By Rakhee Naik. South Africans may share ad fatigue, but their expectations differ sharply by age. New research shows how Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X engage with media.
While cultural trends and platform shifts make media headlines, insights from KLA, in partnership with YouGov Profiles (which tracks South African adults with access to the internet, aged 18+) shows that the generational divide remains one of the most powerful filters for understanding how South Africans respond to advertising. Life stage, values, media behaviour, and brand expectations all differ across generations.
Let’s start with what unites us. A strong majority of South Africans (73%) say they like seeing real-looking people in ads. And advertising fatigue is widespread: 56% feel bombarded by ads, and 46% find them annoying. Yet distrust is not as high as some may assume: only 37% say they don’t trust advertising. But the similarities stop there.
According to the data, Millennials (born roughly between 1981–1996) are the most emotionally responsive cohort. They are much more likely to agree that brands should take a stand on social issues (74%) and that brands should express their views on topical matters (70%). They also favour meaningful relationships with brands, rather than fleeting interactions.
When it comes to advertising content, 62% of Millennials enjoy seeing their favourite celebrities in ads, much more than Gen X. But there’s a line: 47% say personalised ads “creep [them] out”.
Media behaviour also varies. Millennials are more likely to agree that streaming services have changed how they watch TV (74%) and are more likely to share streaming service credentials (62%). Over half (57%) say that TV influences their thoughts and feelings – way above Gen X (born roughly between 1997–2012) at 43%.
In terms of advertising recall, 50% of Millennials have noticed a video ad on an app or website in the past day. They’re also more likely to have recently noticed out-of-home (OOH) advertising: 36% for digital OOH, and 56% for print OOH in the past day.
Gen Z, stepping into their own spending power, show their own set of preferences. They want more of their lifestyles reflected in advertising (53%) and are more likely to agree that sports fans deserve discounts from sponsors. They also prefer brands that consistently back one team.
But ad receptivity is lower with only 38% of Gen Z say they noticed an ad in the past one to two weeks, and they are the generation most likely to find ads annoying (50%). Their expectations are clear: they want authenticity, relevance, and representation.
Across the board, South Africans expect more from brands. For 83%, brands need to find innovative ways to market themselves and their products, and 80% say brands must connect with consumers in real life to succeed.
Given these numbers, generational nuance is essential. Whether it’s creating value-driven campaigns for Millennials or lifestyle-reflective messaging for Gen Z, the future of effective advertising lies in understanding that different generations not only live differently, they experience advertising differently, too.
Read more
Gen Z SA: The hustle generation brands can’t afford to ignore • July 2025
Understanding the generational gap in retail marketing • Feb 2025
Methodology
Profiles: Segmentation and media planning tool. With data collected daily, YouGov Profiles gives you the power to build and customise a portrait of your consumers’ world. More than 12,500 variables are available in South Africa.
Dataset: 2025-05-25
Population: Nationally representative sample of South African adults with access to the internet, aged 18+. n=1539
Population groups filtered by: Generation Z (18-27 years old) n~ 260, Millennials (28-43 years old) n~ 940, Generation X (44-59 years old) n~ 279
Rakhee Naik is a managing consultant: Insights at KLA.
