Webboh Lab

For World Earth Day, Webboh Lab, the first permanent digital observatory of Gen Z, interviewed Webboh’s young audience on issues related to the mobility of the future.

The research was conducted using the psychometric approach, analysing motivations, perceptions and value aspects related to emotions, in order to understand young people’s involvement with mobility and sustainability issues.

The survey, which involved almost 9,300 respondents from young Italians aged between 12 and 20, revealed 5 identikits:

• Independent Navigator (27%): these are young urbanites who prefer autonomy and personal convenience in mobility. They generally prefer cheap parking spaces, are in favour of incentives for electric cars and scooters and support the use of sharing systems. They support affordable public transport and advocate teaching money management in schools. Finally, they promote inclusive and language services.
• Green Pathfinders (20%): these are progressive, sustainable and social integration-oriented young people. They prefer collective mobility and are more interested in policies related to sustainability and education, like free public transport for students, which they see as part of the social and educational fabric of the city. They reject incentives for cars and scooters and the expansion of sharing systems, instead favouring sustainable mobility solutions and investments in public transport. Finally, they promote financial education in schools.
• Urban Optimiser (19%): this group favours a wider range of measures to improve urban mobility. They support the use of public transport for cultural and sporting activities, promote its free use and would like it to be more active after sunset. They favour incentives for electric cars and scooters, but also support the use of shared transport for more environmentally friendly transport solutions. Finally, they value accessible mobility services, including those with language support.
• Local Boosters (18%): this group supports the local economy, small businesses and accessible public services. They support offering free tickets for public transport and language support for an inclusive community. They oppose financial education in schools and transport sharing. Policies such as public transport after sunset or access to parks and cycle paths are not priorities for Local Boosters.
• Community Curator (16%): this group falls into the category of urban youth, but are focused on more sustainable, community-centred and inclusive mobility. They support shared mobility, promote access to parks and cycle paths, and encourage using public transport for cultural and sporting activities. They are involved in supporting local shops and small businesses and support school policies on money management.

The survey showed that 2 out of 3 respondents don’t really cycle and admitted that they never (43%) use it to get around or only do so less than once a week. The situation would be different if cyclists were made safer in the city by improving cycle paths (39%), fixing potholes in the streets (38.5%) and reducing delinquency (30%).

Furio Camillo, Professor of Business Statistics at the University of Bologna and Scientific Director of the Webboh Lab, said: “Although in many cases young people’s vision will have to be liberalist and individualist, it starts from an approach that puts the common good and the growth of a society that respects diversity and favours public spending at the centre of everything, perhaps finally returning to discuss public investment for the future of our young generations”.

The 5 clusters, identified using Webboh Lab’s psychographic approach, show a generation of young people demanding a change in mobility and liveability in the city, made up of people rather than means in relation to each other.

Although public transport is the preferred solution, more flexible transport solutions are needed, perhaps favouring and incentivising sharing solutions. Young people who favour these choices embody an individualistic approach to city life, choosing solutions that allow personal independence and economic convenience, but always with a view to maximising social and environmental efficiency. On the other hand, there are groups where public transport is crucial, but always with a view to efficient mobility as well as collective sustainability.

The nod to a given territory is also very interesting: one typology in particular boosts local business and production activities, encouraging a way of life that allows inclusion and multiculturalism. Semantic affinity analyses with local policies throughout Italy could detect which ideas, initiatives, programmes and campaigns best match the 5 types of young people.

Webboh Lab, which came about after a meeting between Webboh (4 million followers on social media) and the Sylla research institute with Furio Camillo as its scientific director, is the first permanent observatory on Gen Z. Webboh Labs is committed to hearing the voice of the younger generation, investigating and exploring their issues and bringing them to the table of people making decisions for them, the adults of tomorrow.

Webboh is the flagship media for Gen Z. Created in April 2019, it has been part of Mondadori Media since February 2023. It currently has a fanbase of 4 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and WhatsApp, 70% of which are under 24. The website receives 3.2 million unique monthly users (source: Audiweb Last Quarter 2024). It is in the top ten most influential Italian media companies on social media, as well as the first targeting Generation Z for engagement and video views (source: Italian Top Media Rankings for First Communication made by Sensemakers). The topicality, authenticity and interest generated by the content is guaranteed by the bottom-up editorial model: the community is involved in every part of the creative process.

