The oldest Gen Zers are just entering the workforce, and they’re already making their mark on the world, sometimes in less than sensational ways. Gen Z grew up with digital devices in their palms since before they could talk. Only Generation Alpha is more digitally connected. So, not surprisingly, digital technologies play a huge role in influencing how they live and what they buy. You’ll learn exactly how digital technologies and the post-modern world influence how and what they buy.
Gen Zers Can Vote With Their Wallets
So, they may not be as numerous as Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials, but Gen Zers, that generation born between 1997 and 2012 still have tremendous purchasing power. They spent $840 billion on brands this year and are expected to spend $12 trillion in 2030. Now, that’s a lot of ability to influence what companies make and how they act and market.
How Are They Transforming the Way the World Shops?
They grew up with digital devices because they were born right before the digital revolution took off globally. Only Generation Alpha, the generation born and raised immersed in digital technologies, is more digitally savvy. However, digital savviness and connectivity may be one of the few things they share as a generation. Otherwise, they are a very diverse generation.
Different ethnic groups have different tastes and preferences. That’s true of all generations, but it especially characterizes Gen Zers. The oldest Gen Zers are just entering the workforce, and you may have heard of many news articles and YouTube videos that talk about employers firing them, sometimes as fast as they hire them.
All of that points to the fact that they have different values than previous generations did. Sure, they value equality and the environment, just as Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials before them have. They also want change, but they are demanding it in much different ways than previous generations did.
They Don’t Trust Big Businesses
True, Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials were also wary of big business and its sometimes questionable practices. However, Gen Zers have more of an ability to hurt big business where it counts – in the wallet – than previous generations. They can also multiply that effect exponentially by taking their corporate gripes globally on social media platforms.
BBGM and GlobeScan recently surveyed Gen Zers across America. Only 20% of Gen Zers polled trusted big business and were comfortable with its actions and global practices. Only 25% remember brands they think are purposeful.
They’re More Concerned About Diverse Global Issues than Previous Generations
They’re concerned about more than just equality, the environment, and social issues. Gen Zers care about general mental health issues as well. They’re also deeply concerned about the ill effects of climate change and the negative fallout of globalization. Their parents come from every corner of the world, so they are much more ethnically diverse than even the very diverse Millennial group.
In a way, Gen Zers are a reflection of changing times and the changing world order. That diversity makes them better able to understand world issues and how those affect the world order and current events. Consequently, their purchasing behaviors, decisions, and patterns reflect a true understanding of world events and situations and genuine empathy for affected populations.
However, understanding and empathy shape who they interact with and what professions they choose.
Gen Zers Want to Experience the Brands They Buy
They’re like their older Millennial siblings, friends, cousins, and relatives because they want the entire shopping experience to be experiential. You can consider them to be trailblazers in that respect because they’re revolutionizing the entire shopping experience. To use an example, if previous generations were content with purchasing makeup products after a makeover at the mall, Gen Zers are content only after they take the makeover viral on social media platforms.
Part of the reason for that is they’re independent and creative thinkers and problem solvers. They reward companies that are actively involved in social issues with big purchases, referrals, and repeat business.
What Makes Gen Z Tick
According to a study done by Global Crowd DNA in 2022, Gen Zers lived by five core values:
- Making money
- Enjoying life
- Having a meaningful and lucrative career
- Prioritizing their physical and mental health and well-being
- Having happy relationships
Gen Zers crave a healthy work-life balance since friends, family, and personal relationships are important to them. Gen Z is unpredictable. So, their behaviorial and buying psychology and patterns are revolutionizing the way the world shops and marketers promote brands.
Five Trends Successful Marketers Must Follow in 2025
Gen Z lives off of their digital devices. So, they worship social media opinions about brands. They are also eager to contribute to prevailing opinions about brands through their content. That means marketers must keep the following in mind if they want to successfully sell to tomorrow’s consumers:
- Content must be optimized for mobile devices – people do most of their shopping on mobile devices. Gen Z has taken that one step further – 75% of them shop exclusively on mobile devices. Marketers must remember that most Gen Zers also spend most of their waking lives immersed in mobile devices.
That means they should create social media-friendly content that will go viral quickly since that’s the most appealing content to Gen Zers. A smart strategy is to create vlogs or other intriguing posts that link directly to product or brand sites. Companies and marketers that use the following formula are best positioned to outsell their brands to Gen Z quickly:
- Design and create sleek apps.
