, books, schools, parents, and even the Outdoors itself – 72% and 70% of respondents checked Aquariums and Zoos, respectively, as the best place to go to learn about animals and wildlife.

24% more than the Outdoors and 35% more than school!

But it’s not just that they know where to go; it’s that they also want to go. 82% of respondents noted that they were interested or very interested in learning about animals and wildlife. That’s even higher than their interest in technology (81%), art or history (62%), or even pop culture (68%)! (“Music” barely beat “Learning about Wildlife” as the top interest with a score of 83%.)

More than 90% of our survey respondents had visited a zoo, while 80% had visited an aquarium. Based on their qualitative responses and PGAV’s industry knowledge, we feel that this difference is due in most part to the greater proliferation of zoos over dedicated aquariums.

What’s even more interesting though, when we consider the entertainment and thrills often-associated, Generation Z is more likely to have visited a zoo than a theme park. This is most likely because nearly every city with a population of at least 75,000 has a zoo, whereas very few states have one major theme park with more than one million in annual attendance; but it’s slightly counter-intuitive to our movie and TV-generated perception of teenagers spending summer days at the theme park, rather than the zoo.

As part of our study, we gave Generation Z 13 statements, to rate on a Likert scale, that were either supportive or opposing to zoos and aquariums. There were only four statements that more than 80% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with:

“Zoos & Aquariums…”

  • “Bring people and animals together, and this education motivates people to protect animals.”
  • “Provide fun and entertaining ways to learn about animals.”
  • “Are best when they make the effort to replicate the animals’ natural habitats.”
  • “Rescue ill or injured animals and nurse them back to health.”

Generation Z strongly supports zoos and aquariums, and is unmistakably aware of their purpose, efforts, and mission.

 

The Conservation Experience

“The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

Strengthening zoo’s and aquarium’s identities as conservation organizations is an important factor emerging with society’s increasing empathy for animals. Your guests are passionate about ensuring the long-term welfare of animals in human care, but are also increasingly aware of the importance of the shrinking and possibly mythical ‘wild.’ However, somewhat contradictory, the Gen. Z study also revealed that young people, despite their passion about conservation, find exhibits primarily focused on conservation to be less appealing.

Most likely, what the study reveals is an aversion to blatant and heavy education in a place that is visited for, first and foremost, a fun time. So that leaves us where? Like a mom with a picky toddler, sneaking in the veggies.

Today’s changing landscape points to the ever-increasing importance of balancing guest experience with education; creating exhibits that go beyond recreating landscapes and with a sprinkling of cultural artifacts. Exhibits must be created around a conservation message that informs the setting in terms of place and time, and considers the guest as a character in an unfolding story. Shows, demonstrations, and interactions must be considered part of the story – perhaps the best chance to tell the guests our message clearly and unambiguously.

But let’s not forget the Gen. Z study, all of this must still be fun!

The recent opening of Columbus Zoo and Aquarium’s Heart of Africa illustrates one successful example of this, accomplished through an immersive, thematic, conservation-focused storyline and a dedication to interactive experiences, like cheetah runs and giraffe feeding, at each and every exhibit.

We must create an experience – a conservation experience – that sneaks in the education without lecturing. That inspires, rather than overwhelms and depresses, our guests. And most importantly, highlights the great work zoos and aquariums do around the globe to strengthen and lead conservation of the world’s wildlife.

 

A New Generation of Zoo Guests

New African-themed zoo attractions are developing every year across the country, from Cincinnati Zoo’s Africa, to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium’s Heart of Africa, to the Hogle Zoo’s African Savanna Exhibit. But by no means is it merely coincidental or just a trend: Generation Z cited elephants, lions, giraffes, and tigers (not from Africa) as their four favorite zoo animals.

Where these guests like to learn about animals is quite clear as well. After showing respondents a series of sample images with descriptive text, fifty percent (50%) noted that their favorite kind of animal exhibit was one that most closely-resembled the animals’ natural habitats. “Safarilike” experiences, like Busch Gardens Tampa’s Rhino Rally or Disney World’s Kilimanjaro Safaris, were the second highest, with 35%. Only 10% and 5% noted that their favorite exhibits were focused on Enrichment or Immersion, respectfully. As exhibit designers, we know that any good animal habitat design needs to incorporate both animal enrichment and immersive theming for the guests, but surely none can be successful on one of these elements alone.

It’s tremendously important, however, to note that Gen. Z is, generally speaking, more sensitive than adults to the standards by which zoos and aquariums care for their animals. Although these two statements ranked very low overall, 5% more Gen. Zs than adults strongly agreed that zoos and aquariums “are places where innocent creatures are unjustly held captive and have their lifespans shortened” and “must work really hard to keep animals engaged so they don’t get bored with their environment.” When respondents noted they hadn’t been to a zoo or aquarium in the last two years, 3.7% more Gen. Zs strongly agreed that “animal habitats are not humane” and 2.4% more strongly believed “such places are a violation of animal rights” than adults, although less than 12% of non-attendees agreed with either of these statements.

