Over half of Gen Z and millennials often or always accept cookies

Key stat: The younger the consumer, the more likely they are to accept cookies if asked. More than half (57.6%) of US Gen Z consumers say they “often” or “always” accept cookie notifications, compared with 53.4% of millennials, 46.8% of gen X, and 36.0% of boomers, per a July 2024 EMARKETER survey.

Beyond the chart:

• Only 17.0% of US consumers always accept cookies, so marketers would be wise to consider non-cookie targeting and measurement alternatives, despite Google’s decision to keep third-party cookies in Chrome. Nearly nine in 10 (87%) US browsers could become cookieless long term, according to data from StatCounter and EMARKETER.
• Not everyone opts out immediately. Between Q2 2021 and Q2 2024, Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) US user opt-in rates nearly doubled, jumping from 13.7% to 26.1%, according to Adjust. It’s TBD whether Google will see similar results, noted our analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf.
• Over half of US consumers (50.6%) say they accept cookies without understanding the privacy implications, according to our research. Only one in 10 (9.9%) say they always understand.

Use this chart:

• Highlight generational differences over privacy concerns.
• Explore digital targeting strategies by age range.
• Address the need for transparency in consent management.
• Consider designing age-specific cookie consent experiences.

More like this:

• Cookie or no cookie: What marketers need to know for an opt-in Chrome
• Google abandons cookieless Chrome: Ad experts say ‘industry will likely end up in the same place’
• Google says it will not deprecate third-party cookies on Chrome
• Programmatic Advertising Forecast and Ad Tech Trends H2 2024 (Subscription required)

Note: Respondents were asked, "When you receive a notification that a website uses cookies, how often do you click 'OK' or 'accept'?​"

Methodology: Data is from the July 2024 EMARKETER "US Consumer Attitudes on Advertising and Privacy" survey. In the US, 1,378 consumers were surveyed between May 3 and May 11, 2024. The survey aimed to gauge consumers' attitudes toward various types of advertisements, including video ads, banner ads, sponsored content, affiliate ads, and targeted ads. It also explored their sentiments about ad privacy and data sharing. Additionally, it identified the respondents' perception of AI-generated content in advertising. The respondents were selected to align with the US population on the criteria of age (among ages 15 to 77), gender, household income, and race/ethnicity. The survey was fielded by a third-party sample provider. Data has a margin of error of +/-2.6 percentage points at the 95% confidence interval.