Gen-Z is different; Anatomy of next-class of consumers

[dilynwrcrist]

1. More disloyal than Millennials​

62% UK & US Gen-Zers surveyed by McKinsey said they would check out other brands, even if they have a favorite brand.

Gen-Zs are not tied to brands like millennials, also recent trends of #deinfluence. Are suggesting that Gen-Z consumers are getting more aware about product messaging & awareness.

Update: There are lot of comments about disloyalty. To know further about brands that win with loyalty, You can study brands like bobbie that grew last year by fulfilling their existing customers only. Keeping them loyal & happy.

2. Resale Market & DIY projects​

The data from latest globaldata suggest an increase in resale market sales. As Gen-Z is more oriented toward sustainable fashion & loves thrifting.

Similar research from Instagram suggested that DIY and thrifting trends will be trending.

3. TikTok & Snapchat are not the best​

The latest survey by Morning Consult revealed that most used platform among Gen-Z is Youtube. Second is Instagram and the third place takes TikTok.

Same results from research done by Appinio, a market research platform. The research done recently during the US TikTok ban issues shows Gen-Z spends most time on Youtube.

4. Gen-Z using Buy now Pay Later​

The data suggests that almost half of Gen-Zs (48%) planned to rely on BNPL for last holiday season. Since then, reliance on BNPL hasn't decreased.

I will say BNPL isn't Gen-Z, Purchases using BNPL grew by 14% last year in holiday season based on adobe's data. And the trend to go even higher with new updates to Apple pay & Klarna.

5. Gen-Z Prefer Text & Instant Messages​

Over email, In workspaces & to get their queries answered faster. They prefer instant messaging through slack, chatbots or Microsoft teams. Same for Customer experience, they are not patient as various reports suggest.

About E-commerce, few Gen-Zs prefers SMS over emails to make faster transactions. This data comes from report conducted by Mitto, omnichannel marketing tool.

6. TikTok as Google​

The data comes from TikTok, About 30% of their Gen-Z & Young millennial users. Use the platform like Google to get latest news & trend alerts.

The numbers are increasing but Facebook is still the most visited platform for news. but the graph remains flat. Instagram search provides irrelevant says Gen-Z.

7. Gen-Z wants Brands to show change​

I won't point to a specific research because Accenture, Deloitte, McKinsey and others. All mentioned same ideas that Gen-Z wants businesses to show they care about. Climate change, sustainable products & other movements.

The execution of this type of messaging is hard. For SMBs and small entrepreneur businesses, you can try to keep track of Gen-Z days & events. I say use this website to find all the days matching with Gen-Z objectives & hit publish post about X.

Update: I share 5 new marketing & consumer reports every week to help you keep up with new trends. You can subscribe here to receive those reports.

 

[marieshedsky]

@dilynwrcrist Disloyalty is actually a good thing. Means you can win people over if you’re more competitive and not just relying on people blindly supporting a shitty brand “just because they always have.”

Competition is good!

 

[jayford]

@marieshedsky Disloyalty is going to kill brands like nike or gucci or apple that sell products at triple or more of the non-brand market value (as in, the shoes of that quality would sell for $30 but nike sells for $90) because the only real distinction is not in quality but purely in the brand, the quality they produce is no better than far far cheaper options (which are almost always produced by the same workers in the same factory anyway)

And it is going to be highly beneficial for higher quality manufacturers, or for anyone who can create genuine personal investment into a brand eg following a gripping origin story, a moral goal the company is looking to achieve, etc

 

[ryost81]

@jayford I would agree for brands that purely sell their name, especially luxury brands. However I would argue that nike and apple continue to be disruptive in their industries and produce technology that keeps people coming back. Sure everyone makes shoes, but nike developed zoom and carbon plating in running shoes, Adidas had Ultraboost, even apple brought the iPad and the iCloud environment.

So yes, there are certainly brands that sell on their name alone, but some of these names come with intellectual property and innovation that would be hard to replace.

 

[dilynwrcrist]

@ryost81 I believe lifestyle brands might get affected a little by this & celeb brands like skims, Logan Paul’s Prime & others. Soon these kids will realise it was just a name. The product were crappy as hell.

 

[canedunkan]

@ryost81 Ekhm Apple M1

 

[janellb]

@ryost81 Apple disrupts their industry? They haven't come up with an original idea in years. They take existing technology, package it up in a premium looking device and sell it for ridiculous amounts. Don't get me wrong, the quality of their products is great, but to call them disruptive in their industry is a massive stretch.

 

[ryost81]

@janellb Not to get into an apple/android or mac/pc debate (I'm not an apple consumer), but it's hard to deny their moves even if I don't support them.

Removing headphone jacks to sell airpods, apple watches, Siri and airtags are all pretty recent additions to their product offering. Yes, they aren't "original" ideas, but it's not always about being first. Sometimes it's about doing it well enough for people to buy in.

Other companies have followed suit to remove jacks to sell Bluetooth headphones, have their own NLP assistant, tracking tags, etc. Are they better than apple? Sure. But apple has clearly secured enough of a grip on even the Gen Z we're talking about.