Latest Insights on Gen Z 2024: No longer heavily influenced by Influencers, Gen Z loves discounts and reviews from real people
No longer as influenced by Influencers as in the previous period, Gen Z in 2024 will become somewhat different with new insights on price, sustainability and authenticity. Follow the latest report from Rival to grasp the latest information about Gen Z consumers in the coming time!
Figures shaping Gen Z’s consumer behavior in 2024
The Influence of Social Media on Gen Z
The influence of social media on Gen Z has changed significantly in 2024. Although Gen Z’s social media usage is still very high, their awareness of the negative effects of social media has gradually changed. 60% of Gen Z feel that they are using social media too much, and some are even looking for ways to detox from social media. This may change somewhat the social media usage behavior of Gen Z consumers in the coming time, making the level of content selection on these platforms more intense.
Gen Z’s Online Shopping Frequency
Gen Z is a generation that is very fond of online shopping. This survey showed that 36.3% of Gen Z shop online 2 to 3 times a month. 22.1% of Gen Z shop online once a month and 21.1% shop weekly. These numbers show that the frequency of Zen Z consumers’ shopping is relatively high and occurs quite regularly every month and every week. Therefore, online shopping channels are always an indispensable platform to conquer young consumers.
The biggest online shopping channels for Gen Z are still E-Commerce platforms with 88.2% of purchases on these platforms. The second place is the Brand’s website with 74.6%. And social networks are only in third place with 18.4%.
Top product groups that Gen Z prefers to shop online
Gen Z’s online shopping needs have also changed significantly by product group. Fashion is the industry that Gen Z favors the most when shopping online. Up to 30% of Gen Z surveyed shared that they love buying clothes on online platforms.
In Vietnam, Fashion has always been one of the leading product categories in terms of Sales on Gen Z’s favorite online shopping channels. In a report on the first half of 2024 sales of e-commerce platforms in Vietnam that we analyzed in the previous article, products such as Men’s Fashion and Women’s Fashion were continuously in the top in terms of both revenue and output throughout the year, showing the huge purchasing power of the industry every day on online platforms.
Besides Fashion, Gen Z also likes to shop online for many other categories such as: Food, Health, Personal Care, Home Appliances, Games, Electronics, online platforms and beauty products.
Products most purchased by Gen Z on online channels today
New Insights of Gen Z in 2024
#1. Social Media is Just a Small Part of Gen Z’s Buying Journey
The influence of social media on Gen Z’s buying journey has also shifted. Today, social media plays a huge role in Gen Z’s discovery of new brands and products. However, this is just one step in the long and complex buying journey for this group of consumers.
Some Gen Z consumers discover brands on social media. They will spend time researching information about the brand through fanpages or comments from other users. But only 20% of them complete purchases directly through social networking sites. In contrast, up to 88% of users will switch to other online platforms such as e-commerce to make purchases and 75% switch to the brand’s website to continue to consult or buy products. Because shopping on these platforms is convenient, clear, plus many promotional vouchers, free shipping.
Therefore, to conquer Gen Z consumers, optimizing social media platforms is not enough. Brands need to create a smooth experience throughout social media, adding CTAs that lead customers to channels such as e-commerce platforms and websites.
Among them, Reviews or word-of-mouth reviews are always the most convincing content for young consumers on social networking sites. Therefore, using tactics related to Testimonials, enhancing real feedback from old customers is one of the most important ways to convince the young generation to believe in your products and services.
#2. Messages about promotions and discounts still attract Gen Z the most
Despite consulting a lot of information about brands through other users, price is still the most decisive factor for the purchasing behavior of the younger generation. 60.3% of Gen Z shared that messages related to discounts and promotions are the factors that attract them the most in marketing messages. Meanwhile, reviews only ranked second with 54.4%.
The messages that will engage Gen Z the most
#3. Gen Z’s Trust in Influencers Has Diminished
In many previous studies, we have recognized that Gen Z is a generation that is heavily influenced by Influencers. However, the results from this survey have shown a new shift in Gen Z towards influencers.
47.5% of Gen Z respondents said they rarely buy a product recommended by an influencer. Many young people also shared that paid partnerships between brands and influencers are often “very dishonest” or “annoying”.
This warns brands to have a more suitable Influencer exploitation strategy in the coming time. Instead of focusing on excessive brand or product PR, reinforce authenticity more. Temporarily put aside scripted reviews or advertisements, allowing Influencers to freely create and evaluate the brand from a personal perspective. At the same time, intersperse compliments and criticisms of the product to increase the authenticity of the content.
Overall, Influencers will still have a certain influence on Gen Z’s purchasing process, but they will focus more on the authenticity of the content instead of the influence of celebrities like before.
#4. Sustainability is increasingly popular with Gen Z
Recent studies have shown that Gen Z is prioritizing sustainability more in their shopping process. They are even willing to spend more on sustainable products, even though they tend to prioritize low-cost products in their daily lives.
Because Gen Z wants to contribute their part to help the world develop more, and supporting sustainable products is one of the fastest ways for them to participate in sustainable development goals. This also encourages Gen Z consumers to tend to learn more about the brand’s sustainable development program and become more and more strict in evaluating these activities. That is why in recent years, many Greenwashing cases of brands have been exposed and heavily criticized by Gen Z.
In Vietnam, although the wave of sustainable development has not really had a large and profound impact on the younger generation. But they are also gradually paying more attention to information about sustainable development and have a certain love and priority for brands that are pursuing this goal. Therefore, many brands for Gen Z have now begun to implement more systematic, professional sustainable development programs with a clearer roadmap. For example, BOO Fashion, Piktina,… Therefore, sustainable development will be an inevitable goal that brands need to aim for in the coming time. At the same time, brands also need to pay attention to clarifying information related to sustainable development on Owned Media channels, ensuring convenience for consumers in the process of accessing that information.
So how does Gen Z learn about brands’ sustainability?
According to the survey, the brand’s website will be the most important platform in conveying information about sustainable development. 59.9% of customers used the website to search for information on this topic. On the other hand, packaging (43%) is also an important channel for users to grasp whether a product is truly sustainable through information about ingredients, origin, etc.
In addition, they also search for information through third parties, News sites, newspapers, word of mouth, social networks, etc.
Thus, it can be seen that the 5 biggest changes in Gen Z consumer Insight in 2024 include:
- Most purchases happen on online platforms like eCommerce marketplaces and brand websites. Therefore, Investing in these Digital channels will boost brand revenue.
- Social media platforms play an important role in product brand discovery, but are not Gen Z’s favorite place to make in-person purchases.
- Discounts and promotions are still the most appealing messages to Gen Z. Additionally, they are also attracted to reviews and ratings from real people.
- Gen Z can see through brands’ behavior with influencers. Therefore, they are increasingly strict with this media channel and especially value authenticity for influencer marketing.
- Sustainability is important to most Gen Zers, but it’s not yet a decisive factor in Gen Zers’ purchasing behavior. On the other hand, sustainability makes Gen Zers more sympathetic to brands.
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