Understanding how consumers spend their leisure time is a crucial component of modern marketing. After all, connecting with audiences through their passions is a gateway to magic words like “authenticity” and “engagement.”
And these days? Consumers are spending a lot of time and money on their passions.
Just look at this summer: Deadpool & Wolverine slashed its way to over a billion dollars at the global box office, the world was captivated by a headline-grabbing Summer Olympic Games in Paris, and amid a swirl of summer festivals and reunion tours, Taylor Swift was still selling out arenas worldwide (and earning the GDP of a small country) on her Eras Tour.
That’s a lot of money, time, and emotion being spent by consumers, following a wide range of passions. It can get confusing and overwhelming to set a strategy.
As a marketer, how can you be sure you’re picking the right passion points to align with? It’s important to know whether you’re zeroing in on a real cultural movement that you can invest in rather than risking budget on an outlier or “moment in time” that comes and goes faster than The Acolyte. (Alas, poor Qimir, viewers … actually didn’t get to know you all that well.)
Ultimately, it’s the culmination of sustained presence alongside a consumer’s passions that drive the positive brand association, engagement, and purchase intent that are key to a brand’s success. So, as a marketer, there is quite a bit of pressure to get it right, the first time.
Entertainment and gaming dominate leisure time
To identify what’s fueling cultural momentum today, Fandom surveyed 4,000 consumers about their feelings on a wide range of leisure activities, including cooking, travel, sports, music, and more, to understand how they spend their time, and, more importantly, how those activities make them feel.
After analyzing the results, there was a clear winner: There’s no business like show business.
The survey found that eight in 10 consumers consider entertainment and gaming a personal passion point, more than any other activity asked about, including music (71%), travel (52%), or sports (44%).
But let’s be honest, while entertainment and gaming might outrank all other passion areas, that doesn’t mean that consumers are only spending time with those mediums.
However, when asked to pick the activity they feel most deeply about, a quarter ranked entertainment and gaming No. 1, topping music (22%) and sports (14%) again.
It’s not just that consumers feel strongly about playing and watching stories in fictional worlds—they’re spending over half (54%) of their free time with entertainment and gaming, with the remaining 46% of free time spent on the long tail of all other passions. Given the steady stream of new releases and the comfort of engaging with the classics, entertainment and gaming is officially the only passion point that owns the lion’s share of consumer “me time.”
The appeal of entertainment and gaming
The obvious next question is: Why?
It might seem easy to chalk up the popularity and dominance of entertainment and gaming in consumers’ lifestyles to mere passivity or laziness. But overall, consumers are very purposeful with how they spend their free time. The popularity of entertainment and gaming goes far deeper than just a way to pass the time.
Gaming, for example, stimulates players and provides a sense of accomplishment. Trending games often share thematic elements that require active participation and offer an adrenaline rush. Entertainment, on the other hand, tends to evoke feelings of relaxation and happiness.
Viewers are drawn to shows and movies with lighter, feel-good themes. And of course, both entertainment and games are incredibly broad, with genres and topics that suit any interest level.
Additionally, consumers claim that their time with remotes and controllers in-hand offers several meaningful benefits:
Connection and self-image: Fans often form deep connections with characters, stories, and fictional worlds, incorporating them into their own identities. And because these worlds are generally broadly accessible, fans often use them as a touchstone for connection with others. There are plenty of people who use their favorite fandoms as an icebreaker: “So … what are you watching?”
Emotional escape: Entertainment provides a refuge from the stresses of everyday life, allowing consumers to relax and decompress—even when watching shows or playing games that are tense/stressful. This is in direct comparison to sports, which evoke anxiety and frustration. It’s great when your team wins, but the rest of the time? Not so Zen.
Active engagement: When a show is on the TV or a controller is in a fan’s hand, people tend to lean in—absorbing new bits of lore or learning new strategies. Music, while a huge passion point, often serves as background to whatever you’re doing, whether it’s housework, chatting with friends, or driving.
The bottom line? The overwhelming popularity of entertainment and gaming can be attributed to their ability to create positive emotions and active engagement.
The power of positive engagement
The positive vibes and leaned-in environment of entertainment and gaming are a perfect fit for brands looking to reach consumers in an open state of mind, particularly when brands “join the party”—adding to the lore of a fictional universe or giving fans a few more minutes with the characters and settings of a world they love.
This goes far deeper than nostalgia—it’s not just a desire to see old, long-canceled shows. With rapid cancellation cycles and a culture of binge-watching, consumers are savvy and more aware than ever that their time in fictional universes is short and not guaranteed.
When consumers find a world they love, brands can be an unlikely ally in giving them just a bit more time together with the characters and settings they love.
Regardless of whether your campaign extends a consumer’s passion in a meaningful way, or just rides shotgun during their precious me-time, entertainment and gaming provide a gateway into consumers’ hearts and minds in a way that can’t be matched.
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Ali Saraniti is Fandom’s director of sales research and insights. She is responsible for driving the growth of the B2B insights strategy and product offering across Fandom’s growing Global Ads business.
