GENERATION Z SNAPSHOT

Born: 1997 to 2012

Age: 12 to 27

Size: 68.6 million, about 20 percent of the U.S. population

Median income: $38,300 for Gen Z workers between the ages of 20 and 24

Cities with the highest concentration of Gen Z per capita: Minneapolis, MN; Atlanta; Boston; Columbus, OH; Raleigh, NC; Tucson, AZ; Austin, TX; Milwaukee, WI; Houston; Philadelphia

When you think of a wave of almost 70 million people coming at you whose collective designation starts with the letter “Z,” you might be forgiven for assuming “ombie” completes the rest of the name. But you would be wrong. It’s zoomers, aka Generation Z, aka Gen Z, the demographic born between 1997 and 2012. According to the United States Census Bureau, Gen Z represents about 20 percent of the U.S. population. Around half of them are now in the job market, and, by the end of the year, they will overtake baby boomers in the U.S. workforce. By 2030, they will comprise about 30 percent of the workforce. They’re your coworkers, employees, and customers you’ll need to work with, supervise, and not least, market to.

Understanding the forces that shape them can be difficult. Gen Z’s defining moments are seismic but difficult to visualize: the Great Recession, the Affordable Care Act, growing up with the first Black U.S. President, legalized gay marriage, and being born in the digital age. They are the most diverse group yet, with 48 percent of them non-white compared to 18 percent of boomers who share that designation.

Here we’ve collected nine revealing insights about Generation Z and their impact on the world. Since the cohort wields about $360 billion in buying/spending power, you ignore or dismiss them at your bottom line’s peril. While you’re reading, keep in mind something Gloria Steinem once said: “We need to remember across generations that there is as much to learn as there is to teach.”

1. AI, Caramba

When even Bill Gates frets about losing his job to AI, these super-smart programs might seem too alarming for lesser mortals. But Gen Z is taking to the transformative technology with the speed of a fiber-optic internet connection. A report from Morning Consult said that 58 percent of Gen Z members have used generative AI in the last month, while more than 30 percent have experimented with it in their workplace — a number that’s likely to grow. The flip side to Gen Z’s greater familiarity with AI is an increased level of anxiety toward brands employing it without guardrails against potential drawbacks. These negatives include reduced human interaction resulting in poorer customer service, and the lessened authenticity that results from programs spewing preformatted responses.

THE TAKEAWAY: Marketers should refrain from sprinkling the term “AI” on their products like we do pumpkin spice on anything edible. Emphasize AI’s dependability and capacity for increasing productivity, but also incorporate customer-centric policies. Let online clients know how they can escalate to an actual human being if the chatbot isn’t giving them what they need.

2. Reality: Now with Extra Toppings!

More than 90 percent of Gen Z are interested in using augmented reality when shopping, per research from instant-messaging app Snapchat. Gen Z is also 71 percent more likely than older generations to use AR regularly, while 26 percent report using it in some form at least once a day. On top of that, Gen Z (along with Millennials) are the age groups most interested in metaverse activities, especially to socialize — zoomers spend twice as much time with their friends in the metaverse as they do in real life. Even more significant, 52 percent of Generation Z gamers report they feel more like themselves in the metaverse than they do in real life, according to interactive agency Razorfish and Vice Media Group.

THE TAKEAWAY: Use AR to show your products either online or in person. Gamified events requiring extensive interaction can vastly increase dwell time in the metaverse, which means prolonging participants’ exposure to your brand.

3. The Clock Is Ticking, TikTok, TikTok

Exhibit and event marketers can anticipate where they should target the various generations by understanding the online platforms each favors the most. Millennials, for example, flock to Reddit and WhatsApp (43.7 and 36.4 percent, respectively, use them), while Gen Z veers off in a radically different direction: The Pew Research Center confirmed they prefer TikTok (44.7 percent), and Snapchat (51 percent) even more, spending about 24 to 48 hours per month on TikTok alone.

THE TAKEAWAY: This may indicate a trend toward apps that feel more instantaneous, scrape (supposedly) less personal information about users, and place more emphasis on visual appeal. Instagram’s visual format makes it an effective means to communicate with the group. The popularity of YouTube strongly suggests this cohort has a preference for learning through videos.

4. Face Value

Even though Gen Zers stay close to their phones and screens, the face-to-face (F2F) marketing industry doesn’t have to worry about live events going the way of the dinosaur. A survey conducted by the AAA and Bread Financial Holdings Inc. ascertained that approximately 65 percent of Gen Z members report having traveled in the past 12 months, and/or plan to travel in the next 12 months more than 50 miles from home for in-person activities such as sporting events, comedy shows, and concerts. Underscoring how attractive live events are to Gen Z, more than half (53 percent) plan to attend live events by plane, easily the most of any generation. Distance is no obstacle for them, either: 18 percent of Gen Z report they are willing to go more than 1,500 miles for an event compared to just 9 percent of baby boomer travelers.

