Forget the heading. Gen Z is no different than millennials, they operate the same & have similar emotions. Then, What’s the difference?

 

The difference is convenience, they were born in a more convenient age. That’s what we all know, for Gen Z. New Tech isn’t a convenience, it’s a part of their life. They became early adopters of a majority of things.

 

Millennials did the same, during their time. The adoption of gaming consoles was heavy. It was regular life, but for their parents they thought Gaming was a convenience. This argument makes us think there is a huge difference.

The difference is small, but great marketing focuses on all set of differences. It doesn’t matter how small or big. That’s why I chose to write about characteristics of the Gen Z consumer.

Everything is based on research & that I love. I don’t like to be biased against a generation. That’s the last thing you can expect me to do.

 

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 favourite 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.

 

Why is that? (Biased Take) 

Gen Z consumers are loyal to brands, but not forever. Most Gen Z-ers like to be part of brand communities.

 

And they have the right to do that. The easy options of tracking social media presence of their favourite brands is simply what most Gen Zs do. Other generations were never involved like this with their favourite brands. Millennials & Boomers were only attached to the product.

Gen-Z is attached to complete brand personality. When they see Brands doing X or Y, when those actions don’t align with Gen Z beliefs. That’s when they lose loyalty for brands.

 

That’s what I have observed. McKinsey’s report doesn’t mention when & why Gen Z consumers became disloyal to these brands. A missing point to fix!

 

2. Resale Market & DIY projects

The data from globaldata research 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 is 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 a 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.