During the week for the 74th edition of the Sanremo Festival, Webboh, the first Italian community dedicated to Gen Z, asked its audience to vote for the competing singers and choose their favourite song, using an instant survey on its Instagram channel and produced by Webboh Lab, which more than 15,000 under 25s responded to in just 24 hours.

According to Gen Z, the undisputed winning song of the 74th edition of the Italian Music Festival is “I p’ me, tu p’ te” by Geolier, a Neapolitan singer, a leading artist on the Italian rap scene, much loved by Gen Z with lyrics written and sung in his city’s dialect, Neapolitan. The song is about the sweet feelings experienced after the end of a romance.

According to under 25s, this is the top five of the Sanremo Festival 2024:

1. Geolier – I p’ me, tu p’ te
2. Mahmood – Tuta Gold
3. Annalisa – Sinceramente
4. Alfa – Vai!
5. Irama – Tu no

AMADEUS BELOVED BY GEN Z: THEY WANT HIM BACK IN THE NEXT EDITION

Interesting data emerged from the instant survey, and not only on the musical tastes of young people: Amadeus’ hosting is once again proving to be a winner for 96% of those interviewed, and 93% would like him to host the next edition of the Festival as well.

SANREMO ISN’T JUST THE ITALIAN FESTIVAL; IT’S ALSO AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO DISCOVER NEW ARTISTS

Unexpectedly, 83% of young people followed the music event on television on RAI, and 60% considered it something special that they wanted to experience with friends and family, confirming that the music festival continues to be a great group event for Italians, who increasingly use the Festival to discover new artists (85%).

Webboh is the flagship media for Gen Z. Created in April 2019, it has been part of Mondadori Media since February 2023. It currently has a fanbase of 4 million followers across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, 70% of which are under 24. The website receives 3.7 million unique monthly users (source: Audicom November 2023). It is in the top ten most influential Italian media companies on social media, as well as the first targeting Generation Z for engagement and video views (source: Italian Top Media Rankings for First Communication made by Sensemakers). The topicality, authenticity and interest generated by the content is guaranteed by the bottom-up editorial model: the community is involved in every part of the creative process.

Webboh Lab, which came about after a meeting between Webboh (4 million followers on social media) and the Sylla research institute with Furio Camillo as its scientific director, is the first permanent observatory on Gen Z. Webboh Labs is committed to hearing the voice of the younger generation, investigating and exploring their issues and bringing them to the table of people making decisions for them, the adults of tomorrow.

Today, for the National Day Against Bullying and Cyberbullying, the stage at Marlù Webboh Vibes in Sanremo was tinted BLUE to reflect the topic of the day. To raise awareness among young people, experts in the field were invited to the stage, and the results of the instant survey conducted by Webboh Lab were presented. Over 9,000 young people from the Webboh community between the ages of 13 and 20 responded to the survey in 48 hours.

Seventy per cent of respondents say they have felt bullied, confirming a dramatic trend already highlighted by events in the news.

When asked directly whether they have ever been a bully, 66% answered negatively. However, one in three admitted to being a bully, which expresses possible overlap between those who are bullied and those who, after being bullied, become bullies themselves.

According to 60% of respondents, bullying is not gender-specific, but a behaviour adopted equally by boys and girls, and for more than 75% of respondents, school is where bullying and abuse are most prevalent. For 68% of respondents, bullying is something that has always existed and it can affect victims of all ages.

The research outlined 4 profiles of ‘bullies’:

The Shadow (50.2%) is driven by personal insecurities and family problems and seeks acceptance through harmful behaviour. This person is a victim of bullying and shows a lack of empathy, with difficulties communicating and managing inner conflict, and requires external support to break the destructive cycle.

The Heartless Tyrant (20.9%) acts with deliberate malice and lack of empathy, motivated not by insecurities, but by a desire to dominate. This person is emotionally isolated, with a tendency not to seek support, and requires intervention to develop empathy and constructive strategies to resolve conflicts.

The Angry Fury (15.4%) is motivated by economic hardship and anger, expressing aggression not to gain fame, but as a direct result of frustration. This person shows a tendency to avoid confrontation and seek isolation, and requires strategies to manage anger and improve social relationships.

