Gen Z might be at the top of most marketer’s target audiences but it seems brands are no closer to finding out what makes them tick, with nine out of ten 14- to 29-year-olds claiming firms do not get them.
So says a new report by Cl!ckbait – Mischief’s youth insights division – which combines Gen Z-led quantitative data and qualitative insights from interviews and focus groups.
The report breaks down Gen Z attitudes to four key verticals, health and fitness; food; travel; and sex and relationships, as well as their reflection on where brands are missing the mark in each of these spaces.
In the fitness space, some 88% of the cohort are working out, yet over half said brands have no influence on their health decisions, and many said branded content actually made them feel worse.
In fact, young people said they were “fatigued” with fitness content, that they felt alienated by the perfection brands were pushing, and were instead desperate to see real journeys, real progress, real bodies. The takeaway? They want brands to support their health and fitness journeys, not cause that anxiety that pushes them to start them.
In the world of food, virality is the enemy. Almost three quarters (73%) said they had tried a viral food or drink product in the past six months, but less than a third (29%) would buy it again. The research highlighted impulse purchases are a quick win, but long-term brand loyalty is more elusive. Lack of loyalty was driven in part by the performativity of trend-hijacking.
The cohort criticised the lack of cultural authenticity behind new food and drink launches, calling for more transparency and research turning appropriation into appreciation.
Meanwhile, sex and relationships was perhaps the most complicated vertical, with research and focus groups revealing it to be rife with contradictions. Equal numbers of Gen Z said they were having more sex than ever before and that they had no interest in hook-up culture. However, what did unite them was a desire for the diversity and messiness of their sex lives to be normalised by brands in the space.
For a generation supposedly obsessed with sex, only 13% said they felt more comfortable talking about sex and intimacy than other generations, so many called for brands to ditch the humour, and instead engage with the human, unglamorous side of sex, whether speaking to traditional relationships, celibacy or “situationships”.
Interestingly, travel was the only category where Gen Z showed clearer evidence of trust in brands. Equal amounts (33%) said they would go directly to a brand for travel advice, as they would chat to a friend or family member for recommendations.
The main brand-demographic disconnect here lay in young people’s guilt-desire complex. Some 68% said they felt guilty about travel’s environmental impact, but 63% still had not reduced their travel. Instead, Gen Z does not want travel guilt to be a consumer problem. According to respondents, brands should be helping alleviate their concerns by making travel more ethical and environmentally friendly, without compromising on their convenience.
Cl!ckbait lead, strategist and report editor Jordan Mulvaney said: “We’re all obsessed with Gen Z. And they often get a pretty bad rep. We didn’t want to create yet another Gen Z report that talks down to an entire demographic, but something that explores the nuance and contradictions that are part of their lived experience.
“There are red threads throughout this report that can help us build an understanding of their needs and desires. In this report we give brands within each vertical explored some immediate actions to begin understanding and engaging their younger audiences.”
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