Gen Z, sides of a target that you need to know! Ep4: The new consumers!

The sides through which we have tried to profile this generation lead us to ask ourselves: what kind of consumers are and will Gen Z be? Question – as we said from the beginning – not negligible, given that they represent 40% of consumption on our markets and therefore, an essential target for companies and market research!

Trying to summarize what we have seen, we can say that Generation Z kids grew up with the internet and live onlife. They believe in themselves and are aware of their individual value while considering themselves part of a community, or something greater than the individual. They give importance to all personal differences without using them as an excuse for conflict but rather as a benefit and resource. In addition, they are highly sensitive to issues of social and environmental responsibility, embracing the idea of ​​a critical and conscious consumption.

These sides make Gen Z very demanding consumers. Their curiosity and the infinite possibilities that the online offers pushes them to look for the best alternative and to continually test new brands, new concepts, new products. This is why they tend to explore the market rather than lazily loyalty to the brand on the basis (perhaps) of savings. The Zeta generation wants to feel convinced for every choice they have to make and the brand alone is no longer enough.

Gen Z expect companies to create communities based on common interests and values. The brand must therefore actively engage in sharing something that goes beyond the product and service. Companies should in fact bring value to society and not just sell something.

Gen Zetas want transparency on the market. They require companies to be loyal, concretely committed to social and environmental issues and to operate according to ethical and responsible logics. They are animated by a global ethic and social conscience and use consumption as a means to express their beliefs, assigning purchasing loyalty to those companies that are aligned with the values ​​in which they believe. Companies therefore must operate with authenticity and in a genuine way; the assumption of false or misleading commitments would in fact be highly harmful to the image and reputation of the brand itself.

The content marketing intended for Gen Z is therefore insightful, of quality, contextualized, multi-channel and multi-format: something that gives information to grow, not petty product communication in its own.

Therefore, each brand must first take responsibility, creating sustainable products and taking a public position on the problems that are at heart of Generation Z. The strongest drivers for the brand advocacy of this generation are linked to the ability of a brand to transmit knowledge and, more generally, to create value for the consumer in consideration of its interests, its tastes, the causes to which it is devoted.

Companies therefore can only listen and establish an open, continuous and reciprocal dialogue with these new consumers. However, this is only the first step. In fact, companies will have to look to Generation Z as something more than a commercial target and make them become a source of inspiration instead. It will therefore be necessary to continue to involve Gen Zetas in the creative process, allow them to express themselves, participate, collaborate in the activity, providing the necessary tools to learn and do independently (for example how-to and educational videos, online community, gamification, partnership, etc.).

Encouraging co-creation will be fundamental above all at a communicative level and those who know how to involve Gen Z with activities that stimulate user-generated content will be a winner.

In this reciprocal exchange – possibly aimed at creating communities – a multi-platform approach can only be the master, which therefore involves all the different media: Instagram and Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat TikTok, etc., without forgetting YouTube, Spotify and Netflix. In fact, Gen Z expects brands to be able to interact with them on every channel, especially peer-to-peer ones, where they can interact with others.

All of this must push brands to create more immediate forms of content, such as images and videos. The contents must be graphically appealing and declined according to the devices of use. But not only that, because they must also be able to generate curiosity, stimulate attention and be incisive, or go directly to the value proposition since this generation quickly passes from one object to another and must be captured right from the start.

Entertainment is therefore the word for their engagement. But also Gamification. Everyone, fitness, fashion, sport, but also banks, insurance companies and market research will have to create experiences, made of a mix of realistic and imaginative aspects. The content changes but also the process used to get to know the values ​​perceived by the target.

All this is inevitably reflected also in the store, where the brands make the consumer live experiences. Despite being an Omni-channel shopper and not considering the visit to the store necessary for the shopping experience, the real store is still an attraction for Gen Zetas, but only if it manages to be trendy, usable and rich in content. In fact, it is here that involvement with the product and the brand can arise, and this will only be possible if it is a space for experience rather than just sales. However, this does not relieve companies from finding innovative ways to attract Generation Z to stores and create lasting relationships beyond the store itself, then online. The goal will be to create a digital, interactive link to the physical shopping experience that will have to be hyper-personalized.

In short, there is much on fire for this Generation Zeta, but the future is theirs and we, Companies and Market Research, can only adapt to it. And as soon as possible!