The Fake Fragile (13.5%) acts to compensate for vulnerability and lack of family support, often without intending to hurt the other person. Trapped in a cycle of anger and frustration, with difficulty managing conflicts and a tendency not to communicate problems, this person requires support to develop resilience and face challenges.

Webboh Lab, stemming from an encounter between Webboh (4 million followers on social media) and the Sylla research institute with Furio Camillo as scientific director, is the first permanent observatory on Gen Z. Webboh Lab is committed to hearing the voice of the younger generation, investigating and exploring their issues and bringing them to the table of people making decisions for them, the adults of tomorrow.

When asked about the causes of violent behaviour against women, 83% of young Italian women believe that the main reason is the cultural environment in which they live every day.

Webboh Lab put forward an instant survey for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to which 8,000 girls and women between the ages of 12 and 20 responded. 71% of today’s teenage girls, who will be tomorrow’s adults, blame the culture of male dominance and sexist mentality for violence against women.

According to the young girls and women questioned, the cause due to “behaviour” is entirely marginal: violence, for them, does not stem from stressful states or psychological problems, but from a society that has normalised the position and social power of men, role expectations, and attitudes exalting strength for too long, without any self-criticism, looking for the cause in the ‘monster’, in order to take away responsibility.

The research shows that, in the perception of girls, there are at least five profiles of violent men: the self-absolvers (43%), i.e. those who continually justify their violent behaviour, reflecting a culture that perpetuates it; the medievalists (19%), who are linked to entrenched gender roles and family dynamics; the amplifiers of violence (17%), who experience aggression as an echo of bad media reports about the violence in the world around them and the impact on society; the underpressured (12%), represented by those who struggle with personal stress and family pressure; the de-empowered (9%), who blame power and gender role imbalances for their violence.

The identification of complex and different profiles of violent men makes it clear that multiple measures acting on different levels are needed. Solutions proposed by different experts that emerged from the interviews – from affective education to psychological counselling, from awareness-raising activities to the adoption of more restrictive measures when the first signs of aggression appear – must be applied in a targeted manner for each behavioural profile and for the individual subject.

Webboh Lab, created from the meeting between Webboh (3 million followers on social media) with the research institute Sylla, with Chief Science Officer, Professor Furio Camillo, is the first Permanent Observatory on Gen Z. Webboh Lab’s commitment is to gather the voice of the younger generation, to investigate and explore the issues in order to bring them to the table of those who make decisions for them, the adults of tomorrow.

Mondadori Media, the leading Italian multimedia publisher on social media and in the digital world involving Gen Z, was the protagonist with the stage “ReGENERATION from Z to Alpha” in the Vision Arena of the IAB Forum 2023, the main event in Italy dedicated to digital innovation, which was held in Milan on November 8 and 9. Building on its experience of social and new generation issues, Mondadori Media took advantage of the valuable setting provided by IAB Forum to announce two great new products dedicated to Gen Z: Webboh Lab and Z Power.

Webboh Labis the first permanent digital observatory of Gen Z, which gives back to the world the authentic photograph of this new generation: a privileged vantage point to know up close and in real time the thoughts, opinions, expectations and interests of young people, thanks to the centrality of Webboh, the first Italian community dedicated to Gen Z, and the authority of the Istituto di Ricerca Sylla.

In less than 48 hours, 24,000 teens between the ages of 12 and 20 responded to the first instant survey launched in community stories on Instagram. The results showed – as professor Furio Camillo, Professor of Business Statistics at the University of Bologna and Sylla’s Scientific Director, had the opportunity to illustrate – that Generation Z is not a monolith, but is made up of five profiles of social media users: Meme Maestro, comprising 40% of young people surveyed, Creative Explorer (18%), Like Lover (17%), Social Soul (14%), and Digital Dreamer (11%).

The “Meme Master” uses social media through entertainment and virality, while the other four clusters use the platforms for more value-based purposes, such as exploring interests, promoting social causes, obtaining support and sharing their creativity. Another piece of evidence that emerged debunks  the belief that young people without social media are  lonely: when asked to imagine a world without social media, the fear of loneliness scored 4.3 – on a scale where 1 equals “not at all” and 10 equals “maximum” – and is one of the last most important markers (the highest marks were obtained by “I would be bored” and “I would do more sport”). A further interesting result shows that, in a world without social media, the younger generation would miss WhatsApp and Instagram, followed by TikTok and YouTube, while they would not miss Facebook, in the last position behind Twitch, Discord, and X. To learn more about all the results of the survey and the survey possibilities offered by Webboh Lab, visit webbohlab.it.

