A recent report from London-based ad tech firm Precise TV finds that U.S. teenagers are more likely to request items after seeing ads on YouTube Shorts than after seeing ads on TikTok. The findings come from Precise TV’s “PARTY” study, which surveyed 1,000 U.S. teens aged 13-17 and their parents about platform usage and ad influence.
Usage and purchase influence
According to the survey results, 91% of teens reported using YouTube, up 14% from the prior year. TikTok follows behind with 75%, while Instagram reaches 74%. YouTube also sees longer average viewing sessions: more teens spend over two hours per session on the platform, compared to shorter bursts on TikTok. Respondents reported that 25% of the time, the most recent item they asked their parents to buy originated from an ad they had seen on YouTube Shorts. That number falls to 12% for similar TikTok ads.
The report also covers behavior among younger children (ages 2-12), referred to in the study as PARK. In that group, 75% reported that they had asked a parent to purchase something based on an ad they saw on YouTube Shorts. Precise TV says these figures suggest Shorts have strong resonance across young and teen audiences when it comes to driving consumer requests.
Additional data from eMarketer echoes these findings, showing YouTube leads among Gen Z and teen users in both reach and purchase action following ad exposure. For example, over 50% of teens reported making a purchase after viewing an ad on YouTube Shorts. These patterns support YouTube’s appeal to advertisers targeting youth demographics. Still, concerns persist about ad saturation, the availability of age-appropriate content and the impact of parental influence on purchase decisions.
Parents and regulatory groups may continue to raise questions about how video ads engage young viewers, especially when those viewers are under age thresholds for autonomous buying.