5 Myths Marketers Got Wrong About Gen Z, According to Data & Our Gen Z Intern
By Aliza Mayer
To be honest, Gen Z can feel like foreign territory to all. Even myself, born in 2001. Although I’m smack in the middle of the TikTok, middle-part wearing generation, I don’t always fully understand the trends we start, stop, or totally cancel.
Even though I’m no genius when it comes to how to market to our generation, I can tell you it’s pretty obvious when marketers try too hard to sell to us. It often feels too forced and fake.
That’s why I’m here to help! Let me debunk a few myths and predictions marketers might have made about our wild generation so that you can find the right ways to grab our attention and keep us engaged. Let’s dive right into some of those incorrect thoughts, debunk them with data from our State of Consumer Trends Survey, and discuss tips for what you can do instead.
5 Gen Z Myths, Debunked
1. “Gen Z is obsessed with fast fashion.”
It’s easy to see SHEIN or Princess Polly hauls on TikTok or Instagram and think these represent our generation. Of course, these online retailers do have a grasp on our generation to some extent, but what grabs our attention are retail resale sites. For example, 90% of Depop’s users are younger than 26.
Today, Gen Zers are purchasing this apparel, but in a much less harmful way, being that resale clothing is second-hand.
Instead of getting caught up in cheap prices and deals, Gen Z, more than any other generation, considers the brand’s ethics and its stance on social issues. You don’t just need to take my word for it. we surveyed over 100 Gen Zers and found that how a brand approaches social responsibility has a real impact on Gen Z purchase decisions.
And, when we asked whether companies should take a stance on social issues, 50% of Gen Z said they should. As a marketer, this means that, if you haven’t already, you need to prioritize this for Gen Z and even younger millennial audiences.
I also urge you not to think of social issues as a broad term that is often thrown around without any substance to back it up. Instead, break it down into specific issues that you can actually fight with tangible results. And, just to help you out even more, here is where to start:
When we asked Gen Zers who want companies to take a stance on which issues are most important to them, racial justice was by far the top issue (69%), followed by LGBTQ+ rights (50%), gender inequality (46%), and climate change (42%).
2. “Data privacy and security are irrelevant for Gen Z.”
I get why many people believe this one. Gen Z is known for being glued to their phones, which obviously comes with the risk of unsecured and unrestricted data.
Furthermore, we are the TikTok generation, and – as many of us know — TikTok has had its share of …read more
Source:: HubSpot Blog