There are also important news about Power Talent Agency. Z Power is the new agency’s spin-off dedicated to young talents who relate to Gen Z and with whom they share values and themes. A roster of ordinary young creators who speak about what they believe in, including ACapoDelGlobo (aka Giulia Berettini), Ella’s Book, Webboh talents as Claudia Mariani, Arianna Madonna and Christian Candela, and so many others. Z Power aims to create a bond between creators and brands that want to connect with their audiences, creating an ecosystem of mutual collaboration and growth. Its launch enriches Mondadori Media’s proposal for communicating the world of the younger generation, thanks in part to synergies with the Webboh publishing brand.

The IAB Forum 2023 hosted, among others, the plenary panel titled “Generazioni e Rigenerazioni,” an inspirational moment held by IAB Italia President Carlo Noseda and Andrea Santagata, Managing Director of Mondadori Media Area Digital and Polo MarTec. The panel was focused not only on digital evolution in the last 20 years but also on future and its applications, starting with AI.

On the same stage Benedetta De Luca, Disability Advocacy, Gender & Inclusion Editor for The Wom and creator of Power Talent Agency, attended too. She addressed the theme of inclusion within the world of communication together with Martina Fuga, Communications Manager of CoorDown, and Nicola Acampora founder of PizzAut.

Mondadori Media enlivened the Vision Arena with a rich schedule and many guests with the moderation of Giampaolo Colletti, journalist contributor to Il Sole24Ore and StartupItalia Director: 25 professionals in this sector, 65% of them women, delved into topics related to the new generations, such as communication strategies (thanks to the intervention of media and advertising agencies Open Influence, Ogilvy, Omnicom Media Group and Dentsu Creative) and the evolution of trends, thanks to the intervention of the main social platforms such as Meta, TikTok and YouTube. The values and creativity that characterize Gen Z with panels by The Wom and Webboh were outlined too.

During the two intense days of IAB Forum 2023, there were many workshops signed by Mondadori Media: in the first one, “The Social Big Opportunity,” Andrea Santagata presented Mondadori Media’s development strategy and, in the second one, Edoardo Rettori, Sales Account Manager of AdKaora, and Betty Lasjuilliarias, Digital & Omni-Channel Manager of Alcon, illustrated the successful case study for the Alcon brand thanks to the new Impact Video format of AdKaora.

You can view the full program at this link.

Mondadori Media is Italy’s leading multimedia publisher, with a distinctive positioning and audience on the editorial market. Through its brands, the Mondadori Group’s social multimedia company caters for the passions of the Italians – food, beauty, fashion, health and wellness, science and tech – and reaches more than 26 million unique users every month (source: Audiweb Jan-Aug 2023) and a total fanbase of 100 million (source: Comscore Shareablee + Pinterest insight October 2023).

Webboh is the flagship media of Gen-Z. Founded in April 2019, it has been part of Mondadori Media since February 2023. It currently has a fanbase between TikTok, Instagram and YouTube of 3 million users of which 70% are under the age of 24, a website of 2.5 million monthly unique users (source: Audiweb Average Month 2023) . It is in the top ten most influential Italian media on social, as well as the first in target generation Z for engagement and video views (source: Top Italian Media Rankings of Prima Comunicazione made by Sensemakers). The topicality, authenticity and interest aroused by the content is guaranteed by the bottom-up editorial model: the community is involved in every part of the creative process.

Power Talent Agency is Mondadori Media’s agency that manages a roster of talents with different artistic paths. The variety of profiles makes Power a unique reality in the Italian digital world, in which the talent of influencers and creators is transformed into value for brands, reaching over 30 million video views per month.The projects developed can also benefit from integration opportunities with Mondadori Media brands, from The Wom to Mypersonaltrainer to Webboh, for the creation of content with a strong impact in message, language and style. The goal is to create authentic stories for all target segments, especially for the genZ and young millennialZ public.