THE TAKEAWAY: Gen Z wants to interact with brands via their phones and visually oriented websites. To cement a relationship with them, invest in live F2F events, which they are clearly more willing than any previous generation to attend.

5. I’m (Not) With the Brand

When it comes to engaging with brands, Gen Z exhibits a lack of enthusiasm that borders on aversion. Per Lab42 Research, nearly a fifth — 19 percent — do not engage with companies and brands at all. Furthermore, 27 percent never “like” a brand or company’s social-media page and 43 percent never leave a comment on it. It gets worse: Almost eight out of every 10 Gen Zers believe that brands are disingenuous and say things they don’t sincerely stand behind.

THE TAKEAWAY: IBM/NRF research concluded that Gen Z reacts well to brands they grew up with (e.g., Nike, Doritos, Amazon), and research company YPULSE Inc. states they place enormous value on authenticity and diversity. The most strategically sound way to approach Gen Z may be to center your messaging around your brand’s quality, supply chain, and how you address related social and environmental issues. If appropriate, include diverse and body-positive imagery in your marketing.

6. Long Story Short

Bigger may be better, but shorter is smarter. That’s according to Emarketer Inc.’s research that concludes 61 percent of Gen Z prefer videos running under 90 seconds. But longer content isn’t dead. The same study found 20 percent of people in that demographic watch videos that run more than 30 minutes long.

THE TAKEAWAY: Videos under 90 seconds signal to viewers that they can be quickly consumed, conveniently stored, and easily shared with others. To entice Gen Z with longer-form videos, Think with Google’s analytics insights suggest that videos where brands collaborate with celebrity or influencers are highly watchable.

7. Search and Ye Shall Not Find

Gen Z is just one year older than Google, which may be why the search giant is almost as passe among them as floppy disks and landlines are to older demographics. A survey from Forbes Advisor and Talker Research reveals an upheaval in search habits that is almost as dramatic as the one going from paper to pixels. A full quarter of Gen Z members polled say they only or primarily use social media to conduct general searches online, while just 64 percent use search engines to explore anything about brands, compared to 94 percent of baby boomers. This bias toward social media is also reflected in the 44 percent of zoomers who report they discover new brands on social media every day. Gen Z is much more likely to use TikTok and Instagram than Google for certain kinds of lifestyle searches, e.g., hair/makeup, well-being/fitness, and fashion. Google is still king, however, when it comes to searches for things like news, sports, cars, electronics, and financial services.

THE TAKEAWAY: Optimizing your brand’s presence on Google is still an important part of an effective marketing strategy, but companies and brands should continue to expand into social media, such as Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram. Those and similar sites offer a combination of video formats alongside more relatable and even personalized answers, which are a powerful lure for zoomers.

8. User (Generated) Friendly

The desire to create its own content fuels Gen Z like no other. To illustrate: More than 60 percent of TikTok users are Gen Zers, according to Wallaroo Media, where they form part of a tribe of which more than eight out of every 10 have created a video they posted on the social media site. Gen Zers prefer user-generated content (UGC) because it feels more authentic than something churned out by corporate committees or “Mad Men”-like advertisers, which helps build trust with the brand. Actually, 70 percent of Gen Z consider UGC (e.g., reviews) in a brand’s marketing when making purchase decisions, asserts Cloudinary and Researchscape, following a joint survey. While this refers generally to text reviews from users, the most effective part of such appraisals is a photo, with the text coming in second.

THE TAKEAWAY: Marketers should capitalize on such untouched territory for brands on social media by asking customers for reviews of products and services, or ideas on creating and improving them.

9. Cause and Effect

The depth of Gen Z’s belief in causes may surprise you. Around one in three Gen Zers are regularly involved in some form of activism compared to 24 percent of Millennials, according to the United Way’s survey on Gen Z activism. Action takes precedence with them over donating money, too: 61 percent volunteer their time to causes at least once a year contrasting with 27 percent who donate money to specific organizations or causes biennially. Their top areas of concern include inflation/cost of living, healthcare access/affordability, affordable housing, climate-change initiatives, gun control, and income inequality.

THE TAKEAWAY: Give back to social causes that resonate with Gen Z by, for example, visibly donating to a charity or nonprofit related to the causes listed above. Demonstrate you’re sustainable: Whatever cause you support or stand you take, follow through on it. Gen Z values authenticity, and short-lived support will likely backfire.
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