Vietnam’s Gen Z stuck on Facebook despite app deluge

Asked whether they intended to stop using an app they had recently downloaded, 68 percent of Gen Z respondents, or those aged between 15 and 23, identified at least one.

Only 59 percent of Gen Y, or millennials aged 24 to 39, and 38 percent of Gen X, aged 40 to 60, followed suit, according to data compiled by Ho Chi Minh City-based market research firm Decision Lab.

Regarding the number of apps, each Gen Z user installs an average 4.32 apps on their smartphones compared to 3.82 among Gen Y and 3.07 for Gen X.

Data is based on 2,606 responses collected from Decision Lab’s online panel between August and September 2019 as well as December 2019 and February 2020.

Quizzed on mobile news platforms, 45 percent of Gen Z respondents named Facebook as go-to source.

A total 32 percent of Gen X and 31 percent of Gen Y respondents would more likely use local news sites compared to their younger cohorts.

A total 58 percent of Gen X, 55 percent of Gen Y, and 55 percent of Gen Z respondents named Facebook as primary app, the highest ratio of all, while Vietnamese Zalo proved more popular among older generations.

Asked which app is most indispensable, 55 percent of respondents named Facebook, 19 percent Zalo, 18 percent YouTube and only 4 percent Instagram.

And while Gen Y and Gen X can do without Instagram, Gen Z is more likely to break with Zalo.

Last year saw the entry of two new local social media platforms, Gapo launched by Hanoi-based Gapo Technology JSC, and Lotus, which belongs to media company Vietnam Communications Corporation (VCCorp).

However, both platforms remain in the birthing stages of infamy.