Gen Z Malaysians are the first generation to grow up fully immersed in digital platforms. Media is not something they switch between. It is embedded into how they stay informed, entertain themselves, learn new skills, and discover products.
For marketers, Gen Z matters because their behaviour sets the direction for platform growth and content formats. They blur the lines between media and commerce, having their entertainment and shopping experiences coming from and being influenced by largely the same platforms. Understanding how Gen Z actually consumes media helps brands plan channels and creative that align with real behaviour rather than assumptions.
In this article, we analyse how Malaysian Gen Z consume media today using Vase.ai’s first-party survey data. We focus on behaviours that change how marketers plan media, shape creative, and influence purchase decisions.
This article highlights 5 insights only. The full dataset, including all survey questions, platform comparisons, and verbatims, is available inside the gated dashboard.
Here's What We'll Cover:
-
About This Study
-
🔒 Explore the Full Gen Z Media Consumption Dashboard
-
1. TikTok Leads How Gen Z Keep Up With News and Current Events
-
2. TikTok and YouTube Dominate Gen Z Entertainment Time
-
3. Learning Platforms Reflect Career and Life Stage Priorities
-
4. Gen Z Discover New Brands Through Social Feeds, Led by TikTok
-
5. Gen Z Spend the Most Time on TikTok and That Time Directly Drives Purchases
-
Quick Q&A: Gen Z's Media Habits at a Glance
-
🔒 Go Deeper: Validate Your Media Consumption Assumptions
-
Related Media Consumption Topics
About This Study
This analysis is based on Vase.ai’s Media Consumption Across Generations in Malaysia study.
- Total sample size: 962 qualified respondents
- Gen Z sample: 284 Malaysians aged 18 to 28
- Geography: Malaysia
- Fieldwork period: Responses collected in 6 days
- Methodology: Online survey via Vase.ai’s proprietary panel
- Total survey questions: 24
This article highlights only 5 insights from the Gen Z segment.
The full dataset, including all questions, cross-tabs, and verbatims, lives inside the dashboard.
🔒 Explore the Full Gen Z Media Consumption Dashboard
The Media Consumption dashboard gives you direct access to:
- Platform usage: news, entertainment, learning, most-used platform, time spent
- Content engagement: content types, video length, reasons for use
- Advertising and purchase: ad attitudes, purchase influence, product categories, spend
- Trends and discovery: brand discovery channels, festive ad reactions, year-on-year change
Note: The dashboard is best viewed on laptop or desktop.
Inside, you can explore the full list of survey questions and filter the data by generation to focus specifically on Gen Z, allowing you to see how each insight was collected and validated.
1. TikTok Leads How Gen Z Keep Up With News and Current Events
🗣️ We Asked Malaysians Gen Z:
“Which platforms do you use most often to keep up with news and current events?”
📊 What the data shows
Among Gen Z Malaysians, TikTok is the most used platform for news and current events at 80%. Instagram follows at 66%, while Facebook reaches 54%. Traditional news sites (31%) and broadcast media such as TV (29%) or radio (24%) play a much smaller role for this generation.
🧠 Why this matters to marketers
News surfaces through algorithms inside social feeds, alongside entertainment and creator content.
⚡ What marketers can do
-
Design news adjacent content that fits naturally into short form feeds
-
Respond quickly to trends and conversations already circulating on TikTok
2. TikTok and YouTube Dominate Gen Z Entertainment Time
🗣️ We Asked Malaysians Gen Z:
“Which platforms do you use most often for fun and entertainment (videos, shows, memes, etc.)?”
📊 What the data shows
For entertainment, TikTok reaches 81% of Gen Z, while YouTube reaches 77% and Instagram at 70%. These platforms dominate how Gen Z consume videos, memes, and entertainment content as part of daily routines.
🧠 Why this matters to marketers
Gen Z using these platforms for entertainment means that advertising content can be perceived as interruption to their entertainment. Content that is optimised to enhance rather than interrupt their entertainment is more likely to remain unskipped!
⚡ What marketers can do
-
Hook attention early in the first few seconds
-
Optimise creative for short form viewing without losing clarity
-
Test and iterate formats frequently, as entertainment reach for Gen Z is concentrated on a small number of platforms.
3. Learning Platforms Reflect Career and Life Stage Priorities
🗣️ We Asked Malaysians Gen Z:
“Which platforms do you use most often to learn new skills or knowledge?”
📊 What the data shows
When learning new skills or knowledge, 77% of Gen Z turn to YouTube. TikTok follows closely at 72%.
🧠 Why this matters to marketers
Both YouTube and TikTok play a significant role in where Gen Z go for learning-related content, rather than learning being concentrated on a single platform.
⚡ What marketers can do
-
Use TikTok for discovery led learning
-
Use YouTube for deeper explanations and tutorials
-
Anchor learning content to real problems Gen Z wants to solve
4. Gen Z Discover New Brands Through Social Feeds, Led by TikTok
🗣️ We Asked Malaysians Gen Z:
“Where do you usually come across new brands or products for the first time?”
📊 What the data shows
For first time brand discovery, 72% of Gen Z discover new brands on TikTok. Instagram follows at 55%, while YouTube accounts for 35% of discovery.
🧠 Why this matters to marketers
Brand discovery for Gen Z is passive and algorithm driven. Brands appear when content feels relevant, not when users actively search. Early creative relevance matters more than full product detail.
⚡ What marketers can do
-
Invest in discovery first creative optimised for feeds
-
Lead with relevance and curiosity, not full explanations
-
Design content that feels native to the platform environment
5. Gen Z Spend the Most Time on TikTok, and That Time Drives Fashion Purchases
🗣️ We Asked Malaysians Gen Z:
“Which types of products have you purchased after seeing them on your most-used platform?”
📊 What the data shows
40% of Gen Z report spending the most time on TikTok.
Among this group, 87% say they have made a purchase after seeing something on TikTok, with fashion as the most commonly purchased category at 77%.
This shows that for Gen Z, TikTok is not only the platform where the most time is spent, but also where product exposure frequently leads to purchases, especially for fashion.
🧠 Why this matters to marketers
The data indicates that when TikTok is Gen Z’s primary time-spent platform, purchases are common rather than occasional. Fashion stands out as the leading category, suggesting that TikTok exposure aligns strongly with visually driven product decisions for this generation.
⚡ What marketers can do
-
Use TikTok when targeting Gen Z purchase behaviour, especially for fashion
-
Prioritise clear product presentation since purchases are reported after exposure
-
Focus on categories that already show high purchase incidence rather than testing unrelated ones
Quick Q&A: Gen Z's Media Habits at a Glance
🔒 Go Deeper: Validate Your Media Assumptions
Want to explore every question and chart in detail?
This dashboard is based on Vase.ai’s survey of 962 Malaysians, including 284 Gen Z, collected in 6 days. You can review the full question set and filter the data to focus specifically on Gen Z media behaviour.
Note: The dashboard is best viewed on laptop or desktop.
Inside, you can explore the full list of survey questions and filter the data by generation to focus specifically on Gen Z, allowing you to see how each insight was collected and validated.
Related Media Consumption Topics