What these findings show is that Generation Z, who considers zoos and aquariums to be the best places to learn about animals and wildlife, finds these kinds of shows appealing; and shows featuring whales, dolphins, and sea lions exceptionally appealing. The benefits and missions of zoos are reaching Gen. Z, and their support is proving it.

 

What Z-Guests Want at Your Aquarium

We meet creatures without legs, without lungs, and some without eyes. We see others that illuminate in the dark, some with more than four legs, and some that look like tiny dragons. They’re cooler, quieter, and darker than most places we frequent. It’s a special experience.

Aquariums hold a unique allure. It’s a journey into a world that’s wholly unique from our own; it can be strange, wondrous, and enlightening. Despite this wonderful destination type, only 37% of our respondents visited an aquarium in 2014 (as opposed to 57% who visited a zoo). But for those who ventured into the accessible deep blue, the encounters were memorable.

Gen. Z’s favorite aquarium animals are sharks, followed by dolphins, turtles, and jellyfish. If this study hadn’t been conducted before 2015’s Super Bowl, we could attribute the shark infatuation to Katy Perry’s Halftime Show. But pop culture could be one of the great influencing factors to this interest. Films like JAWS and Sharknado and Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, one of the most-watched television events, keep sharks intriguing and fascinating in the public’s minds. There’s something deeply alluring about them too: they’re a potentially dangerous creature in a realm where we so much want to swim.

For aquarium and aquarium designers: conservation is at the core of almost all aquarium missions, and is an essential component of their operations. However, exhibits solely based around conservation don’t really top Gen. Z’s ‘favorites’ list. As aquarium exhibit designers, we find this to be a fascinating result that merits further study; with conservation education a core goal of many aquariums, and currently already being integrated into nearly every exhibit we design, what specific components of conservation-focused exhibits does Generation Z not particularly appreciate? We must continue to find creative, interactive, immersive, enjoyable ways to weave conservation messaging into guests’ favorite kinds of exhibits based on these findings. Doing so will both delight guests and forward our institutions’ missions.

Lastly, Generation Z aquarium visitors also liked seeing shows featuring live animals, with their top choice being shows featuring whales, dolphins, and sea lions. This was closely followed by an “intimate interaction with staff and a live animal” and a “fish feeding exhibit.” So for institutions not quite large enough to accommodate a full-scale animal show, these smaller scale interactions can still prove very enjoyable for Generation Z guests.

 

Marketing to the Next Generation

Our study has established that the majority of Generation Z are zoo and aquarium proponents, and we’re rather confident as to what they want out of their  destination experience. We know that Gen. Z is the most digitally-savvy, connected-on-the-go generation in history; so how do you appeal to them and get them in your door?

When we asked Gen. Z why they didn’t visit a zoo in 2014, they gave us the same response that Millennials and Baby Boomers have for years: “it’s too expensive,” “I don’t have the time,” or “I’m not interested.” For aquariums, like we’ve mentioned earlier, it’s proximity: there just aren’t enough aquariums close to Gen. Z to make it a viable trip.

However, some of the most expensive zoos and aquariums have the largest attendance, so the common “price” excuse can’t explain it all. That’s because often people don’t always know why they behave the way they do. That means “stated hurdles,” like price or proximity, aren’t always a true reflection of “derived hurdles,” or the real motivations people aren’t able to express. When we ran a correlation analysis between low intent to visit and the variety of other qualms Gen. Z might have with zoos and aquariums, price no longer topped the list.

It was either “nothing ever changes” or “zoos and aquariums aren’t for me.”

We also tested numerous variants of zoo and aquarium brand promises on Generation Z, to find out which kinds of attributes and superlatives most appealed to them.

Zoo brand statements that emphasized how old the zoo was, value statements like deals or membership, or proximity resonated the least with Gen. Z, while the size of a zoo’s collection, the rarity or endangered level of its animals, and the zoo’s general popularity resonated the most.

Similar to zoos, aquarium brand statements that emphasized collection size and diversity and destination popularity resonated the strongest, while a focus on conservation resonated the least.

In addition, 8.3% more Gen. Z respondents than Millennials found brand statements that emphasized rescue and rehabilitation programs “extremely influential/very influential.”

Interestingly enough, Generation Z had the same top three important attributes that zoos and aquariums need to fulfill to make it the best visit possible: have a variety of things to do, the destination must be clean, and the employees must be friendly.

Fortunately, cleanliness and friendliness are easily addressed by well-trained maintenance and guest services staff. However, the #1 most important attribute and greatest hurdle keeping Generation Z from visiting will require frequent renovation, new exhibits, and new species to keep them coming back for years.

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