• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, October 11, 2022

More than half of Gen Z consumers (51%) say they would be more likely to engage with a brand or company that uses interactive live videos and experiences to connect with audiences, according to a new survey of 1,500 Gen Zs by real time engagement (RTE) app development company Agora.

More than a third (35%) say they are neutral on the question, and 14% disagree that they would be more likely to engage.

About half (53%) also agree that they would prefer to have access to interactive features such as chat or emojis when they are watching live televised events such as sports, concerts and awards shows, to enable engaging with friends and other viewers. Again, about a third (35%) were neutral, and 13% disagreed.

The most-cited challenges to engaging when using mobile app-based live video are bad internet connections (56%) and video quality (54%). In addition, 40% cite glitches, bugs and crashing, and 36% and 30%, respectively, cite phone hardware and data usage costs.

On Monday, during RTE2022, Agora introduced updates to its software development kit (SDK) reflecting RTE’s increased scale and technical sophistication. New APIs enable developers to design bespoke immersive collaboration environments, according to Virginia Liu, the company’s chief experience officer.