- Embed engaging social media integrations in diverse content.
- Create interactive experiences through intriguing content.
- Remember that Gen Z views digital, and especially mobile devices, as tools for learning, self-expression, and social change.
- Social shopping matters – marketers now must be conscientious about a term that didn’t even exist pre-pandemic – ‘social shopping. Thank Gen Z for that sudden and momentous change. Social influencers are everywhere now and they’re promoting everything from clothes to toothbrushes. They are also even videoing their thrift store shopping trips. That’s why thrifting has exploded recently.
Almost three-fourths of Gen Zers follow social influencers – popular and not popular – when making purchases. Indeed, social influencers have become more important and popular than Hollywood and global celebrities. What’s more, is that 50% of Gen Zers are likely to purchase a particular brand if a social influencer has made a video that endorsed it.
Since I mentioned that Gen Z loves social influencers, it’s time to describe some of their favorite ones:
- MrBeast – he’s popular because of his huge YouTube stunts and generous philanthropy. Gen Zers worship him because he combines entertaining videos with generosity. He promotes various brands through larger-than-life challenges. Gen Zers trust him and are loyal to his brands because they seem to be real and his content addresses issues and pain points that they face in their daily lives.
- Charli D’Amelio – Charli is popular on TikTok. She promotes brands through interesting dance videos. She’s best known for promoting well-known brands through strategic and influential collaborations. A good example is her partnering with Dunkin’ Donuts. Those videos helped boost Gen Z sales for the brand. Her content works because it’s approachable and Gen Z can relate to it. It’s also authentic and genuine. Gen Zers sense and appreciate that. They reward it with repeat purchases.
- Addison Rae – She’s popular in the music industry. She has a strong presence on TikTok and Instagram as well. Gen Zers worship her. She promotes brands that are popular with and important to Gen Z. They love her complex, engaging, exciting, and immersive content. She successfully merges important aspects of lifestyle, music, and fashion in her videos. Her content appears across many platforms that Gen Z accesses. They have played an important role in driving loyalty, conversions, and engagement for her brands.
- Bretman Rock – He promotes beauty brands with a realistic sense of humor. His content is genuine, authentic, engaging, and entertaining. He’s vibrant and tells stories about brands how they truly are and work. The formula works because he makes his content personal and gets his consumers to trust it.
Gen Z prefers content that understands their life situations and aligns with what they care about socially, morally, and ethically. Content that does well also recognizes and exploits the fact that Gen Zers are impulse shoppers with no brand loyalty.
- Gen Zers Care About Values – Gen Z is definitely not homogenous as previous generations tended to be. They care about many issues including climate change, extreme justice, LGBTQ+ rights, and social justice, among other things. Almost ⅔ (64%) of Gen Zers will pay extra for brands that were produced under environmentally sustainable conditions and respect the environment.
About a quarter of them don’t buy brands for companies that don’t manufacture or promote using sustainable practices. Gen Z loves brands like Fenty Beauty that practice what they preach in terms of promoting values.
- TikTok and Pinterest are to Gen Z what Google was to previous generations – think that using social media platforms as search engines is innovative and interesting? That’s exactly how Gen Zers search for brands. Their go-to social media platforms are TikTok and Instagram. Gen Zers love to experience their content in real time and videos help them do that – long and boring text-based blogs and otter types of web content – not so much!
About ⅖ Gen Zers rely on social media platforms for everything from tips to makeup to advice on how to fix a clogged drain (sometimes with disastrous consequences.) Marketers and companies will succeed if they produce vlogs and other types of video content that ‘talks to Gen Zers’ by making their content engaging, entertaining, practical, and useful,
Gen Z is used to 24/7 access to information and constant change. They expect companies to be aware of and embrace those realities.
- User-Generated Content (UGC) matters – you’ll understand why when I tell you that 60% of people using TikTok are Gen Z content creators. Sixty-one percent of Gen Zers love UGC because it’s original and authentic, and Gen Z hates anything that seems fake. Companies should take that to heart by allowing ordinary Gen Z content creators to come into their shops and make videos of themselves experiencing and enjoying the brands in realtime.
Of course, Gen Z gravitates towards any content that’s fun and creative. So, marketers and companies should keep that in mind when they strategize, plan, and design digital marketing campaigns.
Gen Z Wants Sincerity
Gen Zers hate advertising that lies. They want the truth. That’s why they reward marketers that create genuine content relaying real life stories and presenting brands that show how to solve real isseus with sales.
